Terry’s Chocolate Orange

Terry’s Chocolate Orange does not have the most exciting or memorable name in the candy game, but this is one of the most classic of all chocolate treats. Chocolate oranges are given during the holidays as stocking stuffers, and they are often considered fancy treats that are ideal for celebrating milestones or passing around to friends.

This chocolatey-orange chocolate is quite large as well and offers up the really fun experience of breaking into “slices” when it has been hit on a hard surface. This is an English candy that is very popular in the US and which many people view as one of their favorite chocolate treats.

History

Terry’s Chocolate Orange was first sold in 1932 by Terry’s Chocolate Works in York, England. The brand name was bounced around from company to company over the years, but it has not diminished the love that consumers have for this unique chocolate product. Today, the candy is produced in France, but it is sold around the world in many markets.

Joseph Terry was originally a chemist when he joined the York sweets company that would later make Terry’s Chocolate Orange. This was actually quite common in the early days of candy-making, and many companies employed chemists to help them to create new and exciting flavors for their candies.

In 1830, Terry actually became the sole owner of the business that he had been working for. He then developed the chocolate orange that is so beloved today by experimenting with various combinations of chocolate, candied orange peels, and marmalade. The sharp and strong orange flavor of this product is unique among chocolate snacks and is largely the result of all of Terry’s hard work to bring this flavor profile out in his candies.

Terry passed the company along to his sons, who opened an even bigger factory called Terry’s Chocolate Works. They launched a variety of new products that were very successful alongside the chocolate orange that the company was now famous for. Dessert Chocolate Apples and Terry’s All Gold sold very well, just like the Terry’s Chocolate Orange that had started the ball rolling for the company’s success.

When World War II hit, candy production was halted to save rations. The factory that had belong to Terry’s sons was taken over and was used to repair propellor blades. When the factory was returned to Terry’s family after the war, times continued to be hard as raw cocoa was still being rationed in many markets. Terry’s sons tried to replace some of their most popular products with the Chocolate Lemon, but it was removed from production just three years later.

Still, the business managed to survive, with the Chocolate Orange at the center of the company’s recovery. Colgate-Palmolive bought the factory from the Terry family in 1977, and then it was sold to United Biscuits. Under the guidance of the United Biscuit Company, production and popularity flagged, and the products were sold again to Kraft Foods. This was when the product took on the “Terry’s” at the beginning of the name.

Mondelez took control of Terry’s Chocolate Orange in 2012, and then the product was sold again in 2016 to Eurazeo. Today, Terry’s belongs to a company called Carambar & Co. This company is dedicated to the revival of classic brands and they have made good inroads toward promoting and preserving this very popular, classic chocolate treat.

What is a Terry’s Chocolate Orange Like?

This a really unique chocolate, not only because of the sharp and citrusy flavor of orange that it offers. The chocolate itself is actually quite sizeable, and the Terry’s Chocolate Orange readily fills up the entire palm of most adults. The ideal way to eat this candy is to remove it from the box that it is sold in, and before you unwrap the foil that is protecting the chocolate, you need to whack it on a hard surface. This breaks apart the segments or “slices” of orange that make up the chocolate orange inside the foil.

Once you unwrap the foil, you should have split off all the slices from the orange, and you are able to eat them individually, one delicious mouthful at a time.

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Flavors and Varieties

There have been lots of flavors of this candy treat over the years. At this time, the chocolate orange variety is the only one that is offered in most markets. Many of the other varieties were discontinued in the early 80s, but some people remember these additional flavors very well. Besides the largely unsuccessful Chocolate Lemon that was released after World War II, some of the classic flavors like Terry’s All Gold, and the Dessert Chocolate Apple were sold for about 20 years before the war hit.

Raspberry, birthday cake, toffee crunch, cookie flavors, and more have all been associated with the chocolate orange that was sold by the Terry family. There were also smaller, bite-sized treats that were made with the Terry’s Chocolate Orange flavors during seasonal periods such as Easter and Christmas.

