A fruit snack is a type of gummy snack made with fruit flavoring and natural gelatin. They were first made by confectioner Louis Shalhoub in the 1970s as a lightweight high energy snack food for backpackers.

In 1953 a candy maker named Louis Shalhoub invented the first fruit snacks. It was a fruit roll-up. He called it the Joray Fruit Rolls. The main reason for the invention of the first fruit snacks was for those people who want to go hiking and need to take a low weight but energizing snack with them. Then a company took over and created the ...

2 days ago · Long before Fruit Roll-Ups were used for food hacks, its origins began with a snack called amardeen, a fruit leather made from apricots that sprang from the mind of George Shalhoub in a small New ...

Oct 19, 2017 · The thin sheets of “fruit treats” known as Fruit Roll-Ups have been a staple of supermarkets since 1983, when General Mills introduced the snack to satisfy the sweet tooth of kids...

Dec 8, 2023 · Fruit snacks were invented in the late 1960s by Robert E. Ward, the founder of General Mills’ Fruit Gushers and Fruit Roll-Ups. Ward was inspired to create a snack based on fruit while working at General Mills, where he was tasked with finding new ways to use excess fruits and other ingredients from other General Mills products.

In 1992, Gushers arrived and became the innovative fruit snack because of its juicy liquid center surprise with every bite.

Feb 3, 2025 · 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 …

Oct 26, 2021 · The first fruit snack was made in the 1970s by Louis Shalhoub. These snacks were originally intended to be sold to backpackers and hikers to help them fuel themselves for tough climbs and other hard work on the trail. The transition to a snack happened in the 1980s.

Mar 27, 2025 · The real breakthrough came when General Mills recognized the potential to transform traditional fruit leather—a homemade snack that many grandmothers had been making for generations—into a mass-produced, shelf-stable, and kid-friendly product.

The concept of fruit snacks dates back to the 1940s, when freeze-dried fruits became a popular snack. This led to the development of Dried Fruit Companies like Sun-Maid, which began producing dried fruits in the 1930s.