The names behind candy unraveled

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: The names behind candy unraveled.

These are the questions that suddenly pop into your mind: why is English licorice called English licorice? And what is the origin of the name of the candy cane? Recently, I was also pondering important things in my life and I ended up with such a question. Namely: why is a Mars called Mars? And Snickers called Snickers? I looked up the stories behind these names and six other candy bars, so you don't have to lie awake at night about it.

MARS
Mars is named after its inventor Forrest Mars, the son of Frank Mars. The latter opened his own chocolate factory called Mar-O-Bar Co. in 1920. Later, it became Mars Inc. Fun fact: the bar was released in 1923 but was then called Milky Way. In Europe, the name Milky Way was changed to Mars, while in the US it remained Milky Way. If you go to America and buy a Milky Way there, you will recognize it as a Mars bar.

MILKY WAY
Milky Way is named after a (in the 1920s) famous malted milk drink of the day. The translation of malted milk is malted milk, a type of powdered porridge made from a mixture of malted barley, wheat flour, and evaporated whole milk powder. The bar was developed to capture the flavor of such a malted milk (actually a kind of milkshake) in a... Right: chocolate bar. Milky Way is therefore not a reference to the Milky Way!

TWIX
Twix is a favorite for many. A crispy biscuit, soft caramel, and milk chocolate on top... You can't go wrong with that. And you even get two in one package! You can also derive the name Twix from that. It is actually a contraction of twins and biscuits. Twin cookies, then. Some people still know it by its old name Raider, as Twix used to be called in Europe. And did you wonder why Raider became Twix? Because it was decided globally to go for one brand. So Twix.

SNICKERS
Snickers also falls under the Mars Inc. family. The bar is named after a member of the Mars family, and a very special one: the horse. Fun quiz question at the next family party (where you really have to serve this bizarrely delicious Snickers Mousse Cake ).

ROLO
Like the Milky Way and Mars, Rolo's have been around for a long time: about 90 years. Back then, the candy was called Choc-O-Rol, which later changed to Rolo's. It is said that Rolo's is derived from ‘rolling’, because you can easily roll the candies to your friend. Before you start playing with your Rolo's: first make this divine Rolo-KitKat cake. With, yes: also KitKat.

BOUNTY
Coconut fans love it, but if you have a few coconut haters at your party, there's a good chance that the Bounty will be left over in the Celebrations box (good news for them: there are Celebrations boxes without Bounty for sale!). No matter which team you're on, it's interesting to know where the name comes from. Right? The coconut may suggest something, but the Bounty bar is almost certainly named after the Bounty Islands. The islands with bright blue water, pearl white beaches, and... coconuts.

KITKAT
The KitKat was launched in 1935, when it was called Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp. That name lasted for two years: in 1937, the name changed to KitKat. The pressing question where the name KitKat comes from has been answered before. There are various possible explanations, but this is the most likely: KitKat is named after Christopher Catling, the book club that Joseph Rowntree (the creator of the bar) was a member of. A duller story than the rumor that the name is derived from a notorious 18th-century drinking establishment for gentlemen.

M&M’S
Not really a chocolate bar perhaps, but due to the chocolate base, we still count them in this list: M&M’s. One M stands for Franklin Mars and the other for Bruce Murrie. The chocolatemakers were competitors, but in 1941 they made a pact to supply soldiers with chocolate. That became M&M’s: small chocolate candies that were easy to carry and didn't melt quickly due to the sugar coating. Eighty years later, we still love them and it turns out they are also good for your health.