The product is currently available in limited edition across the wholesale and convenient stores in the UK and Ireland.
“People love their distinctive flavor and they are our number one consumer request,” said Alex Gonnella, marketing director for Nestlé UK confectionery business. “The giant tubes launched last autumn were sold out in some stores within a few weeks from the launch.”
Natural orange oil
Smarties is a color-varied chocolate covered in a sugared shell, and has been manufactured by Rowntree since 1937 until it was purchased by Nestlé in 1988. In 2016, Nestlé started producing the product without artificial flavors or colors.
However, orange smarties are more difficult to produce in high volume, “given the different process and recipe required to get that orange taste,” Gonnella pointed out. The chocolate shell also needs to be infused with natural orange oil.
“Our experts have been hard at work to make it happen, and we’re really pleased that we can offer them again this spring,” he said.
Easter eggs and other seasonal items
Nestlé UK has also extended orange smarties into chocolate eggs for the upcoming Easter.
The orange-flavored milk chocolate eggs are filled with orange smarties mini eggs inside, said the company. The mini eggs are a standalone item by themselves as well.
Additionally, within the 2018 seasonal confectionery portfolio, Nestlé UK will also include some of its traditional brands: Milkybar, Rowntree eggs, KitKat, Rolo and Aero Eggs, said the company.