Tooty Frooties out of f lavour

Nestle axes chewy favourite after 50 years

THEY have been a pocket money favourite for more than 50 years. But now Tooty Frooties are to be killed off.

The chewy sweets with a crisp shell and fruit flavours were launched in 1963 by Rowntree’s and have been a fixture on corner shop counters ever since.

However, the brand is now owned by Nestle which says they are being dropped as a result of changing tastes. It says jelly sweets are now favoured over those with a hard shell.

It is part of wider changes to the historic Rowntree’s brand based on introducing a series of new products under the ‘Randoms’ range. Sharing bags containing only Squish’ems, Foamies and Randoms Sours are joining the existing range of Rowntree’s Randoms as of this week.

At the same time there will be a major rebrand for Rowntree’s other traditional names, including Fruit Pastilles, Fruit Gums and Jelly Tots.

Explaining the decision to drop rather than relaunch Tooty Frooties, a Nestle spokesman said: ‘Sweet tastes and trends change over the years and Tooty Frooties have become much less popular in the decades since their launch. In 2019, people prefer the jelly and foamy sweets you find in Rowntree’s Randoms and that’s why we’ve decided to concentrate on new products under the Randoms brand.’

Rowntree’s was founded in 1862 and introduced some of the most popular confectionery brands in the world, including KitKat, Aero, Smarties and Fruit Pastilles.

Tooty Frooties joined the list in 1963 and generations of children enjoyed the flavours of lemon, apple, orange, blackcurrant and strawberry. Over the years, the recipe changed to take out artificial flavours and colours with a move to real fruit juice.

The argument that people have fallen out of love with eating a chewy fruit sweet with a crisp shell may be hard to swallow for many fans – one of the most successful sweet brands in the world is the very similar Skittles, owned by a division of Mars.