Confectionery giant Nestlé will cease the production of Fantales lollies from next month, saying Australia’s sweet tooths have largely moved beyond the chocolate-covered caramels.
Originally created in 1930 and popularised under the Allen’s Lollies banner, Fantales became a longtime staple of tuckshop counters and pick-and-mix lolly bags.
But the lolly and its unique wrappers, emblazoned with trivia about famous movie stars, have waned in popularity over recent years.
On Tuesday, Nestlé, which owns Allen’s Lollies, announced it is no longer viable to produce Fantales at the company’s Melbourne plant.
Andrew Lawrey, the company’s confectionery general manager for Oceania, said the news will be hard to chew.
“Many of us grew up with Fantales and have fond memories of them,” he said.
“Despite the sense of nostalgia Fantales evoke, unfortunately, people simply aren’t buying them as often as they used to.”
It is becoming “increasingly difficult” to obtain the parts needed to maintain the Fantales production line, he said.
Combined with declining sales, it is no longer viable to keep the Fantales production line ticking.
The plant will continue producing Fantales until mid-July, Lawrey added, with staff attending the production line to be reassigned to other roles in the factory.
Fantales are just the latest ‘classic’ Australian lolly to enter obsolescence.
However, Australian businesses have a long history of reviving fan-favourite treats that go out of production.
While Fantales will join the pantheon of faded Allen’s Lollies greats, the brand itself has form in reviving expired favourites.
It has re-released Spearmint Leaves, Green Frogs, and Jelly Tots for limited periods after their initial removal from shelves nationwide.
After years of ownership by Nestlé, Adelaide-based confectioners Menz Confectionery bought the rights to the Violet Crumble honeycomb chocolate bar in 2017.
Two years later, the company secured the rights to produce Pollywaffle after a decade-long absence on supermarket shelves.
Menz is perhaps best known for its FruChoc line of chocolate-covered fruit balls.
Biscuit-making titan Arnott’s sparked fierce debate in 2016 when it updated the flavour profiles of its BBQ Shapes and Pizza Shapes crackers.
Significant customer backlash encouraged the company to continue producing those Shapes with their ‘original’ flavours.
Similarly, the on-again, off-again production of savoury snack Toobs has inspired much consumer concern.
Smith’s Snackfood Company pointed to a lack of consumer demand after it ended its production of the revived snack in 2015.
That sparked a high-profile consumer campaign, and input from cricketing legend Shane Warne, which ultimately led to the product’s second revival in 2021.
A crumbly mound of malt powder covered in chocolate, the original Milo Bar was unlike anything on the Australian market when it debuted around the turn of the millennium.
It was formally discontinued in 2003, but its inspiration lives on: Australian company SnackEzy now offers a malt snack bar it labels as a “bit of chocolatey, malty nostalgia.”
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
