The Yorkie chocolate bar is celebrating its 40th birthday this month by releasing previously unseen images of the alternative bars that could have been launched in its place.
Nestlé UK, who bought the brand as part of Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, have uncovered a portfolio of artwork that reveals the bar was originally going to be called Rations and have a camouflage pattern on both the bar and the wrapper.
Yorkie was launched in 1976 to help Rowntree Mackintosh get into the solid chocolate bar sector. Other lines they considered include: Variety, a port and nut chocolate bar with a music hall theme; Chocolate County, a humbug and treacle flavour chocolate; and Boulevard, a coffee and cognac bar in a carton.
Nestlé’s Archivist and Historian Alex Hutchinson who found the records said: “It’s fascinating to see how close Yorkie came to being called Jones or O’Hara. With hindsight the Yorkie name seems so perfect it’s almost impossible to imagine it being called anything else.”
Yorkie is made at Nestlé UK’s York factory where 85.7 million bars are made each year. The factory is also home to Kit Kat, Aero, Polo and Milkybar.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Nestlé Press Office on 020 8667 6005
See our collection of archive photos on Flickr