Confirmed sighting: Rowntree's Randoms
Posted: 10:37 Sun 07-Jun-2009. Price: 40p/50g bag. Location: Sainsbury's, Finchley Road, London. Nutritional unusualness: "No artificial colours or flavours" - forcing them to resort to the likes of Nettle Extract, Spinach Extract, Black Carrot, Pepper, Hibiscus, and Salt.
Snackspot reports: "Four different textures, six fruit flavours and 258 different shape and colour combinations, with shapes as diverse as a monkey, cupcake, acorn, shuttlecock, palm tree and even a pair of y-fronts" - take that, Haribo! I reckon you'd have to be a bit of an expert to readily distinguish between the "regular jelly", "foam-backed jelly", "foamy sweet" and "liquid-filled jelly" textures in a blind taste-test, but well done to Rowntree for keeping up with this year's "soft and chewy" trend - perhaps also the inspiration for Fruittella Liquorice and Fruit sweets and Fruittella Juicy Gummies, plus the Pulse Crisp Tropical flavour of Wrigley's 5.

...(That said, I'd question the wisdom of Wrigley naming their Cobalt Cooling Peppermint after a metallic element associated with 'dirty bombs' - sadly, "Sizzling Caesium" and "Soothing Strontium" do not appear in the rest of the range.) Anyway, in other fruity finds: there's a pleasant - if ultimately undefinable - aroma to the new Berry Snack-A-Jacks (46p/30g bag, Sainsbury); McVitie's Mini Croissants (currently £1/ bag of 7 in Tesco) are available with either something like Nutella or strawberry jam in the middle; and word is that Kellogg's may be getting rid of their FruitaBu dried fruit range, which always seemed intriguing but unlikely-to-be-missed by many?

Add a comment | # Permalink to this page | 17 comment(s) so far: (NB: NO IDENTITIES ARE VERIFIED; ANYONE COULD ACTUALLY BE FROM THE MANUFACTURERS OR COMPETING COMPANIES. ALL CELEBRITY POSTINGS ARE IMPERSONATED ... POORLY)

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Posted: 15:06 Sun 07-Jun-2009 by Zeddy # permalink comment
Comment: I tried the Randoms a few weeks ago. Ok but not really bringing anything new to the table, I thought.

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Posted: 10:41 Mon 08-Jun-2009 by "Benj" # permalink comment
Comment: I love the branding on the Randoms, but could take or leave the contents - not a patch on Haribo.

The Fruittella Juicy gummies, on the other hand, went straight in the bin after an attempt at each flavour.

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Posted: 13:39 Tue 09-Jun-2009 by "Jobbo" # permalink comment
Comment: I ate a packet of these a few weeks ago, and really enjoyed them - and have only today found them again. Much less rubbery than Haribo; sensible sized packets also mean I don't get a buzz all afternoon from accidentally eating a pound of gelatine and sugar.

I happened to notice that the two packets I purchased today have different sweets illustrated on the front. I wonder how random they really are.

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Posted: 23:22 Sun 14-Jun-2009 by "Lou" # permalink comment
Comment: I love these . They are a proper happy sweet to make you smile.

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Posted: 14:13 Mon 22-Jun-2009 by "Heather!" # permalink comment
Comment: I had a packet of these the other day and thought they were absolutely disgusting!!

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Posted: 16:26 Mon 22-Jun-2009 by "did" # permalink comment
Comment: have they got geletine in them coz i cant have it if they do then screw you

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Posted: 18:19 Mon 22-Jun-2009 by "Nick T" # permalink comment
Comment: Ah, you can't fool me - you're Stephen Fry aren't you? I can tell that wry gracious wit anywhere.

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Posted: 13:56 Tue 30-Jun-2009 by "Scott" # permalink comment
Comment: Most disappointing sweet ever. Seriously!

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Posted: 20:09 Tue 30-Jun-2009 by "Nick T" # permalink comment
Comment: These taste exactly like those 'real fruit' soft pastilles that RownNestletree's were flogging last Summer, and I didn't think much of them either. The KY jelly or brake fluid or whatever the hell it is they coat them in leaves a nasty film on your fingers, and the texture is like something you'd give to a baby or a geriatric or somebody with no teeth. Son, pass me mah shotgun and them thar Haribos.

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Posted: 13:41 Wed 08-Jul-2009 by "Alice Kay"
(apparently posting from 149.254.200.216: ) # permalink comment
Comment: Nothing new - but if you are looking for a quality fruit gum then try the original Lions Sports Mix a random mix for grown ups! Have a look at http://www.thevillagesweetshop.co.uk thanks!

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Posted: 21:31 Wed 08-Jul-2009 by "ct" # permalink comment
Comment: How new is a fruit flavoured jelly ever going to be, people? There are loads on the market. I do like the texture and type of flavour with this and the "on trend" branding for the kids is charming. They make me smile.

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Posted: 22:25 Thu 09-Jul-2009 by "todd" # permalink comment
Comment: a million zillion times better than them manky haribos

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Posted: 10:54 Tue 14-Jul-2009 by "Plomp" # permalink comment
Comment: The misuse of the word random needs to stop NOW. Rowntree's, you are not helping.

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Posted: 03:23 Sat 25-Jul-2009 by "GSD Owner" # permalink comment
Comment: Nothing new I thought. Also there's bugger all in a pack!

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Posted: 09:43 Mon 03-Aug-2009 by "snapper"
(apparently posting from 86.143.241.142: ) # permalink comment
Comment: Poor attempt at a mix - Much prefer Haribos to this nonsense. Most of my pack had all the same things :(

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Posted: 10:06 Tue 04-Aug-2009 by "RB" # permalink comment
Comment: Whatever happened to Rowntree's 'Nutty'? Bring them back I say!

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Posted: 17:27 Tue 27-Oct-2009 by "Jeangenie"
(apparently posting from 212.32.66.186: ) # permalink comment
Comment: There are hardly any in a packet!! Also they taste awful (apart from any orange ones!). The shapes are quite cool. God knows whats in them though! I quite agree with 'plomp'! My friends say everything is random and most of the time, its not!

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