BOXES of chocolates are a Christmas classic – but many of the nation’s favourites have seen some dramatic changes over the years.
From long-forgotten green ‘Mint Fondant’ Quality Streets to Heroes treats that were removed over a decade ago, there are many Brits who may not know what they are missing.
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Every Christmas, supermarket shelves are stacked with family-size chocolate selection boxes.
The so-called ‘Big Four’ dominate the festive sales, as families argue over the best option from Roses, Heroes, Quality Street and Celebrations.
But a step back in time reveals that many of the nation’s favourites have been lost over the years, reports Surrey Live.
In fact, over 50 different types of treats have come and gone – while some classics have stood the test of time.
QUALITY STREET
Founded back in 1936, Quality Street has become a familiar favourite as families gear up for Christmas.
If you bought a tin this year, the chocolates that you would find include The Green Triangle, Strawberry Delight, Caramel Swirl, Milk Choc Block and Orange Chocolate Crunch.
But the tins of brightly coloured treats underwent a major change this year as the classic wrapping was swapped out for eco-friendly paper.
And compared to 2009, Quality Street contain roughly 48 fewer chocolates per box, The Sun has revealed.
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But that isn’t the only change the treats have seen over the last 86 years.
While some of them were dropped altogether, others were alterations of those everyone knows today.
And the list is massive, including:
- Purple One (the original ‘Purple One’ with Brazil nut, replaced with hazelnut version)
- Chocolate Strawberry Cream (now replaced with Strawberry Delight)
- Chocolate Toffee Cup (now replaced with Caramel Swirl)
- Hazelnut Cracknell (red wrapper)
- Hazelnut Eclair
- Honeycomb crunch (discontinued in 2018 to re-introduce Toffee Deluxe)
- Chocolate Nut Toffee Cream
- Malt Toffee (replaced with Toffee Deluxe as a “new” flavour)
- Milk Chocolate Round (now replaced with Milk Choc Block in green wrapper)
- Peanut Cracknell (blue wrapper)
- Almond Octagon (purple wrapper, replaced with Vanilla Octagon, but the latter is now discontinued as well)
- Gooseberry Cream (green wrapper, light green fondant with a touch of Gooseberry Preserve covered in milk chocolate)
- Fig Fancy (light brown wrapper)
- Apricot Delight (blue wrapper, square chunk, apricot flavoured jelly covered in milk chocolate)
- Toffee Square (metallic pink wrapper, a small square of very hard toffee)
- Chocolate Truffle (brown square chunk, a soft truffle filling covered in milk chocolate)
- Montelimar Nougat
- Harrogate Toffee
- Fruits of the Forest Creme (pale purple wrapper)
- Smarties (2004 promotion only)
- Coffee Cream (brown wrapper, same size and shape as strawberry cream)
- Mint Fondant (pale green wrapper, same as strawberry crème but with a mint crème filling)
- Toffee Deluxe (replaced by Honeycomb Crunch, reintroduced and then replaced by Chocolate Caramel Brownie)
- Crispy Truffle Bite (John Lewis stores only, black and gold recyclable foil)
HEROES
Heroes first hit our shelves in 1999, as Cadbury’s looked to combat the sales of rival Mars’ Celebrations boxes.
If you enjoyed a box this year, you would have been met with a selection including Fudge, Dairy Milk Caramel, Wispa, and Eclairs.
But with others including a Crunchie and Creme Egg Twisted dividing opinion, it is no wonder the selection has been altered over the years.
The lost treats include:
- Bournville (added in 2008, removed in 2013)
- Dairy Milk Whole Nut (added in 2002, removed in 2008)
- Dream (removed in 2008)
- Fuse (removed in mid-2000s)
- Picnic (removed in 2007)
- Time Out (removed in 2007)
- Toblerone (added for Christmas 2013, 2014 and 2015)
- Nuts About Caramel (Cadbury’s Caramel with added hazelnut in the centre, removed in mid-2000s)
CELEBRATIONS
Just like Heroes, the box of Celebrations comes filled with mini-versions of classic chocolate bars.
Launched in 1997, the varying options in the brightly coloured box includes the highly divisive Bounty – which was controversially axed from some stores in this years selection.
Instead, extra portions of others were added instead, including Mars, Snickers, Milkyway, Teasers and Galaxy
But unlike its rivals, the box of Celebrations hasn’t seen too many changes over the years.
Only Galaxy Truffle (1997–2011) and Topic (1997–2006) have come and gone from the selection.
ROSES
Just like Quality Streets, Brits have been enjoying Roses for over 80 years.
Since hitting the shelves in 1938, the box has undergone some drastic changes.
The classic line-up includes favourites including Strawberry Dream, Signature Truffle and the traditional Cadburys Milk Chocolate.
But over the years, the treats to be left out of the box include:
- Brazilian Darkness (a chewy toffee square coated in dark chocolate, red wrapper with gold edges)
- Praline Moment (silver wrapper)
- Chunky Truffle (blue wrapper)
- Bournville (moved the brand to Heroes)
- Almond Charm (blue wrapper)
- Coffee Creme
- Montelimar (chewy nougat encased in milk chocolate, green foil-twist wrapper)
- Marzipan (red foil-twist wrapper)
- Turkish Delight (dark purple wrapper)
- Nutty Truffle Log (emerald green foil-twist wrapper)
- Orange Crisp (orange wrapper)
- Chocolate Bite (pink wrapper)
- Noisette Whirl (green and transparent wrapper)
- Lime Barrel (green wrapper)
- Black Cherry Cream (pink/purple wrapper)
- Caramel Velvet (green wrapper)
- Almond Caramel Bite (light brown wrapper with purple twists)
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