The small yellow box that revolutionised breakfast

For several decades, a small yellow box has been a mainstay at the breakfast table for millions of children around the world: the box of Nesquik, the world’s most popular chocolate powder. A box that makes children smile at breakfast and that they look forward to seeing again at tea time after school. It is also synonymous with a variety of characters, the brand’s mascots whose shapes and names vary depending on the country: the emblematic Groquik in France, also known as Quikaras in Greece in the 1980s, who was replaced with Quicky in 1990, Kangurik the kangaroo in Portugal, and of course the same Quicky rabbit, the brand’s international mascot since 1973 in the USA, in Germany and elsewhere.

Iconic to both young and old, this high-density polyethylene (HDPE) box born in the United States in 1948, sold in Europe in 1950 and distributed around the world in the early 1960s has many qualities: it is sturdy, easy to use for children, easy to close, its shape makes it easy to store, it is fully airtight and re-usable.

However, the famous yellow box seems to have reached the end of its career. Although it should not disappear immediately, it will soon be sharing shelf space with new packaging, a modern recyclable paper bag, a more eco-responsible packaging to be initially launched in 5 European countries.