# Jelly Tots

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**Source:** sweeties.net, online pick and mix sweet shop

## Summary

Jelly Tots are small, round, sugar coated fruit jellies, invented at Rowntree's by Dr Brian Boffey of Leeds and launched in 1965.

## Description

Jelly Tots are a popular children's sweet: small, round, soft fruit jellies coated in sugar. They were created in the 1960s and are still sold under the Rowntree's name.
What Jelly Tots are
Jelly Tots are soft, chewy, fruit flavoured sweets. They are round, sugar coated drops, a little like gumdrops. They contain 25 per cent fruit juices and no artificial colours or flavours.
Who invented them
Jelly Tots were invented by Dr Brian Boffey of Horsforth, in Leeds, when he was working for Rowntree's. They were launched in 1965 and quickly became established as a popular children's brand in Europe.
The Rowntree's jelly sweets
Jelly Tots belong to a family of Rowntree's jelly sweets that goes back to Victorian York. In 1881 Rowntree's introduced Fruit Pastilles, to compete with French imports, and they were so successful that by 1887 they made up about a quarter of the company's output. Rowntree's Fruit Gums followed in 1893, and much later, in 2009, Rowntree's Randoms.
Today the products still sold under the Rowntree name include Fruit Gums, Fruit Pastilles and Jelly Tots. The Rowntree brand is used by Nestlé for its jelly sweets. See Joseph Rowntree, the Quaker chocolate maker.
From Rowntree's to Nestlé
Rowntree's was founded in York in 1862 and grew into one of the big three British chocolate and sweet makers, alongside Cadbury and Fry. In 1988 it was bought by Nestlé, and in 1991 Rowntree's ceased to exist as a separate company, becoming part of Nestlé UK. The name lives on in the sweets: see when Nestlé bought Rowntree.
Jelly Tots and other children's sweets
Jelly Tots sit alongside other soft sweets made with children in mind, such as dolly mixtures: see dolly mixtures. For the difference between gummy sweets and jellies, see what is the difference between gummies and jellies?

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