Golden Nuggets have been sold loose, by weight, wrapped in that same gold twist wrapper for so long that most people who grew up on them couldn't tell you when they first tried one - just that the jar was always there.
A Barratt original
The Golden Nugget comes from Barratt, one of Britain's oldest sweet makers, founded in London in 1848 by George Barratt. Barratt built its name on boiled sweets and jelly sweets before chewy lines like the Golden Nugget became pick 'n' mix staples. The brand now sits under Tangerine Confectionery, which also produces other heritage Barratt lines including Sherbet Lemons and Pear Drops.
What sets it apart from a plain toffee
- Texture — softer and more pliable than a hard toffee, chewy without the jaw workout of a treacle toffee.
- Flavour — a buttery caramel base, deeper and richer than a plain caramel chew.
- Wrapper — the gold twist-wrap gives it its name and makes it stand out in a pick 'n' mix tray of similarly shaped chews.
A pick 'n' mix mainstay
Unlike bar-format toffees, Golden Nuggets were designed from the start to be sold loose and scooped by the handful, which is why they've stayed a fixture of weighed-out sweet counters rather than moving to a branded multipack format. That format is exactly what makes them a natural fit alongside other retro sweets sold the same way.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Golden Nugget sweet?
It's a chewy toffee-caramel sweet made by Barratt, individually wrapped in a gold-coloured twist wrapper, sold loose by weight rather than as a bar.
Who makes Golden Nuggets?
Barratt, a British confectioner founded in London in 1848, now produced under the Tangerine Confectionery group which owns the Barratt brand.
Are Golden Nuggets the same as toffee or caramel?
They sit between the two - a soft, chewy caramel-toffee with a slightly deeper, more buttery flavour than a plain caramel, closer in texture to a soft toffee than a hard one.