New Treats From Mars Chocolate North America Combine Sweet & Savory Flavors

CHICAGO, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- An industry leader with six of the top 15 chocolate brands, Mars Chocolate North America announced four delicious new treats that combine real milk chocolate with flavorful, savory fillings. At the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago, Mars unveiled the sweet and savory M&M'S® Pretzel Chocolate Candies, SNICKERS® Brand Peanut Butter Squared, SNICKERS® Xtreme Bar and DOVE® Sugar Free Chocolates with Peanut Butter Creme.  

"Consumers love the flavor fusion of sweet and savory, which helps make our SNICKERS® Bar the #1 selling candy bar* in America," said Jim Murphy, vice president of Sales, Mars Chocolate North America. "According to industry research, peanut butter candy is growing at twice the rate as the overall candy industry. We're giving consumers more delicious options, with the addition of these four new items that contrast the sweet taste of real milk chocolate with enticing, savory fillings."

At the country's largest confection and snack trade show, Mars Chocolate North America also unveiled new chocolate confectionery items, ice cream treats and a MARATHON® Brand re-introduction:

• M&M'S® Pretzel Chocolate Candies are a fun new way to combine sweet and salty in every bite size piece. Available in May, each lentil features a crunchy, salted pretzel center covered in delicious M&M'S® Brand milk chocolate and coated in a colorful candy shell.  
• With everything there is to love about SNICKERS® -peanuts, caramel, nougat and milk chocolate-consumers will be nuts with the addition of peanut butter in the new SNICKERS® Brand Peanut Butter Squared.  Available in December 2010, each singles pack will include two delicious square-shaped bars.
• Made with ALL peanuts and caramel smothered in real milk chocolate, the limited-edition SNICKERS® Xtreme Bar, available in September 2010, satisfies hunger with five grams of protein per bar.
• New DOVE® Sugar Free Chocolates with Peanut Butter Creme allows consumers to "spare the sugar, not the decadence." Available in April 2010, this delicacy is rich, creamy and silky smooth throughout, preserving the unparalleled texture and taste consumers love and expect from DOVE® Brand -the #1 premium chocolate brand.
• Mars Ice Cream introduces new indulgent treats, including DOVEBAR® Caramel Cashew, DOVEBAR® Miniatures Cafe Collection featuring Java Chip and Cappuccino flavors, and SNICKERS® Brand and TWIX® Brand 90 Calorie Ice Cream Bars.
• Meeting the demand of consumers who want functionally nutritious products with indulgent benefits, the MARATHON® Brand is packed with energy-giving ingredients and powered by the great taste of SNICKERS® Brand. The new packaging identifies nutritional benefits, including callouts for protein, vitamin and minerals, and a new Website, www.marathonbars.com, features product specifications, special activities and tools to help maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The Mars trade show booth also features these exciting consumer promotions:

• SNICKERS® Brand teams up with Feeding America to "Bar Hunger" for the second year, with a campaign that shows consumers that "It Tastes Good To Do Good."  From July to September, SNICKERS® will donate up to the equivalent of 3.5 million meals to Feeding America through a social media campaign.  Learn more at facebook.com/snickers.
• For the third year in a row, M&M'S® Brand Chocolate Candies is celebrating the colorful passion of NASCAR® fans across the country with the return of the M&M'S® Most Colorful Fans® of NASCAR® Contest.  Running from Memorial Day through Labor Day and hosted at NASCAR.com/mostcolorfulfans, the M&M'S® Brand contest celebrates, recognizes and rewards fans.
• In July, M&M'S® Brand will team up with Orville Redenbacher's® Gourmet® Popping Corn to offer consumers savings when they purchase both iconic brands at select retailers.
• This fall the SNICKERS® Brand NFL™ "Go Nuts at the Super Bowl" Sweepstakes will reward extreme fans -- mild-mannered during the week, but who go nuts on game day – with the chance to win thousands of prizes, including one of 17 trips to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas.

About Mars Chocolate North America:

Mars Chocolate North America is the North American chocolate operations of Mars, Incorporated.  Mars, Incorporated is a private, family-owned company founded in 1911 and employing more than 65,000 associates at over 230 sites, including 135 factories, in 68 countries worldwide. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, U.S.A., Mars, Incorporated is one of the world's largest food companies, generating global revenues of more than $28 billion annually and operating in six business segments: Chocolate, Petcare, Wrigley Gum and Confections, Food, Drinks, and Symbioscience.  These segments produce some of the world's leading brands: Chocolate – M&M'S®, SNICKERS®, DOVE®, GALAXY®, MARS®, MILKY WAY® and TWIX®; Petcare – PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, SHEBA®, CESAR® and ROYAL CANIN®; Wrigley – ORBIT®, EXTRA®, STARBURST®, DOUBLEMINT® and SKITTLES®; Food – UNCLE BEN'S®, DOLMIO®, EBLY®, MASTERFOODS® and SEEDS OF CHANGE®; Drinks – KLIX® and FLAVIA®; Symbioscience – WISDOM PANEL™, SERAMIS®, and CIRKUHEALTH™.  For more information, please visit www.mars.com.

*SymphonyIRI Group Data, 12/09

SOURCE Mars Chocolate North America