Cow Tales Candy (History, Marketing & Flavors)

Cow Tales are a really unique candy that not everyone has tried before. If you do not love caramels, this might not be a good choice for you. However, if you love the buttery sweetness of caramel candies, Cow Tales might be your new favorite candy. This is essentially a caramel that is quite large and rolled into a stick.

There were other similar products made by the same company, and this is to be expected given how popular caramels were in the days before refrigeration was common. Caramels could handle higher temperatures in the summer, so early candy makers almost always had at least one caramel candy in amongst their products. Cow Tales were a creative version of the caramel candy idea, and they were quite popular when they were first developed.

History

Cow Tales began being sold in 1984, but the Goetze Candy company Inc. had a history of making caramel candies before this product hit the market. This company was established in 1895 and was originally a chewing gum company. August Goetze and his son William were the owners of the company at the time of its inception, and they would quickly abandon the idea of selling chewing gum for a more profitable product.

In 1917, the team of father and son made their first caramel candy which was named the Chu-ees candy. This was later expanded to become a product called Caramel Creams that were also known as Bull’s Eyes. This product was a caramel with a cream filling in the center. These original candy products were sold in the same form as the caramels that most people think of when the candy is mentioned. These two products were sold as smallish discs that were packaged in a clear wrapper that was twisted at the ends.

The soft center cream in each of the Bull’s Eye candies was what made them really unique, and this is still one of the key features of the products that are made by this candy company. The Cow Tale is where the soft and chewy center is front and center, but the Bull’s Eye was the first candy that was sold with this unique center cream layer. Being able to design a candy that offered more of the amazing and fluffy cream was a great goal for the candy to set for their products.

Playing off the name of the Bull’s Eye candy, Cow Tales were made in the form of long, thin cylinders. These are essentially the same candies as the Bull’s Eye candies but made in a different form. There were various flavors of Cow Tales that were made over time as well. Eventually, the product would be sold in Vanilla, Chocolate, Caramel Brownie, Strawberry, and Caramel Apple. There were some other flavors that were brought to market that did not last, like peanut butter and banana.

The company has always tried hard to make sure that this recipe is healthy and Cow Tales are not made with high fat or fake ingredients. Most of the products in the recipe are instantly recognizable food items which can be really nice for those who are trying to watch what they eat and avoid fake and processed foods.

The product is sold in the regular size that was invented in 1984, but it is also available in the smaller mini size stick as well. The original sticks are 1 oz each. The packaging of the product has always been simple and has been designed to make the connection with Bull’s Eyes clear. The boxes of candies are white with orange lettering, and there is a cartoon cow at the end of the product logo. When wrapped individually, Cow Tales are sold in plastic wrappers that are the color of the flavor of the Cow Tale.

All of the products have some variation of the cow cartoon on them, usually depicted as a smiling and silly cow’s face. The logo might be in white or orange, and the background could be various colors depending on the flavor and the year that the candy was made. This has always been a whimsical and silly candy, and the packaging really reflects this.

The mini candy product is more like the original Bull’s Eye and is basically a bite-sized version of a Cow Tale. The new mascot of the product is the silly and cartoony Duke the Cow. Duke usually wears a hat and is depicted eating a Cow Tale. He replaced the older logo, which showed a cow jumping over the moon on each candy product.

The cow jumping over the moon was meant to evoke the “Hey Diddle Diddle” nursery rhyme, but times have changed, and the branding of this product has needed to be refreshed a bit to keep pace. Children are less likely to be familiar with nursery rhymes these days, but cartoon mascots they can easily connect with. Cartoons are more common in candy sales these days than they used to be, so Duke the Cow is a welcome addition to the marketing process for this candy company.

Logo

Cow Tales Texture and Flavor

This company has always been known for its soft and flavorful caramels, and the Cow Tale is where this shines through the most. The cream centers of these candies are really unique and very enjoyable, and they offer up a sweeter and fluffier taste experience than what you can get from a regular caramel. The chewiness of regular caramels is still present in the Cow Tale, but the soft inner layer of the candy is where the texture is most enjoyable.

The balance of the softness and chewiness is really nice, and if you dislike caramels because of the texture, you might fall in love with this product. There is really no other caramel product on the market like it, and the texture is one of the key differences between the Cow Tale and the regular caramel products that are sold by other makers. Even Bull’s Eye product is not soft and chewy like this caramel product. The Bull’s Eye does have the same cream filling in the center, but the smaller size of the candies makes them less soft and fluffy than the Cow Tale.

Some people choose to freeze their Cow Tales and then suck on them, and there are some recipes for cakes and other treats that call for Cow Tales to be at least partially frozen before they can be used. This is a different eating experience since the main benefit of the Cow Tale is that it is so soft and so easy to eat. When you freeze these candies, they become quite hard and stiff and very different from their normal texture.

The velvety texture of this candy is what makes it really shine, and people often will comment on how much easier this candy is to eat than other caramel products. You will still have to avoid this candy if you have braces or a hard time chewing, but for most people, this is a much easier candy to enjoy in every way. The fact that there are various flavors offered besides the original vanilla is also a nice benefit for your enjoyment. Most caramel products are not made in various flavors, so this is a really fun benefit of picking a Cow Tale for your caramel candy treat.

Buy Online

You can also buy Cow Tales at Old Time Candy by clicking the image below.

Ingredients

From the Amazon entry for the Vanilla variety:

• Wheat flour
• Corn syrup
• Sugar
• Highly refined coconut oil
• High fructose corn syrup
• Dextrose
• Modified whey
• Skim milk
• Cream
• Mono & Diglycerides
• Palm oil
• Corn starch
• Salt
• Natural & artificial flavor
• Soy lecithin

Other flavors of the candy might have different ingredients, but the vanilla product is the foundation for the recipe of the other flavors. This is not a vegan product, but there is no exposure to nuts in the factory, which is the one allergy disclaimer that can be made for it.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 pieces (11.3g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat	15
Calories	43.3
Total Fat	1.7g	3%
Saturated Fat	0.3g	2%
Trans Fat	0.2g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	16.7mg	1%
Total Carbohydrates	7.7g	3%
Dietary Fiber	0.2g	1%
Sugars	4.3g
Protein	0.7g
Vitamin A		0.7%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium		0.7%
Iron		0%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Pictures

Unique Flavors

There have been a few unique flavors that have been produced and have continued to be sold in some markets. The Oreo variety is still being sold and is a lot of fun. The brownie variety is also very good and is not sold everywhere. Some of the ill-fated varieties like the banana version of this candy might still be found in some markets, but that would only be the old product that did not get pulled off shelves successfully when it was first removed from the lineup of Cow Tales products.

This candy has been sold in much the same way and with much the same flavors for many years. Maybe now that the new mascot has been created, there will be some further additions to the stable of products that are sold by Goetze. When compared to their other products, this has been the most successful of Goetze’s creations.