Yorkie (chocolate bar)

Yorkie is a chocolate bar made by Nestlé.[1] It was originally made by Rowntree's of York, England, hence the name.

New packaging with the current Yorkie logo used since c.2011
The previous Yorkie packaging with the 'It's Not for Girls!' slogan
A Yorkie bar

History

In 1976, Eric Nicoli of Rowntree's spotted a gap in the confectionery market and used the cocoa from Rowntree's favourable futures market position to launch Yorkie. Production was at York and Norwich (until 1994).[2]

The Yorkie bar, a chunkier alternative to Cadbury's Dairy Milk, was aimed at men. In the 1980s for example, toy lorries with the Yorkie bar logo were manufactured by Corgi, and television advertisements for the Yorkie bar featured lorry drivers. In 2001, the advertisement campaign made this more explicit with the slogan and wrapper tagline It's not for girls!, which caused controversy due to its perceived sexism. Special versions for use in Ministry of Defence ration packs read It's not for civvies. In 2006 a special edition that was for girls was sold, wrapped in pink. Aside from the original milk chocolate bar, several variants are available, such as "raisin and biscuit" flavour, "honeycomb" flavour, and Yorkie Ice Cream.[3]

In 2011, standard Yorkie bars became available in 3 packs and the 'It's Not for Girls!' slogan was dropped around that time,[4] however it is still occasionally used.[4]

One notable advert for the chocolate bar showed trains arriving at York railway station and passing a billboard which read "Welcome to" followed by a picture of a Yorkie bar, with the end bitten off. Thus the advert appeared to read, "Welcome to York". Beneath was the slogan, "Where the men are hunky and the chocolate's chunky".

Size changes

Yorkie bars were originally composed of six chunks of chocolate each marked Rowntree; they were wrapped in both foil and an outer paper wrapper and weighed 58 g (2.0 oz).[5][6] The wrapping was later switched to a single plastic foil wrapper. More recently, in an effort to reduce costs, the number of chunks has been reduced to five with "Yorkie" moulded into each chunk. The weight of the bar has decreased over the years. In 2002, Yorkie bars were 70 g (2.5 oz).[7] This had been reduced to 64.5 g (2.28 oz) by 2010, and was reduced further to 61 g (2.2 oz) in 2011 and then 55 g (1.9 oz) later that year. It was shrunk again in November 2014 to 46 g (1.6 oz). In January 2015, UK, Raisin & Biscuit Yorkies were 44 g (1.6 oz). Limited edition Yorkie Peanut was 43 g (1.5 oz). Yorkie King size bars have also reduced in size.[7]

Flavours
A Raisin & Biscuit Yorkie bar split
  • Original (milk chocolate)[8]
  • Raisin & Biscuit
  • Honeycomb[9]
  • White
  • Plain chocolate
  • Peanut (discontinued, relaunched as a 'Limited Edition' on 13 October 2014, now discontinued again.)
  • Almond (discontinued)
  • "The Nutter" (mixed nuts - discontinued)
  • Yorkie Blue Ice (crunchy mint flavoured chips - discontinued)[10]
  • Yorkie Hot Stuff Hot Rum (rum flavour Christmas limited edition)
  • Biscuit (biscuit made with Yorkie original chocolate)
  • Yorkie Pro (Protein chocolate with crispy pieces - Protein: 24.7 g per 100 g / 10.5 g per serving)

Other information

Yorkie sponsored the Stealth roller coaster at Thorpe Park.[11]

The title to the Pet Shop Boys song "The Truck-Driver And His Mate" — B-side to the single "Before" — was inspired by a Yorkie Bar advertisement.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Yorkie". Nestlé. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  2. "Yorkie 1977-1975, context" (PDF). yorkshirefilmarchive.com. Yorkshire Film Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. "Interesting Facts and Info about Yorkie Chocolate Bars". allsweetsandtreats.com.au. All Sweets and Treats. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. "How Yorkie came to be the world's first openly sexist chocolate bar". uk.businessinsider.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016.
  5. "Original Yorkie Advert". YouTube. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. "Yorkie image (Rowntree's)". ayrshirehistory.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  7. Webb, Nick (10 October 2010). "It may not be for girls, but Yorkie no longer man-sized". Independent.ie. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  8. "Nestle Yorkie Original". Taquitos.net. Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. "Nestle Yorkie Honeycomb". Taquitos.net. Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. "Yorkie Blue Ice". Taquitos.net. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  11. "Case Studies | Merlin Sponsorship – Yorkie Stealth". merlinsponsorship.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  12. "Pet Shop Boys – Format (B-Sides And Bonus Tracks 1996–2009)". Discogs. 9 December 2018.

Further reading
  • Chrystal, Paul; Dickinson, Joe (2012), A History of Chocolate in York, Remember When, ISBN 1844681238
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