Liquorice allsorts
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| Type | Confectionery |
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| Place of origin | England |
| Region or state | Sheffield |
| Created by | Geo. Bassett & Co |
| Main ingredients | Liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, gelatine |
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Liquorice allsorts (also spelled licorice allsorts) consist of assorted liquorice sugar candies sold as a mixture. These confections are made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine. They were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd who had taken over Wilkinsons (makers of Pontefract cakes, and licorice mushrooms, a confection with a licorice "stipe" and coconut-covered "cap"), Barratt's (makers of sherbet fountains/sweet cigarettes), and Trebor (makers of mints) before themselves being taken over by the Cadbury's consortium.
Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world today. They are most popular in Britain, the Isle of Man, continental Europe (especially in the Netherlands where it is called Engelse drop, meaning English liquorice), and Canada.South African confectionery giant Beacon produces substantial quantities of the product, where it is both sold locally and exported to such countries as Australia, Canada, and Portugal.
Bassett's use the story of their creation in their marketing. In 1899 Charlie Thompson, a sales representative, supposedly dropped a tray of samples he was showing a client in Leicester, mixing up the various sweets. After he scrambled to re-arrange them, the client was intrigued by the new creation. Quickly the company began to mass-produce the allsorts and they became very popular.
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