A selection box is a boxed gift consisting of a variety of edible items, usually chocolate based. They are generally associated with Christmas, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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History
editSelection boxes became common around the early 20th century in Britain.[1] Chocolatiers, Rowntree's and Cadbury pioneered the early selection boxes which were saved for by way of a Christmas club over many months, to be collected around Christmas time.[1] Choice and variation of contents were the consumer's choice, and often the value of the selection box would exceed a week's wages. In more modern times the selection box as we know it has become a staple Christmas gift of chocolate. Each chocolate company produces these at Christmas time and they are often filling the spaces near supermarket checkouts. In the 1960s and 1970s the selection box took on a more commercialized approach with games printed on the reverse of the boxes such as snakes and ladders, adding to the desirability of each brand's selection box offering. Children expectantly received a selection box each year and regarded them as a main Christmas gift. More recently the commercial arms of the chocolate companies insist on filling their festive selection boxes with predefined chocolate bar selections, and many a child will receive in excess of six selection boxes each Christmas.[2][3][4]
Production
editChocolate selection boxes are sometimes packaged by hand and sometimes by robot. Hand picking is expensive, but early automated systems lacked flexibility; the layout or contents of a box could not be changed without making alterations to the machinery. Modern, computer-controlled robot systems can be easily reprogrammed as required.[5] The foil wrapping of many selection box chocolates is a problem for the conventional metal detectors used in food factories to ensure that no loose machinery parts have accidentally found their way into the product. British chocolatier Thorntons overcame this issue by using an X-ray system.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b "Yorkshire's role in the changing face of our Christmas selection boxes". The Yorkshire Post. 21 December 2015.
This year, millions of selection boxes will be unwrapped across the country from the wee small hours of Christmas Day, continuing a tradition that goes back over 100 years.
- ^ Galloway, Claire (2018-12-11). "Cadbury's £50 ULTIMATE selection box is a chocolate lovers dream". edinburghlive. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
- ^ "M&S' Big Night In Selection Box Is Convincing Us To Stay In This Friday Night - Pretty52". www.pretty52.com. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
- ^ Convenience Store. William Reed Limited. 2007.
So with plenty of new products, spruced up packaging and c-store-focused deals this year, there is no reason why, with ... 10 new flavours £6 on the Super Selection Box and the Winter Collection; two for £5 on the Lenticular Selection Box and ...
- ^ Beckett, S.; Beckett, Stephen T. (2000). The Science of Chocolate. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 9780854046003.
- ^ "Thorntons", Quality Today, p. cxix, 2001 ISSN 0264-2344.