Krackel Bar: History, Ingredients & Brands

Snack History Nostalgia Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Crisped Rice in chocolate has been a delicious treat that consumers have enjoyed for over 80 years, thanks to Krackel and the Crunch bar. Of course, people can enjoy this type of chocolate candy outside of these two brands. Still, these are the heavy hitters that have made this chocolate treat so popular.

Keep on reading to learn more!

History

The Krackel is made by Hershey and always has been. Hershey released this delicious candy bar in 1938. This is actually one of the few candy bars that were actually developed by Milton Hershey himself.

When the Krackel was initially released, it was not only a crisped rice and chocolate treat – it originally had nuts in it as well! The original wrapper advertised the ingredients as Milk Chocolate, Toasted Peanuts, and Oven Popped Rice. It was also made with vanillin, an artificial flavor – this was also noted in big, bold letters on the wrapper – so this was a selling point at the time.

Although it was called the Krackel – it could also be referred to as Krackel Crisp Nutty – so at the time of its release in the 1930s, they marketed the crisped rice and the toasted peanuts together. In 1941 it switched to just being a crisped rice bar.

These days, you can only find a Krackel bar as a miniature; however, initially, it was a full-sized candy bar. It was 1997 when its production was reduced to only miniature candy bars. However, fans kept asking for the full-sized candy car. They got their wish in 2014 as the full-sized Krackel was rereleased. Unfortunately, this did not last long, and it is once again only available in a fun-size bar.

Logo

Krackel Vs. Crunch

Although the Krackel and The Crunch (at least the main product) are very similar, most people have a preference. Both bars are milk chocolate with crisped rice, so how much of a difference could there be in these two candy bars?

Apparently, a lot. Although it is difficult to make a side-by-side comparison at this point as the Krackel only comes in a miniature candy bar now, this was not always the case. At one time, you could buy comparable bars. Even though they look the same on the surface, there were some notable differences.

The most significant difference would be the chocolate to crisped rice ratio. The Crunch bar uses far more pieces of crisped rice than the Krackel bar. However, when you stop to think about this, it makes sense. This means that both of the companies you are comparing live up to the names of the product you are buying for once.

When comparing adjectives like crunch and crackle, you would think that crunch is louder and more noticeable than a mere krackel. This is true in the candy bar comparison as there is more chocolate in the Krackel than in the Crunch, making the Crunch more crispy and crunchy.

Now, these were just the differences in texture in comparing full-sized bars. Of course, you can now only get the Krackel in a miniature bar. Fun-sized candy bars tend to be thicker than their full-sized counterparts. Because of this, the chocolate to crisped rice ration may seem ever bigger than ever before.

Which a person prefers is an individual choice. However, even with this slight difference, they are still very similar products. Most people who like one would still eat the other one if that was the only one available at the time.

The Parent Companies

The Krackel Bar

Like most products, the Krackel and the Crunch are only one product offered by their parent companies. Krackel has been owned by Hershey since it entered the market. Nestle owned Crunch until recently, and now it is owned by Ferrero.

So what other products are their parent companies known for? Are these candy bars their stars, or were they just one product out of many?

Let’s Start With The Hershey Company – the parent company of the Krackel. First, there are 29 distinct product lines under the Hershey company. Then when you add up all the different flavors and varieties under those product lines, you are talking about more than 500 individual products. Here are the main product lines:

• Hershey’s Kisses
• Kit Kat
• Ice Breakers candy
• Twizzlers
• Jolly Rancher
• 5th Avenue Bar
• Almond Joy
• Mounds Candy Bar
• Bubble Yum
• Breath Savers
• Brookside
• BarkThins
• Cadbury
• Good and Plenty
• Heath Bar
• Mr Goodbar
• Milk Duds
• Payday Bar
• Rolo
• Skor bar
• Symphony
• Whatchamacallit
• Whoppers
• Whizzeewhatzit
• York
• Zagnut
• Zero

Most of the products underneath these brands are varieties of what you would expect. Of course, there is Halloween candy and Christmas candy too. The Hershey’s line and Reese’s line are the biggest, including things other than candy bars. For instance, here are some examples of other Reese products: Reese’s snack cups, Reese’s peanut butter. Reese’s dipped pretzels, Reese’s chocolate, and peanut butter shell topping, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Topping.

Hershey’s makes chocolate treats and has a line of syrups and toppings, dessert cups, dipped pretzels, snack mixes, and even organic chocolate.

The Crunch Bar

Although Nestle has sold off much of the chocolate and candy they used to make, they still make plenty of products. Some of the brands they are still associated with include Gerber, Nestle Toll House, Nestle Pure Life, Nescafe, Coffeemate, Purina, Stouffer’s, Nestle Ice Cream, Dreyer’s, Carnation, and Lean Cuisine. As you can see, their product catalog is much more diverse.

Ferrero now owns Crunch. Although you may not think you are as familiar with this company, you have probably enjoyed many brands they offer. Here is a list of products or brands under the Ferrero umbrella:

• Nutella
• Tic Tac
• Kinder
• Ferrero Rocher
• Butterfinger
• Crunch
• Baby Ruth
• Fannie May

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for the Krackel bar, taken from the official website

• Milk Chocolate
• Sugar
• Chocolate
• Cocoa Butter
• Nonfat Milk
• Milk Fat
• Lecithin
• PGPR (EMULSIFIER)
• Vanillin (ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR)
• Rice Flour
• Sugar
• Malt Extract
• Salt
• Monoglycerides

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 piece (8.6g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat	21
Calories	44
Total Fat	2.3g	4%
Saturated Fat	1.4g	7%
Cholesterol	0.9mg	0%
Sodium	17mg	1%
Potassium	28mg	1%
Total Carbohydrates	5.5g	2%
Dietary Fiber	0.2g	1%
Sugars	4.5g
Protein	0.6g
Vitamin A		0%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium		1%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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