Why Did Candy Companies Switch from Lime to Green Apple?

Why did candy companies switch from lime to green apple?

Citrus candy flavors have always been my favorite. Sour is one of the great flavor profiles and its bite is like a sharp kick to the tongue.

The three big fruits occupying this category of candy have always been: orange, lemon, and lime. Just like how the array of primary colors wouldn’t be the same without blue, the holy trinity of candy flavors cannot survive without lime.

Why then are current candy manufacturers making the switch from lime to green apple? What devilish scheme is involved here? Why does candy have to be so political?

Don’t get me wrong, though, as I love me a Granny Smith apple and I don’t mind sour apple candy. It is just such a distant second, third, or even fourth to lime.

Some of the brands below are among the biggest to make the switch and they cannot be forgiven:

Skittles

Sweet Tarts

Lifesavers

Runts

Was it some kind of flawed market research or just the result of a man whose family was killed by a rogue lime and he’s now seeking vengeance through this misbegotten vendetta?

Lime runts were one of the best tasting hard candies around. Their powdery tart explosion of flavor was like biting into an egg of sour happiness.

Now it’s replaced with a less appetizing apple shape with a flavor so bland and generic that it’s like something out of your grandmother’s candy dish.

Lime Lifesavers, lime sweet tarts, and lime skittles were all amazing in their own right as well. They all had unique properties, but they fit the array of tastes in their respective fruit families far more than the willfully bland sour apple.

Stand with me in fighting this vast confectionary conspiracy and write strongly worded letters to your favorite candy corporations.

Let’s not forget all the amazing things lime has done for us like garnishing pad Thai and making pho and Mexican food taste even more amazing.

What has green apple ever done that could possibly compare? Why must we settle?

The lime renaissance will soon be upon us.

Here’s some additional reading material and a petition to bring back our ill-fated lime brothers.

Stay safe.