Are Everlasting Gobstopper Candies Discontinued?

Updated on May 2, 2024, to include Ferrara's statement.

Everlasting Gobstopper candies — childhood treats best known for their appearance in movie adaptations of Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" – seem almost impossible to find sometimes. Online petitions to bring them back, like this Change.org page from 2020, may cause folks to believe they've long been discontinued, but is that truly the case?

Based on intermittent social media speculation regarding the topic, it seems Everlasting Gobstopper candies have gone in and out of stock over the course of the early 2020s, much to the chagrin of fans. They even appear to have briefly returned in '23, with a user on Reddit gleefully posting a picture of boxes of the candy with the caption: "Our long nightmare is over." However, at the end of that same year, the brand Ferrara confirmed the candy was missing from store shelves via X, formerly known as Twitter. "Due to capacity issues," it wrote in a reply to one curious user, "Gobstoppers and Runts are currently paused until the end of 2023/early 2024."

What "capacity issues" and "paused" actually mean is a Ferrara-insider secret. However, Ferrara's X statement doesn't imply that Everlasting Gobstopper candies have been lost forever. In fact, the candy is hardly out of reach as of mid 2024. In an email sent to Mashed, Ferrara confirmed that "Gobstoppers are available via Amazon and additional online retailers." Sure, that's not as convenient as picking up a pack from the grocery store, but it's better than the dreaded discontinuation.

Several beloved Wonka candies have been discontinued over the years, including the very Wonka bar on which the plot of the book and movies alike hinge. In fact, the bars have been discontinued and brought back several times over the years, leading people to often wonder whether or not you can really buy them.

The release of "Wonka" in 2023 may have reignited interest, but it's hard to continue marketing a brand that relies so heavily on the buzz of a film. Back when Nestlé owned the brand, the company acknowledged the short-term nature of its candies' appeal, stating in a 2014 release that Wonka treats capture consumers' desire for "novelty" (via The Grocer). However, the statement explains, "Novelty is by its nature often short-term," which makes sense given this was responding to yet another Wonka bar discontinuation; that version was only on U.K. shelves for a year before falling sales decimated future prospects.

Ferrara may not take an identical approach to Nestlé when it comes to brand longevity, but it's worth remembering the words of former chairman and CEO of Nestlé UK and Ireland: Fiona Kendrick. As she put it back in 2014, Wonka is "a brand that comes and goes." Even if Everlasting Gobstopper candies aren't officially discontinued, this truism seems to apply to the treats' general availability.