Altoids

Altoids

Altoid and tin
Invented	1780 (1780)
Main ingredients	Sugar or sorbitol
Ingredients generally used	Natural and/or artificial flavours
Variations	406
Food energy (per 3 pieces (2g) serving)	10 kcal (42 kJ)
Nutritional value (per 3 pieces (2g) serving)	Protein 0 g Fat 0 g Carbohydrate 2 g
Other information	Owner: Mars Wrigley
Media: Altoids

Altoids are a brand of mints, sold primarily in distinctive metal tins. The brand was created by the London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s, and became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 19th century. Their advertising slogan is "The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong Mints", referring to the high concentration of peppermint oil used in the original flavour lozenge. The mints were originally conceived as a lozenge intended to relieve intestinal discomfort.

Marketing

Callard & Bowser-Suchard once manufactured Altoids at a plant in Bridgend, Wales, but has since moved production to a Mars Wrigley plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, in order to manufacture the products closer to where they are primarily marketed. They were marketed for a brief period in the 1990s under the "Nuttall's" brand when Callard and Bowser was under the ownership of Terry's.

Flavours and varieties

A collection of Altoids tins

Mints

As of June 2022, Altoids mints are available in five flavours, namely peppermint, wintergreen, spearmint, cinnamon, and strawberry. "Sugar-Free Smalls", tiny square mints sweetened with sorbitol and sucralose, are also available in peppermint, wintergreen, and cinnamon. In 2007, dark chocolate-dipped mints were introduced in three flavours, namely peppermint, cinnamon and ginger and in 2008, dark chocolate-dipped mints were introduced in crème de menthe. The chocolate-dipped varieties were discontinued in 2010. Also historically made, but no longer available, were liquorice, cool honey, and (non-chocolate dipped) ginger and crème de menthe varieties. Circa early 2011, Altoids altered the ingredients of their wintergreen mints, adding blue food colouring. Altoid mints other than those labelled "sugar-free smalls" contain gelatin.

Sours

Sour hard candies in round tins were introduced in 2001 but were discontinued in 2010 due to low sales. Flavours included raspberry, citrus, apple, tangerine, and mango. Limited edition passion fruit sours were also released around Valentine's Day in 2005 in a larger 2.3 oz tin instead of the standard 1.76 oz sours tins that had been released up until then.

Gum

The sugar-free chewing gum, introduced in 2003, was made in the United States. Flavors include peppermint, cinnamon, spearmint, wintergreen and two sour flavours, cherry and apple. The gum has not been seen in stock in US stores since January 2010 and has been discontinued.

Altoids Strips

In 2003, breath strips in peppermint and cinnamon flavors were introduced. They were discontinued.

Altoids Arctic

In 2014, Eclipse Mints, another Wrigley product, were rebranded as Altoids Arctic, with the tin remaining identical save for labelling. The rebranded mints were released in only Peppermint, Wintergreen, and Strawberry, doing away with the wider varieties of Eclipse such as Cinnamon, Winterfrost, and several other flavors, as well as the chewable. As before, each tin contains 1.2 oz (34g), or about 50 mints.

Tins

An Altoids tin used to house an amateur QRP rig

The distinctive tins in which Altoids mints are packaged are often reused for other purposes. They have long been used as containers for household items like paper clips, coins, sewing materials and other small items. Many people make "Altoids Wallets" out of the tins. Some have gotten very creative decorating the inside with pictures of their favorite artists, etc.

Altoids tins have also been popular with outdoor enthusiasts for many years as first-aid or mini survival kit containers. A name for these kits is Bug-Out Altoids Tins, or BOATs.

The tins are sometimes used to house electronics projects. BeagleBone, a single-board computer made by Texas Instruments, is deliberately shaped with rounded corners to fit inside the tin.

A retrocomputing hobbyist computer, the Membership Card is a series of 1802/8080/Z80 based microcomputer kits, designed to fit in an Altoids tin, and CMoy pocket headphone amplifiers often use the containers as an enclosure.

The mintyPi is a kit that uses an Altoids tin to house a portable retro gaming machine.

Altoids Award

At the grand opening of The New Museum of Contemporary Art in 2007, Altoids announced the biennial Altoids Award, in which cash prizes of $25,000 are awarded to four artists from around the US. Winners have their art exhibited at the museum after the rigorous selection process is completed. The first winners were chosen by Paul McCarthy, Cindy Sherman and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

See also

• Fisherman's Friend
• List of breath mints
• Victory V
• Nigroids

Further reading

• Grant, Jeremy. "New brands take a toll on Wrigley" Financial Times, London Ed. 26-Oct-2005, pg 27.
• Terdiman, Daniel. "Altoids, the curiously strong tin; The container stylishly stores battery chargers, iPods and more." New York Times 2-Feb-2005.
• "Wrigley to buy Altoids and Life Savers from Kraft." Candy Industry ISSN 0745-1032; Volume 169; Issue 11 1-Nov-2004.
• What's News. The Wall Street Journal, Business and Finance, pg A1. 15-Nov-2004.
• Pare, Mike. "Wrigley to invest $14M to make Altoids in its Chattanooga, Tenn., plant." Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. 23-Aug-2005.

External links

• www.altoids.com — Altoids Mints official site
• Mars Wrigley brands
• Altoids Chewing Gum at the Wayback Machine (archived August 11, 2011)
• The Altoids Curiously Strong Awards Video Clip (in French)
• A Breath of Fresh Air in an Old Tin