Crunch Bar (History, FAQ, Pictures & Commercials)

Nestlé’s Crunch Bar is a crispy and crunchy chocolate bar made from milk chocolate and crisped rice. True to its name, the Crunch Bar is indeed crunchy and is considered a tasty and textured candy bar. The Crunch Bar boldly has its name in large raised molded words on the square chocolate slab that makes up the candy bar. The bottom side of the Crunch Bar has crisped rice visibly embedded into the chocolate, giving the Crunch Bar its crispy and crunchy texture.

Information

The Nestlé Crunch Bar is a candy bar in the shape of a relativity flat square of milk chocolate, with its name “Nestlé Crunch” printed in molded chocolate on the front of the candy bar. The Crunch Bar is made with crisped rice embedded in it, a popular combination for chocolate treats. Nestle Crunch was first released in the year 1938 and is produced as of 2018 by the company Nestle, though will be produced by Ferrero Italia by the end of 2018. The Crunch Bar is, as its name implies, crunchy, and has been described as “Music to your mouth”. The Crunch Bars’ noticeable stand-out name printed in molded chocolate on the candy bar often will see children eating around it so they are left just with the letters, adding a spot of fun to the snack. Sometimes Crunch comes as a purely solid slab of chocolate, and sometimes it comes with perforated chocolate squares that break up into smaller slabs, each with its own individually molded “Crunch” namesake on it.

“Strategic Copywriting: How to Create Effective Advertising”, published in 2004, describes a variety of reasons consumers choose to eat Nestlé Crunch. Some of these reasons are to get a burst of energy, to satisfy a craving, or to enjoy a treat. It also goes on to describe the distinct target market for the Crunch Bar being white women ages 25 to 34, who have graduated high school, and have an income range of around $75,000 a year. It also describes the main target market for the Crunch Bar as those being married, and having children of 6 to 11 years old. Of course, this is not to detract from the fact that many different demographics of people enjoy the Crunch Bar, and the product has a solid fan base. The Crunch Bar is often viewed as a competitor to the Krackel Bar, made by the Hershey Company.

In 2013, Nestlé Crunch began using 100% certified cocoa beans. At the National Confectioners Association’s Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago in May 2013, Nestlé USA announced that it will for the first time source 100% certified cocoa beans for the entire line of standard Nestlé Crunch bars. This is part of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, a company’s global initiative to help improve the lives of cocoa farmers and the quality of their products while also assuring a sustainable cocoa supply for years to come.

As of 2018, the Crunch Bar has been sold to Ferrero Italia (Ferrero SpA), a family-owned Italian-based chocolate and confectionery manufacturer. In 2018 it was announced that Nestle would be selling its rights to over 20 of its candy products for 2.8 billion dollars in cash. Products being sold to Ferrero Italia include the Crunch Bar, as well as Butterfinger, Nerds, and LaffyTaffy, and more.

Crunch is the only brand for which Nestlé maintained the trademark as part of the sale of the U.S. confections business to Ferrero, said a Nestle Spokesperson. The Crunch Bar is allowed to have the Nestle name on it for 1 year after the sale but must be removed after that time. This marks the first time the Crunch Bar has changed hands in its existence, nearly a century after the Crunch bar was invented. The reason for the sale was reported as low growth in the mainstream chocolate market. Nestle has lost market share in recent years, as start-up brands like Kind have grown quickly, and while expensive chocolate products seem to be doing well, there is an increasing variety that makes the snack market tough for mainstream candy bars like the Crunch Bar.

Despite selling Crunch Bar to Ferrero, Nestle still maintained some trademark rights to the product. After the sale of Crunch to Ferrero, Nestle nonetheless asserted its trademark rights by contesting the trademark filing of a Tulsa businesswoman named Karla Robinson and her brand, Carla’s Crazy Crunch. Described as a salty, buttery snack, Carla’s Crazy Crunch does not look or taste like the Crunch candy bar, but Nestle has asserted its name is too similar and filed a notice of opposition. The companies have settled the dispute in 2019 and Carla’s Crazy Crunch has a registered trademark as of 2019-03-26. Ferrero was not a part of the dispute regardless of their current ownership of the Crunch candy bar.

The Company That Makes The Crunch Bar

The company that makes the Crunch Bar is family-owned chocolate producer Ferrero Italia (Ferrero SpA), who purchased the rights to the Crunch Bar, as well as other candy products, from Nestlé in 2018. The former producer of the Crunch Bar was Nestlé, who sold the Crunch Bar along with over 20 other candy products to Ferrero Italia for 2.8 Billion Dollars.

The Year Crunch Bar Was Invented

Nestlé Crunch Bar was invented in the year 1928. Created by Nestlé, the Crunch Bar filled the role of a crunchy crispy chocolate snack.

