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M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are colour-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery, each of which has the letter m printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M's.
The original candy has a semi-sweet chocolate filling which, upon introduction of other variations, was branded as the plain, normal variety. Peanut M&M's, which feature a peanut coated in milk chocolate, and finally a candy shell, were the first variation to be introduced, and they remain a regular variety. Numerous other variations have been introduced, some of which are regular widespread varieties (peanut butter, almond, pretzel, crispy, dark chocolate, and caramel) while others are limited in duration or geographic availability.
M&M's are the flagship product of the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars, Incorporated.
The candy originated in the United States in 1941, and M&M's have been sold in over 100 countries since 2003. They are produced in different colours, some of which have changed over the years. The candy-coated chocolate concept was copied by Forrest Mars Sr. from Smarties, which he had encountered during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).
The sugar coating made it possible to carry chocolate in warm climates without it melting. The company's longest-lasting slogan reflects this: the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
A traditional milk chocolate M&M weighs about 0.91 grams and has about 4.7 calories of food energy (1.7 kcal from fat). Despite common belief, each coloured M&M does not have a different flavor and all possess the same chocolate taste.
Forrest Mars Sr., son of the Mars Company founder, Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating British-made Smarties, chocolate pellets with a coloured shell of what confectioners call hard panning (essentially hardened sugar syrup) surrounding the outside, preventing the sweets (candies) from melting.
Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941. Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey. When the company was founded it was M&M Limited.
The two Ms represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate's president William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product. The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.
More information: M&Ms
The Nestle archives show that George Harris of Rowntree and Forrest Mars Sr. agreed, after much negotiation, to share the marketplace rather than compete, with Rowntree making Mars Bars in Canada, Erie and South Africa and with Mars making M&M's in America without competition from Smarties, and Rowntree did not attempt to sue Mars for stealing their concept.
The company's first big customer was the U.S. Army, which saw the invention as a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate in tropical climates without it melting. During World War II, the candies were exclusively sold to the military. The resulting demand for the candies caused an increase in production and the company moved its factory to bigger quarters at 200 North 12th Street in Newark, New Jersey, where it remained until 1958 when it moved to a bigger factory at Hackettstown. A second factory was opened in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1978.
Today, about half of the production of M&M's occurs at the New Jersey factory, and half at the Tennessee factory.
In 1949, the brand introduced the tagline The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
In 1950, a black M was imprinted on the candies giving them a unique trademark. It was changed to white in 1954.
In the early 1950s, the Midwest Research Institute (now MRIGlobal) in Kansas City, Missouri, worked on behalf of M&M's to perfect a process whereby 1,500 kg of chocolate centers could be coated every hour.
Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954 but first appeared only in the colour tan.
In 1960, M&M's added the yellow, red, and green colours.
Over the years, marketing has helped build and expand the M&M's brand. Computer-animated graphics, personification of the candies as characters with cartoon-like storytelling, and various merchandising techniques including the introduction of new flavors, colours and customizable merchandise have helped to increase the brand's recognition as a candy icon.
In 1982, the Mars candy bar company rejected the inclusion of M&M's in the new Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. However, competitor Hershey took a chance with their Reese's Pieces, which is similar to M&M's but contains a peanut butter filling. With the film's blockbuster success, Reese's Pieces sales dramatically increased, perhaps by as much as 300%.
The original colours of M&M's candies were red, yellow, violet, green and brown. Violet was discontinued and replaced with tan in the late 1940s.
More information: Business Insider
not in your hand.
M&M's motto
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