Percy Pig
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Percy Pig is a British brand of pig-shaped gummy sweets by Marks & Spencer introduced in 1992. There are raspberry, strawberry, cherry and grape flavours. Katjes makes them in Germany. More than 10,000,000 bags are sold a year, making Marks & Spencer more than £10,000,000.[1] They contain just under 3.5% fruit juice[source?] and are vegetarian.
There were 100, 200, and 400 gram versions until 2008.[source?] There are now 100, 170 and 500 gram versions.[source?]
History
Percy Pig was introduced in 1992. There were strawberry, blackcurrant and raspberry flavours.[1]
They were unavailable for a short time in 1997. The Percy Piglets version reached number 11 on British Vogue's "what's hot" list in 2008.[2]
There is a Percy Pig community on Facebook, which has 250,000 members.[1]
Percy Pig talked for the first time in Marks & Spencer's 2021 Christmas advert, voiced by Tom Holland.[3]
Ingredients
Percy Pig sweets once contained gelatin from pigs.[1] A vegetarian version, "Veggie Percy", came out in 2011, using beeswax and pea protein. They have green ears.[4]
In 2016, some versions of Percy Pig sweets started to not use gelatine. All Percy Pig sweets have been vegetarian since May 2019,[5] instead using pectin.[6] New logos and packaging designs were made.
Variations
New versions, flavours and characters came out because Percy Pig was successful. "Percy Pig & Pals", one of the first, also has cows (cola flavour), sheep (grape flavour) and "Percy Piglets" (smaller versions) inside. Percy Pig's girlfriend, Penny Pig (lemon flavour), came out in 2010.[1]
There have also been Percy Pig fruit juices, fizzy drinks, chocolates, biscuits, cakes, muffins,[7] ice cream,[8] dessert sauces[9] mince pies[10] and more. A Percy Pig advent calendar came back in 2020[11] after there was not 2018 and 2019 ones. There are also non-food items, such as toys, books, socks, party items, bed linen and piggy banks.
Sweets
- Percy Pig
- Percy Pig Original Veggie (previously Veggie Percy)
- Reduced Sugar Percy Pig
- Percy Pig Piglets
- Phizzy Pig Tails
- Percy Pig and Pals
- Percy Pig Loves Penny (previously Percy and Penny)
- Percy Pig Goes Globetrotting (previously Globetrotting Percy)
- Percy Pig Fruity Chews
- Percy Pig Phizzy Chews
- Percy Pig Party Time
Seasonal
- Percy Meets The Easter Bunny (Easter)
- Percy Pig Gets Spooky (previously "Pumpkin Percy"; Halloween)
- Merry Percymas! (Christmas)
Discontinued
- Rosy Noses (pig noses)
- Reversy Percy (foam ears and jelly faces)
- Percy's Pig Pen (filled liquorice sticks)
- Percy in a Twist (twisted fizzy laces, vegetarian)
- Percy in the Pink (chocolate)
- Percy's Pig Sty (household objects)
- Percy's Percynalities (different faces)
- Percy's Family Mix (Percy Pigs, Penny Pigs and Percy Piglets in one bag)
- Percy's Parents
Similar sweets
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Other shops sell similar sweets. Some in the United Kingdom are "Eric the Elephant" by Sainsbury's, "Cool Cats" by Tesco, "Stanley Snail" and "Fredrick Frog" by Asda, "Henry Hippo" by Lidl (vegan) and "Dinky Dogs" by Poundland (released in 2019, not vegetarian).
Some outside the United Kingdom are "Juiced Up" in Canada (introduced 2009), "Fred Ferkel" in Germany, "Katja Biggetjes" in the Netherlands, "Petit Cochon" in France (introduced 2007) and "Peggy Pig and Pals" in Australia (introduced in Coles Supermarkets in 2009).
Percy Pig Media
Percy Pig being installed on the roof of the new M&S store in Stevenage, Hertfordshire
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 High on the hog: How Percy Pig came to dominate the sweetie market, and win the nation's hearts. London. 6 June 2010. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/high-on-the-hog-how-percy-pig-came-to-dominate-the-sweetie-market-and-win-the-nations-hearts-1989583.html.
- ↑ Percy Piglets make Vogue's 'hot' list. 8 September 2008. http://www.metro.co.uk/news/298501-percy-piglets-make-vogues-hot-list. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ "From Spider-man to Percy Pig: Tom Holland voices M&S festive ad". 4 November 2021.
- ↑ "Veggie Percy - Big up the new gelatine free sweet treat". Happytalkinghealth.posterous.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ "Marks & Spencer's Percy Pigs are now 100% vegetarian". The Independent. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ↑ "Why everyone's talking about Percy Pigs" (in en). The Week UK. 3 May 2019. https://www.theweek.co.uk/101052/why-everyone-s-talking-about-percy-pigs. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ↑ Troy-Pryde, Jadie (11 November 2019). "Percy Pig muffins are coming to M&S and we are not worthy". Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/food-drink/percy-pig-muffins-marks-spencers-673743. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ↑ Troy-Pryde, Jadie (7 January 2020). "M&S launches Percy Pig ice cream and what a dream". Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/food-drink/ms-percy-pig-ice-cream-694376. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ↑ Troy-Pryde, Jadie (7 January 2020). "M&S has launched a Percy Pig dessert sauce in time for Pancake Day". Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/food-drink/ms-percy-pig-dessert-sauce-680871. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ↑ Troy-Pryde, Jadie (9 October 2020). "Percy Pig mince pies now exist and they're the Christmas snacks we all need". Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/food-drink/percy-pig-mince-pies-714002. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ Troy-Pryde, Jadie (15 September 2020). "M&S launch Percy Pig advent calendars and we're totally sold". Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/food-drink/percy-pig-mince-pies-714002. Retrieved 23 October 2020.