Slogans

Crunch bar has had a few slogans over the years. One of the first slogans used to advertise Nestlé Crunch was “Music to your mouth”. However, in more recent years Nestlé has been using the slogans “Munch Now. Munch Some Later.” and “For the Kid in You.”

How To Buy

The Crunch Bar is often sold in convenience stores and shopping centers in the candy sections. It is a commonly found candy as of 2019 and can be found in stores like Walgreen’s or CVS. The most commonly found version of the Crunch bar is the standard variant, although sometimes you can find one of the other flavors of Crunch for sale online. You can check below this section for a list of stores believed to sell the Crunch bar. If you are looking for a special type of flavor or version of Crunch then you may have a more easy time finding it online. You can also buy the Crunch bar in bulk online fairly easily and have it shipped out to you if you need a large amount of the candy for a party or gathering. You can check the sections below for offers on buying Crunch Bar online.

Stores That Sell The Crunch Bar

Here is a list of stores that may sell the Crunch Bar:

1. CVS
2. Rite Aid
3. Target
4. Dylan’s Candy Bar
5. Walgreen’s
6. Walmart
7. Dollar General
8. Citco
9. Sam’s

Logo

Flavors And Variations

Here is a list of the different flavors, types, and spin-offs of Crunch

• Original Crunch Bar
• Nestlé Crunch Mocha (A version of Crunch made with mocha instead of milk chocolate.)
• Crunch Crisp (A variant of Crunch made with wafers and chocolate creme.)
• Nestlé Crunch Stixx (A type of Crunch bar, which features wafers and Nestlé Crunch Candy Creme)
• Nestlé Crunch Dark Stixx (A type of Crunch bar, which features wafers and Nestlé Crunch Dark Candy Creme)
• Crunch with Caramel (A Crunch bar featuring milk chocolate and crisped rice mixed in, and containing a caramel center.)
• Dark Crunch with Caramel (A Crunch bar featuring dark chocolate and crisped rice mixed in, and containing a caramel center.
• Crunch with Peanuts (A limited edition version of Crunch made with milk chocolate and crisped rice mixed in, and featuring peanuts.)
• Nestlés Crunchettes (Containing “Bite Size” Pieces of the Crunch bar.)
• Nestlé Crunch White (A version of the Crunch bar featuring white chocolate instead of milk chocolate.)
• Buncha Crunch (Candy pieces that are inspired by the Crunch bar, made of milk chocolate with crisped rice mixed in. Buncha Crunch was introduced 1994, they were originally only sold exclusively in movie theaters, but as of May 2012, they have become available in most grocery stores.)
• Nestlé Crunch Ice Cream Bars (An ice cream spin-off to the Crunch bar. It contains vanilla flavored ice cream in the center, surrounded by a milk chocolate coating with crisped rice mixed in.)
• Nestlé Crunch Cereal (A chocolate breakfast cereal with crispy rice and wheat clusters.)
• YoCrunch brand yogurt (Features pieces resembling Buncha Crunch mixed in with both Strawberry and Vanilla flavored yogert.)

The Crunch Bar VS Krackel Bar

The Crunch Bar has an arch-nemesis, the Krackel Bar. Both chocolate bars are somewhat like each other, both sound alike in name and both fill the same specific role in the snack and candy market. Both the Crunch bar and Krackel bar give consumers a crispy and crunchy chocolate treat, and both have a similar feel and texture to them. These two candy bars are often in fierce competition, with a loyal fan base. The Crunch bar was invented by Nestlé, and it became owned by Ferrero as of 2018, and the Krackel bar is owned by Hershey.

These two candy bars have a lot going for them in terms of similarities, but there are differences. Some consumers do note a difference in the taste and texture, though there is a debate on what candy bar is better overall, and what chocolate is smoother, and so on. However, regardless of personal preference or viewpoints on some aspects of these candy bars, there are some clear differences in the ingredients between them.

Nestle’s Crunch Bar has always stuck to using crisped rice for its original bar, although some spin-off products have diverged from that. The Krackel Bar, however, did not always contain crisped rice, when it was first invented it used almonds, and then peanuts were added a year later. Krackel began using puffed rice in 1941, bringing it closer to its competitor, Nestle’s Crunch. The Krackel bar used sweeter chocolate than the Crunch Bar, which was described by many as waxy, however in 2008, Crunch Bar introduced sweeter more rich chocolate into its formula, allowing it to compete with Krackel in that area. Most sources list both the Crunch and Krackel bars as containing PGPR, a common emulsifier, and vanillin, an artificial vanilla flavoring. However, the Krackel bar may have had the PGPR and vanillin ingredients removed, or may have them removed in the future, due to a company plan to revamp the Hershey Bar’s ingredients as well as revamping other candies product’s ingredients under the Hershey brand.

