Almond Joy facts for kids
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A candy bar with shredded coconut and almonds covered in smooth chocolate candy.
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| Introduced | 1946 |
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| Related brands | Mounds |
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| Tagline | Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. |
| Type | Candy bar | ||||||
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| 220 kcal (921 kJ) | |||||||
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| Similar dishes | Mounds (candy) | ||||||
| Other information | Nutritional information source: |
The Almond Joy is a popular candy bar made by The Hershey Company. It has sweet, shredded coconut inside. On top of the coconut are whole almonds. All of this is covered in yummy milk chocolate. Hershey's also makes a similar candy bar called Mounds. Mounds bars are like Almond Joy but they do not have nuts. They are covered in dark chocolate instead.
Both candy bars look alike in their packaging. Almond Joy uses a blue color design. Mounds bars use a red color design.
Contents
The Sweet History of Almond Joy
How Peter Paul Started
The Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company began in 1919. Six Armenian immigrants started it. Two of them were Peter Paul Halajian and Max Freedman.
Mounds Bar Joins the Family
In 1929, Peter Paul bought the Mounds bar. It came from a candy maker in West Haven, Connecticut. The Mounds bar became very popular. During World War II, the U.S. military loved them. By 1944, they bought 80% of all Mounds bars made. That was about 5 million bars every month for soldiers!
The Birth of Almond Joy
The Almond Joy bar was first sold in 1946. It took the place of an older candy bar called Dreams Bar. The Dreams Bar was introduced in 1934. It had diced almonds and coconut covered in dark chocolate. A Peter Paul employee named Anna Z. Ranaudo chose the name "Almond Joy". She was from Naugatuck, Connecticut.
Hershey's Takes Over
In 1978, Peter Paul joined with the Cadbury-Schweppes company. Then, in 1988, Hershey's bought the rights to their chocolate business in the United States. This deal cost $300 million. It included famous brands like Mounds, Almond Joy, and York Peppermint Pattie. It also included Cadbury products like Dairy Milk.
Moving Production
For almost 20 years, Hershey's made Almond Joy in Naugatuck, Connecticut. But in 2007, they moved the factory. The new factory is in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. The old Naugatuck plant was very large. It was 250,000 square feet. But it was only using 40% of its space.
Advertising the Candy Bars
The Famous Jingle
In the 1970s, Peter Paul used a catchy song to advertise. It was for both Almond Joy and Mounds. The song went, "Sometimes you feel like a nut / Sometimes you don't." Joey Levine wrote this jingle. The first TV commercial with this song aired in January 1977.
What the Commercials Showed
The commercials played on the word "nut." When the song said "feel like a nut," they showed someone acting a bit silly. For example, an equestrian might ride a horse backward. Or a bride might carry her groom over the doorstep. It was a fun way to show the difference between the two candy bars.
Different Kinds of Almond Joy
Limited Edition Flavors
In the 2000s, Hershey's started making new versions of Almond Joy. In 2004, they had limited-edition flavors. These included Piña Colada and Double Chocolate Almond Joy. The next year, 2005, they offered White Chocolate Key Lime. They also had Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit Almond Joy. In 2006, they released Toasted Coconut Almond Joy.
Almond Joy Pieces
In 2009, Hershey's introduced Almond Joy Pieces. These were small candies. They were similar in size to M&Ms. They had coconut, milk chocolate, and almonds inside. The pieces came in brown, white, and blue colors. People liked them, but Almond Joy Pieces were later stopped. Other "Pieces" products like York Pieces were also discontinued. Today, only Reese's Pieces are still sold.
See also
