Retro chocolate bars we’ve loved and lost as Cadbury celebrates 200th birthday

It was on March 5, 1824 that John Cadbury opened his first grocery shop – with his family going on to become the world’s largest chocolatiers.

Two centuries of chocolate making later - and as the company celebrates its 200th birthday – we take a look at some of the Cadbury bars we’ve loved and lost over the last few years.

Fuse

The Cadbury Fuse arrived in 1996 and was made up of milk chocolate, nuts, raisins, cereal and fudge pieces. A reported 40 million Fuse bars were said to have been snapped up during its first weeks on sale.

And it remained a staple part of the sweet and chocolate section in most shops and supermarkets until 2006 when it was taken out of production in the UK. It remains on sale however in other countries around the world, most notably now in India.

Astros

Launched in 1997 Astros were made by Cadbury and were said to be designed as a rival to Nestle Smarties and Mars M&Ms. The candy-coated chocolate with its biscut centre was a firm favourite during the 90s before being discontinued.

Remaining on sale in South Africa, there was much excitement in 2022 when retailer B&M managed to get its hands on some Astros and put the boxes back on sale for just over £1.

Taz bar

Very much like the Freddo bars we see in shops today – the small slabs of Cadbury milk chocolate used to feature the Loony Tunes character Taz, the Tasmanian devil, and came with a caramel centre.

The bars proved to be a popular pocket money treat often only costing 5p each.

Released in 1994, the bar remained on shelves for a few years before being pulled. It has since been replaced with the Freddo frog character with Freddo Caramel replacing the Taz bar’s familiar taste.

Snowflake

A mix between a traditional Cadbury Flake and a Twirl the Cadbury Snowflake bar was crumbly white chocolate covered in milk chocolate.

The Snowflake was also at points called a Flake Snow to separate it from its milk chocolate counterpart.

The bar arrived on shelves in 2000 but by 2008 had been discontinued in the UK. Today, under its name Flake Snow, it is still available in other parts of the world.

Dream

Dream was a white chocolate bar made by Cadbury that was similar to Nestle's Milkybar.

No longer manufactured in the UK you can still buy the Cadbury white chocolate bar in parts of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. However at Christmas, a white chocolate advent calendar from Cadbury is often available to buy in England with the chunks behind the doors closely resembling the now outdated Dream.

Wispa Mint

The Wispa bar from Cadbury, which first arrived in 1981, disappeared for a while but then made an extremely popular comeback in 2007 - however the same can't yet be said for its friend the Wispa Mint.

First launched in 1995, the bubbly Cadbury chocolate in mint flavour stuck around for eight years before being taken off the shelves. It has yet to make a return like the original Wispa.

Spira

The spiral chocolate bar - which took its name from the spiral like chocolate shape inside - was first launched in the north east of England by Cadbury in the 1980s. After proving to be exceptionally popular it was rolled out across the UK and became a firm favourite among chocolate fans.

It was discontinued in 2005, with its closest replacement available today thought to be the Cadbury Twirl.

Dairy Milk Egg ‘n’ Spoon

In March 2023 Cadbury confirmed it was removing the Dairy Milk Egg 'n' Spoon cartons from its seasonal range to reflect people's 'changing tastes'.

Released every Easter since 2013, the Egg 'n' Spoon treat consisted of four chocolate eggs, wrapped in foil and packaged in a traditional cardboard egg box with a plastic spoon that could be used to crack and eat each one.

But the chocolate maker said last year it wasn’t bringing the Dairy Milk eggs in their box back and instead had some 'great new treats' for fans to try over Easter.

‘amazin’ raisin bar

Available in the 1970s the ‘amazin’ raisin treat was described as a ‘milk and plain chocolate covered nougatine and caramel bar with raisins’.

The bar came in a purple and gold-coloured packaging and at the time cost a very tempting 5p.