"Try this unique combination of caramel, peanut and almond nougat covered in delicious white fudge."
- Hersheys.com
History
The
Double Zero Bar was launched in 1920 by the remains of the
Pratt and Langhoft Candy Company, which had been purchased by the
FA Martoccio Macaroni Company of
Minneapolis nine years earlier. In 1933 the manufacturer was renamed
Hollywood Brands Inc and a year later the Double Zero Bar was renamed
ZERO.
In 1967 Hollywood Brands was bought by
Consolidated Foods Corporation and continued to operate under the Hollywood Brands name until 1988 when it was purchased by
Huhtamaki Oy of Helsinki, Finland and became part of
Leaf, Inc.
In 1996 the
Hershey Foods Corporation acquired the confectionery operations of Leaf North America and became the new owner of the ZERO candy bar.
The Name
Although there's no definitive origin of the name "ZERO",
Hershey's says it comes from an advertising campaign that promoted the bar as a cool, tasty treat. Specific advertising used slogans like "
as cool as zero degrees". Boxes of ZERO bars were coloured a dark, cold blue and decorated with
snow flakes.
Frozen candy bars were a popular idea at the time and ZERO was often sold
frozen.
The Hershey Foods company prefers the name ZERO to appear in
all capital letters.
Availability
The Hershey's website mentions that this "candy bar has developed
a very loyal consumer base". They say that since 1931 the ZERO bar has had what some would call a "
cult following", although they don't say why the year 1931 is important.
A
cult following and
loyal consumer base are usually indicators that a product is consistently popular with a
relatively small following, but not widely popular enough to stock at every
grocery store across the country. It could be that the
white fudge is often assumed to be
white chocolate but doesn't quite taste right. And the inside of the bar looks like
chocolate but is actually
malted nougat, which is surprisingly different in taste and texture when you're expecting
chocolate.
ZERO is available for purchase
online from a variety of sources. On average, a box of 24 will cost $18 US. Individual bars can be purchased for $0.79-$1.00 US each. Plus
shipping and
applicable taxes, of course.
Nutritional Information
Serving Size - 1 bar (52 g / 1.85oz)
Total Calories 240
Calories from Fat 80
Total Fat 9g
Saturated Fat 6g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 100mg
Total Carbohydrate 36g
Dietary Fiber >1g
Sugars 30g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 6%
Iron 2%
ZERO is approved by the
Orthodox Union of Jewish Congregations of America. Kosher status:
OUD (
Orthodox Union Dairy).
Sources
http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/zero.asp
http://www.oldtimecandy.com/zero.htm
http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/zero_bar/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Bar