Fruit Salad Sweets

Fruit Salad Sweets Nostalgia

When you think of fruit salad, your first thought might not be these delicious sweets – but perhaps it should be! They might not make a healthy breakfast when mixed with yogurt, but they are a great pick-me-up to have in your pocket, especially for days when you’re rushing out and need a little boost of energy as you go! Fruit salad sweets are individually wrapped, so ideal for tucking into pockets and snacking on throughout the day.

You’re quite likely to remember Barratt fruit salad sweets from your childhood, perhaps slipped into your hands by a grandparent or a parent. These delicious raspberry and pineapple fruit chews are pink and yellow – perhaps not surprisingly – and offer some satisfyingly chonky-chunky-chew that you can really get your teeth into. That red and yellow swirly packaging may well be enough to bring back memories, although the design was changed in 2013, which is rather a shame really. Why keep producing retro sweets but take away the treasured memories people have of them? Even so, the new packaging is smart and slick, and does reflect some updated ingredients, so we can probably forgive them for it, especially as they still don’t disappoint on flavour. You can be assured of raspberry and pineapple in the same intensity as ever, or perhaps even more!

For those of us who want to eat guilt-free sweets, the question might be – are traditional fruit salad sweets vegan? Unfortunately not... well not yet anyway! A lot of chewy sweets like these aren’t, simply because beef gelatine has long been used to create the texture. However, as the global numbers of vegetarians and vegans increase, a lot of sweet companies are looking for ways to make their sweets without animal products of any sort.

Barratt have also moved towards natural flavourings and boast no artificial colours either, so they’re giving customers the option to be ‘healthy’ – well, they’re still sweets! – while enjoying a sticky treat! Despite the ingredient change, these retro classics definitely  don’t disappoint in terms of their flavour. That might be why they just do the one; who needs a whole variety when you’ve got something so iconic and tasty. Created in the 1920s, fruit salad sweets are definitely one that many of us grew up enjoying, and we think they hold up well – they’ve last around 100 years so far, so they must be doing something right!

You might particularly remember Barratt fruit salad sweets from pick and mix deals; at one point, they were a staple of those delicious combinations. Loose sweets from a jar were immensely popular in the 1950s at the end of the war, with the “penny chew” being a top pick for children all over the country. Even today, these sweets are loved by kids. We think they’re perfect for guessing the number of sweets in the jar, party bags, pass-the-parcel tokens, and as little rewards for good behaviour. The fact that they’re individually wrapped makes them more flexible than a lot of the pick and mix treats, so they’re ideal for all sorts of situations.

If you were one of the people who liked the flavour of the fruit salad sweets, but found the texture a bit of a challenge, you might be in luck. A lot of the sweets companies are relaunching their sweets with soft versions, and you can also pick between sweet and sour softies. Perhaps there’s some truth in the idea that kids today have more than we did – but fortunately, adults and children alike get to enjoy these chewy sweets.

In short, Barratt’s fruit salad sweets may not be as controversial as pineapple on pizza, but they offer a delicious, chewy, satisfying sweet that will delight anyone, whether they’re on a trip down memory lane, or being introduced to the wonders of these sweets for the first time in their lucky lives!