I recently taught a chocolate and wine tasting seminar. We tasted delicious, hand-made chocolates from local chocolate shops. Afterward, one of the attendees took me aside and made a confession…
She said I did a great job pointing out the reasons to fall in love with gourmet chocolate, but that sometimes she just wants a big handful of M&Ms. She wondered if something was wrong with her.
Perhaps there are many things wrong with her, but I don’t think craving M&M’s is one of them! 
A large part of enjoying chocolate involves memories of our early chocolate experiences. Children as young as age 9-11 start to prefer chocolate over other candy.
(Some of my early chocolate memories don’t involve Hershey bars or M&M’s so maybe that is why I don’t reach for them when I have a chocolate craving. My Dad introduced me to Marshall Field’s Frango™ Mints and Dark Chocolate Covered Orange Peel at an early age. Thank you, Dad!)
If you crave mass-produced candy bars you are not alone. The top ten most popular chocolate bars in the U.S. (based on sales in US Dollars) are:
1. Snickers
2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
3. Kit Kat
4. Butterfinger
5. Milky Way
6. 3 Musketeers
7. Baby Ruth
8. M&Ms Plain Chocolate Candies
9. Oh Henry
10. Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar
Snickers tops the list with over 2 BILLION dollars in global annual sales!
Sometimes our past favorites are not made anymore. Do you remember any of these candy bars?
- Bar None
- Caravelle Bar
- Chocolate Babies
- Chocolate Cow
- Chocolite
- Forever Yours
- Rally Bar
- Marathon
- Mars Bar
- Milkshake Candy Bar
- Nestle Alpine White Bar
- PBMax Candy Bar
- Peanut Butter No Jelly Bar
- Seven-Up Bar
- Willie Wonka Oompas
I will always recommend you choose fine premium chocolate over the vending machine candy bar. But, if you need a trip down memory lane, I say go for it. And after you have satisfied that urge, promise me you’ll take a moment and enjoy a fresh chocolate truffle or a rich butter cream.
