Media Background Information Chocolate and York Indulge Yourself in York Home of Chocolate York has long had a reputation as the City of Chocolate, in part due to the sizable factories created by Rowntree s and Terry s during the 20 th Century, however there is much more to the evolution of York s history, industry and culinary expertise than just Kit Kat and Chocolate Orange. York is home to some big names in the chocolate aisle, Rowntree s created Kit Kat, Smarties and Aero, whilst Terry s created the Chocolate Orange and their rich dark All Gold collection. The history and evolution of these chocolates, that we still enjoy today, is intertwined with York s social history and industrial development with as much to be celebrated as the artwork, buildings, fashion, Railways and the Vikings for which the city is already famed for. York s sitting on the river brought many ingredients and raw materials into the city from afar, whilst the boom of the railway industry sent chocolate products rapidly around the country, making Terry s and Rowntree s household names nationwide. Whilst many of York s industrial neighbours found wealth in cotton mills, steel and coal during the Industrial Revolution, York s democratic structure and ruling merchants prevented many of these businesses from locating to York, so why was chocolate allowed? Well to start with it looked very unlikely that chocolate would take such a hold. In 1725, at the age of 30, Mary Tuke set up a grocer s business on Fossgate. Her descendents began trading in cocoa in 1785. To be able to trade in the city merchants had to be freemen of the city of York and a member of the Company of Merchant Adventurers. Being a woman, Mary could only join the Merchant Adventurers as the daughter or widow of a member. Being neither, the Company attempted for 7 years to impose fines, threaten prison and have Mary put out of business. We should be grateful Mary refused to give in, for in 1862 the Cocoa and Chocolate side of the business was take up by Henry Isaac Rowntree, a young apprentice who had joined the business to learn more about the trade.
Meanwhile Bayldon and Berry were busy making medicines and using a tempting new arrival sugar, to help the medicine go down and taste all the more palatable. Joseph Terry joined the company when he married into the Berry family, before taking over the company and renaming it Terry s of York. York of the 18 th and 19 th Centuries was a fashionable place with Royal Manors, a grand Assembly Rooms for sociable dinners and balls, and a Lord Mayor with a stately residence. With a public of such discerning taste Terry s and Rowntree s (Rowntree s began making confectionery in the 1880 s) both found success and the perfect audience for their confectionery products. The world of steam power and the railways brought many workers to the city, enabled their empires to grow with product distribution, and allowed mechanical processes so businesses could become more efficient in their own practices. York had a great number of confectioners for such a small city, not just the 2 big names we remember today, Mary Craven s shop and factory on Coppergate produced boiled sweets from 1805. It was when the factory moved to a site on Poppleton Road that the excavation work was carried out and that led to the discovery of the Viking remains and the Jorvik centre being created. In 1836 Joseph Terry together with Thomas Hide, Confectioner from Ousegate York and 20 other confectionery makers formed industry standards for Confectioners and Lozenge Makers. Setting high production standards for the industry, York has a long history of being instrumental in shaping the confectionery tastes of the nation. Today York is left with a lasting legacy seen in the buildings around the city created to service our demands for sweet things, in the social change pioneered by the chocolate makers, in the products that still adorn the supermarket shelves and in the culinary taste, artisan producers, restaurants and growers that operate in the city now. The first York Chocolate Festival took place in April 2012 and showcased the wealth of creative influence, ideas and products that chocolate lovers and aficionados can indulge in around the city. Whilst you are in York Britain s Chocolate City visitors can visit a number of attractions and locations to indulge in history and York s love of chocolate: 1. York Castle Museum learn about the products and brands which made York famous. 2. The Mansion House Once home to Joseph Terry four times in his role as Lord Mayor of York. You can see from here the Terry shop and Tea Room located in St Helen s Square, the name is still quite visible. This site was once the factory behind the shop until the company moved to a new factory site on Clementhorpe, when the upstairs became an exclusive Tea Room. 3. Fairfax House displays the exquisite furniture collection of Noel Terry from the family house on Tadcaster Road.
