What’s in the shape?

What’s in the shape?

Just like sweets made with sugar, sugar free sweets come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I realised how the shape of a sugar free sweet can affect my enjoyment when I bought some aniseed twists from my favourite London sweet shop that were so large that they were uncomfortable to eat.  This got me thinking about the shape of different sweets and how the manufacturers decide what they should look like.

The shape of sweets depends on many things.  A shape that works in one type of sweet may not be appropriate in another.  A soft, chewy toffee can have a square shape but this would be quite awkward in a long lasting boiled sweet.  Some sweets have a traditional shape and sometimes the shape is due to how it’s manufactured.  The way candy rock is made dictates that it is stick shaped.  The traditional cushion shaped candy was from a round shape that was cut while still warm and forms a cushion.

Other sweets have a name that is inspired by the name; we would all be disappointed if a pear drop was the wrong shape!

Sometimes the sweets are shaped to appeal to a particular audience.  Our sugarfree Jelly Bears are a children’s favourite but their great taste is approved by both adults and children.

There are times when we want to carry a few sweets around with us, on a car trip or our journey to work.  Rather than a few loose sweets in the pocket it’s better to have suitable packaging and this too will affect the shape of the sweet.  Here I am thinking of the flat pastilles in the neat packs of Slim Fruits or the clever packs of Rio Burgundy sweets.

But no matter how many reasons we may suggest for the shapes, there will always be exceptions   because we all have different expectations!