Trademark Information

There is a trademark filing for the word mark “Crunch” with the filing date showing as 2016-12-22. This trademark is showing as registered and was registered on 2017-12-19. The trademark owner is Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. The first use in anywhere date is shown as 1937-11-01. However, this does not mean the Crunch bar was necessarily first sold on the first use date. There is also a 1977-08-31 trademark filing date for the word mark Nestle Crunch. Its registration date is 1979-01-02 and is showing as registered and renewed with its status date showing as 2019-01-18. Its first use anywhere date is 1977-06-30. The original registrant is Nestle Company, Inc and the current registrant is Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. There are also other trademark filings for Crunch. Crunch is the only brand for which Nestlé maintained the trademark as part of the sale of the U.S. confections business to Ferrero, according to a Nestlé spokesperson.

Childhood Experiences

When I was just a little girl, my mother let me try her Crunch bar. I asked her about it because I saw it in the car after a trip to the store. She said she got it for herself but she let me have it. I was surprised because it was rare for me to see my mom eat candy so I did not expect it to be hers. After trying it, I really like the Crunch bar, the crisped rice was fantastic and added a whole new level compared to the chocolate bars I tried at that point in my life. I also tried Krackle and was introduced to it as a Halloween candy, but I found I liked the Crunch bar better. Back then, the crisped rice in the Crunch bar was bigger and more noticeable if I recall correctly, but to this day I still love the crunch bar and will buy it occasionally.

Popularity

The Crunch candy bar seems to be fairly well-liked, being able to be found in a large swath of stores in several countries. Crunch has been around since the 1920s and has established itself enough that it is well recognizable in the candy section and many people have tried it. However, the Crunch bar seemed to not be doing so that great it was able to avoid being sold off to Ferrero from its originating company in 2018. One reason it is believed that Nestle sold its candy products to Ferrero was due to the products having low sales growth in the market. However, to the Crunch Bar’s credit, it was reported that Crunch was the only candy product in the 2018 selloff of candy products from Nestle to Ferrero that Nestle kept trademark rights to.

You could say there is much to like about the Crunch bar, as it fills a unique role in the candy market. The crisped rice embedded in the chocolate bar really helps to make it stand out from the crowd. Few candies bars can match the Crunch bars traits, or at least have not managed to reach Crunch’s popularity, with the exception of the Krackle candy bar. When it comes to the Krackle, Crunch is a close competitor, and debates sometimes spring up on the internet about what one of the two is better. The Crunch bar does have a solid fan base, allowing it to remain on the scene despite the fierce competition in the snack and candy market.

Crunch Seems Like It’s Shrinking Over Time

Over the years Crunch bar may be getting smaller. Advertisements in 1984 for the Crunch Bar seem to depict a much larger candy bar than what we have here in the year 2019. While Snack History could not find the size information for the 1984 version of the Crunch bar, the appearance in the pictures of a size difference between then and now is striking. The size of the crisped rice in Crunch has also shrunk significantly in newer versions of the candy bar.

Pictures

Commercials

Here are some video commercials about Crunch Bar:

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A COMMERCIAL FOR NESTLE CRUNCH BARS NBA EDITION WAS RELEASED IN THE YEAR 1992.

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A 2003 TELEVISION COMMERCIAL FEATURING NESTLE CRUNCH BAR WITH CARAMEL. ALSO FEATURING SHAQ.

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ALL AROUND NESTLE COMMERCIAL FOR SEVERAL OF THEIR CANDY PRODUCTS INCLUDING THE CRUNCH BAR.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients of Crunch Bar.

• Milk Chocolate
• Sugar
• Chocolate
• Cocoa Butter
• Nonfat Milk
• Milkfat
• Lactose
• Soy Lecithin
• Natural Flavor
• Crisped Rice
• Rice Flour
• Sugar
• Barley Malt
• Salt
• Milk
• Soy

Nutrition

Serving Size:	4 fun size bars (41g)	% Daily Value *
Amount Per Serving
Calories	205
Total Fat	11g	16%
Saturated Fat	7g	35%
Trans Fat	0.1g
Cholesterol Total Carbohydrate: 27 Grams (9% DV)	5mg	1%
Sodium	62mg	2%
Potassium	125mg	3%
Dietary Fiber	0.8g	3%
Sugar	23g
Protein	2.1g	4%
Caffeine	12mg
Vitamin A		0%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium		4%
Iron		1%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Known Potential Allergens: Milk, Soy; Made in a facility that also processes peanuts, nuts, and wheat; contains barley malt (gluten)

(Last updated 3/31/2019. Information is taken from USDA)

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