The 2000s were less about single blockbuster bars and more about imports finally reaching Britain and old favourites staging comebacks, two genuinely new arrivals and two well-timed returns defined the decade.
2001: Kinder Bueno reaches the UK
Kinder Bueno had already existed in Italy since 1990, a crisp wafer shell wrapped around a hazelnut cream centre and coated in milk chocolate, but it didn't land on UK shelves until 2001. It arrived into a market well used to wafer bars like Kit Kat, but its hazelnut cream centre, closer to a spread than a solid filling, gave it a genuinely different bite that helped it carve out its own space fast.
2002: Cadbury's Dream
Cadbury launched Dream in 2002, its white chocolate bar, backed by a high-profile sponsorship of Coronation Street that put the brand in front of millions of viewers every week. It sold well through the decade before eventually being folded away as a standalone bar, though Cadbury has continued to use white chocolate in other lines since.
2009: two comebacks and a tube of chaos
2009 turned out to be a packed year for British sweets:
- Wispa Gold — originally launched back in 1995 and long since discontinued, was brought back for a limited run in September 2009 after a Facebook fan campaign, launching first in a single shop in Carlisle before rolling out nationally
- Rowntree's Randoms — launched on 18 May 2009, a tube of jelly and foam sweets moulded into more than a hundred different shapes, from saxophones to sports cars, with marketing built entirely around the promise that no two tubes were the same
- Chewits — already a 1965 original, got a fresh lease of life in 2009 with new pack designs and the reintroduction of Ice Cream Chewits, brought back specifically after an online fan petition
It's a decade that shows how much of British sweet culture by this point was already about heritage, whether that meant finally importing an established European favourite, or bringing back something fans had never really let go of. You'll find plenty of that same spirit running through our retro sweets range today.
Frequently asked questions
When did Kinder Bueno launch in the UK?
Kinder Bueno was created in Italy in 1990 but didn't reach UK shelves until 2001, arriving as a wafer bar with a hazelnut cream centre coated in milk chocolate.
What was Cadbury's Dream bar?
Dream was Cadbury's white chocolate bar, launched in the UK in 2002 and promoted heavily through a sponsorship tie-in with Coronation Street, though it has since been discontinued in its original standalone form.
When did Rowntree's Randoms launch?
Rowntree's Randoms launched in the UK on 18 May 2009, a tube of fruit gum and foam sweets moulded into over a hundred different everyday-object shapes, marketed on the idea that no two tubes were ever quite the same.