Jaffa Cakes Explained

Jaffa Cakes
Alternate Name:Jaffa
Place Of Origin:United Kingdom
Creator:McVitie and Price
Type:Cake
Main Ingredient:Sponge, orange-flavoured jam, chocolate
Variations:Various limited edition flavours (lemon and lime, strawberry, black currant)

Jaffa Cakes are a cake introduced by McVitie and Price in the UK in 1927 and named after Jaffa oranges. The most common form of Jaffa cakes are circular, NaNinches in diameter and have three layers: a Genoise sponge base, a layer of orange flavoured jam and a coating of chocolate. Each cake is 46 calories. Jaffa Cakes are also available as bars or in small packs, and in larger and smaller sizes.[1] The original Jaffa Cakes now come in packs of 10, 20, 30, or 40, having been downsized in 2017 from 12 or 24 per pack.[2]

Because McVitie's did not register the name "Jaffa Cakes" as a trademark, other biscuit manufacturers and supermarkets have made similar products under the same name.[3] The product's classification as a cake or biscuit was part of a VAT tribunal in 1991, with the court finding in McVitie's favour that Jaffa Cakes should be considered cakes and not biscuits for tax purposes.[4] In 2012 they were ranked the best selling cake or biscuit in the United Kingdom.[5]

McVitie and Price's Jaffa Cakes

Manufacture

McVitie's entire line of Jaffa Cakes are produced at the McVitie's factory in Stockport.[6] The Jaffa cake production area covers an acre (1acres) and includes a production line over a mile (1mile) long.[3] In the early 2000s, it pioneered the development of advanced machine vision technology for quality control.[7] [8] [9]

Flavour variants

Although Jaffa Cakes are usually orange flavour, limited edition flavours have been available, such as lemon-and-lime,[10] strawberry[11] and blackcurrant.[12] McVities launched limited-edition pineapple flavour Jaffa Cakes in early 2020.[13] In early 2021, McVitie's unveiled the new flavours cherry and passionfruit.[14] In mid 2023, McVitie's launched Raspberry flavour Jaffa Cakes.[15] In June 2024, McVitie's launched Cola Bottle flavour Jaffa Cakes.

Legal status

In the United Kingdom, value added tax is payable on chocolate-covered biscuits, but not on chocolate-covered cakes.[16] [17] McVities defended its classification of Jaffa Cakes as cakes at a VAT tribunal in 1991, against the ruling that Jaffa cakes were biscuits due to their size and shape, and the fact that they were often eaten in place of biscuits.[18] McVities insisted that the product was a cake, and produced a giant Jaffa Cake in court to illustrate its point.[18]

The court discounted the expert evidence, as it went beyond the capacity of an ordinary purchaser.[19]

The product was assessed on the following criteria:[20] [21]

The court was adjudicated by Mr Donald Potter QC, who found in favour of McVitie's and ruled that whilst Jaffa Cakes had characteristics of both cakes and biscuits, the product should be considered a cake and not a biscuit, meaning that VAT is not paid on Jaffa Cakes in the United Kingdom.[16] [22] [23]

The Irish Revenue Commissioners also regard Jaffa Cakes as cakes, since their moisture content is greater than 12%. As a result, they are charged the reduced rate of VAT (13.5%).[24]

In 2021, artificially intelligent binary classifiers "usually used in the field of astronomy" were trained on 92 traditional recipes of cakes and biscuits and determined Jaffa Cakes to be cakes.[25]

Advertising

In 2021 McVities launched £4.7 million advertising and social media campaign to promote the brand.[26] [27] [28]

