Freddo
{{short description|Chocolate bar brand}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox brand
| name = Freddo
| logo = Cadbury freddo logo.png
| logo_size = 200
| image =
| caption =
| type = Confectionery
| currentowner = Cadbury
| origin = Australia
| introduced = {{Start date and age|1930}}
| discontinued =
| related = List of Cadbury brands
| markets =
| previousowners = MacRobertson's
| trademarkregistrations =
| ambassador =
| tagline =
| website = {{URL|https://www.cadbury.co.uk/products/cadbury-dairy-milk-freddo-11299|cadbury.co.uk/freddo}}
}}
Freddo is a chocolate bar brand shaped like an anthropomorphic cartoon frog. It was originally manufactured by the now defunct company MacRobertson's, an Australian confectionery company, but is now produced by Cadbury. Some of the more popular flavours include strawberry, pineapple and peppermint.
The product was invented in 1930 by Harry Melbourne, an 18-year-old MacRobertson's employee.{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/freddo-frog-creator-dies/2007/01/28/1169919213311.html |title=Freddo The Frog creator dies |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2007-01-29}} In 1967, MacRobertson's was sold to Cadbury, which incorporated Freddo Frogs into its own product range.{{cite web |url=https://www.cadbury.com.au/cadbury-dairy-milk-freddo-35g-2 |title=Freddo The Frog |website=Cadbury Australia}} The chocolate was originally sold only in Australia, but has been introduced into several other markets.
History
In 1930, the MacRobertson's chocolate company were looking to add a new product to their children's range. Initial designs for a chocolate mouse were rejected, as Harry Melbourne felt that women and children were afraid of mice and would dislike the product.{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=Steve |last2=Norman |first2=Phil |title=A History of Sweets in 50 Wrappers |date=2014 |publisher=The Friday Project |location=London |isbn=978-0-00757-548-0 |pages=46–47}} It was instead decided to produce a chocolate frog, branded as "Freddo Frog". There were four varieties available: milk chocolate, white chocolate, half milk/half white, and milk chocolate with peanuts.
Freddo Frogs became part of the Cadbury product range in 1967, when MacRobertson's was sold to Cadbury. In Australia, Freddo Frogs are manufactured in Ringwood, Victoria and Claremont, Tasmania. Since the success of Freddo, an alternative chocolate named Caramello Koala (formerly Caramello Bear), also made by Cadbury, has been created. Caramello Koala is the only flavour in which the chocolate is not shaped like "Freddo".
Freddo bars were introduced to the UK market in 1973, turning over £2 million a year by 1974, before being withdrawn in 1979. They were re-launched in 1994 after 15 years.{{cite web |url=http://www.cadbury.co.uk/ourproducts/today/Pages/more%20bars.aspx |title=More Cadbury Chocolate Bars |website=Cadbury |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311194511/http://www.cadbury.co.uk/ourproducts/today/Pages/more%20bars.aspx |archive-date=2012-03-11}} In the UK, a caramel-filled version is also sold, with a yellow wrapper. This was formerly known as the Taz bar, featuring the Looney Tunes character. They disappeared for several years before returning under the Freddo image.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}
In June 2006, a scare over possible salmonella contamination in some Cadbury products in the UK led to the recall of around a million Cadbury chocolate bars, including the standard Freddo.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5110674.stm |work=BBC News |title=Cadbury recall after health fears | date=2006-06-23 | access-date=2010-01-04}} As a result of the contamination, Cadbury was fined £1 million, and ordered to pay an additional £152,000 in costs.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6900467.stm |work=BBC News |title=Cadbury fined £1m over salmonella |date=2007-07-16 |access-date=2010-01-04}}
In 2009, the Freddo chocolate was redesigned in the United Kingdom, featuring a new, glossier Freddo design, and a replacement Dairy Milk logo. The same year saw the launch of an online animated series on the product's website.{{cite web |url=http://www.freddo.com.au |title=The Adventures of Freddo |website=Freddo.com.au |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026193006/http://www.freddo.com.au/ |archive-date=2009-10-26}}
= Inflation =
In the United Kingdom, the price of Freddo is informally used to measure the cost of living and inflation rates, with each generation comparing a different price.{{cite web |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2019/01/23/how-much-does-freddo-cost-britons-have-lost-track |title=How much does a Freddo cost? Britons have lost track |first=Matthew |last=Smith |date=23 January 2019 |website=YouGov}} The original Freddo bars were 2p when they were launched in the UK in 1973, but they were withdrawn in 1979. When Freddo bar was relaunched in the 1990s, it was priced at 10p.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/08/this-is-how-much-a-freddo-will-cost-by-2030/ |title=This is how much a Freddo is set to cost by 2030 |first=Adam |last=Boult |date=8 July 2016 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} The price of a Freddo remained at 10p until 2005, when the price of a Freddo bar has roughly increased in price by 2p a year, with the 2016 selling price being 25p. In 2017, the price of Freddos increased to 30p, double the price adjusted for inflation (15p), compared to its launch price (10p).{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/news/outrage-freddo-price-rises-30p/|title=Outrage as Freddo price rises to 30p |first=Adam |last=Boult |date=2 March 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} This led to public criticism and outrage across social media platforms.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39140434/freddo-chocolate-bar-price-increases-to-30p-causing-outrage-online |title=Freddo chocolate bar price increases to 30p causing 'outrage' online |website=BBC News |date=3 February 2017}} For one week in January 2019, the British supermarket Tesco reduced the price of Freddo to the nostalgic price of 10p as part of their centenary celebrations. The price of a Freddo in 2022 was as much as 49p.{{cite web | url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/freddo-bar-price-jumps-nearly-26779463 | title=Freddo bar price jumps to nearly 50p amid cost of living crisis | date=23 April 2022 }}
Varieties
Though primarily available as solid milk chocolate fingers, certain versions of the product have a cream, caramel, or other centred flavouring. These include Dairy Milk, white chocolate, rice crisp, strawberry, peppermint, Crunchie, pineapple, popping candy, "Rainbow Crunch" and "Milky Top" (the top half being white chocolate and the bottom milk chocolate, in the style of Cadbury's "Top Deck" products). Limited edition ‘twin’ freddo were also sold in Australia, with one side filled with lemonade and the other with raspberry. Milky Top Freddo, along with the Giant Caramello Koala, was the brain-child of then Australian brand manager Jesse Karjalainen.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
See also
{{Portal|Food|Australia|United Kingdom}}
References
{{Reflist}}