What was the first candy bar made by Mars

The Mars Bar: a staple in any childhood, and a favourite in every Celebration box. From deep-fried to almond-coated, there's been many variations on the tasty treat, but do you know the famous chocolate bar's history and how it began in Berkshire?

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What’s a Mars Bar?
Sorting out candy bars made by the Mars Company
Other names

One of Britain’s favourite chocolate treats is perhaps one of Slough’s greatest inventions. The humble Mars Bar has had many variations over the years, but it comes from modest beginnings.

The first bar was made in a rented factory in Slough in 1932, under the watchful eye of 12 staff and the inventor, Forrest Mars. Master Mars was the son of American chocolatier Frank Mars, who made the Milky Way bar.

Frank started making chocolate with his mother after contracting polio, as he was no longer able to attend school. Eventually he passed the legacy down to his son, who moved to Berkshire before starting the business.

Forrest was inspired by his father's Milky Way bar, and sought to make something similar. Thus, the Mars Bar was born.

By the 1960s, the parent company, Mars Incorporated, had begun to make M&M’s, Skittles, Snickers and Twix - all household names to this day.

Although there has been some minor variations over the years, the bar is still roughly the same as it was in its inception – the chocolate is thinner, and the nougat is lighter, but the main contents remain as they always were.

However, the size of the modern Mars Bar is a topic of controversy. As with many products, the chocolate treat is getting exponentially smaller, despite the price staying the same.

The deep-fried Mars Bar was not supported by the company, who claimed it went against their commitment to healthy eating(Image: Katie Pugh)

In 2008 the company claimed that the change was an attempt to fight obesity levels, but later admitted that it was actually due to the rising manufacturing costs.

Although the UK version may have remained somewhat the same, the American version of the sweet treat was bizarrely different. In the USA, the Mars Bar was covered with almonds until it was discontinued and replaced by the equally-nutty Snickers bar, which is also owned by Mars Incorporated, just like its predecessor.

Despite not being the healthiest option, the new bar went onto become the 'Official Snack Food of the Olympic Games' because the improved version was so popular.

One fish and chip shop in Aberdeenshire famously started selling deep-fried Mars Bars, but the chain was not impressed. They claimed that the fish and chip shop's take on their chocolate treat went against the company's commitment to promoting healthy eating.

The Mars European Headquarters still remains in Slough, but the company has grown massively since those first days in the rented factory. In 2012, a research centre was opened in the hope that the world-class expertise would make the brand bigger and better than ever before. The £6m centre remains the company's largest facility in Europe.

People living next to the Mars HQ have previously told BerkshireLive that they can often smell chocolate coming from the factory. The neighbours have seen significant changes over the years, as the company scaled its factory down and started using it for depots and offices.

In 2015, Mars Incorporated was named the sixth largest privately held company in the United States after bringing the world chocolate goodness for almost 90 years.

M&M's became the first chocolate in space after the first space shuttle astronauts made it their snack of choice.

The corporation also produce non-confectionery snacks, such as Uncle Ben's Rice, Dolmio pasta sauce, as well as pet foods, such as Pedigree, Whiskas and Royal Canin.

The brand has produced numerous spin-off products during its time, how many of them have you tried? Which creation is your favourite? Let us know in the comments.

Mars Bars
© Denzil Green

A Mars Bar is a candy bar made and sold commercially by the American company called Mars.

Mars Bars internationally are sold in a black wrapper, with the name in red letters outlined in gold. In America, however, they are sold in cream-coloured packaging.

There are, though, two different Mars Bars.

The history of Mars Bars starts in 1923 with a candy bar created by Frank Mars. He sold it as a “Milky Way” bar. It had no nuts in it.

In 1936, the Mars company (Frank died in 1934) introduced a version with almonds, and called this version a “Mars Bar.”

When the Mars company began selling the “Milky Way” outside of America, with no nuts, in Canada and in the UK, they decided to call it a “Mars Bar.”

It’s not known who made the decision, how, or why, but the confusion has continued since.

What’s a Mars Bar?

America4 ingredients: bottom layer of chocolate and malt flavoured nougat and almonds, top layer of caramel and everything coated in milk chocolate. The nougat is about the density of a marshmallow, and is light-chocolate in colour. Renamed to Snickers Almond as of 2000.International3 ingredients: bottom layer of chocolate and malt flavoured nougat (whipped as of 2002), top layer of caramel and everything coated in milk chocolate.

Former US Mars Bar. Now a Snickers Bar.

What is sold outside the US as a “Mars Bar” is sold in the US as a “Milky Way.” What is sold outside the US as “Milky Way” is sold inside the US as “3 Musketeers.”

In 2000, the American version of a Mars Bar was renamed to “Snickers Almond.” The name “Mars Bar” was retired in America in the same year, then revived in 2010 for exclusive sale through Wal-Mart stores, again as a chocolate almond bar, in cream-coloured packaging.

In Germany at one point, Mars Bars with almonds were sold as “Mars Mandel” (Mandel meaning “almond”.)

The size of Mars Bars sold in the UK has changed several times over the years, but not the price. The most recent size change was in May 2009, when the weight was reduced from 62.5g to 58g (which is the current UK weight, as of 2010.) [1]

In Australia and the UK, the bars are made for Mars by the Masterfoods Corporation, an American-owned company.

Deep Fried Mars Bars began appearing at fish and chip shops in the west of Scotland in the early 1990s. They are dipped in the same batter used for fish, then deep fried. They are usually chilled first so that the bar won’t get too hot and melt while the batter is cooking. The concept was actually more for fun than anything else at first, though they are still available at many shops.

On 1 May 2007, Mars UK announced that it had started using whey that might have traces on rennet in it in their bars. Brands affected included Mars, Twix, Snickers, Maltesers, Bounty, Milky Way and Minstrels. They announced on 20 May 2007 that they would reverse their decision, after receiving a landslide of complaint from vegetarians.

In February 2012, Mars announced that as of 2014, world-wide, it would no longer be selling individual portion chocolate bars with more than 250 calories in them. It was assumed that the calorie reduction would occur by down-sizing the bars. The company also announced that by 2015, they were aiming to decrease sodium in all its products by 25%.