7-Eleven’s Exclusive New Laffy Taffy Flavor!

Sometimes a store exclusive candy offering is easy to spot – as it will be talked about in the trade press or have a large graphic on the package indicating it as special.  But with this new release of Strawberry-Banana Laffy Taffy, I very nearly missed it completely.  And if I could so easily overlook it, I figured it might be a good idea to put out the word about the release here – so others could seek it out to sample.

Part of the fun (and one of the challenges) of collecting candy is trying to keep up with new and seasonal releases because there isn’t a central news service to let you know everything that’s out there or what’s coming.  Because of that, I often find myself entering into “hunter mode” whenever I walk down a candy isle.  There are so many products that come out that I’ll routinely encounter things I didn’t expect to see.

And so it was that a few weeks ago I was surprised to find this small bit of signage in my local 7-Eleven candy isle, all the way near the floor hanging off the bottom shelf:

7-Eleven Excluisve Laffy Taffy 2013 – in-store signage

It was the “New & Exclusive” bit that caught my attention, even though at first glance I had overlooked it as simply a sale price sign.  But I realized it was much more and that 7-Eleven had gotten an exclusive Laffy Taffy flavor release.

Though my 7-Eleven store had the sign pointing out the Strawberry-Banana Laffy Taffy, they didn’t have the exclusive flavor in stock.  The following week I was in Staten Island and on the third 7-Eleven I visited, I found the elusive and exclusive flavor.   And here it is:

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Strawberry-Banana – 7-Eleven exclusive – candy wrapper – August 2013

Without any markings to indicate that it’s a 7-Eleven exclusive, it’s possible I might not have ever noticed it or picked it up, assuming that I had a “full set” of contemporary Laffy Taffy wrappers already.

Laffy Taffy fans might be scratching their heads right about now thinking that they’d seen this flavor before, and they have.  Before the last major Wonka packaging redesign, Strawberry-Banana had been a part of the standard Laffy Taffy flavor assortment.  Here’s what the 2007 version looked like:

Wonka Laffy Taffy – Hanna Strawberry-Banana – 2007

So this was actually a discontinued flavor that is now making its return as a store exclusive.  If you were a fan of this one, now is your chance to seek it out and enjoy the flavor combination again… if you’ve got a 7-Eleven nearby.

I wanted to note that the flavors were also released together in boxed form earlier this year (though as individual Strawberry and Banana fun-size pieces):

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Strawberry and Banana – 4 ounce candy box – 2013

And just to wrap up today’s post, here are the rest of the currently-available Laffy Taffy flavor wrappers.  If  you’ve seen any that are not included below – let me know!

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Grape – candy wrapper – 2013

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Cherry – candy wrapper – 2013

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Sparkle Cherry – candy wrapper – 2013

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Strawberry – candy wrapper – 2013

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Banana – candy wrapper – 2013

Nestle – Wonka – Laffy Taffy – Watermelon – candy wrapper – 2013

And that’s everything I’ve got today on 7-Eleven’s exclusive Laffy Taffy flavor.   Eventually I plan to return to this topic when I put together a full historical retrospective on Laffy Taffy and Tangy Taffy – it’s quite a history!  Until then I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for other unexpected exclusives.

See you next time!