Bertie Bassett is reeling from the double blow of declining sales and the war on sugar.
Sales of liquorice allsorts of all brands have shrunk nearly 10 per cent in the past year.
It’s the only type of confectionery to see a downturn in demand as British kids lose their taste for the old favourite.
And new rules that sweets contain less than 50 per cent sugar could spell the end. Industry mag The Grocer says: “That’s bad news for liquorice allsorts, which are made almost entirely of sugar.”
Sugar also accounts for more than half the content of sweets such as sherbet lemons and fudge.
Liquorice allsort sales fell nearly eight per cent to £23.5million. They have declined since 2016 and are down 11 per cent overall, say retail analysts Kantar.
The firm’s Jackson Woods said the fall was partly driven by fewer promotions.
“Those who grew up on aniseed continue to enjoy the sweets, with over-65s accounting for more than half of sales,” he said.
Demand for other sweets – from fruit pastilles to mint and toffee – rose 2.7 per cent to £898million.
Bassett’s Liquorice Allsorts, now part of Cadbury-owned Mondelez, were created by accident in 1899, when an accident-prone salesman tripped up, mixing up the different liquorice sweets he was carrying.
Sheffield-based Bassett’s made Bertie Bassett its mascot in 1929, making this year his 90th birthday.
The Institute for Economic Affairs has warned some sweets would be impossible to produce under a new government recommendation they contain no more than 48.4 per cent sugar by 2020.
