Mingles chocolate: Why and when was it discontinued?

MANY people may remember sharing a box of Mingles with your friends and family.

However to many people’s disappointment, they’ve been discontinued for some time.

What was Mingles Chocolate?

Mingles Chocolate was a mixed variety chocolate box – with each being mint flavoured.

They were made by Bendicks and sold in the UK from 2002.

The chocolates were all made in the UK in a factory in Winchester.

There were 5 different varieties of Mingles in each packet.

They were packaged together in one box with the flavour depending on the colour of the wrappers.

Here are the flavours you could get:

• Red – Marbled dark and white chocolate with light mint truffle centre.
• Yellow – Solid milk and white chocolate with a hint of mint.
• Brown – Dark chocolate with a fondant mint centre.
• Green – Milk chocolate mint crisp.
• Blue – Marbled milk and white chocolate with dark mint truffle centre.

The varieties of Mingles were changed for Christmas 2007, and were then:

• Red – Dark chocolate mint crisp.
• Yellow – Solid milk and white chocolate with a hint of mint.
• Brown – Dark chocolate with a fondant mint centre.
• Green – Milk chocolate mint crisp.
• Blue – Milk chocolate with a dark mint truffle centre.

Why and when was Mingles discontinued?

Mingles were discontinued in July 2011.

Production at the Winchester plant came to an end on Friday July 29, 2011 after the last boxes were produced ready for Christmas.

In April 2009 August Storck confirmed it was shutting the factory at the end of July and relocating production to Ohrdruf, its Eastern German plant.

This would result in a loss of more than 80 jobs although it would continue to employ over 30 staff in Winchester to support marketing and sales of its brands in the UK.

What is similar to Mingles Chocolate?

Some may be disappointed to know that here are no exact copies of Mingles.

However, there are plenty of mint chocolate products on the market.

Here’s a look at some we can think of:

Mint Aero

You’re bound to have heard of mint Aero as it is potentially one of the most well known mint chocolates on the market.

You can buy Aero in any of your local supermarkets or petrol stations.

After Eight

After Eight chocolates come individually wrapped in a rectangle box.

The sweet treats are very moreish and you may find yourself reaching for more than one.

Terry’s Chocolate Mint

You’ll have heard of Terry’s Chocolate Orange but what about Chocolate Mint.

The hint is in the name and you can expect the ball-shaped chocolate to have a minty flavour.

Bendick’s Mint Collection

Potentially as close as you’re going to get to Mingles, you can try Bendick’s Mint Collection.

You will find a variety of different mint flavoured chocolates all packaged in one box.

Mint Matchmakers

Matchmakers come in a few different flavours – with mint being one of them.

They come in a stick like form and you may find yourself eating them until you’ve finished the box.

You can also buy Matchmakers in a zingy orange flavour as well as salted caramel.

Galaxy Mint

Galaxy chocolate has become a fan favourite over the years and you can now get it in a variety of different flavours.

One of these is mint, which is arguably as popular as the regular type.

You can also find Galaxy in flavours such a cookie crumble, caramel, salted caramel and honeycomb crisp.