candy bar
A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with othe ...
raisins
A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the dar ...
, and roasted
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
s — using a sectioned and truncated pyramid shape. Chunky is produced by
Ferrara Candy Company
The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group.
The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & ...
, a division of
Ferrero SpA
Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate produc ...
.
History
The Chunky candy bar was introduced in the late 1930s by
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
candy maker Philip Silvershein, at the time made with milk chocolate, raisins, cashews and Brazil nuts. Silvershein, a friend of
William Wrigley Jr.
William Mills Wrigley Jr. (September 30, 1861 – January 26, 1932) was an American chewing gum industrialist. He was founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891.
Biography
William Mills Wrigley Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Penns ...
, distributed the bar via the Wrigley Gum Company. When Nestlé assumed rights to the brand in 1984, it changed the ingredients to milk chocolate, raisins and peanuts. In 2018, Ferrero SpA purchased Nestlé's U.S. candy line, which included Chunky.
In the 1950s, a Chunky could be purchased for five cents (as could most candy bars), with a smaller version, the Chunky Cutie, available for two cents.
Advertising
"Chunky Square", a pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair, featured a glass-walled automated factory, where visitors could watch the manufacturing of Chunky candy bars.
An early 1970s TV commercial for Chunky showed a young boy watching TV with his father. The boy amused viewers by claiming that Chunky was "THICKER-ER". The candy bar used the "Thicker-er" campaign into the 1980s.
Other Chunky advertising slogans included "Chunky, What a Chunk o' Chocolate", intoned by the nasal voice of
Arnold Stang
Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009) ''
, and "Open Wide for Chunky".
Varieties
* Original – milk chocolate, peanuts and raisins – silver wrapper
* Pecan Chunky (discontinued) – milk chocolate, pecans only – gold wrapper
* Dark Chunky (discontinued) – dark chocolate, peanuts and raisins – gold wrapper
* Deluxe Nut (discontinued) – milk chocolate, peanuts, almonds, cashews, and hazelnuts – gold wrapper
* Solid Milk Chocolate (discontinued) – milk chocolate only – brown wrapper
* Miniatures ("Cuties") (discontinued) – same as originals but 1"x 1"x 3/4" thick (individually wrapped), in a poly-bag