History of PEZ Candy

    PEZ candy was created in 1927 by Eduard Haas III in Vienna, Austria as an alternative to smoking, as Haas was an avid non-smoker. His slogan for his new product was “smoking prohibited-pezzing allowed”. The name PEZ is derived from the German word for peppermint, “Pfefferminz”, using the first, middle, and last letter, P, E, Z respectively. The original flavor was Peppermint and it came in small pocket sized tins. Initially the candy was called “PEZ drops” and the candy itself was a round compressed sugar tablet infused with peppermint oil and was marketed as a breath mint. It wasn’t until 1948 that it changed to the brick shape that is manufactured today.

    In 1955, fruit flavors were added to the candies as the company expanded to the U.S market. Traditional flavors included Strawberry, Lemon, Grape, and Orange. Over the years, additional flavors have been added in both the U.S. and Europe, with some being more popular than others. Limited edition and seasonal flavors have also been released. Some known flavors of PEZ candy include Licorice, Flower, Chlorophyll Mint, Coffee, Lime, Menthol Eucalyptus, Yogurt, Mango, Nashi, Lychee, Tangerine, Apple, Anise, Mandarin, X-mas Cookies, Cranberry, Peach, Raspberry, Cherry, Chocolate, Banana, Dragon Fruit, Sugar Cookie, Vanilla Cupcake, Candy Corn, Blueberry, Cola, Cotton Candy, Hot Cinnamon, Coconut, Rapberry-Lemon, Strawberry-Vanilla, Sour Currant, Sour Lemon-Lime, Sour Melon, Sour Blue Raspberry, Sour Green Apple, Sour Pineapple, Sour Watermelon, Fizzy Apple, Fizzy Orange, Fizzy Lemon, Fizzy Strawberry, Fizzy Tutti Frutti, Sugar Free Orange, Sugar Free Lemon, Sugar Free Strawberry, Sugar Free Peppermint, Mystery Flavor, Assorted Fruit, and Assorted Sourz. Licorice, Flowers, and Chlorophyll Mint were introduced in the 1960s and have since been retired. Current U.S. flavors include Assorted Fruit, Assorted Sourz, Sour Watermelon, Sour Pineapple, Sour Blue Raspberry, Sour Green Apple, Strawberry, Raspberry, Cherry, Lemon, Grape, Orange, Dragon Fruit, Blueberry, Mystery Flavor, and Sugar Free Peppermint. Sour Watermelon, Sour Pineapple, Sour Blue Raspberry, and Sour Green Apple were released during the Summer of 2002 along with the PEZ Sourz Dispensers. Banana was introduced in 2017 and came with Despicable Me dispensers released for the Despicable Me 3 movie. In 2017, Pez held a Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago where they announced four seasonal flavors to be released with holiday dispensers. Vanilla Cupcake, Candy Corn, Sugar Cookie, and Cotton Candy were introduced for Easter 2018, Halloween 2018, Christmas 2018, and Valentine’s Day 2019 respectively. Dragon Fruit was first introduced in 2021 and was exclusive to the Game of Thrones Gift Tin released in conjunction with the 10 year anniversary of the show. Blueberry in a new flavor for 2025, released with the new Bunny Peeps dispensers. Current European flavors include Fizzy Apple, Fizzy Orange, Fizzy Lemon, Fizzy Strawberry, Fizzy Tutti Frutti, Fizzy Assorted, Cherry, Orange, Lemon, Strawberry, Raspberry, Grape, Mango, Nashi, Banana, Lychee, Cranberry, Mandarin, X-Mas Cookies, Sour Green Apple, Sour Currant, Sour Lemon-Lime, Sour Melon, Cola, and Peppermint. Mango, Nashi, Banana and Lychee are part of the Pez Exotic Line. Cranberry, Mandarin, and X-mas Cookies are part of the Christmas line. Sour Green Apple, Sour Currant, Sour Lemon-Lime, and Sour Melon are part of the Pez Sourz line for Europe. Fizzy Apple, Fizzy Orange, Fizzy Lemon, Fizzy Strawberry, and Fizzy Tutti Frutti are part of the Pez Fizzy line. Cherry, Strawberry, Orange, Lemon, Grape, and Raspberry are the fruit flavored options available. Peppermint and Cola are flavors that have been introduced to both the U.S. and European markets, with Cola being retired in the U.S. A New PEZ candy product called PEZ mini mints was introduced in 2006 and came in Orange or Peppermint flavors. The U.S. version of the containers featured 6 different pieces of artwork by Norman Rockwell. The European version featured artwork from Andy Worhol. In 2008, the U.S. also released a version depicting Elvis.

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In 1927, PEZ was created by Eduard Haas III in Vienna, Austria and was marketed as a breath mint for adults.     The name PEZ comes from the German word for peppermint, pfefferminz. The first, middle, and last letter were used to create the iconic brand name.     Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs hosted the very first PEZ Dispenser Day at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, June 14th, 2000. The game was at 1:20pm and the Chicago Cubs were playing against the New York Mets. The first 15,000 fans who entered the gate received a limited edition Charlie Brown dispenser wearing a Cubs hat and a souvenir card to go with it.   The first PEZ dispensers were called Regulars and resembled a cigarette lighter. They were marketed towards adults as an alternative to smoking.   The best selling dispenser of all time is Santa Claus.   To make a single piece of PEZ candy, it takes 3,000 pounds of pressure to compress the sugar into the brick shaped tablet.   PEZ had s...
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