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Fantales, the famously chewy caramel chocolates once synonymous with an afternoon at the movies, are about to be no more.
Manufacturer Nestle announced the “sad news” on Tuesday, saying people weren’t buying them as much as they used to and the equipment used to make the sweets is breaking down.
“Many of us grew up with Fantales and have fond memories of them,” said Nestle spokesman Andrew Lawrey. “Despite the sense of nostalgia Fantales evoke, unfortunately people simply aren’t buying them as often as they used to.
“In addition, our Fantales equipment needs significant investment. It’s become increasingly difficult to get the parts we need to maintain it, and with declining sales, replacing it isn’t viable.”
Invented in 1928 by tinkering chocolatiers at the Sweetacres factory in Rosebery, and sold nationwide from 1930, the lollies were a deliberate attempt to cash in on the “talkies”, as the era of silent cinema gave way to sound.
Fantales were essentially the same as the “cobbers” sold loose at milk bars – chewy caramel coated in milk chocolate – but the Hollywood trivia on each of their wrappers proved a successful marketing gimmick.
Their impact was swift. In 1930 the West Australian newspaper reviewed “a new confection known as Fantales— a chocolate-coated caramel deluxe, wrapped in wax paper inscribed with information, concerning various well-known motion picture players. It was stated that the line had found considerable public favour recently”.
The sweets vied for many years with Minties – also produced by Sweetacres – for the unofficial title of Australia’s most popular lolly.
Their popularity faded somewhat in recent decades, though in 2018 The New York Times was still able to declare Fantales Australia’s most defining lolly.
Sweetacres, which traced its corporate lineage back to a sweet shop on George Street in the 1870s, was absorbed by other companies in a series of mergers, and the operation was acquired by Nestle in 1988.
Something to chew on … Fantales no longer.
All staff employed on the Fantales production line, which is now in Melbourne, would be redeployed to other roles within the factory, Lawrey said.
The last batch of Fantales will go into production next month, and will be available while stocks last.
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