Some consumers miss these spin-off varieties of this treat the most, but there is little chance of these yummy variants of the classic chocolate coming back to the market. Any time that a chocolate or candy product becomes a “classic” product, it is not likely that the various spin-offs and added products will ever be made again.

• Terry’s Dessert Chocolate Apple (1926–1954)-the original candy
• Terry’s Chocolate Lemon
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Dark (also called ‘Plain’)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Milk
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Snowball (white chocolate)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Mint (discontinued 2012)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Toffee
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Bars (chocolate bars -individual or sharing bar)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Mini segments/Segsations (individually wrapped)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange White Egg
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Flavour Carte D’Or ice cream (discontinued)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Tangy
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cookies
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Exploding Candy
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Siesta
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Hazelnut
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Raspberry
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange White Chocolate Smasher
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Toffee Crunch
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Birthday Cake
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Orange
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Ice-Creams (limited-edition)
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Milk with Crushed Mini Eggs Easter Edition

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Spin-Offs

There have been various spin-offs that have been produced during the years that the Chocolate Orange was being marketed more heavily to consumers. The Chocolate Orange Bar was a candy with six segments that broke apart like a Toblerone Bar. There were also Chocolate Orange Minis, which were a smaller bag of candy segments with the traditional chocolate orange flavoring.

Chocolate Orange White Eggs were available for a single Easter and then discontinued. Segsations were individual chocolate segments that were offered in various flavors like milk chocolate, puffed rice, honeycomb, cornflake, and double seg, which were milk and dark chocolate. All of these were flavored with the Chocolate Orange flavoring.

Chocolate Orange Egg & Spoon was a milk chocolate egg that was filled with orange fondant filling, a lot like a Cadbury Egg. Lastly, there were Segsations Mini Eggs, which were the Segsation flavors packaged up as little chocolate eggs in their own unique wrappers.

Livery

This candy has been sold in the same box with a foil-wrapped chocolate orange inside for many years now. Most people are completely familiar with the cardboard boxes that hold these yummy treats and get really excited to see this familiar square shape in their stockings on Christmas morning. While it might be possible to sell the Chocolate Orange in another kind of packaging, the sections might break apart before consumers have the chance to “whack” them apart. As this is considered one of the most important parts of the experience of eating one of these chocolates, the box is likely here to stay.

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Ingredients

• Sugar
• cocoa mass
• cocoa butter
• skimmed milk powder
• whey powder (from milk)
• vegetable fats (palm, shea)
• milk fat
• emulsifiers (soya lecithin, E476)
• orange oil
• flavoring.
• May contain nuts, wheat

This is not one of the allergy-friendly chocolates on the market, so those who are vegan or who cannot have wheat or milk due to allergies will not be able to enjoy this citrusy treat.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	4 pieces (31g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories	160
Total Fat	9g	12%
Saturated Fat	5g	25%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	5mg	2%
Sodium	35mg	2%
Total Carbohydrates	19g	7%
Dietary Fiber	1g	4%
Sugars	18g
Added Sugars	14g	28%
Protein	2g
Vitamin D	0mcg	0%
Calcium	40mg	3%
Iron	1mg	6%
Potassium	140mg	3%

• The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Pictures

Ads

The advertising for this brand has always been creative. Some of the most famous ads show actress Dawn French hiding her Chocolate Orange from other people. There were also various slogans that were designed to explain that you didn’t just want to tap it gently, you needed to “whack it” to break it apart. Slogans like “It’s not Terry’s, it’s mine” were also used over the years.

The original marketing slogan included the simple directions to “whack and unwrap” or “smash it to pieces and love it to bits”. New ads that were run in 2020 indicated that the candy demonstrates the “unsquaredness” of the British and used the slogan, “Deliciously Unsquare”.

An ad from the early 2000s: