Polos are a brand of sweets whose defining feature is the hole in the middle. The peppermint flavoured polo was first manufactured in the United Kingdom in 1948 by employee John Bargewell at the Rowntree's Factory, York, a range of flavours followed. The name ‘Polo’ is reportedly from the word ‘Polar’ and is to symbolise the cool and fresh feeling one gets from sucking a Polo.[1]
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Polo mints were introduced by Rowntree's in 1948, and Polo fruits followed soon after.[2] In 1948, when the Polo mint was brought to market, there was no hole in the centre. This was introduced in 1955.
Polo is still Britain's best selling mint brand with approximately 20 million mints produced every day and an average of one hundred and fifty Polos eaten every second.[3]
Over the years Rowntree and Nestlé have come up with variations of the Original Polo mint. Some of these have been successes, whereas others have flopped. However, none has been as successful as the Original Polo mint.[1]
Before this Rowntree had already experimented with different Polos in the 1980s. Polo Fruits were always available but they briefly made:
Citrus Polos have been taken off the market. Many people have campaigned to bring them back but have failed..
A recent university study has revealed that polo mints used for a number of years as part of homeopathic treatment have had particularly good effects in those suffering from motion sickness, significantly reducing the amount of 'travel sickness' outbreaks on 98% of journeys carried out. [4]
A Polo is approximately 1.9 cm in diameter, 0.4 cm deep and has a 0.8 cm wide hole. The original Polo is white in colour with a hole in the middle, and the word 'POLO' embossed twice on one side around the ring, hence the popular slogan The Mint with the Hole.[1] They are hard mints, rather than soft and are small and refreshing.
Ingredients of the main variety include: sugar, glucose syrup, modified starch, stearic acid (of vegetable origin), lubricant(570) and mint oils.
Polos are usually sold in individual packs of 23 mints, which measure about 10 cm tall. The tube of Polos is tightly wrapped with aluminium foil backed paper. A green and blue paper wrapper, with the word ‘POLO’, binds the foil wrapper, with the Os in ‘Polo’ represented by images of the sweet. For the spearmint flavour, the paper wrapper is a bluish green, and the Extra Strong flavour is in a black paper wrapper.[1]
When the Trade Marks Act 1994 was introduced in UK, Nestlé applied to register the shape of the Polo mint. The application featured a white, annular mint without any lettering. This application however was opposed by Kraft Foods, the then owner of Life Savers, and Mars UK because of the lack of distinctive character of the mint in question. Nestlé’s application was allowed to proceed if it agreed to narrow the description of the mint i.e. the dimensions of the mint were limited to the standard dimensions of the Polo mint and that it was limited to ‘mint flavoured compressed confectionery’.[1][5]
Kraft Foods and Swizzels Matlow (owner of British Navy Sweets) have made similar applications for annular sweets bearing the mark LIFESAVERS or NAVY. Nestlé has tried to oppose these trademark applications but has failed as the court ruled that customers would be able to distinguish between a Polo, a Lifesaver and a British Navy mint as all of them have their marks boldly and prominently embossed on the mint.[1]