sugarplum — whatever the heck they are — positively dance through kids ' heads at the end of the year . Figgy pudding — again , what ? — is plain , harmonize to the somewhatbeloved Christmas Christmas carol , high on some multitude ’s wish list .
But Necco Wafers ? They ’ve been around for more than acentury and a one-half , still wrapped in their intimate wax package , and nobody break out in Song dynasty about them . At any clip of the year . It ’s a seasonal pity .
OK … that ’s not rigorously true . Diana Eschhofen , a congressman for theSpangler Candy Companyof Bryan , Ohio — a family - have affair that itself has been around since 1906 — will sing high praises about the Necco . schematic candy lovers far and wide may appear on the humble multi - flavor wafer as some form of sick endowment from a crotchety old grandmother . But Eschhofen make out better . And she has account on her side .
" Our research and experience have made it absolved , " she suppose in an e-mail , " that Necco Wafers are loved by people from all contemporaries and all walks of life . "
What Are Necco Wafers?
If you ’re new to the Necco , first , its name . Necco is an acronym , of variety , for the now - defunct New England Candy Company , which plunge its eponymic ware in 1901 , though the original version of the wafer first was popped out of a lozenge - cut simple machine in 1847 . For comparison ’s sake , the Hershey ’s Bar came along in1900 ; the Milky Way bar wasintroduced in 1924 ; Reese ’s Peanut Butter Cupswere unveiled in 1928and the Snickers barin 1930 . M&Ms came along in1941 .
So redeem those down - nozzle see for other , lesser candies . The Necco , which traveled with soldiery in the Civil War and World War II , deserves a little respect .
Second , the Necco is , in an praiseworthily proud sort of means , not your averagechocolate barroom . It is , as the name points out , a confect wafer , sell in 24 - reckoning rolls meant for sharing . These wafer — think flat Mentos , or bigLife Savers , though the Necco is snap - worthy and tastes nothing like those candies — occur in eight distinct colors and flavors . FromSpangler , which took over the brand in 2018 :
What Do Necco Wafers Taste Like?
The third bit you need to screw about the Necco Wafer is its taste . And that ’s where the genuine candy snobs get all huffy .
Neccos are made withsugar and maize syrupand have pretty much zero nutritionary economic value ( though they are fat- and Na - free ) . They are calcareous - taste to most everybody that try them and , in a innkeeper of snarky online tasting tests and confect Top 10 lists , constantly place among the worst of modern candies , up ( or down ) there with Circus Peanuts , another Spangler product .
They are , even according to Eschhofen , not candy to many booster , alternatively used as " shingles for gingerbread home , for kids to practice manduction , comestible fire hook splintering and place markers . "
Still , somebody out there likes them for their appreciation . In 2009 , the Necco multitude made the first change to the wafers ' formula since its inception , endeavor to rid the candy of artificial colors and feeling .
fan would have none of it . Sales dismiss by 35 percent .
" When you ’re tampering with the family jewels for [ the first time in ] 150 years , " Necco Vice President of Research and Quality Jeff Greentold NPR in 2011 , " we expected some fallout . I do n’t call up we expected it to be quite what it was . "
Necco jettisoned the new wafer translation , a laNew Coke , sold the brand in 2018 and , after a brief respite , Spangler brought the old Necco back , to adecent degree of fanfare , in early 2020 . They can be find in major supermarkets and drugstores across America today .
Bringing Back the Necco Wafer in 2020
Necco Wafers may not be particularly goodish ( though , have you seen the dough subject matter in a Three Musketeers ? ) or , to many people ’s roof of the mouth , particularly tasty . But they have a recession that they are uniquely qualified to fill .
Spangler did a survey early in 2020 and found that 73 percent of Americans have had , or are at least familiar with , Necco Wafers . Baby boomer and Gen X get them . A respectable 71 percentage of millennials know Neccos . The only group that was n’t all that familiar with the wafer were those in the 18 - 23 age radical . Only 40 percent of them had even hear of Necco Wafers .
But if those Gen Zers stick around long enough — kind of like the wafer itself — who knows ? A Necco Renaissance ? A new appreciation for these pasty , pastel , crunchy chalk - like treats ?
" Necco Wafers bring back the kind of familiar , comfortable feeling we are all starve . For some , it ’s the feel of that familiar wax paper roll in their hands , still lark its classic logo . For others , it will be snap open and undress back the wrap to leaf through the row of flavored discs to witness their favorite , " Eschhofen read . " For still others , it will be feeling each wafer thawing on the tongue , or that satisfy snap of biting down . For everyone , it ’s classic and sweetened . "
