Salted caramel has been a 'trend' for long enough now that calling it one almost undersells it - what started as a regional French specialty is now a permanent fixture across chocolate bars, truffles, ice cream and bakery.
A Brittany invention, not a marketing idea
The format is generally credited to Henri Le Roux, a chocolatier and pastry chef working in Brittany, who created and trademarked Caramel au Beurre Salé in the late 1970s. The recipe leaned on Brittany's long-standing reputation for salted butter, rather than inventing a new ingredient - it simply refused to leave the salt out of a caramel the way most recipes did.
How it went mainstream
Pastry chef Pierre Hermé is widely credited with pushing the idea into wider French and then American pastry circles, including a salted caramel macaron and a fleur de sel finish on chocolate caramel tarts that New York pastry chefs were replicating by the early 2000s. Mass-market adoption followed soon after - Häagen-Dazs's salted caramel ice cream, launched around 2008, is often pointed to as the moment the flavour broke into everyday grocery shopping.
Why it keeps working
The standard explanation is that a touch of salt intensifies how sweet something tastes while balancing out caramel's natural bitterness - the same principle behind other sweet-and-salty pairings like peanut butter and jam. Trade data cited in confectionery industry press put global salted caramel growth at 105% between 2015 and 2020, suggesting it's settled in as a staple rather than fading like a typical flavour-of-the-year.
What we actually stock right now
We carry a genuinely wide salted caramel range: Yorkie Salted Caramel Pretzel Milk Chocolate Duo Bar, Lindt Lindor Salted Caramel Chocolate Truffles Box 200g, Booja-Booja Almond Salted Caramel Chocolate Truffles 92g (dairy-free), Kingsway Salted Caramel & Sea Salt Peanut Clusters 2kg, and the KitKat Salted Caramel Chocolate Sharing Bar — all in stock now.
Frequently asked questions
Where did salted caramel actually come from?
Breton chocolatier Henri Le Roux, who trademarked Caramel au Beurre Salé in Brittany in the late 1970s.
Why does salt make caramel taste better rather than worse?
Salt is said to intensify perceived sweetness and balance caramel's natural bitterness.
What salted caramel products does Supreme Sweets stock?
Yorkie Salted Caramel Pretzel, Lindt Lindor Salted Caramel Truffles, Booja-Booja Almond Salted Caramel truffles, Kingsway Salted Caramel & Sea Salt Peanut Clusters, and KitKat salted caramel bars.
Is salted caramel still growing as a flavour?
Yes - reported global growth of 105% between 2015 and 2020, and it remains a permanent category rather than a fading trend.