Percy Pig

Percy Pig is a British brand of pig-shaped gummy raspberry, strawberry, cherry, and grape-flavoured confectionery products made under licence in Germany by Katjes for Marks & Spencer which first appeared in stores in 1992. More than £10,000,000 was grossed between June 2009 and 2010 in Percy Pig sales in Marks and Spencer's UK branches alone.[1] They contain just under 3.5% fruit juice. Until 2008, Percy Pig sweets were available in 100, 200, and 400 grams. The packaging has not changed size, but the middle size now contains 170 grams and the large size now contains 500 grams. All Percy Pig sweets are now vegetarian.

Marks & Spencer Percy Pigs

History

Percy Pig was created in 1992 and was sold in strawberry, blackcurrant and raspberry flavours.[1] After a brief hiatus from the shelves in 1997, the brand returned, and in 2008 the sweets made UK British Vogue's 2008 hot list at number 11 on the top style bible's 40 hottest people and trends to watch over the coming months.[2] A Percy Pig appreciation society has been set up on Facebook and currently has 250,000 members.[1]

Ingredients

Marks & Spencer Percy Pig sweets originally contained real pig in the form of pork gelatin, as opposed to pectin, a common vegetarian alternative found widely in sweets and jellies.[1]

In 2011 Veggie Percy was launched, a vegetarian variety of Percy Pig sweets using beeswax and pea protein. They have green ears to indicate they are vegetarian.[3] In 2016 M&S began using a new gelatine-free recipe for some other varieties of Percy Pig sweets, and from May 2019 all Percy Pig sweets were 100 per cent gelatine-free.[4] This relaunch of the range also saw a new logo and packaging designs across the range.

Variations
One such variation are Marks & Spencer Percy Piglets

Following on from the success of the original Percy Pig sweets, new varieties, flavours and characters were introduced. Amongst the first were "Percy Pig & Pals", which besides Percy also contained a cow (cola flavour) and sheep (grape flavour) and "Percy Piglets", which are smaller versions of the main sweets. Percy gained a girlfriend in Penny Pig in 2010, with her sweets being lemon flavoured.[1]

Besides the sweet range itself, Percy Pig has expanded to fruit juices, fizzy drinks, chocolates, biscuits, cakes, muffins,[5] ice cream,[6] dessert sauces[7] and mince pies,[8] amongst others. In 2020, Marks and Spencers launched a Percy Pig advent calendar.[9] Toys, books, socks, party equipment, bed linen and piggy banks are amongst the non-food items with the Percy Pig branding.

List of Percy Pig sweets
  • Percy Pig
  • Percy Pig Original Veggie (previously called "Veggie Percy")
  • Reduced Sugar Percy Pig
  • Percy Pig Piglets
  • Phizzy Pig Tails
  • Percy Pig and Pals
  • Percy Pig Loves Penny (previously known as "Percy and Penny")
  • Percy Pig Goes Globetrotting (previously known as "Globetrotting Percy")
  • Percy's Parents
  • Percy Pig Fruity Chews
  • Percy Pig Phizzy Chews
  • Percy Pig Party Time

Seasonal Variations
  • Percy Pig Gets Spooky (previously known as "Pumpkin Percy"; Halloween themed sweets)
  • Merry Percymas! (Christmas themed sweets)
  • Percy Meets The Easter Bunny (Easter themed sweets)

Discontinued Variations
  • Rosy Noses
  • Reversy Percy (foam ears and jelly faces)
  • Percy's Pig Pen (Percy Pig sweets with household object-shaped sweets)
  • Percy in a Twist (fizzy laces in a twist - vegetarian)
  • Percy in the Pink (Percy Pig chocolate)
  • Percy's Pig Sty
  • Percy's Percynalities (Percy Pig sweets with differing faces)
  • Percy’s Family Mix (a mixture of Percy Pig, Penny Pig and the piglets)

Other retailers

Similar sweets are available from other retailers. One variation is "Eric the Elephant" produced by Sainsbury's. Tesco's line sports the "Cool Cats" name, while Asda has other similar products called "Stanley Snail" and "Fredrick Frog". Lidl has "Henry Hippo" sweets which are vegan. Poundland, a discount retailer, released their own version in 2019 called "Dinky Dogs", although these are not vegetarian.

Outside of the United Kingdom, similar products in other countries are he Canadian "Juiced Up" (introduced 2009), the German "Fred Ferkel", the Dutch "Katja Biggetjes", the French "Petit Cochon" (launched 2007) and the Australian "Peggy Pig and Pals" introduced in Coles Supermarkets in 2009.

See also

References
  1. "High on the hog: How Percy Pig came to dominate the sweetie market, and win the nation's hearts". The Independent. London. 6 June 2010.
  2. "Percy Piglets make Vogue's 'hot' list". Metro. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  3. "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.
  4. "Marks & Spencer's Percy Pigs are now 100% vegetarian". The Independent. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  5. Troy-Pryde, Jadie (11 November 2019). "Percy Pig muffins are coming to M&S and we are not worthy". Marie Claire. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. Troy-Pryde, Jadie (7 January 2020). "M&S launches Percy Pig ice cream and what a dream". Marie Claire. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  7. Troy-Pryde, Jadie (7 January 2020). "M&S has launched a Percy Pig dessert sauce in time for Pancake Day". Marie Claire. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  8. Troy-Pryde, Jadie (9 October 2020). "Percy Pig mince pies now exist and they're the Christmas snacks we all need". Marie Claire. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  9. Troy-Pryde, Jadie (15 September 2020). "M&S launch Percy Pig advent calendars and we're totally sold". Marie Claire. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
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