Liquorice allsorts (also spelled Licorice allsorts) consist of a variety of liquorice candies sold as a mixture. These confections are made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, and aniseed jelly. They were first produced in Sheffield, England by the Bassetts company.

Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world today, and are most popular in Britain, continental Europe, and North America. South African confectionary giant Beacon produces substantial quantities of the product, where it is both sold locally and imported to such countries as Australia and Portugal.

The story of their creation is used to market them by the Bassett's company (now a part of the Cadbury's consortium). In 1899 Charlie Thompson, a sales representative, supposedly dropped a tray of samples he was showing a client, mixing up the various candies. He scrambled to re-arrange them, and the client was intrigued by the new creation. Quickly, the company began to mass-produce the allsorts, and they became quite popular.

The Bassetts company mascot is Bertie Bassett, a figure made up of liquorice allsorts which has become a part of British popular culture. Bertie was created on January 1, 1929 after months of internal discussion. One of the candies in the current allsorts mix is a blue shaped figure which represents Bertie. The Doctor Who serial The Happiness Patrol featured the Kandy Man, a sinister android made up of candies that resembled Bertie Bassett. Although a BBC internal investigation concluded that the resemblance was coincidental, it promised Bassetts that the Kandy Man would not appear again.

Bassetts have since released two varieties of liquorice allsorts which do not feature any liquorice. Fruit allsorts feature mixed-fruit flavoured sweets, whilst Dessert allsorts have flavours such as Apple tart and Lemon cheesecake. Both retain the shapes and textures of the original sweet. Red allsorts, with fruit-flavoured liquorice, were briefly released in the late 90s, but were discontinued.

External links

• The h2g2 Entry about allsorts

Confectionery | History of Sheffield

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