13 snacks every 80s child wanted in their lunch box, including lost chocolate bar voted nation's favourite

• These were the snacks and drinks every child wanted to find in their school lunch box during the 1980s
• Their popularity was boosted by some memorable advertising campaigns
• Some have been discontinued, while others have made a comeback following campaigns by fans who missed them

If you were a child of the 1980s who took a packed lunch to school there were some snacks which would make you the envy of all your classmates.

Below are some of the retro 80s drinks, crisps and chocolate biscuits every schoolchild wanted to find in their lunchbox back then, alongside their sandwiches and fruit.

54321 bars

These chocolate bars were named after the five key ingredients they contained - wafer, fondant, rice crispies, caramel and milk chocolate.

They are also remembered by many for the advert, featuring the Manfred Mann song 5-4-3-2-1 and in an early version the comedian Rik Mayall.

54321 bars were sadly discontinued in 1989.

Panda Pops

This range of brightly coloured fizzy drinks was popular with children for many years.

Flavours included blue raspberryade, which was guaranteed to turn your tongue a vivid blue, cherryade and strawberry jelly & ice cream.

Panda Pops were eventually axed in 2011 following pressure from health campaigners over the high sugar content.

Club biscuits

For many children of the 80s, these cream-filled, chocolate covered biscuit bars will forever be associated with the insanely catchy advertising jingle.

All together now: “If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club.”

Everyone had a favourite flavour of the Jacob’s/McVitie’s biscuits, whether it was plain, orange, mint, coffee or one of the other many varities introduced over the years.

Club biscuits remain popular today, with a new salted caramel flavour introduced in 2022.

Kia-Ora

Kia-Ora dates back to 1903, when it was first sold in Australia, but despite being available in the UK from 1917 it only really took off here in the 1970s and 80s.

The drink’s popularity was fuelled by the animated adverts featuring the jingle ‘We all adore a Kia-Ora’, though those adverts were later criticised for their use of racial stereotypes.

Smiths Flavour ‘n’ Shake crisps

Smiths Salt ‘n’ Shake is a classic crisp variety still made by Walkers today.

There’s always been something strangely satisfying about having to do the work yourself, opening the sachet of salt and shaking the bag vigorously, even though it was never enough to evenly distribute said salt.

Smiths really stepped things up in the 80s, with the introduction of Flavour ‘n’ Shake crisps, with flavourings including salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, smoky bacon and tomato ketchup.

Um Bongo

This popular tropical flavour fruit drink was first introduced in 1983 by Libby’s, which at the time belonged to Nestlé.

It was advertised for many years using the jingle ‘Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo’, though the reference to the Congo was later removed.

The original recipe was famously altered in the noughties after new regulations were introduced restricting the use of sugar and artificial flavourings.

But following complaints from many customers the original formula was reintroduced in 2009, originally as Um Bongo Tropical and then Classic Um Bongo.

Golden Wonder Super Heroes crisps

Golden Wonder was king of the crisps in the UK until it was overtaken by Walkers. In the 1980s, its popular varieties included the Super Heroes range, with web-shaped Spider-Man crisps and Superman ones in the shape of his famous ‘S’ logo.

Golden Wonder crisps were advertised at the time as being ‘Britain’s noisiest crisp’ with the best crunch factor.

Texan bars

The Texan was a US-themed chocolate bar containing nougat and toffee which was popular in the UK during the 1970s and early 80s.

The adverts featured a cartoon cowboy who would declare the Texan bar ‘sure is a mighty chew’.

It was withdrawn from sale in 1984 but after being named the UK’s favourite sweet of all time in a 2004 survey, it was briefly revived by Nestlé the following year as a limited edition ‘nostalgia’ product.

Marathon bar

This popular peanut, nougat and caramel chocolate bar never went away but famously changed its name in the UK in 1990 to Snickers, as it had always been known elsewhere.

To children who grew up in the UK during the 80s, it will always be a Snickers bar. The maker Mars decided to cash in on the nostalgia, briefly introducing a retro Marathon version in UK supermarkets in 2019.

United chocolate bar

This was possibly the only chocolate biscuit bar to feature a football kit-inspired wrapper, with blue and white stripes.

The chocolate coated biscuit with candy crisp was launched by McVitie’s in 1979 and proved hugely popular during the 1980s before being discontinued during the early 1990s.

Choc-Dips

Choc-Dips first hit supermarket shelves in 1982 and the biscuit sticks with a chocolatey dipping sauce have proved a favourite with youngsters ever since.

But did you prefer the original milk chocolate version, the white chocolate variety or the old toffee version?

Trio

The Trio was another chocolate bar whose popularity was boosted by a memorable advertising campaign during the 80s.

Those ads featured the cartoon character Suzy, who opened her chops improbably wide to belt out ‘Trio, Trio, I want a Trio and I want one now’, to the tune of Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).

Trios, originally made by Jacob’s, consisted of a biscuit base topped with toffee cream and covered in milk chocolate, in three snappable sections. Other versions contained chocolate and strawberry cream.

Trios were discontinued in 2003 but the original toffee version made a comeback in 2016, following a Facebook campaign.

Fish ‘n’ Chips biscuits

These fish-shaped savoury biscuits by Burton’s were hugely popular during the 80s, when they featured in many school lunch boxes.

The salt and vinegar flavoured snack, with its distinctive newspaper-style packaging, disappeared for many years before making a comeback in 2014.

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