Almond Joy is a candy bar manufactured by The Hershey Company, consisting of sweetened, shredded coconut topped with whole almonds and covered in milk chocolate. The company also produces Mounds bars, a similar confection without nuts, coated in dark chocolate.
 | |
 A candy bar with shredded coconut and almonds covered in smooth chocolate candy. | |
| Product type | Candy Bar |
|---|---|
| Produced by | The Hershey Company |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1946[1] |
| Related brands | Mounds |
| Previous owners | |
| Tagline | Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. |
| Website | hersheyland.com/almond-joy |
| Type | Candy bar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 220 kcal (921 kJ) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Similar dishes | Mounds (candy) | ||||||
| Other information | Nutritional information source:[2] | ||||||
The two bars have the same packaging and logo design, with a blue color scheme for Almond Joy and red for Mounds.
History
editThe Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company was founded by six Armenian immigrants including Peter Paul Halajian and Max Freedman in 1919. In 1929, the company acquired the Mounds bar candy line from West Haven, Connecticut, candy maker Vincent Nitido.[3] The Mounds bar became a hit with the U.S. military during World War II, who by 1944 purchased 80% of their production for use in rations (5 million bars/month).[4] The Almond Joy bar was introduced in 1946 as a replacement for the Dreams Bar, which was introduced in 1934, consisting of diced almonds and coconut covered with dark chocolate.[5] In 1978, Peter Paul merged with the Cadbury-Schweppes company of England.[6] In 1988, Hershey's purchased the United States rights to their chocolate business for $300 million, which included the Mounds, Almond Joy, and York Peppermint Pattie brands, in addition to Cadbury-only products such as Dairy Milk and Caramello.[7] The name "Almond Joy" was selected by Peter Paul employee Anna Z. Ranaudo from Naugatuck, Connecticut.[citation needed]
The Hershey Company made Almond Joy in Naugatuck, Connecticut, for nearly 20 years before moving the manufacturing operation to a more modern plant in Stuarts Draft, Virginia in 2007. At the time of the move, the 250,000 square foot Naugatuck plant was operating at 40% capacity.[8]
Advertising
editDuring the 1970s, Peter Paul used the jingle, "Sometimes you feel like a nut / Sometimes you don't", written by Joey Levine, to advertise Almond Joy and Mounds in tandem.[9][10] The TV commercial was first aired in January 1977.[11] In a play on words, the "feel like a nut" portion of the jingle was typically played over a clip of someone acting like a "nut", i.e., doing something unconventional, such as an equestrian riding on a horse backward or a bride carrying her groom over the threshold.[citation needed]
Product variations
editIn the 2000s, Hershey began producing variations of the product, including a limited-edition Piña Colada and Double Chocolate Almond Joy in 2004, a limited-edition White Chocolate Key Lime and Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit Almond Joy in 2005, and a limited-edition Toasted Coconut Almond Joy in 2006. In 2009 Hershey's came out with an Almond Joy Pieces product that were similar in size to M&Ms, but contained the coconut, milk chocolate and almonds ingredients in brown, white and blue colors.[12] Although well received, Almond Joy Pieces were later discontinued, along with York Pieces and Special Dark Pieces, leaving only the Reese's Pieces left on sale today.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Norman, Elizabeth. "Peter Paul's Path to Sweet Success". Where I Live: Connecticut. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ "Almond Joy Bar". The Hershey Company. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ^ "West Haven honors late Mounds candy bar creator". New Haven Register. April 1, 2020.
- ^ Sarajane Cedrone (October 14, 2015). "Peter Paul's Path to Sweet Success". Connecticut Explored.
- ^ Lisa Flaherty. "A Few Questions about Almond Joy, Mounds & Peter Paul". WASAW. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ "Peter Paul Purchase Planned by Cadbury". February 22, 1978 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Narula, Svati Kirsten (February 1, 2015). "How Cadbury lost the right to sell its own chocolate in the US". Quartz.
- ^ "Hershey Closing Peter Paul Plant In Connecticut". Manufacturing.net. April 26, 2007.
- ^ Wood, Mark Dundas (December 14, 2001). "Singing Opportunities in the Commercial Industry". Backstage. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ Norris, Chris (December 16, 1996). "The Great Rock & Roll Jingle". New York. Vol. 29, no. 49. pp. 48–52. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ Moore, David (May 25, 2018). "70s Spots: Almond Joy & Mounds (1977) & Trident Mints (1978)".
- ^ Newman, Andrew Adam (February 17, 2010). "Candy Makers Cut the Calories, by Cutting the Size" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Hershey's Almond Joy Pieces - Candy Blog". www.candyblog.net.