The Discontinued Baked Good-Themed M&M's That People Don't Want Back

Say what you will about M&M's — that they're delicious, the perfect movie theater snack, or that they come in seemingly every color of the rainbow — but never call them one-note. Mars, Inc., the company behind the iconic candy, has a reputation for churning out a massive array of flavors and varieties over the years, dating back to its debut in 1941. Longtime staples like Peanut Butter, Caramel, and Pretzel M&M's have earned their place in the pantry, and fans still mourn discontinued gems like spicy Chili Nut or Crispy. However, there's one flavor folks seem perfectly happy to leave in the rearview mirror: White Strawberry Shortcake.

To be frank, the idea sounds much better on paper than it actually tasted in the bag. Released in 2016, White Strawberry Shortcake M&M's were notably chunky — certainly larger than a standard M&M, at any rate. And that would be all well and good (who doesn't want more of a good thing, after all?) if not for the fact that they featured a dense white chocolate center infused with a heavy-handed strawberry flavor that many found a bit too artificial. What's more, some taste-testers felt the white chocolate was noticeably low-quality and overbearingly dominant. Ultimately, that extra surface area actually ended up working against them, as the flavor profile failed to strike the right balance for many fans.

The curious thing is that chocolate — whether white, milk, or dark — and fruit are a tried-and-true combination. We see it everywhere, from decadent dipped strawberries on Valentine's Day to fresh fruit layered into campfire s'mores; even a raspberry lemon macaron cake is only enhanced by generous dollops of white chocolate-infused cream. Yet fruit-flavored M&M's never seem to have much staying power. In fact, unless you count the recently permanent Peanut Butter & Jelly variety, the official lineup remains largely devoid of fruity options as of January 2026.

Why is this the case? Well, we can only speculate. Perhaps it's because Mars owns Starbursts, meaning it already has a pretty strong share of the fruity candy market — it might even consider fruit-flavored M&Ms competition with itself. Then again, maybe a typical customer's expectation of an M&M is so firmly rooted in "chocolate and nuts" that fruit feels like too much of a departure for most folks.

Regardless of the reason, curious consumers will be pleased to learn that Mars still occasionally revisits the strawberry profile. Since the discontinuation of White Strawberry Shortcake, the brand has experimented with limited runs like White Chocolate Strawberry Shake, White Chocolate Strawberries & Creme, Strawberry Nut — a milk chocolate variety featuring roasted peanuts — and more, so who knows? There's always a chance you'll find a bag of strawberry-flavored M&M's out in the wild — for better or for worse.