Barratt Pick N mix
Barratt Sweets – Iconic British Retro Sweets and Pick and Mix Favourites
Barratt Sweets have occupied British sweet counters for generations, producing the sort of confectionery people recognise before they have even read the wrapper. Fruit Salad chews, Black Jacks, Refreshers, Flumps, Milk Bottles and sherbet classics all possess distinctive flavours and textures that have made Barratt one of Britain’s most enduring sweet brands.
Some confectionery manufacturers specialise in one particular idea. Barratt has spent more than a century pursuing almost all of them. The range has included chewy fruit sweets, marshmallows, fizzy candy, liquorice chews, sherbet, lollipops, jelly sweets and foam favourites. It is less a product range than a remarkably detailed tour of the traditional British sweet shop.
Explore our collection to find the Barratt retro sweets currently available online, from individually wrapped childhood favourites to colourful treats made for sharing, gifting and adding to a proper pick and mix selection.
A British Sweet-Making Name Since 1848
The Barratt story began in Shoreditch in 1848, when George Osborne Barratt established the confectionery business that would eventually become one of the best-known names in British sweets. That date gives the brand a remarkably long history: Barratt was making confectionery before most modern sweet brands had so much as considered a wrapper.
During the 1920s, the company introduced Black Jack and Fruit Salad chews, followed by Sherbet Fountain in 1925. Dip Dab arrived in 1935, Refreshers followed during the 1940s and Wham bars became an unmistakable part of the confectionery landscape in the 1980s.
New products, recipes and formats have continued to appear, but the appeal remains reassuringly familiar. Barratt sweets are colourful, playful and immediately recognisable, with strong flavours and textures that make each product feel like a character in its own right.
Fruit Salad Sweets
Fruit Salad sweets are among the great survivors of British confectionery. These individually wrapped chews combine raspberry and pineapple flavours in a small pink-and-yellow sweet with an unmistakably fruity taste.
The flavour is difficult to confuse with anything else. Raspberry provides sweetness and depth, while pineapple adds a brighter tropical edge. The firm chew gradually softens in the mouth, allowing the two flavours to develop rather than disappearing after the first bite.
Alongside the traditional chews, the Fruit Salad name has inspired newer Barratt creations and mixed-fruit formats. For many customers, however, the original wrapped sweet remains the definitive choice: compact, colourful and capable of transporting somebody back several decades before the wrapper has been completely removed.
Black Jack Sweets
Black Jacks provide a darker and altogether more distinctive counterpart to Fruit Salads. These traditional black chews are flavoured with aniseed, giving them a rich liquorice-like character unlike the fruit flavours found throughout most modern confectionery.
The unusual flavour is precisely why Black Jack sweets have endured. They are not attempting to appeal by being mild or anonymous. Their colour, aroma and taste are immediately recognisable, earning them a loyal following among lovers of liquorice sweets and traditional British chews.
Black Jacks and Fruit Salads are frequently remembered together because they share the same small wrapped format while offering completely different flavours. One is dark, aromatic and slightly mysterious; the other is bright, fruity and cheerfully tropical. Between them, they have settled the argument between liquorice and fruit by refusing to choose a side.
Barratt Refreshers Sweets
Barratt Refreshers are celebrated for their combination of chewy texture and fizzy fruit flavour. The classic Refresher Roll contains compressed sweets that dissolve with a light sherbet-like tang, while chewy Refresher varieties deliver a softer texture with a fizzy centre or sharp fruity finish.
The enduring appeal of Barratt Refreshers sweets lies in the contrast. Sweetness arrives first, followed by a lively fizz that prevents the flavour from becoming ordinary. They are particularly well suited to retro sweet selections, party bags and pick and mix because even a small piece brings a great deal of personality.
Flumps Marshmallows
Flumps are long, twisted marshmallow sweets with a soft texture, pastel colours and a gentle vanilla-style sweetness. Unlike intensely sour or heavily flavoured confectionery, they offer something altogether calmer: a light, pillowy chew that is immediately comforting.
The original Flumps remain the most recognisable, but the range has also included larger Flumps, heart-shaped varieties and other playful formats. They work especially well alongside firmer chews, fizzy sweets and jellies because their airy texture introduces contrast to a mixed selection.
