Latest news with #GaryMagold
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
London Biscuit Museum forced to pull Jaffa Cake exhibit after backlash from McVitie's
A museum based in south London has been forced to pull a new exhibition after receiving a warning that Jaffa Cakes are not, in fact, biscuits. The Bermondsey-based Biscuit Museum launched the display on June 30 to celebrate the chocolate-orange treat, but soon received a strongly worded letter challenging the decision. Despite being stocked in the biscuit aisle, McVitie's has always maintained that Jaffa Cakes are legally and technically cakes. In the letter, McVitie's said it was dismayed to see Jaffa Cakes included in an 'exhibition of biscuitry', and made clear that 'Jaffa Cakes are, in fact, cakes. Not biscuits. Not hybrid snacks. Just cakes.' The letter added that 'cakes harden when stale. Biscuits go soft.' The company's spokesperson later said: 'We love a good biscuit as much as the next snack enthusiast, but we've got to draw the line somewhere, and that line is sponge-based. A cake's a cake, even when it's small, round, and lives suspiciously close to Hobnobs. It's nothing personal, it's just the way the cake crumbles.' Museum staff were reportedly surprised by the letter, and the exhibit has now been taken down. Curator Gary Magold said it was a shame and confirmed the museum hoped to reach a resolution with McVitie's. 'As a nation of Jaffa Cakes lovers, we're hoping we can reach an agreement,' he said. The row has once again reignited one of the UK's longest-running snack debates. McVitie's previously went to court to prove the treats are cakes in order to avoid VAT applied to biscuits with chocolate. The issue continues to divide the public and even families. For now, the exhibit is on hold — and the great biscuit versus cake debate rumbles on.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Crumbs! Biscuit museum's Jaffa Cake display reignites old debate
It could be described as a storm in a teacup but the humble Jaffa Cake is once again at the centre of controversy after McVitie's asked a biscuit museum to pull the snack from a display. The manufacturer took issue with the orangey treat being showcased in a museum devoted to biscuits because, for VAT purposes anyway, it is officially a cake. This fact was settled long ago in a legal battle with the taxman. The David and Goliath-style row – which some suggested had been orchestrated by McVitie's to boost sales – has reignited the debate. Days after the biscuit museum in Bermondsey, south London, unveiled the display, McVitie's sent it a cease-and-desist-style letter requesting 'the immediate removal of Jaffa Cakes from your biscuit exhibit'. However, it sought to sweeten the pill by diluting the legalise with biscuit-based puns. 'We write to you today, not with crumbs of animosity, but with a full slice of firm objection,' it says. 'Allow us to be clear: Jaffa Cakes are, in fact, cakes. Some would say the clue is in the name on the box.' McVitie's and the biscuit museum, officially called the Peek Frean Museum, said they were yet to agree on a resolution. The museum's curator, Gary Magold, said, 'It's a shame – we've had to remove the exhibition for the moment. We're hoping we can reach an agreement.' The subtleties of the 'is it a cake or biscuit?' debate have likely filled many a tea break but the tax law is clear: biscuits are zero-rated, but as soon as the makers start covering them with chocolate they attract 20% VAT. This was at the heart of the Jaffa Cakes case, which came to a head in 1991. HM Customs & Excise (the predecessor of HMRC) said they were biscuits, and that their chocolatey topping was taxable. The manufacturer McVitie's insisted they were cakes, which are zero-rated. It won, and those smashing orangey bits can be enjoyed tax-free. This week's skirmish lit up social media message boards. One poster tried to shut the debate down, stating: 'A biscuit goes soft when you leave it out. A cake goes hard. There's your answer.' Others questioned whether there was a darker subtext. 'They just want to hide how much the thing have [sic] shrunk – shrinkflation strikes again.' In recent years Jaffa Cake fans have faced diminishing returns. Not only has the number in the box reduced but two years ago the 'cakes' shrank in size from 5.5cm to 5cm across. The orange bump became smaller, too.
