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The frenzy for fruit snacks begins
Research and development on the concept of fruit snacks started in 1975 in the desserts division at General Mills when a new fruit filling was being developed for a cake mix.
At the time, another company had a “fruit leather” product that General Mills used as a benchmark to develop a similar, but better, product.
Our version was tested and revised until it was ready to go into test markets in 1979.
You just might recognize the name – Fruit Roll-Ups!
Fruit Roll-Ups officially moved into the Betty Crocker division of the company in 1980 and was advertised as a nutritious and satisfying snack.
While fruit snacks debuted in the late 70s, there wasn’t a time quite like the 90s that saw a frenzy for these sweet, gummy morsels.
In the 90s, General Mills introduced a Fruit Roll-Up mascot: the Great Rolupo, a wizard who enticed kids to enjoy a rainbow of fruit flavors.
While Rolupo was only around until 1991, he left his mark by giving fans one of the most iconic fruit snack features: the peel-out shape.
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These shapes ranged from tic-tac-toe pieces to fan-favorite characters from TV and movies.
After the success of the peel-outs, the sweet snack continued to roll out more successful innovations, like hidden pictures and ever-hilarious stretchy faces.
Whatever your favorite flavor, the Fruit Roll-Ups of the 90s changed the snack game by finally making it “okay” for kids to play with their food.
In 1991, Fruit by the Foot joined Fruit Roll-Ups and other popular fruit snacks like Shark Bites.
But it was the 1992 arrival of Gushers that really caused a splash.
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Another fan-favorite from the 90s was the Fruit String Thing, which hit the market in 1994.
The long, string-like fruit chew came wrapped in different shapes on a small paper board. Kids would open the package to find a racetrack or a pair of sunglasses and then peel the snack off to create their own, or just eat it.
