Liquorice allsorts
Encyclopedia
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine. They were first produced in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd who had taken over Wilkinsons (Pontefract cakes/mushrooms), Barratts (sherbet fountains/sweet cigarettes) and Trebor (mints) before being taken over themselves by the Cadbury's
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury is a confectionery company owned by Kraft Foods and is the industry's second-largest globally after Mars, Incorporated. Headquartered in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom, the company operates in more than 50 countries worldwide....
consortium).
Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world today, and are most popular in Britain, continental Europe, and North America . South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n confectionery giant Beacon produces substantial quantities of the product, where it is both sold locally and exported to such countries as Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Bassett's use the story of their creation in their marketing. In 1899, Charlie Thompson, a sales representative, supposedly dropped a tray of samples he was showing a client in Leicester, mixing up the various sweets. He scrambled to re-arrange them, and the client was intrigued by the new creation. Quickly the company began to mass-produce the allsorts, and they became very popular.
The Bassett's company mascot is Bertie Bassett, a figure made up of liquorice allsorts, which has become a part of British popular culture. Bertie was created by John (Jack) McEwan and was finally made known to the public on 1 January 1929 after months of internal discussion. One of the sweets in the current allsorts mix is a liquorice figure shaped like Bertie. The Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial The Happiness Patrol
The Happiness Patrol
The Happiness Patrol is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 2 November to 16 November 1988.-Plot:...
featured a villain called the Kandy Man, who resembled Bertie Bassett. Although an internal investigation concluded that the programme had not infringed on Bassett's trademark, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
promised Bassett's that the Kandy Man would not appear again.
Bassett's have since released two varieties of allsorts that do not feature any liquorice. Fruit allsorts feature mixed-fruit flavoured sweets, while Dessert allsorts have flavours such as apple tart
Tart
A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard....
and lemon cheesecake
Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a dessert consisting of a topping made of soft, fresh cheese, usually on a crust or base made from biscuit , pastry or sponge cake. They may be baked or unbaked...
. Both retain the shapes and textures of the original sweet. Red allsorts, with fruit-flavoured liquorice, were briefly released in the late 1990s, discontinued and recently re-introduced to the UK with flavours including Blueberry Cube, Strawberry Check and a red liquorice Betty Bassett.
As a publicity stunt, Bertie Bassett married Betty, another character made of sweets, in February 2009.