There is no elaborate explanation required for a Flump. It is a generously sized piece of marshmallow designed to be soft, sweet and enjoyable. Some ideas are improved by complexity; marshmallow is rarely among them.
Barratt Milk Bottles and Milk Teeth
Barratt Milk Bottle sweets are traditional white foam sweets with a creamy flavour and a soft, slightly firm chew. Their simple bottle shape has made them a familiar sight in sweet jars and pick and mix displays across Britain.
Milk Teeth offer a similar creamy foam texture in one of confectionery’s more eccentric shapes. They are pale, chewy and instantly recognisable, although serving them in a bowl remains one of the few ways to make dental work look genuinely inviting.
Both varieties appeal to customers who prefer smooth, mellow flavours over intensely fruity or fizzy sweets. They also provide useful balance in a mixed sweet bag, sitting comfortably beside Fruit Salads, Refreshers, jelly sweets and marshmallows.
Barratt Frosties Sweets
Barratt Frosties are fondly remembered hard sweets with a bold cola flavour and a crisp sugar coating. Their firm texture creates a longer-lasting sweet than a chew or marshmallow, while the recognisable cola taste gives them broad nostalgic appeal.
For customers searching for old Barratt sweets, Frosties frequently sit alongside Black Jacks, Fruit Salads, Milk Teeth and Refreshers as one of the names most closely associated with childhood sweet shops. Availability can change, so check the current collection to see which Barratt favourites are in stock.
Dip Dab and Sherbet Fountain
Barratt has an enviable history with sherbet. Dip Dab pairs a strawberry-flavoured lollipop with a packet of fizzy sherbet powder, allowing the lolly to be dipped repeatedly until the important question becomes whether the sweet exists to carry the sherbet or the sherbet exists to improve the sweet.
Sherbet Fountain is another enduring Barratt classic. Traditionally presented in its distinctive cylindrical pack, it combines fizzy sherbet with a liquorice stick. The contrast between sharp powder and aromatic liquorice has helped it remain one of Britain’s most recognisable novelty sweets.
These products demonstrate why Barratt confectionery has remained popular for so long. Eating the sweet is only part of the experience; dipping, pouring and combining different textures turns a small treat into an activity.
Wham Sweets
Wham became famous as a chewy bar with a sharp raspberry flavour and fizzy pieces embedded throughout. Its bright packaging, strong fruit taste and substantial chew made it one of the defining sweets of the 1980s.
The Wham name has since expanded into new shapes and formats, including tangy rockets, chewy asteroids, fizzy belts and novelty sweets. These products preserve the bold fruit-and-fizz character of the original while making it easier to enjoy Wham as part of a sharing bag or pick and mix selection.
Jelly Babies, Dolly Mix and Barratt Sweet-Shop Classics
The Barratt name has also been associated with familiar sweet-counter favourites including Jelly Babies, Dolly Mix, nougat, boiled sweets, lollipops, mints and toffees. These products demonstrate the extraordinary breadth of the brand’s confectionery heritage.
Jelly Babies provide a soft fruit-flavoured chew, while Dolly Mix combines small fondant shapes with sugar-coated jellies. Nougat introduces a firmer, longer-lasting texture, and traditional boiled sweets offer the kind of slow flavour that cannot be hurried.
Together, these different varieties explain why Barratt retro sweets work so well in mixed selections. The brand does not simply offer several flavours; it offers entirely different ways of eating a sweet.
Barratt Softies and Modern Favourites
Barratt Softies reinterpret familiar retro flavours in a softer format. They offer the nostalgia associated with the original sweets while providing a gentler, more yielding chew.
The wider contemporary range has also introduced new Fruit Salad, Wham and Flumps creations, proving that a heritage confectionery brand need not behave like a museum exhibit. The classic flavours remain recognisable, but new shapes, textures and sharing formats allow them to appeal to another generation of sweet lovers.
Barratt Sweets for Pick and Mix
Barratt products feel entirely at home among Pick and Mix Sweets. They provide the variety that makes a mixed bag interesting: chewy Fruit Salads, aromatic Black Jacks, fizzy Refreshers, creamy Milk Bottles, soft Flumps and colourful jelly favourites.
