Sherbet, bon bons and boiled sweets cover a lot of ground once you actually look past the exact wording of the search term — chocolate limes, sherbet lemons and half a dozen bon bon flavours between them make up one of the best-stocked corners of the traditional sweet shop. Here's the full range and what's genuinely in each one.
Chocolate Limes
Chocolate limes pair a sharp, tangy lime-flavoured hard shell with a soft chocolate centre — an odd-sounding combination that's stayed popular since the Victorian era, when it was first put together, and one that's still hard to find outside British sweet shops. We stock Bonds Chocolate Limes Bags 120g and Stockley's Chocolate Flavoured Limes 3kg for bulk buying.
Sherbet Lemons
A classic hard-boiled lemon sweet with a fizzy sherbet powder centre — the crack of the shell releasing a burst of sherbet is really the entire point of the sweet. We stock Stockley's Sherbet Lemons 3kg, sold loose by the bag, and Bonds Sherbet Lemons Jar 1.7kg, individually twist-wrapped with no artificial colours or flavours. For a vegan-friendly option there's also Kingsway Vegan Lemon Sherbet 3kg.
Bon Bons — Lemon, Strawberry, Blue Raspberry & Toffee
Bon bons started life a long way from a British sweet shop counter — the word comes from the French "bon," and 17th-century French bonbons were sugared almonds enjoyed at the royal court. What British sweet shops sell under the same name today is a genuinely different thing: a chewy, fondant-based centre dusted in icing sugar, usually fruit- or toffee-flavoured rather than chocolate. That's the distinctly British branch of the family tree, and it's what all of the following actually are.
We stock Bonds Lemon Bon Bons Jar 2.1kg and Bonds Blue Raspberry Bon Bons Jar 2.1kg, both made without artificial colours or flavours and suitable for vegetarians. Kingsway's range covers the same flavours at bulk scale: Kingsway Strawberry Bon Bons 3kg, Kingsway Blue Raspberry Bon Bons 3kg, and Kingsway Toffee Bon Bons 3kg, which is made with real sweetened condensed milk and is the one most people reach for first. Each 3kg bag holds roughly 750 pieces. For more on what actually goes into the mix, see our piece on what's inside a bon bon.
Vimto Bon Bons & Vimto Chew Bars
Vimto itself dates back to 1908, when John Noel Nichols created it in Manchester as a herbal tonic drink originally called Vim Tonic, shortened to Vimto in 1912. Well over a century later, the flavour has moved well beyond the bottle. Vimto Bon Bons Share Bag 140g brings that flavour into a chewy bon bon made with real fruit juice, and Vimto Chew Bar Box (60 Bars) is a box of individually wrapped, price-marked chew bars, suitable for vegans, unlike most of the bon bon range above.
Frequently asked questions
What flavour are chocolate limes?
A sharp lime-flavoured hard shell around a soft chocolate centre. The combination dates to the Victorian era.
What's inside a sherbet lemon?
A hard, boiled lemon sugar shell with a fizzy sherbet powder centre, released when you bite or suck through to the middle.
What are bon bons made of?
British-style bon bons are chewy, fondant-based sweets dusted in icing sugar, usually fruit- or toffee-flavoured — different from the French bonbon, which is typically a chocolate.
Are Vimto Bon Bons made with real Vimto?
They're made with real fruit juice and carry the Vimto name and flavour, from the brand that's made the Vimto drink since 1908.