One of my all-time favorite candies are Runts by Willy Wonka. Like many other candies though, Runts have evolved over the years. The original Runts that I remember growing up with were: Cherry, Orange, Lime, Strawberry, and Banana. Runts were such a great candy because you had the tartness of Lime, Orange, and Cherry flavors that balanced with the mellow sweetness of the Strawberry and Banana flavors.

Sometime in the late ninties, Wonka decided to mess with perfection and get rid of the Lime Runt. Lime was the sourest of the original flavors and had a pretty cool shape, so I was sad to see it go. However, Wonka introduced two new flavors, Watermelon and Blue Raspberry. If you want to consider this trip into Runts’ history a rollercoaster ride, this would be the peak. It’s all downhill from here.

I say that because Watermelon and Blue Raspberry are actually pretty tasty flavors. Watermelon was more sugary than tart and could be kicked up a notch, but the Blue Raspberry flavor was quite good if you like fake berry flavor.

What happened in early 2007 is a day that us Runts fans will never forget. The next class of Runts flavors that Wonka presented removed three flavors, Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Cherry. Yes, Cherry. Arguably one of the most classic fruit flavors of all time. And what replaced these three great flavors in the Runts lineup? Well, my friends, it was the dynamic duo of Pineapple and Mango. I’ll start right off with saying that Mango was the WORST all-time flavor of Runts ever produced. Pineapple was not too bad, but was a far inferior flavor compared to previous Runts and not at all a suitable replacement for the classic Cherry. You might be asking yourself why would Wonka do this? A quick glance at the new packaging that was released at the same time of this flavor shake-up shows a fairly blatant attempt of Wonka to capture some of the Spanish-speaking market by introducing these two new tropical flavors.

While this line-up would have been fine for a Tropical Runts candy, we are talking the original Runts here and some of these new flavors just weren’t that good anyways. Fortunately, Pineapple and Mango didn’t last long and a few years later were replaced by Green Apple and Grape. It was at this time they also changed Strawberry’s color from pink to a red. So far, the only Runts that still remain untouched are Banana and Orange.

Wonka had some good attempts with Blue Raspberry and Watermelon and some major gutterballs with Mango and Pineapple, but at the end of the day, we got a one for one swap out of Cherry and Lime for Green Apple and Grape. Was it worth it? To me, not a chance. The Lime flavor was a classic one that Runts should have never gotten rid of. And don’t even get me started on getting rid of Cherry. C’mon. It’s CHERRY.

Maybe one day, Wonka will regain their wits and go back to the classic Runts line up. Looking at their track record though, the next Runts line up will be more likely to show up with something random like CANTELOUPE. Yuck!