Terry's

British confectionary brand
the West End theatre

Terry's (formerly Terry's of York) is a British chocolate and confectionery brand. The original company was founded in 1767 in York, England, and was part of the city's famous confectionery triumvirate along with Rowntree's and Cravens. and by 1818 the business had moved to 3 St Helen's Square, York. Joseph Terry, who was born in Pocklington in 1793, went to York to serve as an apprentice apothecary in either Stonegate or Spurriergate. On gaining his certificates, he set up as a chemist in Walmgate. In 1823 he married Harriet Atkinson, who was either a niece or sister in law of Robert Berry

In 1825, after the death of Robert Berry, Two years later Coultherd also left and Terry became the sole owner of the business.

Using the skills he learned as a chemist, Joseph developed new lines of confectionery. He began using the developing railway network of the North Eastern Railway to distribute his products in the North of England and in London. By 1840, Terry's products were sold in over 75 towns and cities and sold various products including candied eringo, coltsfoot rock, gum balls and conversation lozenges, which were an early form of Love Hearts. The company also produced marmalade, marzipan, ketchups and jellies. After Joseph Terry died in 1850 the company was in the control of solicitors and executors until 1854 when it was handed over to his sons Joseph Jnr, Robert, and John. It was opened in 1926; new products included the Chocolate Apple (1926), Terry's Chocolate Orange (1932), and Terry's All Gold, which were developed and produced onsite. In 1934, Joseph Terry & Sons was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

With the onset of the Second World War The factory was taken over by F. Hills and Sons of Manchester as a shadow factory to manufacture and repair aircraft propeller blades. The price was £4.25 million paid for in Forte shares and Noel Terry joined the Forte board. Forte Group already owned Fullers, a bakery and confectionery company based in Hammersmith, closing their factory in 1964 and transferring their confectionery production, including Peppermint lumps to York. Charles Forte appointed Ian Johnston as managing director, who modernised the business and introduced the first television adverts for the company. The Colgate Palmolive company acquired Joseph Terry & Sons from Trust House Forte in 1977 for £17 million. Terry's at this time had 30% of the UK market for assortment boxes, with All Gold accounting for 20%, while Moonlight accounted for a further 10%. It was under Colgate Palmolive that Terry's developed the short lived Chocolate Lemon. By 1981 Terry's revenue from All Gold stood at £11 million. United Biscuits used Terry's to develop private branded products for retailers which at the time only had 2% of the chocolate market. Peter Terry, the last family member that worked for the business left in 1985. In 1988, United Biscuits purchased the confectionery business of Callard and Bowser from Beatrice Foods, and together the companies were known as the Terry's Group. United Biscuits purchased French confectionery company Chocometz for £5.5 million in 1990 and added it to the Terry's Group, while also agreeing a distribution deal for Marabou's Daim bar in the UK. In 1992, United Biscuits purchased 74% of Italian confectionery business Aura which was merged into Terry's Group. Terry's Group in 1991 had made $14.3 million pre tax profits on $153 million of sales, 5% of United Biscuits business. United Biscuits in 1992 decided to concentrated its business on the savory snacks and biscuits, and sold Terry's Group to Philip Morris and its subsidiary Kraft Foods for £220 million. Terry's was amalgamated with Chocolat Suchard, to form Terry's Suchard, in 1993 after Philip Morris purchased Jacob Suchard Tobler. From 2000, the company brand was changed from Terry's of York to Terry's, reducing the company's links with York. Production was also scaled back to UK products and Terry's Chocolate Orange, Terry's All Gold, and Twilight made for the international market.

In 2004, Kraft Foods decided to absorb Terry's, move production of remaining products such as All Gold and Chocolate Orange to factories in Belgium, Sweden, Poland, and Slovakia, and close the plant. The factory closed on 30 September 2005 with the loss of 316 jobs. In 2012, Kraft split into two companies; one called Kraft Foods Group and the other called Mondelēz International. After the split, Terry's became part of Mondelēz. It was reported in December 2015 that Mondelēz were in discussions with Lazard, the investment bank about selling several of their brands which included Terry's. Mondelēz controversially reduced the size of the Chocolate Orange in 2016 which produced outrage amongst the buying public. In 2016, Terry's was one of a number of brands acquired by Eurazeo and it subsequently became part of Carambar & Co. Production of the Chocolate Orange was moved to the Caramber facilities in Strasbourg. In 2021, Heinz collaborated with Terry's to produce the world's first Chocolate Orange Mayonnaise.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Terry's launched some very fancy packaging, which the company's 1930 product catalogue stated, The purchaser of today expects a chocolate box to be worthy of the confections it contains – in distinction of design and harmony of colours, it must reflect the quality of the chocolates within. In 1982, Terry's launched the legendary Jungle advert for Chocolate Orange, which was a spoof based on the film Raiders of the Lost Ark with the catch line How safe is yours?, that was updated with a new version in 1987. In 1997, Kraft employed Dawn French as the face of their advertising campaigns for the Chocolate Orange, using the catchphrase It's not Terry's, it's mine. In 2007, Kraft dropped Dawn French as the face of Chocolate Orange, with speculation that French no longer presented the right image for the company in the current climate of concerns over obesity and health.

The business was based in St Helen's Square as early as 1818 This inscription is still present in 2019. and in August 2017 a blue plaque in honour of Joseph Terry the elder was added by York Civic Trust and unveiled by his great great great grandson Anthony Terry.

The Clementhorpe factory was initially leased by the business in 1858 on what was the site of a former brewery and a new chocolate factory was built in 1862. A new five storey building was added in 1920 and the factory continued to operate even after the business expanded to Bishopthorpe Road. After the factory closed the chimney was pulled down in 1974 and the rest of the site demolished in 1987. A Roman mosaic was discovered on the site at this time that Peter Terry had excavated to be preserved by the Yorkshire Museum.

In 1924 work began on the construction of the Terry's Chocolate Works on Bishopthorpe Road, York. The buildings designed by architect J. E. Wade and built by Dorman Long included a 135 feet (41 m) tall clock tower and the five storey 510 feet (155 m) long main factory building. These, along with the head office building were designated Grade II listed in March 2005 six months before the site closed. The site was bought by developers Grantside and renamed The Chocolate Works. In February 2010, planning permission for a £165 million redevelopment of the site as a mixed use of residential, commercial and leisure was given. Redevelopment started in 2011 with the removal of asbestos and the demolition of non scheduled buildings in early 2012. The main factory building underwent a £38 million redevelopment in which it was renamed as The Residence and the first apartments were made available in 2016. The main office building was converted into The Chocolate Works Care Village which opened in 2017.

Sir Joseph Terry was Lord Mayor of York in 1874, 1885–86 and 1890. Sir Francis Terry (Frank Terry) was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1945–46 and Peter Terry, son of Noel Terry, was High Sheriff of North Yorkshire in 1980–81.

Terry's Chocolate Orange: Introduced in 1932 as Terry's Dessert Chocolate Orange. Terry's Chocolate Orange Ice cream Tubs and Sticks: Introduced 2023. Terry’s Chocolate Mint: Reintroduced in 2023.