Cadbury's Creme Egg
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Cadbury Creme Egg (originally named Fry's Creme Egg) is a chocolate
confection Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somew ...
produced in the shape of an
egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
. It was launched by the British chocolatier Fry's in 1963 before being renamed under sister brand
Cadbury's Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...
in 1971. The product consists of a thick chocolate shell containing a sweet white and yellow fondant filling. The filling mimics the
egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens, it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms a ...
and
yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...
of a
soft boiled egg Boiled eggs are typically from a chicken, and are cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled or hard-cooked eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may l ...
. The confectionery is produced by Cadbury in the United Kingdom, under licence by
The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. T ...
in the United States, and by Cadbury's parent company,
Mondelez International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
in Canada. The eggs were previously manufactured in New Zealand by Cadbury's for the antipodean market, but are now imported from the United Kingdom.


History

While filled eggs were first manufactured by the Cadbury Brothers in 1923, the Creme Egg in its current form was introduced in 1963. Initially known as Fry's Creme Eggs, they were renamed Cadbury's Creme Eggs in 1971.


Composition

Cadbury Creme Eggs are manufactured as two chocolate half shells, each of which is filled with a white fondant made from sugar,
glucose syrup Glucose syrup, also known as confectioner's glucose, is a syrup made from the hydrolysis of starch. Glucose is a sugar. Maize (corn) is commonly used as the source of the starch in the US, in which case the syrup is called "corn syrup", but gluco ...
,
inverted sugar syrup Inverted sugar syrup is a syrup mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, made by splitting disaccharide sucrose. This mixture's optical rotation is opposite to that of the original sugar, which is why it is called an ''invert'' sug ...
, dried
egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens, it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms a ...
and flavouring. The fondant in each half is topped with a smaller amount of the same mixture coloured yellow with paprika extract, to mimic the yolk and white of a real egg. Both halves are then quickly joined and cooled, the shell bonding together in the process. The solid eggs are removed from the moulds and wrapped in foil. During an interview in a 2007 episode of ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...
'', actor B. J. Novak drew attention to the fact that American market Cadbury Creme Eggs had decreased in size, despite the official Cadbury website stating otherwise. American Creme Eggs at the time weighed and contained 150 kcal. Before 2006, the eggs marketed by Hershey were identical to the UK version, weighing and containing 170 kcal. In 2015, the British Cadbury company under the American
Mondelēz International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
conglomerate announced that it had changed the formula of the Cadbury Creme Egg by replacing its
Cadbury Dairy Milk Cadbury Dairy Milk is a British brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury. First introduced in the United Kingdom in June 1905 and now consists of a number of products. Every product in the Dairy Milk line is made exclusively with milk choc ...
chocolate with "standard cocoa mix chocolate". It had also reduced the packaging from six eggs to five, with a less than proportionate decrease in price. This resulted in a large number of complaints from consumers. Analysts at
IRI IRI or I.R.I. refers to: Businesses and organizations * Iringa Airport, an airport in Tanzania serving Iringa and the surrounding Iringa Region by IATA airport code * India Rejuvenation Initiative, an Indian anti-corruption organization form ...
found that Cadbury lost more than $12 million in Creme Egg sales in the UK.


Manufacture and sales

Creme Eggs are produced by Cadbury in the United Kingdom, by
The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. T ...
in the United States, and by Cadbury Adams in Canada. They are sold by
Mondelez International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
in all markets except the US, where The Hershey Company has the local marketing rights. At the
Bournville Bournville () is a 19th century model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alc ...
factory in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
in the UK, they are
manufactured Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...
at a rate of 1.5 million per day. The Creme Egg was also previously manufactured in New Zealand, but has been imported from the UK since 2009. A
YouGov YouGov plc is a 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. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...
poll saw the Creme Egg ranked as the most famous confectionery in the UK. As of 2011 the Creme Egg was the best-selling confectionery item between
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
and
Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
in the UK, with annual sales in excess of 200 million eggs and a
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
value of approximately £55 million. However, in 2016 sales plummeted after the controversial decision to change the recipe from the original
Cadbury Dairy Milk Cadbury Dairy Milk is a British brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury. First introduced in the United Kingdom in June 1905 and now consists of a number of products. Every product in the Dairy Milk line is made exclusively with milk choc ...
chocolate to a cheaper substitute, with reports of a loss of more than £6M in sales. Creme Eggs are available individually and in boxes, with the numbers of eggs per package varying per country. The
foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...
wrapping of the eggs was traditionally pink, blue, purple, and yellow with a chick on it in the United Kingdom and Ireland, though green and the chick were removed and purple replaced blue early in the 21st century. In the United States, some green is incorporated into the design, which previously featured the product's mascot, the Creme Egg Chick. , the packaging in Canada has been changed to a , purple, red and yellow soft plastic shell. Creme Eggs are available annually between
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
and
Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...
. In the UK in the 1980s, Cadbury made Creme Eggs available year-round but sales dropped and they returned to seasonal availability. In 2018, white chocolate versions of the Creme Eggs were made available. These eggs were not given a wrapper that clearly marked them as white chocolate eggs, and were mixed in with the normal Creme Eggs in the United Kingdom. Individuals who discovered an egg would win money via a ticket that had a code printed on it inside of the wrapper. Creme Eggs were manufactured in New Zealand at the Cadbury factory in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
from 1983 to 2009. Cadbury in New Zealand and Australia went through a restructuring process, with most Cadbury products previously produced in New Zealand being manufactured instead at Cadbury factories in Australia. Cadbury Australia produces some Creme Eggs products for the Australian market, most prominently the Mini Creme Egg. New Zealand's Dunedin plant later received a $69 million upgrade to specialise in boxed products such as
Cadbury Roses Cadbury Roses is a brand of chocolates made by Cadbury. Introduced in the UK in 1938 (as a competitor to Quality Street launched by Mackintosh's in 1936), they were named after the English packaging equipment company "Rose Brothers" based in Gai ...
, and Creme Eggs were no longer produced there. The result of the changes meant that Creme Eggs were instead imported from the United Kingdom. The change also saw the range of Creme Eggs available for sale decrease. The size also dropped from to in this time. The response from New Zealanders was not positive, with complaints including the filling not being as runny as the New Zealand version. As of 2024, Cadbury Australia continue to produce the Mini Egg variant.


