Sweet Marie Chocolate Bar (History, Marketing & Pictures)
If you love Cadbury chocolate, you would probably adore the Sweet Marie chocolate bar. This was one of the chunkiest and sweetest candy bars that Cadbury had ever made, and it was very popular in Canada, where it was exclusively sold. This was a candy bar with nuts, fudge, and chocolate included, which made it much like a larger, lumpier Snickers Bar.
There are a few candy bars that are closely identified with Canadian candies, and this was one of those candy bars. Sort of like Ketchup Chips or All Dressed Lays, candies like Sweet Marie Chocolate bars are possibly a mandatory eating experience when you visit Canada. It’s too bad that you can’t add this candy bar to your list of things to try along with poutine and taco in a bag the next time you are in Canada, as Cadbury no longer makes this candy product.
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There are many people in Canada who miss this candy bar more than many other discontinued chocolates, but there is no sign from Cadbury that they will be bringing this unique bar back anytime soon.
History
There is a story about the creation of the Sweet Marie chocolate bar that might just be a popular story told in Canada to explain the name of the candy itself and to make the origin story of this unusual candy bar more unique. The story that many older Canadians will tell you is that the candy bar is named after a poem that was written in London, Ontario, by Cy Warman.
According to Warman, he wrote the poem that he called, “Sweet Marie” one night as he walked in the park with his girlfriend. Musician Raymond Moore read the poem and put it to music. This song was supposed to be the basis and inspiration for the Sweet Marie chocolate bar.
While it is not known for sure if this is really the origin story of this candy bar, it does make a really nice story about its start in life. Considering that the bar is discontinued, there is no easy way to seek confirmation from Cadbury about the origins of the product’s name. This story stands unchallenged as a sort of pop-culture item that many people who enjoyed this candy in the 80s and 90s seem to have heard.
The Cadbury candy company began its life in England, and it is still one of the best-known and most popular candy companies there. John Cadbury actually sold tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate when the company was first opened. In the 1800s, candy bars were still mostly a concept of the future, and the Cadbury name was associated with a general store sales model for many years before transitioning into a chocolate and confectionery company around 1914.
The Dairy Milk Bar was the first big candy seller for the company, and this candy bar has always been the foundation recipe for the rest of the candy bars that the company sells. The uniquely sweet and smooth chocolate recipe that is unique to Cadbury makes for a really recognizable taste experience and one that most people associate with these candy products right away. In the US, the mainstay of Cadbury products are Easter items like chocolate eggs and bunnies.
Most Americans are used to a milk chocolate recipe that is like the Hershey’s Bar standard. This might be one of the biggest reasons that there has not been much of a push by Cadbury to make sure that all of their candy bars are sold in the US alongside seasonal products. The Hershey’s Kiss product is more like the Cadbury recipe for chocolate, and the texture is more similar as well.
Canada shares a lot of the same preferences as the UK market, which means that Cadbury products are always a big hit in Canada as well as at home. Cadbury candy is known for sweet and smooth chocolate that is often simple, and that does not include that many different fillings or added flavors, which is another reason that this company has enjoyed years of success in the candy-making market.
Cadbury is an international company these days, and Cadbury candies are sold in the UK, Canada, the US, and many other markets. Sweet Marie chocolate bars were one of the few products that Cadbury made that was only sold in Canada. This might, in part, have been due to the large size of the bar, which was in keeping with some other really huge candy bars that are still popular in Canada today. Mr. Big Bars are another Canadian-only chocolate bar that is quite large and also very popular. This other large candy bar might have helped eclipse Sweet Marie bars.
The Sweet Marie chocolate bar, like most of the large candy bars of this type, had caramel, rice crisps, peanuts, and nougat inside of it, as well as a chocolate exterior. You would have gotten a little bit of everything in this candy bar, and there was enough candy to share with friends or to hoard for a few days of snacking on your own.
The Sweet Marie chocolate bar really gained a foothold in Canada during the 80s and 90s. It might have been so well-known due to its size, which made it a winner, with kids looking to get the most bang for their candy-buying buck. Many Canadians actually assume that this candy bar was originally a product made in the US, likely due to the size of the bar. It does seem a bit odd that this huge and complex candy bar is not sold in the US, but it has never been, and it did not originate there, either.
Cadbury has a long list of discontinued products to its name, and Sweet Marie bars join things like Dairy Milk Bunnies, Honeycrisp, yogurt products, and more. The Sweet Marie chocolate bar is so beloved in Canada by those who were kids in the 80s and 90s that there are lots of copycat recipes online, so you can make your own version of the candy bar. This is probably your best bet if you want to try this candy bar these days, as any candy bars that are being sold online are probably aged past the point that they would be enjoyable to eat.