A balanced Barratt pick and mix might include:
- Fruit Salad chews for raspberry and pineapple flavour
- Black Jacks for their distinctive aniseed character
- Refreshers for a fizzy fruit-flavoured contrast
- Flumps for a soft and airy marshmallow texture
- Milk Bottles or Milk Teeth for creamy foam sweetness
- Dolly Mix for colourful fondant and jelly pieces
- Jelly Babies for a familiar soft fruit chew
- Wham sweets for bold raspberry flavour and extra fizz
The result is a selection with genuine range rather than eight differently coloured versions of the same gummy. Every handful offers a new flavour, texture or small piece of British confectionery history.
Barratt Retro Sweets for Gifts and Parties
Barratt sweets make excellent additions to retro sweet boxes, hampers, jars and party selections. Older recipients may recognise favourites from childhood, while younger sweet lovers can discover why these products have survived long enough to become classics.
Individually wrapped sweets such as Fruit Salads and Black Jacks are convenient for sharing, party bags and office sweet jars. Flumps provide visual impact, Refreshers introduce fizz and traditional foam sweets add familiar pick and mix appeal.
A Barratt sweets box or hamper can suit birthdays, Christmas, thank-you gifts, movie nights and nostalgic celebrations. It is also an unusually effective way to discover which family members have been quietly holding very strong opinions about Black Jacks for several decades.
Buying Barratt Sweets Online
Shopping for Barratt sweets online makes it easier to find specific childhood favourites without relying on the limited choice offered by an ordinary supermarket confectionery aisle. Browse the current collection, compare available products and choose individual favourites or several varieties for a mixed order.
Stock changes as classic lines, new releases and seasonal formats become available. If you are searching for a particular Barratt sweet, check the current product listing rather than assuming every historic variety is permanently produced.
Barratt Sweets Ingredients and Dietary Information
Barratt products use different recipes, so there is no single ingredient or dietary statement covering the entire range. A fruit chew, marshmallow, sherbet sweet and foam sweet may contain entirely different ingredients.
Some Barratt sweets may be suitable for vegetarians or vegans, while others may contain gelatine, milk or other ingredients that make them unsuitable. The same principle applies to halal suitability, gluten, allergens, colours and flavourings.
Always check the current ingredients, allergen declaration and dietary information shown on the exact product or packaging before purchasing. Recipes can change, and the suitability of one Barratt product does not establish the status of every sweet made under the brand.
Barratt Sweets Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Most Famous Barratt Sweets?
Fruit Salad chews, Black Jacks, Refreshers, Flumps, Dip Dab, Sherbet Fountain and Wham are among the most famous Barratt products. Milk Bottles, Milk Teeth, Jelly Babies and Dolly Mix are also closely associated with the brand’s sweet-shop heritage.
Who Owns Barratt Sweets?
Barratt is currently part of Valeo Foods UK, whose confectionery portfolio includes several long-established British sweet brands.
When Was Barratt Founded?
The Barratt confectionery business was founded by George Osborne Barratt in Shoreditch in 1848. The brand therefore has more than 170 years of British sweet-making history.
Are Barratt Sweets Retro Sweets?
Many Barratt products are considered retro sweets because they have been enjoyed for generations. Fruit Salads, Black Jacks, Refreshers, Sherbet Fountain, Dip Dab and Wham are particularly popular in nostalgic sweet selections.
Are Barratt Sweets Vegetarian or Vegan?
Suitability varies between products and recipes. Check the current label for each individual sweet rather than assuming that the entire Barratt range is vegetarian or vegan.
Can I Add Barratt Sweets to Pick and Mix?
Yes. Chews, marshmallows, foam sweets, jellies and fizzy favourites from the Barratt range provide excellent flavour and texture variety in a pick and mix bag.
Where Can I Buy Barratt Sweets Online?
You can buy Barratt sweets online from Sweets Shop. Browse this collection to see the retro chews, marshmallows, fizzy favourites and sweet-shop classics currently available for UK delivery.
Shop Barratt Sweets Online
Few confectionery brands can offer the fruity chew of a Fruit Salad, the aniseed character of a Black Jack, the soft sweetness of a Flump and the fizzy excitement of a Refresher without wandering outside their own family of products.
Explore our Barratt Sweets collection and rediscover the flavours, textures and wonderfully eccentric ideas that have helped make Barratt a British sweet-shop institution since 1848.