Goetze's

Cow Tales are named after the opposite end of the cow from Bulls-Eyes.
 

Goetze's began in 1895, when August Goetze, a Baltimore printer and engraver, bought the Baltimore Chewing Gum Company with his son William. They made gum for the first twenty years and were not especially known for it. What made them was an accident of ingredients: in 1918 they built a caramel around wheat flour rather than the usual base, which produced a caramel that chewed instead of sticking to your teeth. They called it the Caramel Cream. Everyone else called it a Bulls-Eye, after the ring of caramel with the cream dot in the middle.
 

The name stuck so firmly that when the family added a long, thin version in 1984, they named it for the other end of the animal. Cow Tales, spelled with an e - the story goes that they chose Tales over Tails to make it sound like a bedtime story, and the early wrappers carried a cow jumping over the moon as a nod to Hey Diddle Diddle.
 

By the 1940s the company had dropped chewing gum entirely to concentrate on caramel, and it has not made anything else since. It is still family-owned, now into its sixth generation, and still produced in the Baltimore plant the family built in 1928.
 

Sweet and Glory stocks Goetze's wholesale for UK retailers.
 

The Goetze's Range
 

Two products carry the brand, in several formats between them. Cow Tales are the long chewy sticks, sold as singles, in minis and in peg bags, with the original caramel alongside rotating seasonal flavours. Caramel Creams are the original wrapped Bulls-Eyes, in singles and sharing bags. Both are low price points that suit a counter or a pick-and-mix display, and neither takes much space. Check the current range for what is in stock now.
 

Why Stock Goetze's?
 

This is a caramel that behaves differently from any British one. The wheat flour base gives it a chew rather than a pull, which means it does not weld itself to fillings the way a toffee does - a small thing that turns out to matter a great deal to the people who buy it repeatedly. It is also genuinely old, which gives it a story to tell on a shelf where most American imports are competing purely on novelty.
 

The formats do different jobs. Singles are a natural till-point line at pocket-money prices; the peg bags and minis work in a sharing or party display. Seasonal Cow Tales flavours give the range something to rotate through the year without changing the core listing. For more on brands of this vintage, see our guide to American sweets older than your grandparents.
 

UK compliance labels are supplied with every order.
 

Frequently Asked Questions
 

Why are they called Cow Tales?
 

Goetze's original candy, Caramel Creams, was nicknamed the Bulls-Eye. When the long version launched in 1984 the family named it for the other end of the cow. The spelling is Tales rather than Tails, chosen to suggest a bedtime story, and early packaging carried a cow jumping over the moon.
 

What is the difference between Cow Tales and Caramel Creams?
 

The same recipe in a different shape. Caramel Creams are a ring of caramel with a cream centre, wrapped and twisted at both ends. Cow Tales are a long stick of the same caramel with the cream running through the middle.
 

Why are Goetze's caramels chewy rather than sticky?
 

Because the caramel is built on wheat flour rather than a conventional base. That gives a firm chew instead of the pull you get from a toffee, and it is the reason the texture is unlike any British caramel.
 

Who owns Goetze's?
 

The Goetze family, since 1895. It is now run by the sixth generation and remains in Baltimore, Maryland.
 

Can I buy Goetze's wholesale in the UK?
 

Yes. Sweet and Glory supplies Goetze's wholesale across the UK. No minimum order. Free first parcel on orders over £150 ex VAT (additional boxes £7.10 each). Free pallet delivery over £650 ex VAT. Dispatched from Manchester.