Midget gems are not so much eaten as worked through, one stubborn little gem at a time, until your jaw files a complaint. Bonds of London Mini Gems, the sweet you will know as Midget Gems, are the proper sweet-shop kind, firm and chewy, the bag that lived in your coat pocket on the walk home from school. New name on the bag; you will still call them Midget Gems.
Nobody shares them evenly. You pick out your favourite colour first, then pretend you were going for the others all along.
They last ages in the mouth and about ten minutes in the bag. That is the deal, and it has always been the deal.
Frequently asked questions about Bonds of London Mini Gems
Q: Is this the UK version?
A: It is. These are Bonds of London Midget Gems from Britain, and we ship them from within Canada, so no waiting on a parcel from overseas.
Q: How big is the bag?
A: It is a 130g bag. Enough to last a film, if you pace yourself, which nobody does.
Q: Are they a good gift for someone who misses home?
A: Very much so. Hand a bag of midget gems to anyone who grew up in Britain and watch them go straight back to the school bus.
More about Bonds of London Mini Gems
Midget gems belong to the old sweet shop line-up, the jars on the top shelf that got weighed out by the quarter. They are the slower, tougher cousin of the wine gum, made for people who like a sweet to put up a bit of a fight.
Search for them in Canada and you mostly find other people asking where they went. They are one of those sweets that never really travelled, so anyone who grew up with them has been quietly missing them for years.
This is a 130g bag: a good handful for one, or a polite share for two if the other person is quick. Keep it sealed in a cool, dry cupboard and the gems stay as firm as they ought to be. They live happily in a glovebox, a desk drawer or a coat pocket.
People rarely stop at one bag. They tend to land in the basket next to other British sweets and a bar or two of chocolate from home, which is how a quiet film night turns into a proper one.
Additional Information
Packaging Accuracy. We keep product information as accurate and up to date as possible. Manufacturers sometimes change packaging, ingredients, nutritional information, allergen advice, pack sizes or branding without notice, so the product you receive may look slightly different from the images shown. If you have a question about ingredients or allergens before ordering, please get in touch and we will gladly check for you.
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A handy shortcut to the British favourites flying out the door.
Nobody has ever eaten one midget gem. You take a couple to be polite, then a handful, then you are folding up an empty bag and wondering who else had some. A small bag of sweets from the corner shop is one of those British habits that follows you across an ocean, and this one carries the Bonds of London name. Trade press described Bonds of London as one of the UK's oldest sweet businesses when it was sold in 2016. Old habit, old firm. Good company.
Read the full story
Old sweet business, new owners
That sale was a multimillion-pound deal in April 2016. The buyer was Innovative Bites, a US-foods wholesaler founded in 2008 by Vishal Madhu. Then came the sensible bit: managing director Philip Courtenay-Luck stayed on with the business. When you buy something that old, you keep the person who knows where everything is kept, and which shelf the good stuff lives on.
Jars, bags and serious pick'n'mix
Innovative Bites' founder said Bonds of London has historically been known for traditional British sweets such as pick'n'mix jars and hanging bags. Its best-known jars include retro classics such as sherbet lemons and wine gums, the kind that sat on a shelf behind the counter while you pointed and hoped. A year after buying Bonds of London, Innovative Bites went on to acquire pick'n'mix wholesaler Hancocks Cash & Carry in a deal worth about £100m. Somebody takes pick'n'mix very seriously.
The one at the bottom
A bag of sweets in Britain is never really one person's. It goes along the back seat, round the office, down the row at the cinema, and comes back lighter every time. Somebody always leaves one in the bottom of the bag. It is never them. Keep yours in the desk drawer or the glovebox, and do not expect it to see out the week.
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Christmas is on its way
The Christmas range lands from the UK in early November.
The day it arrives we unpack it, pack your order and send it on its way. Advent calendars go first, and everything reaches you within a few days wherever you are in Canada.
Order now and it has your name on it. The favourites go early every year. The people who leave it until December are the ones who miss out.
