Nowadays, the choices Filipinos have when it comes to candies are just too many to name. But back in the day, there were just a handful of kids and adults alike relied on for a quick sugar fix. This short list of candies often found stored in jars in sari-sari stores is where most of our loose change would go. They not only offer a sweet flavour, but for those who grew up with them, nostalgic memories too.

Nostalgic Filipino Candies

Chocnut

• Choc Nut is a thumb-sized small candy bar made with crushed roasted peanuts, cane sugar, milk powder, cocoa powder, and vanilla.
• It has a delicate texture that when not handled well, crumbles into powder.
• It was originally distributed by a Malabon-based company called New Unity Sweets Manufacturing Corporation.

Peter’s Butter Ball

• It’s butterscotch-flavored hard candy balls in creamy brown packets marked with orange stripes.
• It was first introduced in 1967 and has been handed to a number of manufacturing companies. Today, the PPC Resources Group produces them.
• It is named after the American candy maker Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company, the original maker.

Nips

• Nips are tiny, disc-shaped chocolates that come coated in different colors.
• It was introduced by URC’s subsidiary Consolidated Food Corp. back in the 1960s.
• The name reportedly is a reverse of the word “spin,” which describes one of the stages the product takes to become what it is at the end.

Mik-Mik

• Mik-mik comes a small red packet of sweetened milk powder with a matching straw for kids to “sip” the candy with.
• Over the years, Mik-Mik has gotten two flavour varieties—peanut and ube.
• Jocker’s Food Industry founder Robert Sy came up with this candy after enjoying something similar in Divisoria.

Flat Tops and Curly Tops

• They may look similar, with only a swirl top design differentiating them, but these two chocolate candies actually taste differently since they have varying formulations.
• Based on looks, Curly Tops is slightly darker in color than Flat Tops.
  Regardless of the slight differences, both have been well-loved by many generations.
• Both chocolate candies are manufactured by Ricoa, formerly Philfoods.