The chew bar is one of the oldest formats in British pocket-money confectionery — an individually wrapped, soft chew sold at a penny or two, built for volume rather than novelty. It's a format several different manufacturers have made their own, and we stock a genuine spread of them: Barratt's original chews, Swizzels' fizzy Refreshers, Vimto's own chew bar, Toxic Waste's sour take, and Vidal's tongue-painting version. Here's what separates them.
Barratt Fruit Salad & Black Jack: The Black and Red Pairing
Barratt & Co. was founded in London in 1848 by George Osborne Barratt, and by 1906 had grown into the largest confectionery manufacturer in the world. Fruit Salad and Black Jack, its two best-known chews, both appeared in 1920 — Fruit Salad a red, raspberry-and-pineapple flavoured chew, Black Jack a black, aniseed-flavoured one. The two are so often sold and remembered together that "black and red chew bars" has become its own shorthand for the pairing. The brand passed through Bassett's, Cadbury Schweppes and Tangerine Confectionery over the following century and is now part of Valeo Confectionery. We stock Barratt Black Jack Chews Box (400 Pieces) as a special-order line — usually around two weeks for delivery, same price as our in-stock range. Fruit Salad is part of the same range but is currently out of stock; if you want both colours together, start with Black Jack and check back on Barratt Fruit Salad Chews Box (400 Pieces) for restock.
Swizzels Refreshers Chew Bars
Swizzels began in 1928 when brothers Alfred and Maurice Matlow set up a small London factory making jelly sweets, later joining forces with David Dee to launch Swizzels itself, which specialised in fizzy sweets and mints. The Blitz forced a move to a disused mill in New Mills, Derbyshire, in 1940, where the company — renamed Swizzels Matlow in 1975 — still operates today, and Refreshers chew bars are one of its long-running lines. We stock two flavours: Original Lemon and Sour Apple, both 18g bars with a fizzing sherbet centre, individually wrapped and sold as a 20p price-marked case of 60. Both contain no gelatine and are labelled suitable for vegans and vegetarians, though they do contain soya.
The Vimto Chew Bar
Vimto itself dates back to 1908, when Manchester wholesaler John Noel Nichols created "Vim Tonic" — later shortened to Vimto — as a herb-and-fruit tonic drink, registering the name in 1912. The chew bar is a much later extension of that same flavour into a solid sweet rather than a drink. We stock the Vimto Chew Bar Box (60 Bars), individually wrapped, price-marked, and suitable for vegans.
Toxic Waste Blue Raspberry Chew Bars
Toxic Waste was created in 2001 by the Indianapolis company Candy Dynamics, built entirely around the idea of a candy sour enough that children would love it and adults would struggle to finish it — even its hazard-drum packaging leans into the joke. We stock the Toxic Waste Blue Raspberry Chew Bars 20g, a sour chew bar rather than the brand's better-known boiled sweets.
Vidal Dipper Tongue Painter Chew Bars
Vidal Golosinas was founded in 1963 in Molina de Segura, Spain, and today makes tens of millions of confectionery pieces a day, with the UK among its strongest markets. Its Dipper chew bars are a sour raspberry chew that colours your tongue as you eat it — the tongue-staining does a lot of the selling on its own. We stock the Vidal Dipper Tongue Painter Chew Bars — Case of 100 as a special-order line, sized for a counter display or a large party rather than a single bag.
Where to find the rest
All of these sit within our wider retro sweets range, alongside the rest of the classic pocket-money confectionery.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Black Jack and Fruit Salad chews?
Both launched in 1920 from Barratt: Fruit Salad is red and raspberry-and-pineapple flavoured, Black Jack is black and aniseed flavoured. Together they're the source of the "black and red chew bars" pairing.
Are chew bars vegan?
Some are. Swizzels Refreshers and the Vimto Chew Bar contain no gelatine and are labelled suitable for vegans — always check the specific product's ingredients, since this varies by brand.
Why is Toxic Waste candy so sour?
It was created in 2001 by Candy Dynamics specifically to be sour enough that kids would love the challenge and adults would struggle — extreme sourness is the brand's entire premise.
What size are chew bar cases sold in?
It varies by brand: Barratt comes in boxes of 400 pieces, Swizzels Refreshers and Vimto in cases of 60 bars, and Vidal Dipper in cases of 100 — all wholesale formats built for pocket-money resale.