Milk Tray is a brand of boxed

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec ci ...

s currently manufactured by

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

. Introduced by Cadbury UK in 1915, it is one of the longest running brands in the confectioner's portfolio. Milk Tray is sold in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The name 'Tray' derived from the way in which the original assortment was delivered to the shops. Originally Milk Tray was packed in five and a half pound boxes, arranged on trays from which it was sold loose to customers. The pack design has been regularly updated and the assortment itself has changed in line with consumer preferences, and today it is still one of the most popular boxes of chocolates in the UK selling over 8 million boxes per annum."Cadbury's Milk Tray Under attack from British Press"
''Kennedy's Confection''. Retrieved 12 June 2015. From 1968 to 2003, and since 2016, the chocolate is advertised by the 'Milk Tray Man', a tough

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

–style figure who undertakes daunting 'raids' to surreptitiously deliver a box of Milk Tray chocolates to a lady. The original tagline was ''And all because the lady loves Milk Tray''. A

YouGov YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and sinc ...

poll saw them ranked the 16th most famous confectionery in the UK.

History

In 1916 a half pound deep-lidded box was introduced with a purple background and gold script, which has undergone minor changes in the century since it was introduced. In 1924 a one-pound box was introduced, and by the mid-1930s the Cadbury's Milk Tray assortment was outselling all its competitors. It has remained one of the most popular boxes of chocolates in the UK where it sells over 8 million boxes per annum.

Current selection

Raspberries & Cream: White cream filling with raspberry pieces covered in milk chocolate. Caramel Softy: Milk chocolate with

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of carameli ...

interior. Hazelnut Swirl: A whole roasted

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according ...

in a whirl of milk chocolate. Honey Crunch: Honey flavour milk chocolate truffle with crunchy pieces. Fudge Duet: Vanilla flavour

fudge Fudge is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. In texture, this crystalline can ...

covered with milk chocolate. Orange Truffle: Orange segment-shaped chocolate truffle with a hint of orange flavour, enrobed in milk chocolate. Perfect Praline: Milk chocolate with a soft praline centre. Salted Caramel Charm: Chewy caramel enrobed in sea salt and milk chocolate with a drizzle of white chocolate. Truffle Heart: Milk chocolate with a soft cocoa truffle filling. White Truffle: A white chocolate truffle wrapped in milk chocolate.

Discontinued varieties

Exotic Delight: Milk chocolate with Turkish delight jelly filling, previously known as the Turkish Delight, it was renamed in 2013 and dropped from the selection in late 2015 as part of a 100th anniversary revamp of the design and chocolate selection. The "Exotic Delight" was replaced with the "Apple Crunch". Toffee Charm: Chewy toffee enrobed in milk chocolate drizzled with white chocolate. Re-formulated as "Salted Caramel Charm". Nutty Heart: Milk chocolate with a soft caramel centre enrobing a whole roasted hazelnut. Due to complaints about the selection having too many chocolates containing both nuts and caramel, the "Nutty Heart" is now filled with a smooth cocoa truffle filling and has been renamed "Truffle Heart". Lime Cordial, also known as "the wee barrel" because of the shape. The shape was continued and replaced with toffee filling which has also since disappeared. Apple Crunch: Apple flavour white chocolate truffle with cinnamon crunch. Strawberry Temptation: Milk chocolate with a smooth strawberry filling and a layer of vanilla creme. Called "Strawberry Temptation" until 2015. Surprise Parcel: Milk chocolate with a smooth white chocolate truffle centre.

Chocolate bar

Between 1947 and 1981 a Milk Tray Bar was available which featured 8 different centres.

Milk Tray Man

From 1968 to 2003, and since 2016, the chocolate is advertised by the 'Milk Tray Man', a tough

–style figure who undertakes daunting 'raids' to surreptitiously deliver a box of Milk Tray chocolates to a lady. The original tagline was ''And all because the lady loves Milk Tray''. Actor Gary Myers, who is most recognisable as the action figure, starred in 11 of the commercials between 1968 and 1984. James Coombes assumed the role in 1987.

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

born actor Alan Riley was the Milk Tray man in 2003, in an advert which featured actress

Sienna Guillory Sienna Tiggy Guillory (; born 16 March 1975) is an English actress and former model. She portrayed Jill Valentine in several entries of the ''Resident Evil'' action-horror film series. Other prominent roles include elf princess Arya Dröttningu ...

. Coombes assumed the role again in 2016. A memorable scene of the man jumping from a cliff top into the sea was performed by stuntman

Alf Joint Alfred Charles Richard Joint (22 September 1927 – 25 July 2005) was a British film and television stunt performer, stunt coordinator and arranger. He was notable for his contributions in numerous films over a 30-year period including: '' The H ...

who had previously doubled for

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

’s 007 in '' Goldfinger'' (1964). Martin Grace,

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

's stunt double in the James Bond films, performed stunts for some of the early Milk Tray commercials, including leaping from a bridge onto a speeding train and climbing dangerously along the roof. The music, ''The Night Rider'', was written by

Cliff Adams The Cliff Adams Singers were a British male/female vocal group, known for ballads and novelty songs, and especially their regular performances on BBC Radio from the 1950s onwards. The ensemble was established in 1954 by Clifford William Adams ( ...

, who also wrote the music for

Fry's Turkish Delight Fry's Turkish Delight is a chocolate bar made by Cadbury. It was launched in the UK in 1914 by the Bristol-based chocolate manufacturer J. S. Fry & Sons and consists of a rose-flavoured Turkish delight surrounded by milk chocolate. The Fry's iden ...

advertisements. The music was recorded commercially by

Alan Hawkshaw William Alan Hawkshaw (27 March 1937 – 16 October 2021) was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company ...

on the album "27 Top TV Themes" (Studio 2 Stereo, 1972). This album has been re-released on CD (EMI 7234 4 98171 2 8). Alan Hawkshaw was the pianist on the original sessions with Cliff Adams, for the advertisements. A medley of three separate arrangements of the theme, based on the authentic scores as used in the commercials from 1968 to 2010, is commercially available, performed by London Music Works, on the album "Great British TV Themes" (SILCD 1357). The entire campaign of television advertisements ranked at number 11 on ITV's "Best Ads Ever" list in 2005. The specific ''Avalanche'' advert ranked at number 48 in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's UK wide poll of the " 100 Greatest TV Ads" in 2000.

References

External links

Cadbury UK - Milk Tray
{{Mondelez British confectionery Cadbury brands Mondelez International brands