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Smarties still have the answer after 75 years

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Croydon



Whether you’re a fan of the blue, swap the pinks for purples, or save the oranges till last, there is no doubt that SMARTIES are one of the nation’s favourite chocolate treats and this year sees the much loved confectionery brand celebrate its 75th anniversary.

To mark their milestone birthday and celebrate their heritage, SMARTIES is introducing a limited edition retro hexatube to pay tribute to packaging of the past.

Smarties were created in 1937 – before then Rowntree’s sold Chocolate Beans. SMARTIES have undergone several changes over their 75 years to the colourful chocolate sweets that are known today, with the brand now selling over 50million tubes a year in the UK alone.

1956 marked the launch of the very first SMARTIES TV ad, with the strapline ‘sweetest, treatest, best to eatest’. Shortly after the brand changed the coffee, orange and dark chocolate centres that formed part of the mix to milk chocolate. The orange sweet is the only sweet that remains flavoured, with the UK being the only country worldwide to still have a different flavour for the orange SMARTIES.

1988 was the year of the blue SMARTIES – introduced as limited edition at first, but due to its popularity the blue sweet became a permanent colour in the SMARTIES range.

Fast forward to 2005 and SMARTIES became one of the first children’s confectionery brands to move to “no artificial colours” in response to the growing trend of consumers being increasingly concerned about additives and artificial colourings in children’s foods.

SMARTIES packaging has always been distinctive, and the 1980s design with its bold dark background and white SMARTIES font is instantly recognisable to many of us. Nestle comments; “The SMARTIES tubes have always been an iconic part of the brand’s heritage, so what better way to celebrate our 75th birthday than creating a limited edition tube. We hope to bring all the fun of SMARTIES to families for the next 75 years”.