Terry's confectionery products have been made in York since 1767 and the site in Bishopthorpe Road remains the hub of Terry's confectionery production in Britain.

The Chocolate Orange production line at Terry's York factory

At peak seasons, over 700 people are employed at the plant to produce world-renowned products, such as Terry's All Gold.

Terry's Chocolate Orange is another famous name made in York. Intriguingly, the first Terry's chocolate "fruit" to be made in York was in fact a Terry's Chocolate Apple.

However the apple soon became Terry's Chocolate Orange, a product which has not looked back since. Presently, it is claimed that a Terry's Chocolate Orange can be found in one in ten Christmas stockings and it is the "number one non-egg confectionery gift at Easter."

As demand for Terry's Chocolate Orange has grown over the years, so ever-more sophisticated production equipment and techniques have been put in place. A recent example is the installation of a second Chocolate Orange production line at the end of last year.

It means two Chocolate Oranges can be produced every second. "This amounts to a staggering 180,000 Chocolate Oranges a day," said John Earnshaw, York plant director. "That's a far cry from the days when each individual Chocolate Orange segment was meticulously assembled into a ball by hand!"

The Terry's confectionery business continues to innovate and expand on traditional lines, and the York plant is central to new product development in the Terry's Chocolate Orange and All Gold ranges.

Later this year the Terry's All Gold 'Milk, Dark and White collection' is to be launched -the first luxury boxed chocolate in the All Gold range. Meanwhile, Terry's Chocolate Orange Mini Segments have also been introduced. Both of these new products are made in York.

Founded by Bayldon and Berry in 1767, the Terry's name was first associated with the company when Joseph Terry became a partner in 1823. A line of Terry descendents has presided over the successful confectionery business and Peter Terry, the last of the Terry sons to be involved in the company, is the honorary life president of what is now a £140 million business.

The Terry's confectionery business has operated under the ownership of Kraft Jacobs Suchard since 1993.

Nestl

Nestle Rowntree, a division of Nestl UK Ltd, has had its most prosperous year to date, ending the decade on a high note with its market share up 1.7 per cent year on year.

York's biggest employer, with 4,000 staff, launched Kit Kat Chunky in April. Other new lines include the Wonka Xploder chocolate bar, three new Polo lines and Rolo Cookies, all of which are manufactured in York.

A Nestle spokesman said: "We've increased our share of the total UK confectionery market by two percentage points to 20.4 per cent. One of the main reasons for this has been the success of our innovations programme, most notably Kit Kat Chunky, which has been our biggest hit of the nineties.

"This month we started making Chunky on an additional production line here at York, which should make it easier for us to keep up with the unprecedented level of demand."

Parent group Nestl, a Swiss-based multi-cultural and multi-national company, operates in almost every country worldwide. The world's largest food group has sales of 72 billion Swiss francs (£30 billion), with 250,000 employees globally.

Nestl UK's turnovers is £1.8 billion, with 14,000 employees at 28 factories in Britain.

Speaking earlier this year at the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner, Peter Blackburn, chairman of Nestl UK, warned investment and jobs could be at stake if Britain does join the European Union.

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