The Little-Known History Of The Fruit Roll-Up

Many kids of the 90's and 00's have fond memories of enjoying sweet fruit leather candies, like Fruit Roll-Ups. Although many of us as adults have since opted to make fruit leather at home with canned fruits or even cranberry sauce, we still occasionally turn to the nostalgic snack, even if only to use it to make other sweets like Tanghulu. With its iconic bright colors, tangy sweet flavors, and, of course, long, rolling shape, it is hard to imagine a time when these candies weren't ever present on grocery store shelves.

Truthfully, Fruit Roll-Ups owes its success to a lesser-known apricot fruit leather known as amardeen. With roots in a Syrian community of New York City, amardeen predates Fruit Roll-Ups by several decades. It was this very same fruit leather that was eventually rolled and wrapped by a local Syrian family.

After the 60's, other companies began making their own versions of fruit leather candies, each rolled and wrapped. The local family company that started it all wasn't the one that ultimately created Fruit Roll-Ups as a company. However, it is thanks to them that Fruit Roll-Ups even exist in the first place.

Amardeen and fruit leather

A grocery store run by a Syrian family is where Fruit Roll-Ups truly originate from. The store's owner, George Shalhoub, made fruit leather out of imported apricot paste. Even the name "fruit leather" got its origins at this store, with customers saying the candy was as tough as leather.

Still, customers kept coming back for more, even after the grocery store and the rest of Little Syria in New York City was destroyed in order for the city to make the Battery Tunnel. The family continued making its candies — this time wrapped instead of cut to order — out of a rented basement-turned-kitchen near their family home. Together, the family formed a company around the candy, known as Joray.

It wasn't long before other companies took notice of this idea and wanted to recreate it for themselves. Many companies threw their hat in the ring, including Sunkist, but it was General Mills that pulled ahead of the pack with Fruit Roll-Ups. While the Joray company is sadly mostly forgotten these days, the family's contributions are not; to this day, their efforts live on in every box of Fruit Roll-Ups seen on store shelves.

Recommended