Tim Tam

For other uses, see Tim Tam (disambiguation).
Tim Tam

Two flavours for the South East Asian Market; Choco Chocolate and Choco Cappuccino, sold in Indonesia
Product type Snack food
Owner Arnott's Biscuits Holdings
Country Australia
Introduced 16 February 1964
Website www.TimTam.com.au

Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit made by Arnott's and available in several countries. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.

History

A plate of Tim Tams

The biscuit was created by Ian Norris, who was the director of food technology at Arnott's. During 1958, he took a world trip looking for inspiration for new products. While in Britain, he found the Penguin biscuit and decided to "make a better one".[1]

Tim Tams went on to the market in 1964.[2][3] They were named by Ross Arnott, who attended the 1958 Kentucky Derby and decided that the name of the winning horse, Tim Tam was perfect for a planned new line of biscuits.[4]

Apart from Penguins, products similar to Tim Tams include "Temptins" from Dick Smith Foods, New Zealand's "Chit Chats",[1] Australian Woolworths' home brand product "Triple Choc", the Coles brand "Chocolate Supreme" biscuits, and various similar "home-brand" products marketed by British supermarkets.

In 2003, Arnott's sued Dick Smith Foods over their Temptin' brand of chocolate biscuits, which Arnott's alleged had diluted their trademark as a similar biscuit, in similarly-designed packaging.[5] The case was settled out of court.

Production

The original Arnott's bakery, opened in 1865, was located in Newcastle, New South Wales.[6] To date, manufacture of Tim Tams and other Arnott's products has remained largely within Australia, including bakeries in Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane. In 2009, Arnott's invested 37 million Australian dollars in a state-of-the-art production line at its Brisbane facility, expecting to boost productivity and increase jobs.[7]

At the Huntingwood bakery in Western Sydney, the production line turns out about 3,000 Tim Tams per minute[8] and uses 20 tons of the biscuit's cream filling and 27 tons of chocolate coating each work day.[8]

Varieties

A dark chocolate Tim Tam

In the 2000s Arnott's sold different varieties of the product. Varieties include dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel and dark mint.[9]

In 2004, Arnott's caused a controversy when they released limited edition Tim Tam Tia Maria and Kahlua Mint Slice varieties, flavoured with the popular alcoholic liqueurs.[10] The Australian Drug Foundation suggested selling the biscuits in supermarkets was "potentially dangerous" by "normalising" the taste of alcohol for children.[11] An Arnott's spokesperson observed that a customer "would need to consume your body weight of biscuits every hour to reach a blood-alcohol content of .05".[12]

Pepperidge Farm, a sister company of Arnott's, began importing the Tim Tam to the United States of America in 2008.[13] The Tim Tams are still "Made in Australia" and packaging in the United States bears the slogan "Australia's Favorite Cookie."

Tim Tam Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits are manufactured in Indonesia by Halo Arnotts. A cheese flavour of Tim Tams has also been developed for the Indonesian market.[14]

In February 2014, Arnott's launched a limited edition range of three new Tim Tam flavours created by renowned Australian dessert chef Adriano Zumbo: Salted Caramel, Choc Brownie and Raspberry White Choc.[15][16] Red Velvet was the fourth Zumbo Tim Tam creation, launched in July 2014.[17] Also in July 2014, Arnott's launched Peanut Butter flavoured Tim Tam.[18] Arnott's was awarded a Shonky award for the offering, which did not contain peanuts (paprika was used as a flavour substitute) and included two fewer biscuits than the original variety Tim Tam packet.[19][20]

During the valentines day period of 2015, Arnott's launched Choc Raspberry and Coconut Cream flavours, again collaborating with Zumbo.[21] In October 2015, Arnott's launched Tim Tam Choc Banana.[22] A limited edition 'mocktail' Tim Tam range was launched in February 2016 with Piña Colada, Espresso Martini and Strawberry Champagne variants.[23]

Pricing

Tim Tams are a frequently discounted product in Australia's main supermarkets Coles and Woolworths.[24] In late 2015, media reported that Coles was attempting to resist price rises to Tim Tam and other Arnott's products.[25][26] When Coles refused the cost increase, Arnott's refused to supply the chain.[27]

At December 2015, the cost of a pack of Tim Tams at Coles was AUD3.65.[28]

Tim Tam Slam

A man performing a Tim Tam Slam

The Tim Tam Slam (also known as the Tim Tam Shotgun, Tim Tam Bomb, Tim Tam Explosion and Tim Tam Suck[29]) is the practice of drinking a hot beverage through a Tim Tam.[30] Opposite corners of the Tim Tam are bitten off, one end is submerged in the beverage, and the beverage sucked through the biscuit - as though the Tim Tam itself is a straw.[31] The crisp interior biscuit is eventually softened and the outer chocolate coating begins to melt, at which point the biscuit is eaten. The Tim Tam Slam can also be performed with cold (usually milk-based) beverages.

