Stockley’s Sweets Review: Are the New Treat Bags Worth Buying?
Stockley’s Treat Bags are the kind of sweets that make the most sense when they’re shared.
We’ve reviewed Stockley’s sweets before on City Girl Network, trying out their sweet gift range and getting a proper taste of the brand’s nostalgic, handcrafted approach to confectionery. This time, Stockley’s is back with a new sharing bag range, filled with classic sweet shop flavours, chocolate favourites and dessert-inspired treats.
I took a selection of Stockley’s Treat Bags along to Crossbar in Brighton to watch the England v Ireland women’s rugby game with six friends, which turned out to be the perfect testing ground. A pub table, a big game, a group of people with very different sweet preferences and a stack of nostalgic sweets to pass around.
If you haven’t come across Stockley’s before, they’re a Lancashire sweets brand with more than 100 years of handcrafted confectionery behind them. Their new Treat Bags take that old-school sweet shop feeling and package it up into colourful sharing bags, with flavours ranging from classic Rhubarb and Custard to Chocolate Caramels, Chocolate Malt Balls, Milk Chocolate Honeycomb, Lemon Meringue and Mint Selection.
It’s very much “pick up, pass round, everyone has an opinion” energy.
The Stockley’s Treat Bags
The thing Stockley’s does well is nostalgia.
These aren’t trying to be ultra-modern, stripped-back, wellness-adjacent sweets. They are proper sweets. The kind that make someone say, “oh, I haven’t had something like this in years” before immediately reaching back into the bag.
Our favourite was the Rhubarb and Custard. It had that brilliant balance of sharp rhubarb and creamy custard, without either flavour overwhelming the other. Sweet, tangy and very easy to keep going back to.
The Chocolate Caramels were another big hit around the table. They reminded us of classic chocolate eclairs, with that familiar chewy centre and chocolatey outer layer. A proper nostalgic sweet shop moment.
The Chocolate Malt Balls were particularly crunchy, which made them very snackable during the game. They had that satisfying bite you want from a pub-table treat; the kind you can absentmindedly eat while still being fully invested in what’s happening on screen.
The Milk Chocolate Honeycomb was also delicious. The honeycomb had a really good mix of crunch and chew, which made it feel more indulgent than some of the other bags. It was one of the ones people kept circling back to.
The more playful flavours
The Lemon Meringue was the surprise talking point.
It had a zesty sherbet flavour that made it feel bright, fun and a little bit different from the more traditional sweets. You can see why Stockley’s has leaned into dessert-themed flavours with this range; it gives the nostalgic sweets format a more playful twist.
The Mint Selection was our least favourite, but mainly because we wanted it to be mintier. It wasn’t unpleasant, it just didn’t have the strong mint flavour we were expecting from a mint sweet. In a line-up full of bold, chewy, crunchy and zingy options, it got a little lost.
That said, taste is always personal with sweets. Someone who prefers a softer mint flavour may feel very differently.
Why they work as sharing bags
These Treat Bags feel made for the places where people naturally snack together: pub tables, train journeys, office snack drawers, cinema bags, road trips, picnics and nights in. They’re not precious or complicated. You open them, pass them around and everyone finds a favourite.
That’s also where the range works best. Trying one bag on its own is lovely, but trying several together is much more fun. It turns into a mini taste test without anyone needing to make a big deal of it.
And for pubs, cafés, venues and independent retailers, they feel like an easy add-on. They have that colourful, nostalgic look that makes you want to pick them up, but the flavours are interesting enough to feel more considered than standard confectionery.
Should you buy Stockley’s Treat Bags?
Yes, especially if you love nostalgic sweets or want something easy to share.
The Rhubarb and Custard, Chocolate Caramels and Milk Chocolate Honeycomb were the clear winners for us, with Lemon Meringue bringing something fun and zesty to the mix. The Mint Selection wasn’t our favourite, but the range overall went down very well with the group.
They’re not trying to reinvent sweets. They’re taking the comfort of a traditional sweet shop and making it easier to enjoy with friends.
And honestly, they’re exactly the kind of thing that belongs on a pub table during a big game.
Try them for yourself; buy a bag from stockleys-sweets.co.uk
Disclaimer: We were gifted these products in exchange for an honest review.