Violet Crumble

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Violet Crumble

Violet Crumble is an Australian chocolate bar that is manufactured in Sydney, Australia by Nestlé. It is one of the best selling chocolate bars in Australia. Violet Crumble is also common in Hawaii, but can also be found in other places.

The chocolate bar is a crumbly honeycomb-like substance coated in chocolate. It is similar to the Crunchie made by Cadbury.

The slogan for the chocolate bar is "It's the way it shatters that matters" (replacing the previous slogan, "Nothing else matters").

1 History
2 Packaging
3 Timeline
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External Links

[edit] History

Abel Hoadley (born September 10, 1844, died May 12, 1918)^[1] opened a jam factory in South Melbourne, Victoria, in 1889, trading as A. Hoadley & Company. By 1895, business had expanded rapidly and Hoadley built a five-storey premises, the Rising Sun Preserving Works. He produced jams, jellies, preserved fruits, candied peels, sauces, and confectionery and employed a workforce as large as 200. By 1901, there were four preserving factories and a large confectionery works. Hoadley had acquired the firm of Dillon, Burrows & Co. and extended his products to vinegar, cocoa, and chocolate.

In 1910, the jam business was sold to Henry Jones Co-operative Ltd. and in 1913, Hoadley's Chocolates Ltd was formed.

The same year, Hoadley produced his first chocolate assortment and packed them in a purple box decorated with violets. The packaging was in tribute to his wife's favorite colour (purple) and favorite flower (violets). Within the box assortment was a piece of honeycomb that became so popular that Hoadley decided to produce an individual honeycomb bar.

This proved trickier than first thought, because as the pieces of honeycomb cooled, they absorbed moisture and started sticking together. This hygroscopic nature of honeycomb led Hoadley to eventually dip his bars in chocolate, to keep the honeycomb dry and crunchy. Thus, in 1913, the Violet Crumble bar was created.

Hoadley wanted to call his new bar just Crumble, but learned that it was an unprotectable name. He thought of his wife (Susannah Ann née Barrett) and her favorite flower, the violet, and registered the name Violet Crumble, using a purple wrapper with a small flower logo. It was an instant success.

[edit] Packaging

The hygroscopic nature of the honeycomb center continued to be problematic. Competitors tried to prove the bars weren't fresh by squeezing them. Hoadley responded by instituting a strict coding system to keep track of the shelf life (12 months) and ensure that only the freshest bars were sold. In addition, he searched worldwide for a new type of airtight wrapper that would keep the bar fresh. Eventually, a French company, La Cellophane, invented a metallized cellophane especially for Violet Crumble.

Now one of the best selling bars in Australia, Violet Crumble still requires great skill and experience in its production. The carefully formulated honeycomb is produced and conveyed into a specially constructed air-conditioned area where it is cut into bars. Then it goes through chocolate enrobing machines, especially designed for Violet Crumble. The bars are double enrobed to seal the honeycomb from the air. Special cooling tunnels take the bars to the automatic wrapping machines, designed in Switzerland. The metallized wrapper is highly moisture proof and special shippers give the product extra protection in shipping.

[edit] Timeline

Hoadley's Chocolates made the first Violet Crumble bar in Melbourne in 1913.
In 1972, Hoadley's Chocolates was acquired by Rowntree Company and became known as Rowntree Hoadley Ltd.
In 1988, Nestlé acquired Rowntree Company. The Rowntree chocolate brands were initially branded as Nestlé-Rowntree, until Nestlé dropped the Rowntree altogther.

[edit] Trivia

Bertie Beetles were invented in royal shows around Australia to use up broken pieces of Violet Crumble.
The colors of the Wesley College uniform (purple and yellow), has led to students occasionally being called, perhaps derogatorily, Violet Crumbles.