Hershey's Special Dark is a

chocolate bar A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily brea ...

manufactured by

The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...

History

In 1894, before the introduction of the milk chocolate

Hershey bar The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (commonly called the Hershey's Bar, or more simply the Hershey Bar) is a flagship chocolate bar manufactured by The Hershey Company. Hershey refers to it as "The Great American Chocolate Bar". The Hershey Milk Cho ...

in 1900, the Hershey Chocolate Company manufactured and marketed "vanilla sweet chocolate" a semi-sweet chocolate. This bar has been described as the "first" American candy bar. The company continued to provide semi-sweet chocolate products and in the 1930s a Not-So-Sweet bar and in 1939, added the Bitter-Sweet bar to Hershey's Miniatures. The Hershey's Semi-Sweet bar was being sold in the market in the 1960s.

Miniatures

Hershey's Special Dark is a component of the traditional

Hershey's Miniatures Hershey's Miniatures are packaged assortments of miniature-sized candy bars sold by The Hershey Company. Description Hershey's Miniatures were first introduced as an assortment in 1939, featuring the five most popular Hershey candy bars of the ...

assortment first sold in 1939, when the Special Dark was called Bitter-Sweet. In 2006, Hershey's began selling ''Hershey's Special Dark Miniatures'', which included the plain Special Dark bar, along with dark bars with peanuts (similar to a

Mr. Goodbar Mr. Goodbar is a candy bar containing peanuts and chocolate, whose packaging is identifiable by its yellow background and red text. It was manufactured by The Hershey Company and was introduced in 1925. History Although the Hershey Milk Chocol ...

) and with

crisped rice Puffed rice and popped rice (or pop rice) are types of puffed grain made from rice commonly eaten in the traditional cuisines of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. It has also been produced commercially in the West since 1904 and is popul ...

(similar to a

Krackel Krackel is a chocolate bar with crisped rice pieces made by The Hershey Company and first introduced on September 14, 1938. Overview Krackel contains milk chocolate and crisped rice. Krackel originally sold as an individual chocolate bar product u ...

Hershey's Extra Dark

Hershey's Extra Dark is a product very similar to the Special Dark. The three varieties are solid chocolate; chocolate with

macadamia nuts ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...

and dried

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry m ...

; and chocolate with cranberries,

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

, and almonds. Hershey's marketing emphasizes the

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

qualities of these bars' ingredients. Additionally, Hershey's Extra Dark contains 60%

cocoa solids Dry cocoa solids are the components of cocoa beans remaining after cocoa butter, the fatty component of the bean, is extracted from chocolate liquor, roasted cocoa beans that have been ground into a liquid state. Cocoa butter is 46% to 57% of the ...

, while Hershey's Special Dark contains 45% cocoa solids.

Ingredients

Special Dark is similar to a standard

, but is made with a

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...

(or semi-sweet) variety of chocolate, and contains a higher percentage (45%) of

chocolate liquor Chocolate liquor (cocoa liquor) is pure cocoa mass (cocoa paste) in solid or semi-solid form. Like the cocoa beans (nibs) from which it is produced, it contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in roughly equal proportion. It is produced fr ...

and

cocoa butter Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its melti ...

than milk chocolate. Full ingredients include: Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Milk Fat; Lactose (Milk), Soy Lecithin, PGPR, Natural Flavor, Milk

References

External links

* {{Hershey The Hershey Company brands Chocolate bars Products introduced in 1939