The history of traditional sweets and chocolates in the 1990s in UK and USA including a list of 17 iconic chocolates and sweets first introduced during the 1990s, such as Time Out, Kinder Bueno, Cadbury Heroes, Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme or Cadbury Fuse chocolate bar.
The 1990s confectionery scene feels very risk averse with only few really new chocolate bar invented, such as the Dove chocolate bar. The rest of the bars and sweets were versions of already existing sweets, made with a new twist – like the white Toblerone or peanut butter Twix.
The 1990s in the UK were marked by the tail end of Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as Prime Minister, followed by John Major’s leadership after Thatcher’s resignation in 1990. Major’s government faced several challenges, including economic recession and political division over Europe.
In 1997, the Labour Party won a landslide victory in the general election, ending 18 years of Conservative government. Tony Blair became Prime Minister, ushering in an era of “Cool Britannia,” which aimed to promote a modern and vibrant image of Britain.
In culture the 1990s in the UK were characterized by the rise of Britpop, with bands like Oasis, Blur, Pulp, and The Verve achieving massive success and becoming cultural icons.
The “Cool Britannia” phenomenon also embraced fashion, art, and media, with figures like designer Alexander McQueen and the Young British Artists (YBAs) gaining international attention.
British cinema experienced a renaissance with films like “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Trainspotting,” and “The Full Monty” achieving critical and commercial success.
TRADITIONAL SWEETS & CHOCOLATE HISTORY
- Victorian Traditional Sweets History >>
- History of Sweets & Chocolates in 1900s >>
- History of Sweets & Chocolates in 1910s >>
1. Time Out & Time Out Orange (1992)
Time Out is manufactured by Cadbury, a British chocolate company that is owned by Mondelez International. The bar consists of two crispy wafers with a ripple of milk chocolate in between, all covered in a layer of Cadbury milk chocolate.
Time Out was first introduced in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1992, followed by Australia and New Zealand in 1995. The bar is often sold in pairs and is marketed as a “time out” snack. Time Out is available in a variety of formats, including standard size bars, multipacks, and sharing bags.
2. Kinder Bueno & Kinder Bueno White (1990 – Itally, UK)
Kinder Bueno is produced by Ferrero, an Italian confectionery manufacturer. The bar was first introduced in Italy in 1990 by Michele Ferrero, the founder of Ferrero. Ferrero created Kinder Bueno as a more sophisticated and refined chocolate bar that would appeal to adults rather than just children.
The bar consists of a crispy wafer shell that is filled with a creamy hazelnut filling and covered in a layer of milk chocolate. Kinder Bueno was initially launched in Italy and Germany, and it was later introduced in other countries around the world. The bar has since become one of Ferrero’s most popular products.
MORE CHOCOLATE HISTORY
- History of Traditional Sweets in 1920s >>
- History of Chocolates & Sweets in 1930s >>
- History of Traditional Sweets in 1940s >>
3. Dove Chocolate Bars (1991 – USA)
Dove chocolate bars were first test marketed in Chicago area in 1991 by Mars, the manufacturer of M&M’s and Snickers bars. The Dove bar was marketed as a more upscale and expensive chocolate, with a smoother and creamier taste compared to other mass-market chocolate.
Early marketing slogans for Dove included “Heavenly chocolate pleasure” and “Pure chocolate bliss” to emphasize its premium image. The Dove Milk Chocolate Minitures also had a ‘promises’ message: ‘Temptation is fun, giving in is even better’.
The original Dove bar flavours introduced 1991 were milk chocolate, dark chocolate, caramel and almond. Later on, there was also extra dark chocolate (63%) and dark peppermint bar.
Priced around $0.79-$0.89 when launched, Dove was twice as expensive then an average candy bar at the time. After a successful test market launch, Dove rolled out nationally across the USA4 By 1994, annual sales of Dove bars had reached $200 million in the US market. The Dove bar is also selling well in the Europe, but in UK, Ireland and Middle East is sold as Galaxy.
4. Cadbury Heroes (1999 – UK)
Cadbury Heroes were introduced in September 1999, making them a relatively newer addition to the Cadbury family and a great way to taste a lot of the Cadbury snack bars in one packaging.
The selection includes a variety of popular Cadbury chocolate bars in miniature form, such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Twirl, Crunchie, Eclair, Fudge, Caramel, Wispa, Creme Egg and more.
The box’s contents have evolved over time, with new favorites being added and less popular ones being removed. For example, Cadbury recently added Crunchie and Double Decker mini bars (1919) and removed Bournville, Dream, Fuse, Picnic, Time Out, Nuts About Caramel. Most of the removed bars are also bars that’s been sadly discontinued as full size chocolate bars.
5. Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Bar (1994 – USA, UK)
The Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme bar was first introduced in 1994. This white chocolate with crunchy chocolate cookie pieces.
A standard 1.55 oz (43g) Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme bar contains around 220 calories, 11 grams of fat, 26 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein. The bar is also a popular ingredient in desserts and milkshakes.
