The Wrigley Company, which today is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. Introduced in the United Kingdom in 1960, the regular flavours are blackcurrant, lemon and lime, orange and strawberry. The brand name Opal Fruits was phased out in the UK, followed by Ireland in 1998 in order to standardise the taffy apple in a globalised marketplace. In 2008, however, the supermarket chain Asda revived the original Opal Fruits in the UK for a period of 12 weeks starting 10 May 2008.
Starburst in the UK is vegetarian, its packaging and website clearly stating “Suitable for Vegetarians”, and also does not contain any artificial colours or flavours. In the US, Starburst contains non-vegan gelatin in its ingredients. Lime Starburst made a comeback in 2007 as a limited-edition “retro” flavour in packages of the “Baja” version, while the range in the UK was further extended with a version named Starburst Choozers. These lozenge shaped chews have a liquid fruit juice centre, and come packaged with the tag line “The chews that ooze. As of August 2016, the advertising slogan for Starburst is “Unexplainably Juicy”.
Starburst products were entirely discontinued in New Zealand in April 2021, and in Australia in June 2022. Starburst-branded products had been sold in Australia since 1996. In the 1970s, Opal Fruits were well known in the UK for their advertising tag line “Opal Fruits—made to make your mouth water! Starburst has been marketed in several ways, including a marketing tie-in for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest where they replaced Kiwi Banana and Tropical Punch with Royal Berry Punch.
In 2007, a commercial for Starburst’s Berries and Creme flavour went viral. Georgian clothing expressing his excitement for the candy’s flavour by performing an impromptu song and dance routine. Candy bites : the science of sweets. Global branding chews up Opal Fruits”.