Necco Wafers
| File:Wiki Necco with product.jpg | |
| Product type | Candy |
|---|---|
| Owner | New England Confectionery Company |
| Country |  United States |
| Introduced | 1912 |
| Website | http://www.necco.com/ |
Necco Wafers are a candy wafer made by the United States-based New England Confectionery Company (Necco). Chase and Company, one of Necco's predecessors, started making candy wafers in 1847; Necco was incorporated under its current name in 1901 and began to widely advertise them as "Necco Wafers" in 1912.[1]
The ingredients in Necco Wafers are sugar, corn syrup, gelatin (an animal by-product), gums, colorings, and flavorings.[2]
Flavors
Original Necco Wafers are still available [citation needed] in eight flavors: banana (yellow), lime (green), orange (orange), clove (purple), cinnamon (white), wintergreen (pink), licorice (black), and chocolate (brown).
New Necco Wafers were introduced in 2009 as an all-natural alternative to the original, and they contain seven flavors in a more muted color palette: lemon (yellow), orange (orange), clove (purple), cinnamon (white), wintergreen (pink), licorice (black), and chocolate (brown). According to Jackie Hague, Necco's vice president of marketing, switching to all-natural flavors and colors "would draw young mothers concerned about their children's diet."[3] The new cinnamon flavor is "less like Red Hots", the new lemon, "less like paper candy dots and more like lemon meringue pie filling."[3] The chocolate flavor—previous a vanilla flavor "with a hint of chocolate flavoring"—switches to a more intense all-cocoa flavor.[3] The traditional eighth Necco flavor, lime (green), was dropped in the move to all-natural flavors.[4]
Necco Chocolate assortment used to be 100% of the standard Necco chocolate wafers, but are now a four-flavor chocolate assortment: mocha (light brown), white chocolate (white), milk chocolate (brown), and dark chocolate (dark brown).
Necco Smoothies are the latest addition to the Necco Wafer line, and come in blueberry (pale blue), banana caramel (yellow), tropical pineapple/coconut (white), peach (orange), and strawberry creme (pink).
References
- ^ a b About Us from the company website
- ^ Our Brands: NECCO Wafers from the company's website
- ^ a b c Sugar and Spice, an October 2009 article from The Atlantic
- ^ Necco - FAQs from the company's website