MORE SWEETS HISTORY
- Wartime Sweets & Chocolates History >>
- History of Sweets & Chocolates in the 1950s >>
- History of Sweets & Chocolates in 1960s >>
6. Twix Peanut Butter (1994 – USA, UK)
Twix Peanut Butter is a variation of the classic Twix chocolate bar, but this time with a layer of creamy peanut butter instead of caramel, sandwiched between crunchy biscuit layers and coated in milk chocolate. To me, this is the perfect combination and it’s even a little less sweet than the original bar, which is not a bad thing!
7. Nerds Rope (1994 – USA)
Nerds Rope is a chewy gummy candy rope coated in colourful Nerds sweets with sweet and tangy flavour combinations.
8. Starburst Jelly Beans (1995 – UK)
Made by the The Wrigley Company, Starburst Jelly Beans are bite-sized jelly beans made with the same fruity flavours as classic Starburst sweets – strawberry, lime, lemon and blackcurrant.
9. Toblerone White Chocolate (1996 -UK, USA)
Toblerone White Chocolate, made by Mondelez International, is a variation of the classic Toblerone chocolate bar, this time made with smooth white chocolate with crunchy almond nougat pieces.
10. Cadbury Fuse (1996 – UK)
Cadbury Fuse is a chocolate bar filled with a blend of nuts, raisins, crisp cereal, and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate. The recipe was meticulously tested and then launched the bar had an instant success. Unfortunately, by 2006 Cadbury decided to discontinue the bar.
Although chocolate fans wanted the Fuse to come back, it never happened, well not in the UK anyway. Modelez Ltd., which manufactures Cadbury products has decided in 2016 to start making the Fuse bar again, but this time with a different recipe and distributed only in India.
MORE SWEETS HISTORY
- Traditional Sweets in 1970s >>
- History of chocolates in 1980s >
- The story behind traditional Spanish churros >>
11. Reece’s NutRageous (1994 – USA)
The Reese’s NutRageous chocolate bar is made with an amazing combination of peanut butter, peanuts, caramel, nougat and chocolate.
Because of that, the NutRageous bar is quite loaded with calories – one bar contains 250 calories, 5 grams of saturated fat, 70 milligrams of sodium, and 22 grams of sugars, so don’t much too many on your break!
The NutRageous bar was first introduced in 1994 and it was originally called “Reese’s NutRageous” but has been marketed at times simply as “NutRageous.”
12. Cry Baby Bubble Gum (1991)
Cry Baby bubble gum was first introduced in the early 1990s by the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation. It is considered one of the sourest gums on the market, with a sour coating that lasts for about 40 seconds before it wears off to reveal a sweet flavour beneath.
The gum is available in several flavours, including Lemon, Cherry, Apple, Berry, Orange, and Grape.
The gum is also available in a “Nitro Sours” version, which is promoted as being even more sour than the original.
It’s often used as a challenge among kids and teenagers, who dare each other to see how long they can keep the gum in their mouths.
13. Baby Bottle Pop (1998)
Baby Bottle Pop sweets are similar to the Sherbet Dip sweets – they look like baby’s bottle, which can be dipped in sweet and sour flavoured powder.
Baby Bottle Pop comes in strawberry, watermelon, blue raspberry, and berry blast flavours. The Baby Bottle Pop is mainly sugar in different forms and one bottle has around 90 calories and 23 grams of sugar.
MORE SWEETS HISTORY
- Traditional Boiled Sweets History >>
- The history of a traditional toffee sweets >>
- The story of traditional candy cane >>
14. Giant Sweetarts Chewy (1990)
Giant Chewy SweeTARTS are a larger and chewier version of the classic SweeTARTS candy, which was originally introduced in 1962. The Giant Chewy variant is a more recent addition to the brand and have super fun flavours such as Blue Raspberry, Cherry, Grape, Lemon and Green Apple.
A serving size of Giant Chewy SweeTARTS (1 piece) contains 40 calories, 0.5 grams of total fat, 5 milligrams of sodium, and 8 grams of sugars.
15. Warheads Sour (1993 – USA)
Warheads were invented in Taiwan around 1975, but The Foreign Candy Company was the first to import Warheads into the United States in 1993. They are marketed as an ‘extreme’ candy and have been popular, especially with young children.
The sourness of Warheads is mainly because of the malic acid coating on the sweets; the inside is a little less sour.
16. Bitz (1990)
Another chocolate bar name for the ‘discontinued chocolate bars’ quiz. Bitz was a brand of chocolate bar that was produced by Terry’s, a British chocolate company that was later acquired by Kraft Foods.
The bar consisted of milk chocolate that was studded with small pieces of flavoured sugar crisp “Bitz”. Bitz bars were available in a variety of flavours, such as mint and orange, and were known for their crispy texture and unique flavour combinations.
Bitz bars were first introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and were later discontinued by Kraft Foods in the early 2000s.
17. Hershey’s Air Delight (1999 – USA)
The Hershey Company: Hershey’s Air Delight is a light and airy variation of the classic Hershey’s chocolate bar, featuring a bubbly texture that melts in your mouth.
This blog post was originally written on 28 February 2024 and last updated on 28 February 2024
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