The Arnott's company used the name Tim Tam Suck in a 2002 advertising campaign.[32][33]

References

  1. 1 2 Needham, Kristy (18 April 2003). "Branding rivals will never take the biscuit, says Mr Tim Tam". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Pulley, Roz (24 September 2005). "Welcome to Cairns... Tim Tam capital of OZ". The Cairns Post (News Corporation). p. 3.
  3. ↑ "Tim Tam biscuits turn 50". Herald Sun. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Arnott's Product Range – Tim Tam". Arnott's Biscuits Limited. 2005. Archived from the original on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  5. ↑ Went, Sheree (7 May 2003). "Smith and fans tempt Tim Tams". The Age (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "About us: Arnott's Heritage". Official Arnott's website. Arnott's Biscuits Limited. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Investment in Arnott’s Brisbane factory". Austrade. Australian Trade Commission. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  8. 1 2 "The secrets of the Tim Tam". News.com.au. News Corp. pp. 8, 24, 29. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Tim Tam: The most indulgent chocolate biscuit, Arnott's, archived from the original on 15 July 2014
  10. ↑ Arnott's Biscuits - A Slice of the Action, UTS Library, 2004, archived from the original on 15 June 2013
  11. ↑ Royall, Ian (4 February 2004). "'Alcohol biscuits' spark outcry". The Courier-Mail (News Limited).
  12. ↑ "Alcohol-flavoured treats attacked". The Age (Fairfax Media). Australian Associated Press. 4 February 2004. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Chan, Yuan-Kwan (21 October 2008). "The Tim Tam Test: U.S.A. vs. Australia". Meniscus. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Francis, Alys (22 December 2011). "Cheese Tim Tams a big hit in Indonesia". Ninemsn. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  15. ↑ Smith, Annabel (20 February 2014). "Adriano Zumbo's ultimate Tim Tam". Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014.
  16. ↑ Auerbach, Taylor (18 February 2014). "Sydney dessert king Adriano Zumbo caters Tim Tam’s 50th birthday celebrations". The Daily Telegraph (News Corp).
  17. ↑ Thomson, Nicky (15 July 2014). "Arnott’s and Adriano Zumbo Create Red Velvet Tim Tams". B&T. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.
  18. ↑ DROP EVERYTHING: Peanut Butter Tim Tams have been invented., archived from the original on 23 October 2015
  19. ↑ Han, Esther (14 October 2014). "The Shonky Awards: Thermomix, Tim Tams named as Choice announces dodgiest products". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 23 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Harvey, Adam (14 October 2014). "From Tim-Tam sham to Thermomix fix at the awards no-one wants to win". Australian Broadcasting Commission. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015.
  21. ↑ O'Donoghue, Jasmine (11 February 2015), Two new flavours for the Tim Tam by Adriano Zumbo range, Food Magazine, archived from the original on 26 March 2015
  22. ↑ NEWS: Tim Tam Choc Banana, Consumable, 12 October 2015, archived from the original on 13 October 2015
  23. ↑ "Tim Tam embraces the mocktail spirit", Food & Drink Business (Yaffa Media), 12 February 2016, archived from the original on 29 February 2016
  24. ↑ Hatch, Patrick; Lynch, Jared (2 December 2015). "Arnott's and Coles in stoush over biscuit prices". Archived from the original on 2 December 2015.
  25. ↑ Greenblat, Eli (30 November 2015). "Coles, Arnott’s dig in over Tim Tam war". The Australian (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "Tim Tam makers Arnott’s in price war with Coles over biscuits". News.com.au (News Corp Australia). 1 December 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  27. ↑ Greenblat, Eli (1 December 2015). "Power of Tim Tams: Arnott’s puts bite on Coles in price war". The Australian (News Corp Australia).
  28. ↑ Stiles, Jackson (1 December 2015). "Consumers are the big losers in Tim Tam price war". The New Daily. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  29. ↑ The 'Tim Tam™ Suck' is a tradition with Tim Tam™ lovers all over the world., Arnott's, archived from the original on 7 October 2001
  30. ↑ "Tea-sucking record attempt". Croydon Guardian. 30 January 2004. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  31. ↑ Jackman, Christine (Dec 25, 2001). "Israelis give in to invasion - of biscuits". Australasian Business Intelligence – via HighBeam Research.
  32. ↑ Arnott's Tim Tam Official Website (Internet Archive cache 6 Jun 2002) Accessed 14 January 2008.
  33. ↑ Australian Business Intelligence site search results Accessed 14 January 2008.

External links

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