Club (biscuit) facts for kids

McVitie's-branded Club mint biscuit as sold on the UK market in 2017. A thin layer of "mint flavoured cream" can be seen on the inside of the biscuit.

The Club biscuit is a popular chocolate-covered snack. You can find it in the Republic of Ireland under the Jacob's brand and in the United Kingdom as a McVitie's product. It's known for having a lot of chocolate!

How Club Biscuits Started

The "Club Milk" biscuit was first made in Dublin, Ireland, by W & R Jacob and Company. This was just before World War I began. It quickly became a favorite across Ireland. The original biscuit was like a sandwich. It had two rectangular Marie biscuits with a cocoa cream filling. Then, it was covered in a thick layer of milk chocolate. Each biscuit bar came wrapped in foil, and then in an outer paper wrapper.

Why It's Called "Club"

Jacob's used pictures of playing cards, specifically from the Club suit, to promote their new biscuit. That's how the "Club" name came about – it was a nod to the playing card symbol.

Club Biscuits in Great Britain

It's not totally clear when Club Milk biscuits first arrived in England. They might have been imported informally because of trade between Ireland and Liverpool. Jacob's had already opened a factory in Liverpool in 1914. Soon after, they started making Club Milk biscuits there too.

In 1970, the Jacob's companies in Ireland and Britain became separate businesses. By this time, the Club biscuit was very popular across Great Britain. It was sold in five different types. The first one was Club Milk, made with milk chocolate. Then came Club Plain, which used plain chocolate. For Club Plain, they used a golf ball picture on the wrapper instead of the playing card club symbol.

Two other popular types were Club Orange and Club Mint. These had special flavors added to the cocoa cream. Club Fruit had raisins mixed into the cream filling. Later, a Club Honeycomb flavor was also introduced.

In the 1990s, there was a special range called Jacob's Club Class. There were also Jacob's Club Cake bars in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

From the mid-1970s to the 1990s, Jacob's used a famous advertising slogan: "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club." This jingle was used in many TV adverts. In 2012, people voted it one of the catchiest jingles ever!

Who Owned Club Biscuits Over Time

Danone Takes Over

In the mid-1990s, a French company called Groupe Danone bought both the Irish and British Jacob's companies. Danone changed how the biscuit looked and its packaging. Instead of two biscuits, it became a single biscuit topped with cocoa cream. The thick chocolate coating was replaced with a thinner, chocolate-based layer.

The original Club Milk and Club Plain biscuits were stopped. The flavored types were then sold in cellophane wrappers.

United Biscuits Buys Club

In September 2004, Danone sold the Jacob's brand to United Biscuits, a British company. United Biscuits brought back some of the old Club biscuit features. This included the two-layer packaging with an inner foil wrapper and an outer paper wrapper. However, they did not bring back the double-biscuit structure. The Irish part of the company was sold to Fruitfield Foods. This led to some legal disagreements over who could use the Jacob's brand name.

From 2013, United Biscuits changed the product name to McVitie's Club. They decided to use the Jacob's brand for savory biscuits and McVitie's for sweet ones.

Club Biscuit Types in the UK

Here are some of the Club biscuit types that have been available in the UK:

Irish Production Starts Again

Even with the disagreements between United Biscuits (UK) and Fruitfield (Ireland) about the Jacob's brand, the Irish company started making the Club Milk bar again. They went back to the original design: two biscuits joined by cocoa cream, covered in thick milk chocolate. They also made plain and wafer versions. These Club biscuits are sold in the Republic of Ireland. The Irish company even mentions the UK version in its ads, saying "forget any poor imitations" to highlight their traditional biscuit.

There have been special limited editions of Club Orange and Club Mint over the years. A Wafer version called Choc Wafer was also available in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2019, a new version called Club Chunky was launched.

In the 1970s, a TV advert for Club Milk used the jingle "Best After All." Between 1983 and 1994, another series of TV adverts used the slogan "If you're going to have a cuppa, have a Club." Later, in 1995, a similar song was used, but the new jingle was simply "You to have a Club."

In the late 1990s, the song "Music to Watch Girls By" by Andy Williams was used in adverts. The last TV advertisement for most of their biscuits in 2006 was called "Some kind of Wonder full."

Club Biscuit Types in Ireland

Here are some of the Club biscuit types that have been available in Ireland:

See also

• List of chocolate-covered foods