We’d love to see these come back
We’d love to see these come back
It’s that time of year when our local shops and supermarkets are full of chocolate tins, bars and more ahead of Christmas. Today, there are so many options, with an abundance of new concepts and flavours.
But as we celebrate the festive season and indulge in our favourite treats, we’re likely to reminisce about the items we can no longer enjoy from childhood to now. Some brands have completely disappeared and are only remembered by certain age groups, whereas other miniatures tins have become a distant memory.
But some still pine for treats that we wish we could enjoy just one last time. Here, we take another look back at a number of chocolate bars and flavours we miss from the shelves and the sweet tins. Ahead of Christmas, we’ve added more classics to our list.
This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive and features products suggested by ECHO readers or featured in previous nostalgia stories. See how many you remember from our list below.
Snowflake
If you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll probably remember the days when the Snow Flake was flying off the shop shelves. Launched by Cadbury in 2000, it had more in common with the current Twirl bar than the traditional flake, consisting of crumbly white chocolate enrobed in milk chocolate.
By 2003, it was renamed Flake Snow – but many will remember calling it by its original name. Discontinued in 2008, we all wish we could have one more bit of the loved Cadbury treat.
Nux bar
Rowntree’s has had many loved products since it was founded in 1881. And many will have fond memories of the “nutty, crunchy. chewy” Nux bar.
A chocolate bar filled with peanuts, toffee and nougat, kids of the 50s and 60 will remember the Nux coming in a red wrapper. The full-cream milk chocolate bar was discontinued not long after, but it is still remembered for its taste and famous TV adverts.
Pyramint
Terry’s – famous for its Chocolate Orange – also used to make Pyramint. The dark chocolate Egyptian pyramid shape had a minty middle.
The chunky treat first came onto our shelves in the 1980s. But sadly, Pyramint has not been seen since the 1990s.
It’s been the festive tradition for generations to get a Terry’s chocolate orange in your Christmas stocking. So you can see what the product designers at Terry’s were thinking when they created the sequel – made of mint, and triangular shaped instead of circular.
While the chocolate orange is still going strong, sadly the Pyramint has not been seen since the 1990s.
Milk Tray bar
Today, you can still get buy a Cadbury’s Mil Tray box of chocolates from the supermarket shelves. But decades ago, you could enjoy your favourite chocolates in their distinct shapes welded together in one bar.
Featuring eight different centres – including fudge, caramel, strawberry, orange and coffee crème, nut, coconut ice and lime cordial -you’d had to be careful you didn’t break open the strawberry cream as you were removing the caramel. The popular bar was available between 1947 and 1981..
Spira
The Spira, like its name, has a distinctive spiral shape and was produced by Cadbury’s.. Sold from around the mid-80s, it was first launched in the north west of England before being rolled out to the rest of the country.
Like a Twirl bar, there were two fingers in each pack but the chocolate bar formed a hollow twisted spiral. It was discontinued back in 2005.
Drifter
Another chocolate bar by Rowntree’s was the Drifter, which launched in the 1980s. Consisting of a wafer layered with caramel and covered with milk chocolate, we only said goodbye to it fairly recently.
Nestlé later produced the bar following their takeover of Rowntree’s. But by 2018, Drifter was discontinued.
Trophy/Banjo
Originally christened ‘Trophy,’ Banjo bars were began life as a Kit Kat-style chocolate wafer bar that was only sold in London. Reinventing itself and being distributed further afield by the 1970s, it is mostly remembered for its navy blue wrapper and bold gold lettering.
The new Banjo came in two flavours, Roast Nut and Coconut. The latter version could be spotted on our shelves in a red wrapper.
Golden Cup
Golden Cups were once produced by Mackintosh before Nestle took over the delicious sweet. The milk chocolate had a soft toffee centre and lasted up until the 1980s.
Many will remember the bars and breaking off segments to indulge in the sweet centre. In the past, the logo was in bold yellow and red font.
Fry’s 5 Centres
From 1934 for years, it was possible to consume five different flavours in one bar thanks to the Fry’s Five Centres. Fry’s made it easy – with a bar that contained raspberry, coffee, lime, blackcurrant and orange flavoured centres.
While Fry’s Chocolate Cream and Peppermint Cream bars still exist, earlier variants are no longer around. Sadly for fans of this bar, Fry’s stopped making them in 1992, after nearly 70 years in production.
Ice Breaker
Another Cadbury’s bar lost to history was the Ice Breaker. The dark chocolate bar contained mint pieces and came in a shiny blue wrapper.
Many will also remember the white lightning-type zig zag across the front. With so many Cadbury’s products on the market, the Ice Breaker is still remembered by many.
