Description: Chewy, fruity gum sweets
Product range: Wine Gums, Red & Blacks, Wine Gums Light, Wine Pastilles, Sours, Midget Gems, Sports Mixture
Brand history:
Charles Riley Maynard began producing sweets with his brother Tom in 1880, whilst his wife, Sarah Ann, served their customers. Maynards began in 1896, having expanded its’ manufacturing, wholesales and retail businesses in these few years.
Wine Gums were first developed in 1909. Devised by Charles Gordon Maynard, the son had difficulty persuading a teetotal Charles Snr. that the sweets did not contain wine. The unique and distinctive flavours have become a staple part of the UK confectionery market where they are today’s leading fruit sweet. This success was built upon in 2001 with the launch of Maynards Wine Pastilles. In addition to these permanent lines, we’ve seen special appearances from lines such as Reds & Blacks. Production: The Maynards factory is based in Sheffield, where the Wine Gums have been made since 1991. Prior to this, they were produced in Vale Road, London.
Advertising: In 1996, Maynards was relaunched with new packaging and the ‘Hootsmon’ advert, where a Scottish Laird demonstrates how to ‘Set the Joose Loose’ by feeding wine gums to a mounted moose head, his bagpipes and even his sporran! The cult television ad was re-aired in 2008, much to the delight of fans young and old.
In July 2010, Maynards launched Maynards Fruit Duos, a limited edition, featuring six delicious new dual flavour combination in each pack. The tasty new flavours are strawberry and lime, strawberry and blackberry, apple and blackberry, apple and pear, tangerine and pear, and tangerine and lime. To support the launch, 'Maynard the Moose' was introduced across outdoor and TV advertising encouraging you to chew!
Target audience: Grown up sweet eaters
Brand value: Approximately £56 million in the UK.
Did you know…
Reds and Blacks are the joint favourite flavours. They account for 80% of people’s preferred favourite choices.
The wine messages on the sweets are port, sherry, champagne, burgundy and claret.
Maynards Wine Gums contain no wine!