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Wham bars
A long, thin, sticky chew with crunchy bits of sherbet running through it. For kids of the 1980s, a Wham bar was the ultimate pocket money buy.
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The Wham bar is a thin, chewy bar with coloured pieces of fizzy sherbet running through it. It was created in Scotland in the early 1980s, and it is sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Made in Stenhousemuir
Wham bars were introduced in the early 1980s by McCowan's, a Scottish sweet maker based in Stenhousemuir, near Falkirk, which also made Highland Toffee. At the peak of their popularity, 30 million Wham bars were sold every year.
The flavours
The original Wham bar is raspberry. Over the years many other flavours have joined it, including strawberry, cola, sour apple, sour cherry, an extreme sour blackcurrant, and Brew, a flavour similar to Scotland's Irn Bru. Most come in standard, mega and mini sizes. In 2009 Wham sherbet dips joined the range, with a blackcurrant lolly and sherbet, and in 2010 a strawberry Glam Bar followed.
Hard times for McCowan's
The company behind the Wham bar went through a turbulent few decades. McCowan's was bought by Nestlé in 1959, bought out by its management in 1989, sold to the Dutch confectioner Phideas in 1996, and independent again in 2003. In 2005 it merged with John Millar and Sons to form Millar McCowan, which went into administration in 2006. A new company, The New McCowan's, followed, and it too went into administration in 2011.
Saved in 2011
On 14 October 2011 it was announced that the Wham bar and Highland Toffee brands had been bought by Tangerine Confectionery, now part of Valeo, the same group that makes Barratt sweets such as Black Jacks and Refreshers. The old McCowan's factory in Stenhousemuir closed in 2011.
A sweet of the 1980s
Wham bars are now made by the same group as Black Jacks, Fruit Salads and Refreshers. For McCowan's toffee, see Highland toffee, and for the other sweets of that decade, what sweets were popular in the 1980s?.
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
What flavour is a Wham bar?
The original is raspberry. Other flavours have included strawberry, cola, sour apple and Brew, a flavour similar to Irn Bru.
Who makes Wham bars?
They were created by McCowan's in Scotland. Since 2011 the brand has belonged to Tangerine Confectionery, now part of Valeo.
What is inside a Wham bar?
A chewy bar with coloured pieces of sherbet mixed through it.
Sources
Keep reading
- British heritage sweetsHighland toffeeMcCowan's Highland Toffee is a chewy Scottish toffee bar from Stenhousemuir. Legend says the recipe was bought in a pub for the price of a pint.
- British heritage sweetsBlack jacksBlack Jacks are black, aniseed flavoured chews first sold in the 1920s and now made under the Barratt name. Here is what is in them.
- British heritage sweetsRefreshersRefreshers are two British sweets: fizzy tablets first sold by Trebor in 1935, now a Barratt sweet, and Swizzels' chewy, sherbet filled New Refreshers.
- Questions people askWhat sweets were popular in the 1980s?Drifter, Wispa, Wham bars, Boost, Cabana and Secret all arrived in 1980s Britain, while Spangles, Texan and Pacers bowed out. Here is the decade year by year.
- Sweet scandals and controversiesWho owns the famous British sweet makers now?Cadbury is American owned, Rowntree's is Swiss, Terry's and Thorntons are Italian. Here is who really owns Britain's famous sweet makers today.
- British heritage sweetsOld fashioned sweets: the A to ZAn A to Z of old fashioned British sweets, from acid drops and aniseed balls to Wham bars and yellowman, with a line on each and a link to its full story.