Forget Milk Chocolate Oranges – Terry's Chocolate Apple Came First
Terry’s has finally created what we orange oil haters have wanted for years ― a citrus-free, milk chocolate-only version of the iconic design was launched last month.
Opinions were wrong varied.
“Put the orange back in pls,” an Instagram user commented under the brand’s announcement of the product.
“Wait, so it’s just plain milk chocolate?! No orange??” another commenter asked. “Stop wasting our time and bring back the Pyramint,” someone else wrote, referring to the minty chocolate pyramid that was discontinued in the ’90s.
But the Pyramint is not the only product we’ve lost ― Terry’s previously offered both chocolate apples and lemons.
What other fruits did Terry’s make?
According to the University of York, the company ran a chocolate apple from 1926 and 1954.
That means it was actually the precursor to the chocolate orange, which first came out in 1932.
Terry’s site shows a chocolate lemon alongside the original apple, explaining that their “story begins in 1767 with the opening of a shop in York, England, selling lemon and orange candied peel”.
Launched in 1979, Terry’s Chocolate Lemon lasted for three measly years.
There even appears to have been a Terry’s chocolate greengage, the University Of York’s Borthwick Institute for Archives found.
Other discontinued Terry’s products include a Cherry Bitz chocolate bar, an Oliver Twist bar, and even its long-abandoned cream toffees.
Your annual Boxing Day reminder that Terry's Chocolate Orange has HISTORY. It was predated by *Terry's Chocolate Apple* of 1926;
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) December 26, 2020
it was once joined by Terry’s Chocolate Greengage,
and the short-lived 1970s experiment of:
Terry’s Chocolate *Lemon*. pic.twitter.com/1MFjVN84gF
Terry’s seems to like a controversial product
The brand launched a mint chocolate orange last year (that you can still buy), but that’s got nothing on its 2021 collab with Hellmann’s to create a chocolate orange mayo.
According to Terry’s website, 66 million of their chocolate spheres are sold every year, and Confectionery News reported in 2022 that 44 million chocolate oranges are sold globally.
Those figures came before the brand launched its mint and milk options, however.
Who knows what the breakdown would be if greengages, lemons, and apples hit our shelves again?