Polo (confectionery) facts for kids
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| Owner | Nestlé |
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| Introduced | 1948 |
| Previous owners | Rowntree's |
| Tagline | "The mint with the hole" |
Polo is a famous brand of breath mint. Its most special feature is the hole in the middle. The first Polo mint was a peppermint flavour. It was made in the United Kingdom in 1948.
An employee named John Bargewell created it. He worked at the Rowntree's Factory in York. After the original, many other flavours were made. The name "Polo" might come from "polar." This hints at the cool, fresh taste of the mint. Polo mints are also sold in countries like India and Sri Lanka. Today, Nestlé sells them. A typical pack has 23 mints and weighs about 34 grams.
Contents
The Story of Polo Mints
Polo mints were first created by a company called Rowntree's. They started making Polos after their special permission to make another mint, Life Savers, ended. Soon after the original mints, Polo Fruits were also introduced.
A popular story says the name "Polo" comes from the word "polar." This is because polar things are cool and fresh. It fits the mint's taste perfectly!
Different Kinds of Polo Mints
Over the years, Rowntree's and later Nestlé have made many different types of Polo mints. Some of these new flavours were very popular. Others did not sell as well. But none have been as famous as the original Polo mint.
- Spearmint: These Polos have a strong spearmint flavour. They used to have tiny turquoise flecks. Now, they are plain white.
- Fruit: These are boiled sweets with several fruit flavours in one tube. You can find flavours like strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, lemon, and lime.
- Polo Gummies: These are soft, chewy sweets. They are fruit-flavoured and shaped like a Polo mint.
- Sugar Free: This version of the original Polo has no sugar. It uses sorbitol instead.
- Mini Polos: These are very small Polos, about 0.5 cm wide. They have a strong "Super Mint" flavour. They came in a box shaped like a Polo mint. There was also an orange flavour.
- Smoothies: These were creamy sweets. They came in flavours like blackcurrant, sunshine fruits, and strawberry.
- Citrus Sharp: These had lemon and lime flavours. They are no longer sold in the United Kingdom.
- Butter Mint Polos: These mints tasted like butterscotch.
- Strong/Extra Strong: These mints were very powerful. They were a rival to Trebor mints. They are no longer sold in the United Kingdom.
- Ice: These came in a shiny blue wrapper. They had a cooler mint taste.
- Paan flavoured: This special flavour has been available in India since 2020.
- Mint O Fruit: These are sold in Indonesia. They come in flavours like Raspberry Mint, Blackcurrant Mint, Peppermint, Lime Mint, and Cherry Mint. Their slogan means "Think Plong! Still Has a Hole!"
- Holes: These were small mints in a plastic tube. They were about the size of the hole in a regular Polo mint.
Before these, Rowntree's also tried other Polos in the 1980s. Polo Fruits were always available. But they also briefly made:
- Lemon: Similar to the citrus flavour Nestlé made later.
- Orange: Like the lemon one, but in an orange packet.
- Tropical Fruit: These included flavours like Banana, Melon, and Coconut.
- Globes: Small capsules filled with mint-flavoured liquid. They came in a small box with a flip lid.
What a Polo Mint Looks Like
A standard Polo mint is about 1.9 cm wide. It is about 0.4 cm thick. The hole in the middle is about 0.8 cm wide. The original Polo is white. It has the word 'POLO' pressed into it twice on one side. This is why its famous slogan is "The Mint with the Hole."
The main ingredients in a Polo mint include sugar, glucose syrup, and modified starch. They also contain stearic acid (from plants) and mint oils.
How Polo Mints are Packaged
Polo mints are usually sold in packs of 23 mints. Each pack is about 10 cm tall. The tube of mints is wrapped tightly. It has aluminium foil covered with paper. A green and blue paper wrapper goes around the foil. The word 'POLO' is on this wrapper. The 'O's in 'Polo' look like the mints themselves.
For the spearmint flavour, the wrapper is turquoise. The Extra Strong flavour comes in a black wrapper.
Polo Mint Advertising
In the 1980s, actor Peter Sallis did the voiceovers for Polo TV ads. When the spearmint flavour came out, Danny John-Jules did the voiceover. He used a voice similar to his character, the Cat, from the show Red Dwarf.
In 1995, a big advertising campaign was launched. It was made by Aardman Animations. This campaign showed animated Polos on a factory line. In one ad, a scared Polo without a hole tries to escape. But the hole-punching machine stops it.
Polo also tried other ways to advertise in the late 1990s. In 1998, they worked with PolyGram on a music album. It was called Cool Grooves. This album reached number 12 on the UK Compilation Chart in September of that year.
See also
