For many Britons the Terry’s chocolate orange is a national institution that no Christmas celebration is complete without, but the confectionery brand stands accused of messing with perfection after it announced a spinoff, dubbed the “norange”.
The Terry’s chocolate milk ball will appear on supermarket shelves this autumn with its manufacturers explaining that, after scoring a hit with a mint ball last year, it wanted to move “beyond orange” with a plain milk chocolate product.
But fans of the original were not impressed by the sacrilegious move and took to X to share their thoughts. One simply asked “why?”, while another spoke for many questioning “why are they messing with a Terry’s chocolate orange?”
The brand, which is owned by the French group Carambar, traces its origins to 1767 with the opening of a shop in York, selling lemon and orange candied peel. In 1823, Joseph Terry joined and started dreaming up new products including chocolate, candied peel and marmalade.
The supremacy of its chocolate orange, which made its debut in 1932, was unchallenged for the best part of a century but the logic for new iterations is obvious. Plain chocolate is 40% of the market and Terry’s wants its treats to be eaten all year round, not just in December.
Diehard chocolate orange fans will have to make peace with the sister ball as the company has confirmed it is “not just for Christmas” and will be a permanent addition to its range.
“Terry’s is an institution so anything we do needs to respect the love that our customers have for it,” said Lorène Decam, senior marketing manager at Terry’s, who added that it was “very careful to balance innovation with the brand’s core”.
Decam said its research showed the new product would appeal to “non-Terry’s shoppers”. Last year the mint version sold out well before Christmas so this year its product developers were encouraged to be “even ballsier”, she said.
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“Our ambition is to tap into the 40% of the category that is plain chocolate but with the unique ritual and format of Terry’s chocolate balls,” said Decam. “There’s a huge growth opportunity for the brand and the category.”