Advertising

The Creme Egg has been marketed in the UK and Ireland with the question "How do you eat yours?" and in New Zealand with the slogan "Don't get caught with egg on your face". Australia and New Zealand have also used a variation of the UK question, using the slogan "How do you do it?" In the US, Creme Eggs are advertised on television with a small white rabbit called the Cadbury Bunny (alluding to the
Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" origi ...
) which clucks like a
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
. Other animals dressed with bunny ears have also been used in the television ads, and in 2021, out of over 12,000 submissions in the Hershey Company's third annual tryouts, an Australian
tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...
named Betty was named the newest Cadbury Bunny. Ads for caramel eggs use a larger gold-coloured rabbit which also clucks, and chocolate eggs use a large brown rabbit which clucks in a deep voice. The advertisements use the slogan "Nobunny knows Easter better than him", spoken by TV personality
Mason Adams Mason Adams (born Mason Abrams; February 26, 1919 – April 26, 2005) was an American actor. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, the latter ...
. The adverts have continued to air nearly unchanged into the
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era and after Adams's death in 2005, though currently the ad image is slightly zoomed to fill the screen. The majority of rabbits used in the Cadbury commercials are
Flemish Giant The Flemish Giant () is the largest breed of domestic rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus''). History The Flemish Giant originated in Flanders. It was bred as early as the 16th century near the city of Ghent, Belgium. It is believed to h ...
s. In the UK, around the year 2000, selected stores were provided standalone
paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 Inch#Equivalents, points) than paper and has certain superior ...
cutouts of something resembling a "
love tester The is a novelty toy made by Nintendo in 1969. Designed "for young ladies and men", the device tries to determine how much two people love each other. To operate the device, both users grab one of the connected spherical metal sensors with one ha ...
". The shopper would press a button in the centre and a "spinner" (a series of
LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...
lights) would select at random a way of eating the Creme Egg, e.g. "with
chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...
". These were withdrawn within a year. There are also the "Creme Egg Cars" which are, as the name suggest, ovular vehicles painted to look like Creme Eggs. They are driven to various places to advertise the eggs but are based mainly at the Cadbury factory in
Bournville Bournville () is a 19th century model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alc ...
. Five "Creme Egg Cars" were built from
Bedford Rascal The is a kei truck produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. The microvan version was originally called the Carry van until 1982 when the passenger van versions were renamed as the . In Japan, the Carry and Every are ''kei cars'' but the Suzuk ...
chassis. The headlights are taken from a
Citroën 2CV The Citroën 2CV (, , lit. "two horses", meaning "two Tax horsepower#France, ''taxable'' horsepower") is an economy car produced by the French company Citroën from 1948 to 1990. Introduced at the 1948 Paris Paris Auto Show, Salon de l'Automobi ...
. For the 2008/2009 season, advertising in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada consisted of
stopmotion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhib ...
adverts in the "Here Today, Goo Tomorrow" campaign which comprised a Creme Egg stripping its wrapper off and then breaking its own shell, usually with household appliances and equipment, while making various 'goo' sounds/noises (as the only sounds and voices they make are the sole word "goo"), and a 'relieved' sound/noise when it has finally been able to break its shell. The Cadbury's Creme Egg website featured games where the player had to prevent the egg from finding a way to release its own "goo". A similar advertising campaign in 2010 featured animated Creme Eggs destroying themselves in large numbers, such as gathering together at a cinema before bombarding into each other to release all of the eggs' goo, and another which featured eggs being destroyed by mouse traps. In Halloween 2011, 2012 and 2013, advertising in Canada and New Zealand consisted of the "Screme Egg" Easter aliens, such as 48 seconds in the advertising.


Creme Egg Café

In 2016, Cadbury opened a pop-up café titled "Crème de la Creme Egg Café" in London. Tickets for the café sold out within an hour of being published online. The café on
Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...
, Soho, was open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 22 January to 6 March 2016.


Creme Egg Camp

In 2018, Cadbury opened a pop-up camp. The camp in Last Days of Shoreditch, Old Street was open every Thursday to Sunday from 19 January, to 18 February 2018


Varieties

Cadbury has introduced many variants to the original Creme Egg, including: Other products include: * Creme Egg Fondant in a narrow cardboard tube (limited edition) * Creme Egg ice cream with a fondant sauce in milk chocolate * Creme Egg Pots Of Joy – melted Cadbury milk chocolate with a fondant layer * Screme Egg Pots Of Joy – melted Cadbury milk chocolate but with a layer of Screme Egg fondant * Creme Egg Layers Of Joy – A layered sharing dessert with Cadbury milk chocolate, chocolate mousse, chocolate chip cookie and fondant dessert with a creamy topping. * Jaffa Egg – Manufactured in New Zealand, Dark chocolate with orange filling * Marble Egg – Manufactured in New Zealand, Dairy Milk and Dream Chocolate swirled together


See also

* * *


References


External links

* * {{Hershey, state=autocollapse British confectionery Creme Egg The Hershey Company brands Mondelez International brands Brand name chocolate Products introduced in 1963 Candy