Cheekies (formerly Chicos) is a brand of chocolate-flavoured jelly lolly produced by the Nestlé Corporation and sold in Australia.
The product previously contained gelatin but the ingredient was removed in 2015 to make Cheekies suitable for vegetarians. Cheekies are noted as a lolly that the public has a polarised opinion on.
In June 2020, along with Red Skins, Nestlé announced that the name would be changed to better align with modern values. The company said the decision was made to ensure "nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues". The statement added "These names have overtones which are out of step with Nestle's values, which are rooted in respect." The word "chico" in Spanish translates as "boy". It can also be considered a derogatory term for people of Latin American descent, although this is not in common usage in Australia. The announcement of a name change occurred in the wake of widespread name changes following the George Floyd protests. On 16 November 2020, Nestlé announced that the new name for Chicos would be Cheekies. Packaging bearing the new name became available in stores in early 2021.
1 Brand owned by General Mills; Produced by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Brand owned by Post Foods; Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. 8 Philippine production rights owned by Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.
