Midget Gems were extremely popular in the North of England and were one of The Lion Confectionery Company's biggest selling brands.

In 1995 the company joined forces with Cadbury Trebor Bassett brand Maynard's to market the sweet across the country.

Glisten Confectionery manufacture them under their Victoria brand, and in 2007 announced that they were removing all artificial colours and flavourings from the sweets.

[7] Midget Gems are now sold in wide variety of colours and flavours, adding to the choices consumers have when purchasing them.

In January 2022, Marks & Spencer announced their plan to change the name of their sweet to 'Mini gems', after a campaign by Liverpool Hope University academic Dr. Erin Pritchard who complained the word 'midget', considering its origin in a Victorian freak show which exploited disabled people, was offensive to people with dwarfism.