Zours – A Retro Sweet & Sour Candy

Last Updated on June 27, 2022 by Jim Edwards

Zours are a sweet and sour candy that was introduced to the market in 1940 by the Born, Inc. company. This company also makes the incredibly popular Mike & Ike candies. The Zours were their foray into a sour candy and these were one of the first ones on the American candy market. They were modeled after the Mike and Ikes and are nearly identical in size and shape, but with a sour sugar coating on the exterior.

This candy was on the market for many decades, but unfortunately it was recently discontinued. The company did not clarify exactly why other than to say that there was decreased demand from both consumers and store owners.

Personally I think it is because they were rather indistinguishable from the numerous sour candies on the market. There are tons of slightly sour candies for them to compete with as well as much more sour candies too (for example: sour skittles, Jolly Rancher Sour Surge, sour patch kids, and Trolli Sour Brite Eggs)

History of Zours

Zours were first introduced to the customer in 1940. These candies were created by the Just Born company, which also manufactured popular marshmallow Peeps of Easter and the spicy Hot Tamales. The founder of the Just Born company is Sam Born.

Born first moved to the United States of America from Russia in 1910. He was able to make an impact in the world of making candy. This is through the invention of the machine that made it possible to insert sticks into the lollipops automatically. This success moved him into bigger and better things.

Born received several awards for this invention. After that, Born migrated to New York City to launch his little retail shop. He named this shop ‘Just Born’ as he was not selling any other candies except what he was making. It was in this retail shop that he would come up with another great invention; chocolate sprinkles. Born also created the process of putting hard chocolate coating that you will find on all of the ice cream bars sold in the stores today.

Within six years, he was successful to the extent of starting a manufacturing business. His brothers-in-law joined him to aid in selling confections. Since then, it has been a family-owned business. Hot Tamales, a spicy cinnamon flavor, was created by him. A brand of gourmet jelly beans is part of the brand owned by Just Born.

Although the company currently sells peanut bites in milk and dark chocolates, these originated from a relatively recent takeover of the Goldenberg Candy Company. Even if Sam Born did not invent all of the many forms of candy available on the market today, his impact is still seen every day with many of the various types of candy in the stores.

Zours Flavors 

Zours come in two unique flavor blends:

• ZOURS Original Fruitz (discontinued May 2020)
• ZOURS Punch Fruitz (discontinued)

Zours Nutrition Facts 

• Protein: 0g
• Total Fat: 0g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 60mg
• Sugars: 23g
• Total Carbohydrate: 34g

Zours Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

When Were Zours Introduced in The Market? 

Zours were introduced into the market in 1940.

Why were Zours Discontinued?

Unfortunately they were discontinued due to lack of interest from customers and also from grocery and convenience store owners.

How Many Flavors Are Available? 

Although Zours are unfortunately now discontinued, the original flavors were as follows:

• ZOURS Original Fruitz – contained Sour Blue Raspberry, Sour Green Apple, Sour Tangerine, Sour Watermelon.
• ZOURS Punch Fruitz  – wild berry, blue raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and peach berry.

Are Zours Vegan-Friendly? 

They are not. This is because they have confectioners Glaze, which has shellac, a non-vegan ingredient made from beetles.

Image Credit: “Zours” by Shoshanah is licensed under CC BY 2.0