Chocolate-covered raisin

Varieties and brands

Chocolate-covered raisins are known as Raisinets in the United States, a brand that debuted in 1927 from the Blumenthal Chocolate Company and remains one of the earliest and most popular versions. Ferrara, a subsidiary of Ferrero SpA, now produces Raisinets. Ferrero acquired the brand from Nestlé in 2018. Nestlé had briefly expanded the line between late 2009 and 2013 to include milk chocolate-covered dried cranberries and dried cherries.

Many other brands exist. In the United Kingdom, chocolate raisins are a classic sweetshop item, commonly sold in supermarkets under store brands in plastic sharing bags and in corner shops. Around Christmas, they appear in boxed packaging with milk, white, and dark chocolate coatings as a festive treat. Canada’s Glosette brand, introduced in the 1930s by the Walter M. Lowney Company of Canada, includes Glosette Raisins, Glosette Peanuts, and Glosette Almonds.

These candies come in small cardboard boxes rather than typical plastic wrappers. Lowney was bought by Nabisco in the 1970s, and Hershey Canada purchased the Lowney brand, including Glosettes, on July 1, 1987. In Australia, the sweets are usually called chocolate-covered sultanas instead of raisins. No particularly prominent brands dominate the Australian market, though some large local confectioners and supermarket chains produce store-brand versions.

Peru has a popular brand called Fochis, made by Compañía Nacional de Chocolates de Perú S.A. The Promotion in Motion Companies, Inc., which manufactures Welch’s Fruit Snacks, also produces a Sun-Maid brand of chocolate-covered raisins. A non-dairy version exists, made from non-refined sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, raisins, and vanillin. A similar snack commonly sold at movie theaters is the chocolate-covered peanut, and the two products are often mixed together. Less common alternatives include chocolate-covered almonds or chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.