Stuff We Love

11 Things That Marked the Childhood of Every 90s Kid in Cairo

You didn’t have a childhood in Cairo. You had a curriculum! Here are 11 snacks and sweets all 90s kids will remember.

1. Chipsy (the original, before the flavour explosion)

Before kebab flavour, before jalapeño ketchup, before PepsiCo bought the whole thing in 2001, there was just Chipsy. Founded in 1980 and Egypt’s undisputed crisp king. The bag crinkle alone could make a classroom turn around.

2. Molto croissant

Launched in 1997 and immediately claimed by every Egyptian child as a necessity. You ate it at breakfast. You ate it after school. You ate it when nothing was wrong and when everything was. Edita built an empire on this thing. Rightfully so.

3. Bimbo

A Corona Chocolate Company product and yes, the Alexandrian chocolate company has been around since 1919. Bimbo was the chocolate wafer that older generations will fight you about, insisting it was better than anything imported. They are not wrong.

4. Katakito

Kit-Kat? Nah. A chocolate-covered wafer biscuit that exists today under a “New Katakito” rebrand, which nobody asked for and everybody clocked immediately.

5. Chicobon

Colourful sugar-coated chocolate drops from Honeywell, introduced in the late 80s and absolutely dominant in the 90s. The primary function was to sort them by colour before eating, always.

6. Leban el Sehry, the Magic Gum

A 90s Egyptian childhood without the colour-changing gum is not a valid 90s Egyptian childhood. You’d start chewing and watch your gum turn from pink to green or purple or blue. Your tongue too. This was considered a perfectly normal afternoon.

7. Jelly Cola

Tiny and weirdly addictive. The bags slowly shrank over the years until they became a philosophical statement about inflation. The flavour never changed. The nostalgia is enormous.

8. Spiro Spathis

Still delicious!

9. Juhayna Mix

The straw never went in straight on the first attempt. Ever. This is documented fact. The juice itself was fine. The straw was the real 90s experience.

10. Lolita Popsicles

We can still taste it.

11. Jolio Chips

Cheesy and perfectly crunchy!

Tell us which one broke you in the comments. We already know it’s either Jelly Cola or the Magic Gum.