Celebrations
On to Celebrations – this is perhaps the selection that provides the most arguments among families, with Bounty and Snickers’ inclusions often being debated between chocolate lovers. Today, customers can still enjoy the likes of the Maltesers Teaser, Twix, Galaxy and more.
But their list of discontinued products is far less extensive than competitors, with just two to lose their place.
- Galaxy Truffle (1997–2011)
- Topic (1997–2006)
Texan Bar
American-inspired, Texan Bar stood out boldly on the shelves with the US colours emblazoned within each letter on the packaging. Once you opened the wrapper, you were met with a nougat and toffee bar covered with chocolate.
The Texan bar was everywhere during the ’70s and ’80s, but was sadly discontinued towards the end of the ’80s. It was briefly reinstated in 2005 by Nestlé for a limited period – and was once voted Britain’s favourite ever chocolate.
Mint Cracknel
Another favourite from Mackintosh was the Mint Cracknel – which also had an orange and a peanut flavour version. Consisting of two small squares held in a small cardboard tray, the chocolate covered treats boasted a crunchy green centre.
Advertisements for the sweet on TV would say “Mint Cracknell takes you somewhere cool and green.” They were also once found inside Quality Street tins.
Amazin’ Raisin
Back in the 70s, Cadbury’s broke with tradition and made a fruit-only bar. Amazin’ Raisin had rum as a central ingredient to the fruit-filled chocolate bar, which also consisted of caramel, nougat, and, of course, raisins.
Wispa Mint
The original Wispa and Wispa Gold remain staples on the supermarket shelves. But many still pine for the third instalment of the popular chocolate bar – the Wispa Mint.
Contained in metallic green packaging, this bar was Wispa’s answer to the Aero and consisted of a dreamy mint layer. Launching in 1995, we said goodbye to this classic Cadbury bar in 2003.
Toffo
Produced by Mackintosh’s, Toffo came individually wrapped and were available in a number of flavours, from plain to mint, strawberry and more. Discontinued in 2005, the popular treat was later revived by Nestle and can be found abroad, being produced in the United Arab Emirates
Quality Street
Quality Street which was founded way back in 1936 and named after J. M. Barrie’s play of the same name. The brand was acquired by Nestlé when they bought Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988.
And it won’t be surprising to hear, given that the brand has been around for the best part of 85 years, that there have been many flavours that had to be sacrificed to make way for the current crop. It’s worth noting that many of these experienced minor alterations while others were dropped altogether.
These include:
- Purple One (the original ‘Purple One’ with Brazil nut, replaced with hazelnut version)
- Chocolate Strawberry Cream (now replaced with Strawberry Delight)
- Chocolate Toffee Cup (now replaced with Caramel Swirl)
- Hazelnut Cracknell (red wrapper)
- Hazelnut Eclair
- Honeycomb crunch (discontinued in 2018 to re-introduce Toffee Deluxe)
- Chocolate Nut Toffee Cream
- Malt Toffee (replaced with Toffee Deluxe as a “new” flavour)
- Milk Chocolate Round (now replaced with Milk Choc Block in green wrapper)
- Peanut Cracknell (blue wrapper)
- Almond Octagon (purple wrapper, replaced with Vanilla Octagon, but the latter is now discontinued as well)
- Gooseberry Cream (green wrapper, light green fondant with a touch of Gooseberry Preserve covered in milk chocolate)
- Fig Fancy (light brown wrapper)
- Apricot Delight (blue wrapper, square chunk, apricot flavoured jelly covered in milk chocolate)
- Toffee Square (metallic pink wrapper, a small square of very hard toffee)
- Chocolate Truffle (brown square chunk, a soft truffle filling covered in milk chocolate)
- Montelimar Nougat
- Harrogate Toffee
- Fruits of the Forest Creme (pale purple wrapper)
- Smarties (ordinary cardboard box of Smarties, a 2004 promotion only)
- Coffee Cream (brown wrapper, same size and shape as the strawberry cream)
- Mint Fondant (pale green wrapper, same as strawberry crème but with a mint crème filling)
- Toffee Deluxe (replaced by Honeycomb Crunch, reintroduced and then replaced by Chocolate Caramel Brownie)
- Crispy Truffle Bite (John Lewis stores only, black and gold recyclable foil)
Bar Six
This creamy chocolate bar boasted a wafer centre and hazelnut cream when it was back on our shop shelves. Sometimes also spotted in swimming bath vending machines, Bar Six, produced by Terry’s came in an orange wrapper, wrapped in soft foil.
Aztec
The Aztec bar was hugely popular after it was launched in 1967. Made of milk chocolate, nougatine and caramel, the treat came in a dark purple wrapper.
