Pineapple Lumps

Pineapple Lumps are a flavoured chocolate covered confectionery with a soft, chewy pineapple-flavoured middle that are unique to New Zealand. They are often identified as Kiwiana. The semi-brittle shell of chocolate conceals a delightfully chewy, soft pineapple flavoured centre.

History

The first Pineapple Lumps were made by the Regina confectionery factory (now called Rainbow factory [1]) in Oamaru around [2] 1952-54. Charles Diver, the confectionery chef and floor production manager at Regina, who would later create other classic kiwi sweets, was given the task of using up waste product from other lollies of the time. One sweet in particular, an early version of the chocolate fish with a banana flavoured marshmallow middle, had the most left overs.

Pineapple Lumps are made by Pascall and typically come in 140g and 300g size packs. Pineapple Lumps were originally called Pineapple Chunks but the name was changed in the early 1960's for want of something a little more unique and original.

References