Cheekies (formerly Chicos) is a chocolate-flavoured jelly lolly (i.e.

sweets Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called '' sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

in British English or

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

in American English).

Description

They are similar to

Jelly Babies Jelly Babies are a type of soft sugar jelly sweets in the shape of plump babies, sold in a variety of colours. They were first manufactured in Lancashire, England, in the nineteenth century. Their popularity waned before being revived by Basset ...

, but rather than being fruit flavoured and in a variety of colours, they are all dark brown and are flavoured with

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

. They were previously called Chicos in Australia.

Production

Cheekies are Australian made and contain no artificial colours. They are made by the

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

Corporation and marketed under their Australian brand Allen's Lollies. The product previously contained

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...

but the ingredient was removed in 2015 to make Cheekies suitable for vegetarians. Cheekies are noted as a lolly that the public has a polarised opinion on.

Name change

In June 2020, along with Red Skins, Nestlé announced that the name will be changed to represent the inclusive nature of modern society. The company said the decision was made to ensure "nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues". The statement added "These names have overtones which are out of step with Nestle's values, which are rooted in respect." The word "chico" in Spanish translates as "boy". It can also be considered a derogatory term for people of Latin American descent, although this is not in common usage in Australia. The announcement of a name change occurred in the wake of widespread name changes following the George Floyd protests. On 16 November 2020, Nestlé announced that the new name for Chicos would be ''Cheekies''. Packaging bearing the new name would be available in stores in early 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicos Nestlé brands Australian confectionery Gummi candies Name changes due to the George Floyd protests Hispanic and Latino American-related controversies