Oompas
Oompas
Candy produced under the Willy Wonka brand name
Oompas, now discontinued, were candy produced under the Willy Wonka brand name. They were labeled as ‘Peanut Butter Oompas’.
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The candy produced from 1971 to 1983 was similar to today's Reese's Pieces and peanut butter M&M's (though bigger). Under the candy coating was a candy disk of one-half peanut butter, and one-half chocolate. In 1980, they were briefly available in a chocolate and strawberry (instead of peanut butter) variety.
In 2001, Wonka, then a Nestlé subsidiary, revived the brand name for a chewy Skittles-like candy that came in a variety of fruit flavors: Green Apple, Cherry, Lemon, Orange, Grape, and Strawberry. These were simply labeled ‘Oompas’.
The UK version had a different, more eccentric flavour variety: jam doughnut, rhubarb and custard, snozzberry (mixed fruit), popcorn, caterpillar (cucumber) and mashed potato.
They were named after The Oompa-Loompas from the Roald Dahl children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, from which the Wonka company takes its name.
