Chocolate-covered raisins are a candy consisting of individual

raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

s coated in a shell of milk, dark or white

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

Varieties and brands

In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, they are also known as Raisinets, which is the earliest and one of the most popular brands of the product, currently made by

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, a subsidiary of

Ferrero SpA Ferrero International SpA ( , ), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba. Ferrero is a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second ...

. Raisinets were introduced in the United States in 1927 by the

Blumenthal Chocolate Company The Blumenthal Brothers Chocolate Company was a Philadelphia-based chocolate manufacturer that existed from 1909 to 1984. Its factory was located at Margaret and James Streets in the city's Frankford neighborhood. History The company was founded ...

Ferrero Ferrero may refer to: * Ferrero (surname), a surname * Ferrero (company), an Italian manufacturer of chocolate * Ferrero Bay, a body of water between King Peninsula and Canisteo Peninsula, Antarctica * Ferrero–Washington theorem, a result in alge ...

acquired the brand in 2018 from

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, who had briefly expanded the brand to include milk chocolate-covered dried

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not t ...

and dried

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

from late 2009 through 2013. A large number of other brands also exist, including: * In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, chocolate raisins are considered a classic sweetshop confectionery and can be found in many supermarkets in plastic sharing bags under supermarket branding and in

corner shop A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

s. Around Christmas time, chocolate raisins are also sold with milk, white and dark chocolate coatings as a festive treat in boxed packaging. * In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the Glosette brand was introduced in the 1930s by the

Walter M. Lowney Company The Lowney Chocolate Factory is a historic industrial complex at 150 Oakland Street in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Developed beginning in 1903, the complex was used until 2010 by a variety of primarily corporate owners for the manufacture and proce ...

of Canada. It currently consists of various chocolate-covered candies, including Glosette

Raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

s, Glosette

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s, and Glosette

Almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s. The candies are sold in small cardboard boxes rather than a typical plastic wrapper. Lowney was acquired in the 1970s by Nabisco. The Lowney brand, including Glosettes, was bought by

Hershey Canada The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one ...

on July 1, 1987. * In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, these sweets are more commonly referred to as chocolate-covered sultanas, rather than raisins. In Australia, there are no particularly prominent brands in the market, although chocolate-covered sultanas are produced by some large local confectioners and also on the behalf of supermarket chains as store-brand versions. * In

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

there is a popular brand named Fochis which are chocolate covered raisin made by Compañía Nacional de Chocolates de Perú S.A The Promotion in Motion Companies, Inc, the candy company that manufactures

Welch's Welch Foods Inc., commonly known as Welch's, is an American company, headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, Concord, Massachusetts. It has been owned by the National Grape Cooperative Association, a Agricultural cooperative, co-op of grape ...

Fruit Snacks, also manufactures a

Sun-Maid Sun-Maid Growers of California is an American farmer-owned cooperative of raisin growers headquartered in Fresno, California. Sun-Maid is one of the largest raisin and dried fruit processors in the world. As a cooperative, Sun-Maid is made up o ...

brand of chocolate-covered raisins. There is a non-dairy equivalent made of sugar (non-refined),

cocoa mass Chocolate liquor, also called cocoa liquor, paste or mass, is pure cocoa in liquid or semi-solid form. It is produced from cocoa bean nibs that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The nibs are ground to the point ...

cocoa butter Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible Vegetable oil, fat extracted from the cocoa bean (''Theobroma cacao''). It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter h ...

, raisins and

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the ethanolic extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin ...

. A similar food, also commonly sold at movie theaters, is the

chocolate-covered peanut Chocolate-coated (or chocolate-covered) peanuts are a popular bulk vending product. They consist of peanuts coated in a shell of chocolate. They have a reputation in many countries of being an item associated with the concession counter at places ...

. As described above, the two products are often combined for consumption in a mixture. Less common alternatives are the chocolate-covered almond or the chocolate-covered macadamia nut.

References

{{Hershey, state=autocollapse Raisin dishes Nestlé brands Chocolate-covered foods

Varieties and brands

See also

References