New study reveals the UK’s favourite retro sweet (and it’s not what you’d expect)

From the humble wine gum to flying saucers and humbugs, can you guess the UK’s favourite retro sweet? Research conducted by digital marketing agency Semetrical can reveal that jelly beans are the UK’s most popular sweet, with an average of 18,100 searches every month.

Joining jelly beans in the coveted top spots are parma violets, humbugs, jelly beans and jelly tots. Parma Violets, named after the violet flowers of Parma, Italy first came onto the scene in the 1920s, while it’s believed that humbugs have been around since as early as the 1820s! 

Love heart sweets with classic messages such as ‘BE MINE’ and ‘HUG ME’ have been a firm favourite with kids and adults alike since they first appeared in 1954. It seems that the UK’s fondness for these small tablet-sized love notes lives on – with 8,100 average searches per month. In more recent years, the makers of love heart sweets have incorporated popular emojis and new messages including ‘SKYPE ME’ and ‘SWIPE RIGHT’. Who said romance is dead?

Also appearing in the top ten are the ever-divisive liquorice allsorts, Hubba Bubba bubble gum, wine gums and the ultimate crowd pleasers – rhubarb and custard. 

Where does your favourite rank?

Sweet Delivery Trends 

Our research also uncovered a significant increase in sweet delivery related searches, with ‘sweet delivery’ up 1550% and ‘pick and mix delivery’ up 1650%, suggesting weeks of living under lockdown have left many turning to sweet treats for comfort. 

Other related searches experiencing a surge in demand include:

Data was collected using Google Adwords and Google Trends.