Wagon Wheels facts for kids
Wagon Wheel
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| Type | Snack food |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Australia, Canada, United Kingdom |
| Created by | Arnott's Biscuits, Burton's Foods |
| Invented | 1948 |
| Main ingredients | Marshmallow, chocolate-flavoured coating |
| Variations | |
Wagon Wheels are a super popular sweet snack food! They are sold in the United Kingdom and many other countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, and Ireland. Imagine two yummy biscuits making a sandwich with a soft, fluffy marshmallow in the middle. Then, the whole thing is covered in a tasty chocolate-flavoured coating.
Wagon Wheels were first created by William Peschardt. He sold his idea to Garry Weston, whose dad, W. Garfield Weston, owned a big business. Garry Weston worked in Australia before taking over his family's business in England. He put two Marie biscuits around a marshmallow and covered it in chocolate. These treats first came out in 1948. The name "Wagon Wheels" (originally "Weston Wagon Wheels") was chosen because the biscuits look like wheels. It also tied into the popular "Wild West" theme that was big in movies and TV shows back then!
Contents
Making Wagon Wheels
Have you ever wondered who makes these delicious snacks?
Where Wagon Wheels Are Made
In Australia, Wagon Wheels are made by a company called Arnott's Biscuits. They bought the brand in 2003.
In the United Kingdom, Wagon Wheels are made by Burton's Foods. This company used to be part of the Weston family's business but became separate in 2000. The original factory was in Slough, but in the 1980s, production moved to a newer factory in Llantarnam in South Wales.
In Canada, Wagon Wheels were first made by McCormick's. Now, they are made by Dare Foods Limited. In Canada, you can find them in cool flavours like Original, Fudge, Choco Cherry, and Raspberry!
The Great Size Debate
Many fans of Wagon Wheels love to debate if the biscuits have gotten smaller over the years. Burton's Foods Ltd, the company that makes them in the UK, says they haven't shrunk. Some people think it's just because adults remember eating them with smaller hands when they were kids. But that doesn't explain why the modern Wagon Wheel might seem a bit fatter than the old ones!
In Australia, Arnott's even said that some smaller packs were actually "Mini Wagon Wheels." They have since brought back the original, bigger 48-gram Wagon Wheels.
The first factory that made these biscuits used to give them crinkled edges. Now, they have smoother edges. This change made the biscuit a tiny bit smaller, but maybe not as much as some fans believe!
As of 2006, the Australian Wagon Wheel was about 88 mm (3.5 in) wide. That's 14 mm (0.55 in) wider than the UK version. However, the UK Wagon Wheel is noticeably thicker by 4 mm (0.16 in).
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Wagon Wheel Flavours
The very first Wagon Wheel, now called "chocolate," had a marshmallow centre, not jam.
Here are some of the different flavours you might find:
- Original (chocolate and marshmallow)
- Jammie (with jam!)
- Toffee
- Double Choc
- Mint
- Orange
- Caramel
- Banoffee
- Big Country (Malted)
More Fun Snacks to Discover
- Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats – Other yummy snacks similar to Wagon Wheels.
- Choco pie – A similar snack from Korea.
- Moon pie – Another marshmallow and biscuit treat.
- Alfajor – A delicious sandwich cookie from South America.
- Sandwich cookie – Learn about all kinds of cookies that are like sandwiches!
- List of chocolate-covered foods – So many tasty things covered in chocolate!