Other brands

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jaffa Cake's lemon squeezy bar. Thegrocer.co.uk. 25 August 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110929151357/http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=independentarticle&ID=208000. 29 September 2011. live.
  2. News: Jaffa Cakes packet size reduced in latest 'shrinkflation' move. The Guardian. 29 May 2020.
  3. News: Jaffa Cakes - definitely not biscuits - prepare to take on imitators. Harry Wallop. 6 May 2012. The Daily Telegraph. 3 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20120825234017/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9249366/Jaffa-Cakes-definitely-not-biscuits-prepare-to-take-on-imitators.html. 25 August 2012. live.
  4. Web site: VAT Tribunal case LON/91/0160 (United Biscuits) . 9 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190210152604/https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-food/vfood6260 . 10 February 2019 . live.
  5. Web site: Jaffa Cakes - definitely not biscuits - prepare to take on imitators . https://web.archive.org/web/20180617153125/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9249366/Jaffa-Cakes-definitely-not-biscuits-prepare-to-take-on-imitators.html . 17 June 2018 . The Daily Telegraph . 28 December 2014.
  6. News: The factory where life is sweet . Manchester Evening News . 17 April 2012 . 24 July 2013.
  7. Book: Mark . Graves . Bruce . Batchelor . [{{GBurl|PXwz4MDCkYsC|403}} Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products ]. 2003 . Springer Science & Business Media . 978-1-85233-525-0 . 403.
  8. Book: Davies, E. R. . 2003 . Design of object location algorithms and their use for food and cereals inspection . In Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products . 393–420 . Springer . https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/1-85233-853-9_15 . 10.1007/1-85233-853-9_15. 1-85233-525-4 .
  9. Davies . E. R. . Patel . D. . Johnstone . A. I. C. . 1995 . Crucial issues in the design of a real-time contaminant detection system for food products . Real-Time Imaging . 1 . 6 . 397–407 .
  10. Web site: McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Lemon and Lime . Snackspot.org.uk . 22 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726150614/http://snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=0601201428sbc . 26 July 2011 . dead.
  11. Web site: McVitie's launches limited edition Strawberry-flavoured Jaffa Cakes . Talkingretail.com . 27 April 2009 . 22 June 2010.
  12. News: Jaffa Cakeover . The Daily Record . 12 December 2005 . 22 June 2010.
  13. News: McVitie's launches new pineapple flavour Jaffa Cakes . Abernethy. Laura. 27 January 2020. Metro. 7 March 2020.
  14. News: Chabo . Elena . 5 January 2021 . McVitie's has launched new Jaffa Cake flavours Passionfruit and Cherry . Good Housekeeping . 2021-01-27.
  15. News: Pladis launches new Jaffa Cakes raspberry flavour. 21 October 2023. .foodbev.com. 18 August 2023.
  16. Book: Revenue Law Principles and Practice . A&C Black . Lee, Natalie . 2011 . 1009 . 9781847667663.
  17. Web site: Food products (VAT Notice 701/14). 2021-02-17. GOV.UK. en.
  18. Web site: What you do – and don't – pay VAT on . Which? Magazine . 24 June 2010 . 27 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120905024532/http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/06/what-you-do--and-dont--pay-vat-on-217890 . 5 September 2012 . dead.
  19. Web site: United Biscuits (UK) Ltd (No. 2). [1991] BVC 818 Croner-i Tax and Accounting]. 2021-02-17. library.croneri.co.uk.
  20. Web site: United Kingdom VAT & Duties Tribunals Decisions – Torq Ltd v Revenue and Customs [2005] ]. British and Irish Legal Information Institute . 27 September 2012.
  21. Web site: Excepted items: Confectionery: The bounds of confectionery, sweets, chocolates, chocolate biscuits, cakes and biscuits: The borderline between cakes and biscuits. hmrc.gov.uk. 28 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130417092751/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vfoodmanual/vfood6260.htm. 17 April 2013. live.
  22. Web site: The borderline between cakes and biscuits . 28 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130417092751/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vfoodmanual/vfood6260.htm . 17 April 2013 . live.
  23. Web site: Jaffa Cakes. 2021-02-17. Tim Crane. en.
  24. Web site: VAT Rates: Jaffa Cakes . Revenue Commissioners . 7 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180107030601/https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-rates/search-vat-rates/J/jaffa-cakes-food-and-drink-for-human-consumption-.aspx . 7 January 2018.
  25. Janssen . V. . 2021 . Humorous science: Workplace office mysteries . Coordinates . 29 .
  26. Web site: Jaffa Cakes reignites an ancient dispute in return to TV. 2021-03-24. www.campaignlive.co.uk.
  27. Web site: 2021-02-26 . Pladis to push McVitie's Jaffa Cakes with 'Be What You Want To Be' ad campaign. 2021-03-24 . BetterRetailing. en-US.
  28. Web site: Briggs. Fiona. Pladis unveils new TV creative for McVitie's Jaffa Cakes brand . 2021-03-24. Retail Times. en.
  29. Web site: Green. Denzil. 2010-08-06. Pim's Biscuits. 2021-08-27. CooksInfo. en-US.
  30. Web site: 2011-10-27. Kultowe słodycze zniknęły z rynku. Iconic sweets have disappeared from the market. 2021-08-27. WP Finanse. pl.
  31. Web site: Przybysz. Monika. 2020-09-10. Co wspólnego ma 10 mln pszczół z popularnymi ciastkami? Będziesz zaskoczony odpowiedzią . What do 10 million bees have to do with the popular cookies? You will be surprised by the answer. 2021-08-27. naTemat . PL-pl.
  32. https://figaro.cz/produkty Produkty

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