Rowntree's of York, England have been making "Chocolate Beans" since at least 1882. The product was renamed "Chocolate Beans" in 1937. Rowntree's were forced to drop the words "chocolate beans" in 1977 due to trading standards requirements (the use of the word "beans" was felt to be misleading) and so adopted the "Milk Chocolate in a Crisp Sugar Shell".
The brand became known as "Nestlé Smarties" in 1993, five years after Rowntree's was acquired by Nestlé, although they had been known as Smarties for many years previously. Smarties are no longer manufactured in York; production has now moved to Germany, where a third of them were already made. Outside Europe, Nestlé's largest production facility for Smarties is in Canada, where Nestle has been manufacturing products since 1918.
[edit] Colours
In one of the earlier ranges of colours, there was a light-brown Smartie. This was replaced in 1988 by the blue Smartie. Before 1958, the dark-brown Smarties had a plain-chocolate centre, while the light-brown one tasted of coffee. The orange Smarties contained, and still contain in the UK, orange-flavoured chocolate. [1]
In 2006 it was announced that Nestlé were removing all artificial colourings from Smarties in the UK, owing to consumer concerns over the effect of chemical dyes on children's health.[2] Nestlé decided to replace all chemical dyes with natural ones, but as they were unable to source a natural blue dye, the blue Smarties were removed from circulation, and white Smarties were introduced in their place.[3] White Smarties were later removed from the range.
Blue Smarties were re-introduced in the UK in February 2008, using a natural blue dye derived from the cyanobacteria spirulina.[4]
Violet Smarties were previously dyed with cochineal, a derivative of the Cochineal insect which is listed in the ingredients as carminic acid. Its presence meant that these Smarties were neither kosher, halal nor vegetarian.[5] [6]
Smarties made in Australia, and distributed in Australia and New Zealand, still contain all the artificial colours which were removed in UK Smarties in 2006 (including Brilliant Blue FCF).
[edit] Variants
Smarties are not distributed in the United States, except by specialist importers. The Ce De Candy company manufactures a hard, tablet sweet under the name Smarties, which is unrelated to the Nestlé product. M&Ms are also similar to Smarties.
Smarties are also sold in the form of chocolate bars and eggs with fragments of Smarties in them, and chocolate-and-vanilla ice cream with Smarties pieces in it known as Smarties Fusion. A variant on Smarties ice cream is the Smarties McFlurry, sold by McDonalds. A Smarties Blizzard is available at Dairy Queen in Canada.
In 1997, larger-sized Giant Smarties were introduced, and, in 2004, Fruity Smarties. Another variation of Smarties, which contained white chocolate rather than milk chocolate, was also introduced. These were trialed as Smartics, however upon their proper release a year or so later, they were simply called White Chocolate Smarties.
In 1998, a product known as 'Smarties Secrets' was introduced which contained sweets of varying designs, colours and flavours. The packaging also contained a small comic book. This product is no longer available.
In Canada, there was a limited line of red and white smarties where the white smarties sport a red maple leaf, reminiscent of the Canadian flag. Holiday packaging for Christmas and Valentine's Day (containing only pink and red Smarties) is common. Also in Canada, Nestle has introduced Peanut Smarties.
Around Christmas, Nestlé Australia and Canada often releases Smarties in the Christmas colours of red, green and white.
Smarties in the UK were traditionally sold in cylindrical cardboard tubes, capped with a colourful lid usually having a letter of the alphabet on it. The purpose of this, according to a Rowntrees' spokesperson in the 1980s, was for them to be useful as a teaching aid to encourage young children to recognise the letters. Over the last 25 years, Nestlé has manufactured five billion Smarties lids. Some lids are very rare and are now regarded as collectors' items.
In February 2005, the Smarties tube was replaced with a hexagonal design. The rationale behind changing the design was, according to Nestle, to make the brand "fresh and appealing" to youngsters; the new packaging is also lighter and more compact, and the lid (which is now a hinged piece of carboard) has a card clip which holds the lid shut when it is folded over, however the tab which clips it can become wet and flimsy when the tube is emptied into the mouth, making the mechanism less effective, and also giving the user the feeling of wet card on their lips. The new lid still features a letter like the old plastic lids, but it is in the form of a "what [letter] is a [thing]?" question, the answer for which can be read when the lid is open, next to the hole giving access to the rest of the tube. The hexagonal box is made of one piece of card which is cut by a CAM machine and then folded and glued. This is probably cheaper to produce than the tubes. The hexagon can also be stacked in many layers without the pile collapsing, which is an advantage at the point of sale. The last 100 tubes to leave the factory in York had a certificate inside them.
In other countries, like Canada, there is more variety in packaging. Smarties can be purchased in rectangular boxes, a giant tube, or in a stand-up plastic bag, and in 410g bags in Australia and New Zealand.
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