Spira was a milk
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
product in the form of a hollow twisted spiral produced by
Cadbury
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...
. There were two spiral fingers in each pack, and the brand was initially only available in the south-west and north-west of England in the mid-1980s, before being rolled out across the country.
[Berry, Steve & Norman, Phil – "The Great British Tuck Shop", Friday Books, 2012. p.72]
The development of Spira can be traced back to 1984 and was born of two key factors: a new production process allowed chocolate to be produced in different shapes and textures without the need for moulds, and the company perceived a weakness in its product mix with too few ‘countline’ products and limited appeal to teenagers.
['New Product Development' factsheet, Cadbury External Services Department, Birmingham, 1991.]
Of three potential products taken forward from the concept stage, a twisted bar with cartwheel cross-section named ‘Rollers’ was deemed the most successful. Further refinement, changes to presentation and the change of name eventually resulted in the emergence of the Spira product, which was aimed squarely at the 15 to 24-year-old market.
Following a million-pound investment in plant at the Bournville factory, Cadbury first test-launched Spira in the Granada television region. The chocolate was successful enough to gain a 6.3% market share and the number two chocolate position, but it proved impossible to produce sufficient quantities to keep up with demand at this stage. The bar was withdrawn from market and a new test market was established in the south-west while additional factory capacity was built.
In 1989, the bar was launched nationwide.
It continued to be available until June 2005.
See also
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List of confectionery brands
This is a list of brand name confectionery products. Sugar confectionery includes candies (''sweets'' in British English), candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum, bubble gum, pastillage, and other confections that are made primarily of sugar. In s ...
References
External links
Cadbury discontinued products page
{{Mondelez
Chocolate bars
Spira
Brand name confectionery
British confectionery
Discontinued food products
Products introduced in 1989
Products and services discontinued in 2005
Mondelez International brands