Smarties
Template:Short description Template:About Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox brand Smarties are dragée chocolate confectionery marketed by Swiss company Nestlé. They were first manufactured in 1937<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> by British company H.I. Rowntree & Company of York. Since 2007, Smarties have been produced in Hamburg in Germany.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Smarties are oblate spheroids with a minor axis of about Template:Convert and a major axis of about Template:Convert. They come in eight colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, mauve,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> pink and brown, although the blue variety was temporarily replaced by a white variety in some countries, whilst an alternative natural colouring dye of the blue colour was being researched.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Smarties are sold in many regions around the world, but are not distributed (except via parallel import) in the United States, where the trademark name is held by the Smarties Candy Company, which manufactures its own hard tablet sweet under the trademark name Smarties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Confectionery company Rowntree's of York, England, have been making "Chocolate Beans" since at least 1882.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1937, they renamed the product "Smarties Chocolate Beans", soon shortening the name to just "Smarties".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> While the sweets had previously been sold loose, as part of a broader strategy to establish a prominent brand identity and after seeing success in selling other confections in cardboard tubes, Rowntree's began selling Smarties Chocolate Beans in the packaging. The product and this packaging were marketed to children after test marketing in Scotland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The packaging was valued for being easily repurposed into crafts, and the plastic caps were collected, each marked with a letter of the alphabet.<ref name="BBC05" />
In February 2005, the Smarties tube was replaced with a hexagonal design. The rationale behind changing the design was, according to Nestlé, to make the brand "fresh and appealing" to youngsters;<ref name="BBC05">"Smarties set to lose their tube", BBC News, 18 February 2005</ref> the new packaging is also lighter and more compact, and the lid (which is now a hinged piece of cardboard) has a card clip which holds the lid shut when it is folded over. The new lid still features a letter like the old plastic lids, but it is in the form of a "what [letter] is a [thing]?" question, the answer for which can be read when the lid is open, next to the hole giving access to the rest of the tube.
Smarties are no longer manufactured in York; in October 2007, production was moved to Germany,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where a third of them were already made. Outside Europe, Nestlé's largest production facility for Smarties is in Toronto, Canada, where Nestlé has been manufacturing its products since 1918. The factory located at 72 Sterling Road in the Junction Triangle was originally built for Cowan Cocoa and Chocolate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1998, Nestlé obtained a trademark for a tubular Smarties package. It later sued Master Foods in Denmark, which was marketing M&M minis in a similar package. The Supreme Court of Denmark ruled that a basic geometrical shape could not be trademarked and ordered the trademark to be removed from the trademark register.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2021, the parent company Nestlé transferred the production of Lentilky, which had been produced in Czechia since 1907, to German Hamburg, and the ingredients are also being harmonized with the Smarties product.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Colours
In one of the earlier ranges of colours, there was a light-brown Smartie. This was replaced in 1988 by a blue Smartie, introduced as part of campaign opposing the purchase of Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery by Nestlé, along with 'I Support Blue Smarties' pin badges. Before 1958, dark-brown Smarties had a plain-chocolate centre, while light-brown ones were coffee-flavoured. Orange Smarties originally contained orange-flavoured chocolate;<ref>Ben Schott, Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany</ref> however, these daysTemplate:When the orange flavour is added to the shell only.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2006, it was announced that Nestlé was removing all artificial colourings from Smarties in the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nestlé decided to replace all synthetic dyes with natural ones, but, unable to source a natural blue dye, removed blue Smarties from circulation (which led to the common misunderstanding that the blue Smartie triggered hyperactivity in some children) and replaced them with white ones.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2008, blue Smarties were reintroduced using natural blue dye derived from the cyanobacterium spirulina instead of the controversial brilliant blue FCF (FD&C Blue 1, E133).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Artificial colouring was removed from Smarties on the Canadian market in March 2009. The new range included all the colours except blue. Blue Smarties were reintroduced in May 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Red Smarties were previously dyed with cochineal, a derivative of the product made by extracting colour from female cochineal insects. A pigment extracted from red cabbage is now used in the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
For the purposes of assessing an "active learning approach to epidemiology and critical appraisal", a mock randomised controlled trial tested the hypothesis that red Smarties could increase happiness. Based on a trial with 117 participants in four settings in Australia, Canada and Malaysia, red Smarties eaters were no happier than yellow Smarties eaters.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>