Although Peppermint Patties are not sold in the UK, save for certain American import shops, there will soon be available here something just as good, and in my opinion, even better (the chocolate coating is thicker than on Peppermint Patties):  Marks & Spencer's '125' range of Peppermint Creams.

The M&S Peppermint Creams came out as part of their 125-year-celebration product range, and is packaged in their 'retro' packaging to reflect this.  I came across the Peppermint Creams in June when I'd wandered in their shop for something else.  The Peppermint Creams weren't cheap, at £2.99 per 200g box, but the cost was no longer an issue after I tried them, and found myself returning week after week to buy more until one black day when I returned to find my supplies had dried up.  I was informed the Peppermint Creams had been made as part of their 125-year range and that range was now finished!

I asked for the name of the person at M&S who decides which products will be carried, and wrote a pleading letter to him.  I didn't hold out much hope but then today the postman rang with a parcel.  I wasn't expecting anything but when he said it was from Marks & Spencer, and it was the right size box to hold the Peppermint Creams, I started thinking they'd found the last two remaining boxes in their warehouses and had taken pity on me but the reality was even better.  Jim Waller from M&S wrote to say the enclosed Peppermint Creams were being sent as a gesture of goodwill, and that the '125' Peppermint Creams will be re-introduced in September as part of their Christmas range and, 'subject to sales performance, we will then take a view on potentially continuing this line permanently into 2010'!  Hooray!

So the word is out to you other Peppermint Patty lovers:  if you, like me, want these Peppermint Creams to continue, then patronise your local M&S shop from September through to Christmas, buying the Peppermint Creams.  It could just be that your Peppermint Cream purchase is the one that tips the balance towards M&S retaining this product.  But it won't be just Americans buying them.  When I first learned they'd been discontinued, one of the M&S stockists told me she'd put the last 4 boxes out that morning and said where to look but I couldn't find them -- they'd all sold, and it was only mid-afternoon!  So, once they're reintroduced in September, grab them while you can!

One more thing: if you, like me, can't abide the taste of artificial sweeteners, M&S carry lemonade as well as dandelion & burdock, both of which are free from artificial sweeteners.  I've lived in England since the early 1990s, and this is the first time I've found dandelion & burdock or lemonade without artificial sweeteners (I hope these haven't been discontinued).  Can't recall if they also carry tonic water free of artificial sweeteners but if not, Lidl's tonic water is free of artificial sweeteners.