1. Jacob’s Trio Biscuit
image source: thegrocer.com
Chocolate covered biscuits were just the done thing in the 80s – you couldn’t have a biscuit, or a chocolate bar: it had to be both. And especially packed in your school lunchbox. The ‘trio’ of this delicious treat came from its triple chocolate, biscuit and toffee offering.
2. Rowntree’s Drifter
image source: worthpoint.com
Speaking of chocolate biscuits – the Drifter had to be one of the best, and specifically in the brown wrapper exclusive to the 80s! The Drifter does have a modern day version, but it’s in a blue wrapper and it’s no longer Rowntree – so it just isn’t the same. Not to mention we miss the TV ad with the bear!
3. Cadbury’s Cheesy Criss Cross
image source: nostalgia.com
While we associate Cadbury’s with chocolate these days, back in the 80s, they were also making crisps – and delicious ones at that! The Cheesy Criss Cross packets were one of the best, basically a cheese straw you could use to starve off food cravings until proper dinner arrived.
4. Hedgehog Flavoured Crisps
image source: thesun.co.uk
No hedgehogs were harmed in the making of these crisps! The 80s saw a surge in affection for hedgehogs, for some reason, which resulted in these novelty crisps, which you don’t have a hope of tasting anymore! Although a joke, they still upset a lot of people for implying they were made from hedgehog…
5. Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips
image source: pinterest.com
If small spikey animal isn’t to your liking, how about good ol’ fish ‘n’ chips flavour instead? A staple for the British, and a staple for the 80s snack shelf. These crisps not only tasted great, they also offered a more enjoyable experience just because it was fun to see your crisp shaped like a fish! Easily pleased, aren’t we?
6. The Texan Bar
image source: kentlive.co.uk
The Texan chocolate bar was one of the best in the 80s – it had that superior combination of nougat, toffee and chocolate, which we fully believe should still exist today, thank you very much! Unfortunately for us, this particular chocolate bar was discontinued at the end of the 80s.
7. 54321 Chocolate Bars
image source: nextstopnostalgia.com
So it turned out they were making us countdown to the point these chocolate bars would no longer be available on the shelves… sob. These snacks offered so much for your money, because they were loaded with fondant, wafer, rice krispies, caramel and chocolate, naturally.
8. Wrigley’s Extra Thin Ice Sheets
image source: eightieskids.com
What was more fun than biting into a piece of chewing gum? Putting a whole, refreshing sheet on your tongue, of course! To say how much focus there is on mindfulness these days, these sheets were such a great idea because you actually paid attention to placing them on your tongue and focusing on the feeling of them melting away… bliss.
9. Toffo Chewy Sweets
image source: thegrocer.com
These are one of those snacks you completely understand why they were discontinued, for the sake of your teeth and your dentist’s stress levels, but that doesn’t mean we’re happy about it. Sure, we may have lost a tooth or two, but they were so delicious it was totally worth it!
10. Pacers Mints
image source: x.com
Pacers were the go-to snack if you wanted a refreshing mint treat when chocolate just wasn’t doing it for you! They were a soft, chewable minty sweet in easy-on-the-eye green and white packaging… and sure, there are plenty of minty snacks these days, but we miss Pacers!
11. Potato Puff Crisps
image source: x.com
Potato Puffs were the go-to crispy snack for kids in the 80s, because they were delicious – and being a kid, we didn’t fully understand we were being ripped off by the fact there was more airy puff than there was substantial potato. Still, these ‘light’ snacks were a welcome treat.
12. Ricicles from Kellogg’s
image source: ebay.co.uk
Sure, the packaging said that they were full of vitamins and iron in a very appealing font, but that didn’t change the fact this food was absolutely packed with sugar – hence why they’ve been discontinued. That doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy fond memories of a nice bowl of Ricicles!
13. White Chocolate Digestive Biscuits
image source: foodstufffinds.co.uk
We understand why white chocolate is less popular than its milk chocolate alternative (and let’s not even talk about dark chocolate), but we still think having white chocolate as a digestive option was a stroke of genius. Why this isn’t a thing anymore is so disappointing, especially for biscuit packs at Christmas!
14. Hofmeister lager
image source: theguardian.com
Hofmeister wasn’t the best tasting lager, but it was peak TV in the 80s due to the memorable adverts that it had! The lager was a UK-based brand with a less than exciting flavour, but for sheer nostalgia there’s many people that would want a cold, refreshing pint of this for old times’ sake!
15. Fiendish Feet Yoghurts
image source: hypnogoria.com
Yoghurts were definitely something we appreciated less when younger than we do now, and we had to be very much tempted by fruity flavours or quirky characters to eat them. Fiendish Feet Yoghurts were just that: an excuse to eat a yoghurt that could stand on its own feet, and came in flavours like Spooky Wooky.
16. Fuse Chocolate Bars
image source: getsurrey.co.uk
Fuse were yet another example of Cadbury’s doing it right, but unfortunately this is something that was taken away from us in the end! Fuse chocolate bars were a delicious mixture of raisins, rice krispies, silky smooth chocolate, nuts and a great helping of fudge! Sure, fruit and nut is hit and miss with chocolate, but if you liked it, you loved this one!
17. Spangles Fruit Sweets
image source: theboltonnews.com
We couldn’t get enough of fruity sweets in the 80s (and nothing has changed) and Spangles were a hard boiled selection which meant you could make it last a little longer like a lollipop! They came in so many different flavours there was always a Spangle for everyone – until they discontinued them, sadly.
18. Pizza and Smoky Bacon Flavour Cheestrings
image source: reddit.com
Okay, so we know cheestrings still exist and the pizza and bacon flavors were still going after the 80s, but we’re so upset about them not existing anymore that we had to give them a mention! Pizza cheestrings were superior when you didn’t want plain cheese, with those delicious flecks of pizzery herbs, not to mention the smoky kick of the bacon… please bring these back!
19. Secret Chocolate Bar
image source: doyouremember.co.uk
The flavour of this chocolate bar was very similar to a Walnut Whip (which was often like Marmite, you love it or you hate it) with milk chocolate and a soft marshmellowy centre. This particular snack was guaranteed to get squished in your pocket if you ran home with it because it was so fragile, but it was still delicious even when picking bits off the wrapper!
20. Billy Bear Ham
image source: reddit.com
We don’t think there has ever be anything more iconically British than Billy Bear Ham. These days, the best you can get to thick slices of cold cut meat would be Spam, but if it doesn’t have a bear’s face on it, we don’t want to know. It was a great snack for eating on its own or putting on sandwiches. Justice for Billy!
