80’s advert for Chewits sweets.

Chewits are a British confectionery manufactured by the Leaf Corporation, and were originally launched in the UK in 1965. Chewits are a type of confectionery known as Taffy and come in a variety of flavours including Strawberry, Fruit Salad, Blackcurrant, rarer Orange, Lime and Lemon flavours and also come in an Xtremely Sour range. The limited edition of Ice Cream Chewits, that were released back in 1999, will also become part of the permanent range of flavours in the spring of 2009. Many people are happy about this.

In the late 1960s, Leaf started exporting Chewits to Scandinavia and the Middle East and has expanded greatly since then, now selling the sweet in countries such as Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Russia, the Baltic States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

During the 1990s, various limited edition flavours of Chewits were released, including such flavours as Ice Cream, Cola, Tropical, Rhubarb & Custard and Spearmint. It has recently been announced that in the spring (around May) of 2009 Ice Cream flavour Chewits will be making a comeback. There has also been a “fizzy” version which left a tingling sensation on the tongue.

They are one of the most popular sweets in Britain but their future may be in danger as their main factory in Southport recently closed.  Chewits’ biggest competitors are Starburst and Skittles.

The brand is fronted by a green mascot, Chewie the Chewitsaurus, who is modelled to look like a dinosaur. Chewie first appeared in television advertisements in 1980, when he was known as “The Muncher” (he changed his name to Chewie ten years later).

^{info gleaned from Wikipedia}