Tim Tam is a brand of

chocolate biscuit A chocolate biscuit is a biscuit ( cookie) which is covered in chocolate, or which has been made by replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder. Chocolate biscuits are quite popular in places all over the world, particularly the United Kingd ...

introduced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's in 1964. It consists of two

malted Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, mo ...

biscuits separated by a light hard chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.

History

The biscuit was created by Ian Norris and Alan Morrow. During 1958, they took a world trip looking for inspiration for new products. While in Britain, they found the

Penguin biscuit Penguins are milk chocolatebars filled with biscuit and chocolate cream. They are produced by Pladis's manufacturing division McVitie's at their Stockport factory. History William Macdonald founded Macdonald Biscuits in Glasgow in 1928. After s ...

and decided to try to "make a better one". Tim Tam went on to the market in 1964. They were named by Ross Arnott, who attended the 1958

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and decided that the name of the winning horse,

Tim Tam Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit introduced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's in 1964. It consists of two malted biscuits separated by a light hard chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. H ...

, was perfect for a planned new line of biscuits. Apart from Penguins, products similar to Tim Tam include "Temptins" from

Dick Smith Foods Dick Smith Foods was a food brand created by Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith to provide Australian owned and produced alternatives to products from foreign-owned food companies. Generally, the brand focused on producing local alternatives to ...

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 count ...

's "Chit Chats", Australian Woolworths'

home brand A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by t ...

product "Choccy Slams", the

Coles Supermarkets Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of the Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles, Coles operates ...

' brand "Chocolate Surrenders" biscuits, and various similar "home-brand" products marketed by British supermarkets. In 2003, Arnott's sued

over their ''Temptin brand of chocolate biscuits, which Arnott's alleged had diluted their trademark as a similar biscuit, in similarly designed packaging. The case was settled out of court.

Pepperidge Farm Pepperidge Farm is an American commercial bakery founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's 123-acre farm property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which had been named for the pepperidge tree. A subsidiary of the Camp ...

, a sister company of Arnott's, began importing the Tim Tam to the United States in 2008. The Tim Tams are still "Made in Australia" and packaging in the US bears the slogan "Australia's Favorite Cookie." ("Cookie" being the American word for biscuit.) In 2017, an additional flavour, dark chocolate-mint, was produced for and introduced only in the American market. As of 2021, a counterpart is sold in the

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Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...

supermarkets under the name "Dip&Nip Cookies".

Production

The original Arnott's bakery, opened in 1865, was located in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

. To date, manufacture of Tim Tams and other Arnott's products has remained largely within Australia, including bakeries in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. In 2009, Arnott's invested A$37 million in a state-of-the-art production line at its Brisbane facility, expecting to boost productivity and increase jobs. At the Huntingwood bakery in

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, the production line turns out about 3,000 Tim Tams per minute and uses 20 tonnes of the biscuit's cream filling and 27 tons of chocolate coating each work day. Biscuit dough, containing sugar, flour, colours and flavours, is mixed for 20 minutes. The dough is then given 'the ol' slap and tickle' for around 90 minutes. Biscuits are then cut to 1mm thick, 11 holes are punched per biscuit and they are baked in gas ovens for 90 minutes. Freezing air cools the biscuits before they are flipped and filled with cream, dunked in chocolate and cooled again.

Varieties

In the 2000s Arnott's sold different varieties of the product. Varieties include double coat, dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel, dark chocolate mint, honeycomb and choc orange. In 2004, Arnott's caused a controversy when they released limited edition Tim Tam

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and Kahlua Mint Slice varieties, flavoured with the popular alcoholic liqueurs. The Australian Drug Foundation suggested selling the biscuits in

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

s was "potentially dangerous" by "normalising" the taste of alcohol for children. An Arnott's spokesperson observed that a customer "would need to consume your body weight of biscuits every hour to reach a blood-alcohol content of .05". Tim Tam chocolate sandwich biscuits are manufactured in Indonesia by Halo Arnotts. A cheese flavour of Tim Tams has also been developed for the Indonesian market. In February 2014, Arnott's launched a limited edition range of three new Tim Tam flavours created by Australian dessert chef Adriano Zumbo: salted caramel, choc brownie and raspberry white choc.

Point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

displays featured Zumbo pink in contrast to traditional chocolate brown Tim Tam brand colours. Red Velvet was the fourth Zumbo Tim Tam creation, launched in July 2014. Also in July 2014, Arnott's launched peanut butter-flavoured Tim Tams. Arnott's was awarded a

CHOICE A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a giv ...

"Shonky award" for the offering, which did not contain peanuts (paprika was used as a flavour substitute) and included two fewer biscuits than the original variety Tim Tam packet. During the

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

period of 2015, Arnott's launched Choc Raspberry and Coconut Cream flavours, again collaborating with Zumbo. In October 2015, Arnott's launched Tim Tam Choc Banana. A limited edition "mocktail" Tim Tam range was launched in February 2016 with piña colada, espresso martini and strawberry champagne variants. Arnott's told media in May 2016 that sales of the Tim Tam mocktail range had not met their expectations. Arnott's introduced toffee apple and pineapple flavours to the market in June 2016. In October 2016 they added a mango variety to the range, and in February 2017 they launched four new flavours—choc mint, salted caramel and vanilla, coconut and lychee, and black forest—in partnership with Gelato Messina. In the United States, the original, dark chocolate, dark chocolate mint, and caramel varieties are available for sale.

Tim Tam Slam

The Tim Tam Slam (also known as the Tim Tam Shotgun, Tim Tam Bomb, Tim Tam Explosion, Tim Tam Bong and Tim Tam Suck) is the practice of drinking a hot

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...

through a Tim Tam. Opposite corners of the Tim Tam are bitten off, one end is submerged in the beverage, and the beverage is sucked through the biscuit as though the Tim Tam itself were a straw. The crisp interior biscuit is eventually softened and the outer chocolate coating begins to melt, at which point the biscuit is eaten. The Arnott's company used the name ''Tim Tam Suck'' in a 2002 advertising campaign. In February 2019, Arnott's released a "Slams"-branded version of the Tim Tam biscuit.

Pricing

In late 2015, media reported that Coles was attempting to resist price rises to Tim Tam and other Arnott's products. When Coles refused the cost increase, Arnott's refused to supply the chain for two weeks.

Promotions

In the 1990s, Arnott's cast N'fa as a wish-granting genie and

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...

as the lucky recipient of those wishes, who asks for "a packet of Tim Tams that never runs out". In October 2006, Arnott's partnered with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to launch a limited-edition pink Tim Tam to coincide with that year's

pink ribbon The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer. Pink ribb ...

campaign. Advertising in 2012 responded to a fan's Facebook post wishing that Tim Tams grew on trees. Arnott's "planted" a Tim Tam orchard in

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on 2 May 2012. The campaign generated more than 475,000 views on Tim Tam's YouTube channel and the brand experienced a 23% baseline sales uplift over the campaign period. In 2016, to advertise Tim Tam mocktail flavours, Arnott's recruited

Sophie Monk Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian singer, actress, model, and television personality. She was a member of the pop girl group Bardot, winners of the first season of '' Popstars Australia'' in 2000, and later re ...

to feature in television advertisements as the face of the range.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.arnotts.com.au/products/tim-tam/ Australian confectionery Australian brands Chocolate bars Australian snack foods Biscuit brands Products introduced in 1964