IN Jacob's biscuit factory in Tallaght, Co Dublin, yesterday workers trebled production of the chocolate kimberley, the treat that graces thousands of school lunch boxes every day.
A new, £2.5 million machine will the company hopes, speed the product to shopping baskets in France, Germany, Belgium and beyond.
It was the white suited staffers along the quarter mile production line who first dipped a "springsprong" into chocolate. They passed the idea up the line to management, and, in the 1989 Christmas assortment tin, the public got its first taste.
It remained a seasonal treat, but was soon promoted to its very own tin. By spring this year, demand was so great that Irish Biscuits decided to go into full production.
The move is Jacob's most successful ever, and the biscuit has already snatched 13 per cent of the £50 million luxury wrapped biscuits sector. This equals the proportion held by Club Milk biscuits, also made by Irish Biscuits, which took years to reach such a dominant position.
