Liquorice allsorts (also spelled licorice allsorts) consist of a variety of liquorice 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 (Pontefract cakes/mushrooms), Barratts (sherbet fountains/sweet cigarettes) and Trebor (mints) before being taken over themselves by the Cadbury's consortium.
Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world today, and are most popular in Britain, continental Europe, and North America. 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. He scrambled to re-arrange them, and the client was intrigued by the new creation. Quickly the company began to mass-produce the allsorts, and they became very popular.
The Bassett's company mascot is Bertie Bassett, a figure made up of liquorice allsorts, which has become a part of British popular culture. Bertie was created by John (Jack) McEwan and was finally made known to the public on 1 January 1929 after months of internal discussion. One of the sweets in the current allsorts mix is a liquorice figure shaped like Bertie. The Doctor Who serial The Happiness Patrol featured a villain called the Kandy Man, who resembled Bertie Bassett. Although an internal investigation concluded that the programme had not infringed on Bassett's trademark, the BBC promised Bassett's that the Kandy Man would not appear again.
During the 1970s the sweets were promoted in television commercials with the slogan: "All sorts love Allsorts and Bassets make 'em best!"
Bassett's have since released two varieties of allsorts that do not feature any liquorice. Fruit allsorts feature mixed-fruit flavoured sweets, while Dessert allsorts have flavours such as apple tart and lemon cheesecake. Both retain the shapes and textures of the original sweet. Red allsorts, with fruit-flavoured liquorice, were briefly released in the late 1990s, discontinued and recently re-introduced to the UK with flavours including Blueberry Cube, Strawberry Check and a red liquorice Betty Bassett.
As a publicity stunt, Bertie Bassett married Betty, another character made of sweets, in February 2009.