4. Goddard s this house is owned by the National Trust. The Terry family commissioned the house to be built in the 1920 s, from the beautifully secluded gardens there is a perfect view across the Knavesmire to the iconic building of the Terry s factory. 5. Now Pizza Hut, the Rowntree store on Pavement was the family premises created by Joseph Rowntree senior. A Quaker man from Scarborough, he made his way to York to set up his shop, he had to sober up the auctioneer in order to purchase the property. From here he created a family business with a team of apprentices learning the trade, including George Cadbury and a young Mr Fry. 6. Discover York s chocolate history brought to life with tutored chocolate tastings and chocolate making workshops with Little Pretty Things at the Mansion House. Did you know this about York? 1. 6 million Kit Kats are produced in York every day over 1 billion every year. 2. Top chocolate brands such as Kit Kat, Aero, Smarties, After Eight, Yorkie, Chocolate Orange and Black Magic were all created in York 3. The Rowntree factory once employed 14,000 staff, employing teachers and gardeners as well as the factory workers 4. New Earswick is located on the outskirts of York, it was created by Joseph Rowntree as a Model Village as an alternative to the slums of York and housed many of his workers. Still today there are no pubs in New Earswick. 5. In 1856 the team of apprentices working in the Rowntree s Grocers included a young Mr Cadbury and a young Mr Fry. 6. Rowntree s owned York s first motor car, they created a giant can of Cocoa Elect to promote the brand. The public would come from miles around to see the spectacle. It once broke down in Sheffield city centre, the drivers were arrested for being a nuisance. The giant tin of cocoa would make it top heavy, it would often fall over. 7. Terry s first created the Chocolate Apple before the iconic Chocolate Orange. 8. The competitive rivalry between Cadbury and Rowntree s is thought to have inspired Roald Dahl to create Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl went to school in Derbyshire, do you think it could have been a school trip to the Rowntree factory that shaped his imagination?
9. In 1921 Rowntree very generously bought a piece of land next to the Terry factory and donated it to the City of York as a public park. 10. In 1926 Terry s moved to a larger factory site next to The Knavesmire as someone had bought the land next to their factory, preventing them from expanding. 11. The Terry s clock tower is an iconic building frequently featured on race days as it lies next to York racecourse. 12. The relocation of the Craven s Sweet factory to a location outside of the city led to the excavation of its Coppergate location. During the excavation the remains of Viking York were discovered now collated in the Jorvik Viking Centre. 13. At Christmas 1914 The Lord Mayor and Sheriff generously sent a bar of Rowntrees chocolate to every York man fighting in the Great War. One of these tins with the original chocolate bar inside can be seen at the Mansion House. 14. A tin of Rowntree s Elect Cocoa was taken by Shackleton to the Antarctic in 1908 in was discovered completely intact 50 years later and is now housed in the Nestle archives in York, its taste was pronounced to be in excellent condition. 15. Today many organisations have links to Ghana because of the long association with the Cocoa trade. 16. Rowntree s had 2 cheeky children who were mascots for the company; The Cocoa Nibs 17. Plain Mr York was an iconic automated character introduced in the 1920 s; Mr York of York, Yorks, was featured in the first animated advertisement with sound and promoted the Motoring Chocolate bar with a wide range of merchandise created to promote Mr York and Rowntree s. He became world famous - a major celebrity of his era! 18. A York bar of chocolate was once presented to the then Princess Elizabeth, it was made with Cocoa, Sugar and Vanilla all grown in the atrium at the Rowntree factory. The Queen was the first person to ever receive a bar of entirely English chocolate. Nestle in York also has some rare footage of the Queen's father on a visit to the Rowntree's works in 1920 and the factory has had the Royal Warrant since the days of Queen Victoria. 19. The Company of Merchant Adventurers controlled a great deal of trade and industry in York. For 7 years they tried to put Mary Tuke out of business when in 1725 at the age of 30 she
started trading. The cocoa side of the business was sold to an apprentice at the shop and by now factory in Coppergate Henry Isaac Rowntree in 1862. 20. Many chocolate products such as Aero, Kit Kat and Smarties were produced by Rowntrees in the 1930 s whilst Terry s created the Chocolate Orange during this rapidly developmental time. 21. Forrest Mars had set-up business in the UK, his nougat and caramel Mars bar was getting great acclaim. 22 As part of the Queen s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, the company behind York s new chocolate visitor attraction (Continuum), have launched a campaign to ask the people of york for their memories of working in the chocolate factories of Rowntree's, Terry's and Craven's. One York resident for example is a lady who worked at the Rowntree factory and was chosen to make handmade chocolates for the Queen (she is now 76) and Nestle who still operate in York have heard from a lady who made the boxes for these royal chocolates. The Queen was the first person to ever receive a bar of entirely English chocolate, made from cocoa beans grown in the Rowntree's hot house in York. Nestle in York also has some rare footage of the Queen's father on a visit to the Rowntree's works in 1920 and the factory has had the Royal Warrant since the days of Queen Victoria. Visit York Press Contact: Kay Hyde PR Manager Visit York, Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, Fax: 01904 554460, email: kh@visityork.org, website: www.visityork.org York Visitor Information Centre, Tel: 01904 550099, email: info@visityork.org or visit the website at www.visityork.org.
This copy has been supplied with thanks to: Sophie Jewett York Cocoa House Blake Street York YO1 8QJ E: sophie@yorkcocoahouse.co.uk www.yorkcocoahouse.co.uk Alex Hutchinson Nestlé Heritage Ex 33042 Tel: +44 (0)1904 603042 Mobile: +44 (0) 7824 408856 Fax: +44 (0)1904 603643 alex.hutchinson@uk.nestle.com James Maxton: PR Contact: James.maxton@uk.nestle.com Tel: 01904 602655 (directline)