Often referred to as Cadbury’s answer to the Mars Bar, the Aztec was relatively short lived, and discontinued in 1978. But it is still fondly remembered today.
Boost (coconut)
The Boost bar remains a favourite by many, but only certain generations will remember when the original Cadbury chocolate bar tasted a bit different. Introduced in the 1980s, Coconut Boost consisted of coconut and caramel.
Later, the bar was rebranded and became the Peanut Boost. The biscuit version is now the standard Boost bar.
Heroes
It may be unsurprising to discover that Heroes have been around for a much shorter amount of time.
This boxed confectionery was originally branded as Miniature Heroes and currently manufactured by Cadbury.
They were introduced in September 1999 as a response to rival Mars’ Celebrations (more on them later) and the box contains miniature versions of various Cadbury chocolate bars.
It’s a close call but on a personal level, Heroes just about edges it when it comes to which box our family opts for over the Christmas period.
The current chocolates chosen to represent Cadbury in their selection box are:
Fudge; Dairy Milk Caramel; Dairy Milk; Wispa (added in 2015); Twirl; Creme Egg Twisted (added in 2009); Éclair (added in 2008); Double Decker (known as “Dinky Decker”, added in 2019) and Crunchie (originally as Crunchie Bite, removed in 2008 but re-added in 2019 as Crunchie Bits).
As for the brands that’ve been lost, there have been a surprising amount given only being in existence for just over 20 years.
- Bournville (added in 2008, removed in 2013)
- Dairy Milk Whole Nut (added in 2002, removed in 2008)
- Dream (removed in 2008)
- Fuse (removed in mid-2000s)
- Picnic (removed in 2007)
- Time Out (removed in 2007)
- Toblerone (added for Christmas 2013, 2014 and 2015)
- Nuts About Caramel (Cadbury’s Caramel with added hazelnut in the centre, removed in mid-2000s)
Secret
This treat wasn’t kept a secret for too long. Manufactured by Rowntree Mackintosh during the 80s and 90s, this bar consisted of a chocolate coating a creamy mousse centre
Packaged in a gold-coloured wrapper with the product’s name printed on it in purple and white, the TV advert was a mystery style narrative. But by 1994, the bar was withdrawn.
Cabana
Produced by Rowntree’s, the Cabana bar came in dark blue packaging and was a short lived but well loved chocolate bar. Inside you found a delicious coconut filling and chunks of cherry, some would argue it rivalled the Bounty.
First made in the 80s, we said goodbye to it by the 1990s. But many wish it would return to our supermarket shelves.
Roses
We finish with one of the ‘original two’ and Roses, who launched in 1938, two years after Quality Street first came onto the market. Again like Quality Street, because of the blank canvas available to Cadbury when it came to making the flavours, coupled with it being in supply for almost a century, there have been plenty to fall by the wayside:
- Brazilian Darkness (a chewy toffee square coated in dark chocolate, red wrapper with gold edges)
- Praline Moment (silver wrapper)
- Chunky Truffle (blue wrapper)
- Bournville (moved the brand to Heroes)
- Almond Charm (blue wrapper)
- Coffee Creme
- Montelimar (chewy nougat encased in milk chocolate, green foil-twist wrapper)
- Marzipan (red foil-twist wrapper)
- Turkish Delight (dark purple wrapper)
- Nutty Truffle Log (emerald green foil-twist wrapper)
- Orange Crisp (orange wrapper)
- Chocolate Bite (pink wrapper)
- Noisette Whirl (green and transparent wrapper)
- Lime Barrel (green wrapper)
- Black Cherry Cream (pink/purple wrapper)
- Caramel Velvet (green wrapper)
- Almond Caramel Bite (light brown wrapper with purple twists)
Marble
Another former Cadbury product was the Marble, which is said to have been relaunched in Australia.. a return to domestic stores. A blend of milk and white chocolate, the bar was filled with a hazelnut praline.
Like many Cadbury’s products, Marble was packaged in the signature purple wrapping and showed a square of the chocolate on the front. The wrapper also stated the flavours were a mix of Dairy Milk and Dream.
Galaxy Liaison
Galaxy Liaison is another bar we’ve said goodbye to through the years. With Galaxy chocolate on the outside and praline in the centre, it arguably would remind you of the green triangle sweet in a Quality Street tin.
The packaging came in brown and cream, with bold white font on the front. And although it’s been off our shelves for years, fans would love to see it return.
Astros
Another Cadbury’s creation was Astros – the candy-coated chocolate biscuit bites. Coming in a purple flip-top box, lots of the campaigns behind the treat, as the name suggests, were space themed.
Launched back in 1997, they were discounted sometime after. Still sold in South Africa, they briefly made a return to B&M in 2022.
