Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles (rebranded in Australia as Wonka Fruit Pastilles sometime after the 1988 acquisition of Rowntree's by Nestlé) are small round sweets measuring about 1.5 cm/0.6 in in diameter; they have a jelly-like consistency- due to the gelatin they are made from, and are covered with sugar. They contain fruit juice and no artificial colours or flavours and come in five flavours: lemon (yellow), lime (green), strawberry (red), blackcurrant (purple) and orange (orange). Ice-lolly versions were originally made in Telford, Shropshire but are now made in Cross Gates, West Yorkshire by Richmond Foods after it bought Nestlé's ice cream division in 2001.
Contents |
History
Joseph Rowntree, the son of a Quaker grocer, was born in York on 24 May 1836. After only five years of schooling Joseph began work as a grocer. He started with his father at fourteen but part of his apprenticeship involved working in London. While working in the city Joseph became very interested in politics and regularly attended debates at the House of Commons.
Joseph Rowntree returned to work for his father but in 1869 he left to join his brother, Henry Rowntree, who owned the Cocoa, Chocolate & Chicory Works in York. The company only employed 30 workers at the time, but under Joseph's influence the company grew rapidly and by the end of the century it was an enormous international concern with over 4,000 employees. Fruit Pastilles were first made in Fawdon, Tyneside, England in 1881. Before then, manufacture of gums and pastilles had been a French monopoly. They are commonly known as Mao chews in Burnley, NW England.
Packaging
Tubes of Fruit Pastilles are wrapped in foil-backed paper (foil on the outside, paper on the inside) with a paper wrapper over the top. The paper wrapper is green in colour with "Fruit Pastilles" written along the front in large lettering, along the bottom of the lettering there are pictures of different types of fruit all relating to the flavours within the packet. Fruit Pastilles come in a small tube of about 52.5, and are also available in bags, which are bigger than the tubes, and carry a weight of about 180g/6.3 oz, both of which are extremely popular. Over 40 million tubes of Pastilles were consumed in 2006.[citation needed] They are also available in boxes and larger round cardboard tubes, along with smarties, jelly tots etc in the style of a larger version of the original round smarties tube.
Packs containing only black and red Fruit Pastilles are also available.
See also
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