Livery
The Cadbury stable in Canada is almost all marketed with a yellow and purple livery that is christened by the Cadbury symbol in the top left corner of the wrapper. As with other bars of this kind in Canada, there was a picture of the candy bar itself in the bottom left corner of the wrapper. The logo that showed the name of the candy bar was bright blue and written in cursive in the center of the wrapper.
Since this bar was not made with the kind of ingredients that lay flat and make a smooth base for the chocolate layer on the outside of the bar, it was common for the wrapper to be hard to read. The lumpy nature of this candy bar was a big departure from most of the other Cadbury products, which meant that the wrappers were not as ideal for enclosing this shape of candy bar. You might have had to spread out and pull on the wrapper to be able to read parts of it in some cases, just because of the shape of the bar inside the wrapper.
Cadbury candies that are sold in Canada wear a livery that might remind some people in the US of the now-defunct Wonka candy products that were sold by Nestle. There is the same color scheme and a certain amount of a similar whimsy included in these candy wrappers, which is one of the most appealing parts of buying this kind of bar to some Americans.
Logo
Ingredients
The ingredient list for the original candy bars is hard to track down since the candy is no longer made, but there are many copycat recipes out there that allow you to make your own Sweet Marie chocolate bars at home if you wish. These recipes give you an idea of what was included in the original candy bar:
- Crispy rice cereal
- Salted peanuts
- Peanut butter
- Brown sugar
- Butter
- Semi-sweet chocolate pieces
You can easily make these little candy treats in pans like fudge using these recipes, or you could choose to dip your own candy bars in chocolate if you want to really make the real thing by hand. The fact that there are so many recipes of this kind on the internet shows you just how popular these candy bars were in Canada, and it makes it clear how many people miss this candy treat and would be happy to have it back on the market.
Nutrition
| Serving Size: | 1g | % Daily Value * |
| Calories | 320 | |
| Carbs | 33g | 42% |
| Fat | 18g | 51% |
| Protein | 6g | 8% |
| Fat | 49g | |
| Sodium | 2270mg | |
| Cholesterol | 295mg | |
| Dietary Fiber | 1g | |
| Sugars | 28g | |
| Fat | 18g | |
| Saturated Fat | 7g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | – | |
| Monounsaturated Fat | – | |
| Trans Fat | 0.1g | |
| Protein | 6g | |
| Sodium | 30mg | |
| Potassium | – | |
| Cholesterol | 5mg | |
| Vitamin A | – | |
| Vitamin C | 4% | |
| Calcium | – | |
| Iron | 8% |
- Percentages are based on a diet of 2000 calories a day.
Pictures
Ads and Livery:
Sweet Marie chocolate bar ad from the 80s:
The modern wrapper before the candy was discontinued:
My name is Brianna and I love writing on all topics. Candy history fascinates me and I am passionate about sharing my love of this topic with everyone else!
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My Aunt was named Marie. My grandfather owned a general stare in Wellandport Ontario. She always told the story of the Cadbury salesman coming into my grandfather’s store. One day she was sitting in the store and the salesman said what a sweet little girl she was and what was her name.
She replied “Marie” he said that Cadbury was working on a new chocolate bar and they were looking for a name. He said that he thought “Sweet Marie” would be a good name.
my favourite candy bar …LOVED it. Miss it ,so wish Cadbury would make it again.
Always a family favorite, this bar was the best ever. I still look for it in out of the way places, now I know for certain it has been discontinued. Sadly, does Cadbury does not think that the public would go bonkers if it came on the market again. Think of the profit to be made. Oh Henry doesn’t quite cut it.
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Sweet Marie was created by the WIlliam Nielson Company, Cadbury did not acquire it until 1996. It was not a huge seller after the mid-1970s which led to it eventually disappearing.
As my own piece of Canadiana, the Sweet Marie bar was the reward after the Saturday morning hockey game or weekend movie matinee go to from 60 years ago. Other competitors like Oh Henry, Aero Bar and the upstart Mars Bar were only considered if Sweet Marie was sold out !! I STILL MISS HER !!!
Sweet Marie was my favorite, I still haven’t found another chocolate bar I truly like.
I wish Cadbury would bring it back.
Sweet Marie was my favourite candy bar growing up in Ontario in the ’50s and ’60s. I was out of Canada for a few years and upon returning a Sweet Marie was something I was looking forward to. In the airport on the way home I saw one Sweet Marie in a candy shop and almost stopped to buy it, then thought ‘I’ll get more when I’m home and not so tired, etc.”
Little did I know it was the last Sweet Marie I’d ever see because they were discontinued, which I didn’t know until later. Nothing comes close, although Oh Henry isn’t too far off. I would be thrilled if Sweet Maries were brought back!!