Liquorice allsorts

History

According to company lore, Bassett's sales rep Charlie Thompson stumbled while showing samples to a client in Leicester in 1899, scattering the sweets. As he hastily sorted them, the client liked the accidental mix. Bassett's then began mass-producing the allsorts.

Two varieties contain no liquorice: Fruit Allsorts, with mixed-fruit sweets, and Dessert Allsorts, featuring flavours like apple tart and lemon cheesecake. Both keep the original shapes and textures. Red allsorts, made with fruit-flavoured liquorice, appeared briefly in the late 1990s, were discontinued, and later returned to the UK.

Bertie Bassett

The Bassett's company mascot, Bertie Bassett, is a figure constructed from liquorice allsorts and has become a familiar part of British culture. He was first created by advertising copywriter Frank Regan, who built the original version using the sweets and pipe-cleaners. Today, the allsorts mix includes a liquorice sweet shaped like Bertie. In the Doctor Who episode The Happiness Patrol, a villain called the Kandy Man was made from liquorice allsorts and was considered by some to look like Bertie Bassett.

An internal investigation found no trademark infringement, but the BBC agreed not to use the Kandy Man again. In the 2001 comedy film Mike Bassett: England Manager, Bertie Bassett appears briefly on a newspaper with the headline "Bassett's Allsorts". In February 2009, Bassett's staged a mock wedding at its Sheffield factory as a publicity stunt, featuring actors dressed as Bertie and Betty Bassett, another character made from confectionery.

Did You Know?

• The original items mixed by Thompson were chips, rocks, buttons, nuggets, plugs and twists.
• South African confectionery giant Beacon produces substantial quantities of the product, selling it locally and exporting it to Australia, Canada and Portugal.
• Red allsorts included flavours such as Blueberry Cube, Strawberry Check and a red liquorice "Betty Bassett".