Milk Bottle sweets are instantly familiar - a small, chewy, bottle-shaped fondant with a mild milky flavour - but they belong to a confectionery name with a far longer and better-documented history than the sweet itself.
A brand that predates almost everything else on the shelf
Barratt & Co was founded in 1848 by George Osborne Barratt, starting as a small operation in Hoxton, London, with a single sugar boiler working out of 32 Shepherdess Walk. The company grew fast by Victorian standards: by 1906 it was, by its own account, the largest confectionery manufacturer in the world, and it became a limited company in 1909. One of its earliest hits, a toffee that didn't set properly, ended up named by customers rather than the company - they called it "stuff that sticks the jaw," shortened to Stickjaw, and it stuck.
Changing hands, staying British
Barratt has passed through several owners without disappearing: Bassett's bought the company in 1966, Cadbury Schweppes took it on in 1989, and it's been part of Tangerine Confectionery - now rebranded as Valeo Confectionery - since 2008. Through all of that, the Barratt name has stayed on the sweets rather than being retired, which is part of why a brand this old is still a familiar sight on pick 'n' mix shelves.
Where Milk Bottles fit, and an honest gap
We can't give you an exact launch year for the Milk Bottle specifically - it isn't documented anywhere we could verify, unlike Barratt's own company history. What we can say is that milk-flavoured sweets have been part of Barratt's range for a long time; surviving factory photographs from the company's Wood Green works in the late 1940s list "Milk Caramels" among the products on display, showing milk flavours were already an established part of the line-up by then, even if the Milk Bottle shape itself came later.
What we stock
We carry Barratt Milk Bottle Sweets 2kg, a soft chewy fondant in the familiar miniature bottle shape. See more of the brand in our Barratt range, or browse the wider Retro Sweets collection.
Frequently asked questions
Who makes Milk Bottle sweets?
Barratt - we stock the Barratt Milk Bottle Sweets 2kg bag.
When did Barratt launch Milk Bottles?
No documented date exists, though milk-flavoured sweets have been part of Barratt's range since at least the 1940s.
What's a Milk Bottle sweet made of?
A soft, chewy fondant moulded into a miniature bottle shape, flavoured like sweetened milk.
Is Barratt still a British company?
Yes - it's changed owners several times (Bassett's, then Cadbury Schweppes, then Tangerine/Valeo Confectionery) but still makes sweets in the UK.