REVIEW: Creme Savers Hard Candy (2021)

Creme Savers  2021 Bags

What are Creme Savers?

Life Savers’ creamy hole-less cousins are back after a decade hiatus.

How are they?

Creme Savers were one of my grandmother’s favorite candies, so I’ve always had a special fondness for them. Throughout my childhood, she’d always have them in a bowl with Chocolate Riesen and packs of Pez sans dispensers for some reason.

I recall enjoying Creme Savers the most, so I was pretty excited when I heard they were coming back in orange and strawberry creme flavors.

Then I had them and realized some things are best left in the past.

Creme Savers  2021 Unwrapped

At the risk of lending credence to a stereotype… these are even more “grandma candy” than I remember.

I had an inkling what to expect because of the “creme” of it all, but they have that same mouth coating “warmness” to them that a Werther’s Original or butterscotch have. Does that make sense? I’m not asking for mint adjacent refreshment, but when I eat a hard candy, I at least want it to invigorate me a little. These things are dull – the candy equivalent of warm milk.

Well, to be fair, Orange is extremely dull. Strawberry is actually pretty solid overall.

I’m not sure how a citrus fruit managed to lay dormant, but the creme overpowers the orange to the point it tastes like the ghost of an orange swimming in some Greek yogurt. It’s cloying and will leave you grasping for a glass of water. I was expecting Creamsicle, but instead, I got cream-sick… Nah, I’m bailing on this dumb pun just like I bailed on this flavor. I’ll be giving the rest of the bag away.

Creme Savers  2021 Copy

Strawberry, on the other hand, is pleasant. It’s not great, but it’s easily the better of the two. The strawberry shines so much more than the orange, and since I can’t shake the overall “yogurt-ness” of these candies, it makes sense because strawberry is a far superior yogurt fruit. This is more along the lines of what I remembered. I’ll have no problem finishing the bag.

Anything else you need to know?

While I may not love these, they absolutely live up to their name. As I mentioned above, short of a Werther’s or butterscotch, these are probably the creamiest “sucking candy” I’ve ever had. It really lingers for way too long.

I can’t shake the fact that these taste like hardened discs of fruit-flavored yogurt, and that’s not really what I was hoping for.

Conclusion:

Creme Savers  2021 Wrapped

I guess my memory of Creme Savers faded over the years. I’m still happy to see them back, and I appreciate them if only for making me think of my grandmother’s weird candy dish.

I know these survived overseas while they were discontinued in the US, so maybe we’ll see some more flavors hit shelves in time. I’m always up for Banana Creme anything.

As far as I know, Creme Savers are currently only available at Big Lots, but they seem to be branching out to other retailers soon. Keep an eye on its Instagram account if you’re interested.

Purchased Price: $1.00 each
Size: 3 oz.
Purchased at: Big Lots
Rating: 3 out of 10 (Orange), 7 out of 10 (Strawberry)
Nutrition Facts: (3 Pieces) 60 calories, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 11 grams of total carbohydrates, 9 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of protein.

8 thoughts to “REVIEW: Creme Savers Hard Candy (2021)”

  1. I totally remember these, from “back in the day”. I didn’t realize they ever took a hiatus, until now.

  2. These are fantastic! Although I am also partial to the strawberry, they both really good and worth trying if you like creamsicles and hard candy.

  3. This is really pissing me off! I want my beloved Raspberry Creme Savers back! Bring them back! I hate the orange and strawberry ones!

  4. Okay, I missed these, but my favs were the raspberry as well! Since we did need a few items, I did go out and buy the strawberry ASAP (thanks for the Big Lots tip!).

    Hmmm…I’m underwhelmed. These are not exactly like the old ones, lacking in the “creamy” texture–which was the special thing about Creme Savers. These are more like regular hard candy–but the flavor is relatively the same.

    These are licensed out by Mars and made by Iconic Candy in Greece. I’m guessing that there’s some sort of proprietary “thing” that the company keeps to itself, much like when you get a generic grocery brand item that’s almost exactly like the original but is missing something.

    Do like this trend overall if it means we could see more discontinued items brought back but do not like the “watered down” aspect.

  5. Dunkaroos made it back in its original form. Too bad that doesn’t appear to be the case with Creme Savers. Hopefully I can try them soon but I’m holding out for Peach and Banana as well!

  6. Oh wow I remember both of these flavors back in the day! Definitely like creamsicles! Bummer to read they’re not quite the same.

  7. I loved these things back in high school ! Glad they are back. I’ve been trying to find them in Big Lots stores for weeks !

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