SWEET lovers may remember Nestlé’s Polo Fruits and Polo Gummies, before they were discontinued.
The food giant is known for making Spearmint Polos, but its lesser-known cousins have well and truly disappeared.
What were Polo Fruits?
Polo Fruits consisted of assorted fruit-flavoured hard candies, offering a variety of flavours such as strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, lemon, and lime.
On the other hand, Polo Gummies were soft, chewy candies with a fruit flavour, shaped in the classic Polo form.
They resemble their predecessor, the “mint with a hole,” originally developed in the late 1930s by George Harris.
He was the man behind some of Rowntree’s biggest brands at the time, including KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Black Magic, and Dairy Box, according to Nestlé’s website.
However, the onset of the Second World War and subsequent sugar rationing caused the idea to be shelved, only coming to fruition in 1948.
Polo Fruits were subsequently launched in 1954, and the Gummies variant was introduced in the 1990s alongside the flavours Fizz Fruits, Tangy Fruits, and Holes.
Why and when were Polo Fruits discontinued?
In December 2023, the Swiss company announced that it had axed the popular Polo Fruits and Polo Gummies from its treats lineup in the UK.
Fans of the sweet treats expressed their dismay on social media, unable to find the items in stores.
Nestle wrote on a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Unfortunately, our Polo Fruits and Polo Gummies were not as popular as others in the range and have been discontinued.
“But we’ll surely let the team know you’d like to see them back.”
One user said: “I will never get over the discontinuation of fruit polos.”
Another said: “I preferred the Polo Fruits, I couldn’t get enough of them, I loved them, it was a very sad day when they were discontinued.”
In 2023, Nestlé reported that revenues fell in the first nine months of the year, as falling volumes and currency headwinds outweighed the impact of higher prices.
At the time, the company’s CEO, Mark Schneider, said he had “confidence that real internal growth, the sum of volume and mix, will turn positive in the second half of the year and again become the main driver of growth going forward”.
Why do Polos have a hole?
But how did they get the hole?
The mints were reportedly created in the UK by Rowntree’s employees John Bargewell and George Harris in 1948.
It’s thought they took inspiration for the hole from US brand of sweets, Life Savers, which also had a hole in the middle.
The idea for the mint was developed in the late 1930s, but it was shelved due to sugar rationing during the Second World War.
However, in 1948 George Harris was determined to resurrect the idea – and the Polo was born.
On April 1, 1995, Polo famously announced that “in accordance with EEC Council Regulation (EC) 631/95” they would no longer be producing mints with holes.
But of course this was an April’s Fool – and the much-loved sweet lives on.
He added: “Pricing will be more targeted, by brand and by country.”
While it’s not clear if this is the reason behind the sweet’s discontinuation, it may have played a factor.
What is similar to Polo Fruits?
Of course there are the original round mints known as “Polo Original,” as well as the sugar-free version of the sweet.
Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles are often compared to Polo Fruits, which come in blackcurrant, lemon, strawberry, lime, and orange flavours.
These classic treats are also chewy and have an equally long history in the UK, spanning back over 130 years.
In 2020, the recipe was adapted to be vegan-friendly by removing the gelatine, derived from collagen from animal parts.
Starburst, or Opal Fruits as it was previously known, also comes in a range of fruity tastes including strawberry, orange, lemon, and blackcurrant.
For a slightly healthier option, there are Bear Fruit Splits, which are dried fruit and vegetable sticks with apples, pears, pineapple, and raspberries.
While Skittles have a moderately different texture, you can still “taste the rainbow” with flavours like strawberry, lime, grape, lemon, and orange.
The lentil-shaped candies are produced and marketed by the Wrigley Company, a division of Mars Inc.
Wrigley’s own Juicy Fruit Gum used to be more widely available in the UK, but now they’re few and far between.
