Starburst (confectionery)

Starburst (originally known as Opal Fruits) is the brand name of a chewy, cuboid-shaped, fruit-flavored candy manufactured by Mars, Incorporated. Starburst also exist as jellybeans (known as "Joosters"), lollipops, gummies, hard candy, candy canes, and lip gloss (the latter in a partnership with Lip Smackers).

Starburst were introduced by Mars in 1960 [http://www.starburst.com/about_behind.jsp Starburst.com: About] ] as Opal Fruits. The four original flavors were strawberry, lemon, orange, and lime. Opal Fruits were introduced in the United States in 1976 ] as Starburst. Though Starburst originally came in the same flavors as Opal Fruits, Cherry replaced Lime in the early 1980s; and the first variant, "Sunshine Flavors" Later renamed "Tropical Opal Fruits", was released. In Europe, lemon and lime were combined to become "lemon and lime" and to make room for a blackcurrant flavor. The brand Opal Fruits was phased out in the UK, followed by Ireland in 1998 in order to standardize the product in a globalized marketplace, though some lament the loss of brand identity, leaving many people in the UK still referring to Starburst as Opal Fruits despite the name change. The supermarket chain ASDA revived the original Opal Fruits in the UK for a period of 12 weeks from 10th May 2008 [cite news | last = Mercer | first = Charles | title = Opal Fruits return to British playgrounds | work = The Daily Telegraph | date = 2008-05-01 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1917207/Opal-Fruits-return-to-British-playgrounds.html | accessdate = 2008-05-02 ] .

The original flavors are now branded "Original Fruits", and Starburst now comes in several assortments: Limited Edition Retro Fruits, Tropical, Baja California, Sour, Strawberry Mix, and Berries & Creme. Among the additional flavors are kiwi, banana, plum, passion fruit, raspberry, strawberry-banana, mango, melon, tropical punch, green apple, blue raspberry, watermelon, mixed berries & cream, peaches & cream, orange cream, and strawberry & cream. Europe also has the "Sour" assortment, which includes apple, cherry, pineapple and raspberry, as well as Strawberry Mix. Starburst engaged in a marketing tie-in for the movie "" by replacing Kiwi Banana and Tropical Punch with Royal Berry Bunch.

The current slogan for Starburst in the U.S. is "Juicy Goodness" and in the UK and Australia is "Get your juices going!"

Lime Starbursts made a comeback in 2007 as a limited-edition 'retro' flavor in packages of the 'Baja' version, while the range in the UK was further extended with a version named Starburst Choozers. These lozenge shaped chews have a liquid fruit juice center, and come packaged with the tag line "The chews that ooze". Each packet contains only three flavors; orange & mango, raspberry & orange and pineapple & orange.

Products

*Original Fruit Chews (cherry, lemon, strawberry, orange)
*Starburst - Strawberry Mix
*Baja California Fruit Chews (limon, aztec punch, baja dragon fruit, strawberry watermelon)
*Tropical Fruit Chews (strawberry banana, royal berry punch, mango melon, pina colada)
*Sour Starburst (sour strawberry, sour green apple, sour tangerine, sour blue raspberry)
*Berries & Crème Fruit Chews (mixed berry & creme, strawberry & creme, blueberry & creme, raspberry & creme)
*Jelly Beans
*Starburst Gummibursts (Liquid Filled Gummies)
*Limited Edition Retro Fruit Chews (disco berry, psychedeli-melon, optimus lime, mango-rena)
*Choozers- gooey centred chews (orange and mango, raspberry and orange, pineapple and orange)
*Soda Slammers- fruit and soda flavored candies shaped like soda bottles (rare to find in some places)
*Sucks - Lollipops (pineapple, strawberry, passionfruit, very very berry, BlueBerry, orange, watermelon)
*Starburst Twisted Chews (Blueberry & Banana, Strawberry & Lime, Cherry & Lemon)

References

External links

* [http://www.starburst.com Starburst Brand official site]
* [http://www.starburst.com.au/ Starburst Australia]
* [http://www.candyusa.org/Classroom/timeline.asp Timeline of Candy]