Yorkie (chocolate bar) facts for kids
Yorkie is a yummy chocolate bar made by Nestlé. It was first created by a company called Rowntree's in York, England. That's where it got its name!
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The Story of Yorkie
In 1976, a person named Eric Nicoli from Rowntree's noticed there was a space in the candy market. He used cocoa that Rowntree's had bought at a good price to create the Yorkie bar. It was made in York and also in Norwich until 1994.
The Yorkie bar was made to be a bigger, chunkier chocolate bar. It was different from other bars like Cadbury Dairy Milk. Yorkie was first made for men. For example, in the 1980s, toy lorries (trucks) with the Yorkie logo were made by Corgi Cars. TV ads for Yorkie often showed lorry drivers.
"It's Not for Girls!" Ads
In 2001, a famous ad campaign started using the slogan It's not for girls!. This was even printed on the wrapper! This caused some people to say it was unfair because it seemed to exclude girls.
Special Yorkie bars were also made for the UK military in their ration packs. These bars said It's not for civvies (meaning not for regular people). In 2006, a special pink Yorkie bar was sold that was for girls.
Besides the classic milk chocolate, there have been other kinds like "raisin and biscuit" and "honeycomb" flavours. The It's Not for Girls! slogan was slowly removed after 2011. This happened because many people complained that it was sexist.
One fun old ad for Yorkie showed trains arriving at York railway station. They passed a big sign that looked like it said "Welcome to York". Below it, the slogan was "Where the men are hunky and the chocolate's chunky".
How Yorkie Bars Changed Size
Yorkie bars used to have six big pieces of chocolate. Each piece had "Rowntree" written on it. They were wrapped in foil and then paper, and weighed about 58 grams. Later, they switched to a single plastic wrapper.
To save money, the number of chocolate pieces was changed to five. Now, "Yorkie" is molded into each piece. The weight of the bar has also gotten smaller over the years.
- In 2002, a Yorkie bar was 70 grams.
- By 2010, it was 64.5 grams.
- In 2011, it went down to 61 grams, and then later that year to 55 grams.
- In November 2014, it became 46 grams.
- In 2015, Raisin & Biscuit Yorkies were 44 grams.
- Even the larger "King size" Yorkie bars have become smaller.
Yorkie Flavours
Yorkie has come in many different flavours over time:
- Original (classic milk chocolate)
- Raisin & Biscuit
- Honeycomb
- Orange (a special limited edition from May 2021)
- Peanut (this flavour was stopped, then brought back for a short time, and now it's stopped again)
- Almond (no longer made)
- "The Nutter" (had mixed nuts, no longer made)
- Yorkie Blue Ice (had crunchy mint chips, no longer made)
- Yorkie Hot Stuff Hot Rum (a special rum flavour for Christmas)
- Biscuit (a biscuit made with Yorkie chocolate)
- Yorkie Pro (chocolate with crispy pieces and extra protein)
Other Cool Facts
Yorkie once helped sponsor the Stealth roller coaster at Thorpe Park.
The song "The Truck-Driver And His Mate" by the Pet Shop Boys was inspired by a Yorkie Bar advertisement. This song was the B-side to their single "Before".
