M & M® Candy
M&Ms® chocolate candies have two possible origins. Some sources say that M&Ms®
were invented in the 1930s, based on a suggestion by soldiers fighting in the Spanish
Civil War. The soldiers protected chocolate candy from melting in their pockets and
packs by covering the candy with a sugary coating.
The M&Mf®/Mars Company adapted this coating to create its most popular product.
M&M®/Mars, the company that currently manufactures M&Ms®, first manufactured
the candies in 1940. Forrest Mars, Sr., who formed M&M Limited in Newark, New
Jersey, wanted to sell chocolates that could be sold year round, especially during the
summer months when sales traditionally decreased. Since air conditioning was not
available, retailers did not have the means to keep chocolate from melting and
consumers did not buy it. By putting his chocolate inside the candy shell, the chocolate
did not melt and M&Ms3 could be sold any time. They could be eaten neatly in almost
any climate. In fact, they were made part of service rations during World War II.
History
At the heart of every M & M® candy is its chocolate, and chocolate has a long history.
The cocoa tree is a native plant of South America's river valleys. It was brought north to
Mexico by the seventh century A.D. The Mayans and Aztecs made a drink from the
beans of the cocoa tree. The upper classes drank this concoction,
called cacahuatl, which was a blend of the cocoa beans, red pepper, vanilla, and water.
In 1528, the drink was brought back to Europe by Spanish explorers returning from the
New World. They found the drink, as drunk by the natives, bitter and unpalatable, and
they blended the cocoa beans with other ingredients including sugar, cinnamon cloves,
anise, almonds, hazelnuts, vanilla, orange-flower water, and musk. They ground their
new concoction and heated it to create a paste. The paste was smoothed onto the leaves
of a plantain tree and allowed to hardened. The slab of chocolate was then removed.
To make chocalatal, the ancestor of our hot chocolate, the Spanish dissolved a bit of the
chocolate slab in hot water and thin corn broth. It was stirred to distribute the fats from
the chocolate paste more evenly. By the mid-seventeenth century, choclatal had
replaced cachuatl in its original areas for all except the lower classes of Mexico.
The Spanish were also the first to consume chocolate in its solid form, though it was
nothing like the center of a M&M®. After conquering the unfounded and widespread
fear that the consumption of chocolate would lead to bowel
obstructions, Europeans were able to enjoy the treat, and cookbooks including chocolate
candy recipes sprang up. As made in the mid 1700s, the chocolate candy was a
combination of the chocolate paste described above and sugar held together by plant
gums. The candy had a coarse, crumbly texture that did not hold the sugar well, and it
was not popular.
It was not until 1828 that a method was developed to produce the solid chocolate that
we know today. A Dutch chocolate maker, Conrad van Houten, invented a screw press
that squeezed most of the butter out of cocoa beans. This process separated cocoa
powder from cocoa butter. The powder was more useful on its own, providing a better
base for hot chocolate. When cocoa butter was blended with regular ground cocoa
beans, the resulting paste was smoother and easier to blend with sugar. Within 20 years,
an English company introduced the first commercially successful prepared hard
chocolate.
In 1876, Swiss candymaker Daniel Peter used dried milk to make solid milk chocolate.
In 1913, another Swiss candymaker, Jules Sechaud, developed a technique for making
chocolate shells filled with other confections. Chocolate was indeed publicly popular by
this time, though still expensive.
Hershey Foods marketed one of the first chocolate bars that was both widely affordable
and available. Milton Hershey, the company's founder, became fascinated by a chocolate
statue displayed at the 1893 World's Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. When he decided to
manufacture chocolate, he used fresh milk and mass production techniques. The latter
insured he could sell large quantities of individually wrapped chocolate at inexpensive
prices. Hershey began to manufacture chocolate bars in 1904.
In 1940, Forrest Mars, Sr., and an associate whose name has been lost to history, started
to manufacture M&Ms'. The M in M&Ms® comes from the first initial of the last names
of Mars and his associate. Peanut-centered M&Ms' were first introduced in
1954; almond-centered M&Ms'1988; mint chocolate M&Ms'1989; peanut butter
chocolate (peanut butter creme center surrounded by chocolate surrounded by a candy
shell)
M&Ms@, 1990. The M&M®/Mars Company claims that combined sales of all the M&M'
varieties makes it the best-selling snack brand in the United States.
In 1976, red-colored M&Ms' were discontinued due to a health concern associated with
a certain red food coloring. This controversial coloring was not used in the M&Ms'but
the company did not want to confuse the consumer. Red reappeared in M&Ms' in 1987.
(In response to a consumer survey, blue M&Ms' replaced tan M&Ms® in 1995.)
Raw Materials
M&Ms' have two main components, hardened liquid chocolate and the hard candy shell.
Liquid chocolate comes from a blend of whole milk, cocoa butter, sugar, and chocolate
liquor, among other ingredients. The chocolate liquor is a thick syrup that is made from
the grinding of cocoa beans. Roasted cocoa nibs (nibs are the meat of the bean) undergo
the process of broyage, in which they are crushed by a grinder made of revolving granite
blocks. Chocolate liquor is actually composed of small particles of roasted nibs
suspended in oil. The candy shell is made from a blend of sugar and corn syrup.
The Manufacturing
Process
Molding
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1 The liquid chocolate is poured into tiny molds to create the chocolate centers of
the candy. (If they are peanut or almond M&Ms®, the chocolate surrounds a
whole peanut or almond. For peanut butter chocolate M&Ms'the peanut butter
center is made first, and then surrounded by the chocolate. The production
process that follows is essentially the same for all varieties.)
2 After the candies are formed, they are "tumbled" to make the chocolate center
smooth and rounded. Then they are allowed to harden.
Coating
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3 When the chocolates are hard, they are transported via conveyor belt to the
coating area, where the process called panning is performed.
4 During panning, the chocolates are rotated in large containers as liquid candy
made of sugar and corn syrup is sprayed onto them. The coats are sprayed on
rotating chocolates at timed intervals. These intervals allow each coat to dry.
Each coat leaves an even layer, a shell, of dry candy substance. The chocolate
centers receive several coatings to ensure a uniform, complete coat on every
piece.
5 The color is added to a finishing syrup and applied as the final coat. Each batch
is a different color. Finally, the liquid candy dries into the hardened shell.
Printing
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6 The single-colored batches are combined into the mixtures of red, yellow, blue,
green, brown, and orange. They are then transported to the machine that stamps
the "m" on the shells. A special conveyor belt carries the pieces to this machine.
Each piece rests in its own indentation. The piece runs under rubber etch rollers
that gently touch each candy to print the "m." This machine is specially designed
to imprint the "m" without cracking the thin candy shell. The process used is
similar to the off-set printing process. Approximately 2.6 million M&Ms' are
transported to the etching machine per hour. One hundred million individual
M&Ms® can be manufactured per day.
Packaging
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7 A special packaging machine weighs the candies, pours the proper amount into
individual bags, and heat-seals the package. Plain M&Ms' are proportioned
(approximately) as follows: 30% brown; 20% yellow; 20% red; 10% green; 10%
orange; 10% blue. Peanut M&Ms' are 20% brown; 20% yellow; 20% red; 20%
blue; 10% green; and 10% orange. Peanut Butter Chocolate M&Ms® and Almond
M&Ms® have even proportions (20% each) of yellow, red, green, blue, and
brown.
8 The finished packages are moved along a conveyor belt to a machine that
assembles the shipping cartons and fills them with the appropriate number of
candy packages. The machine also seals the cartons shut.
Quality Control
After the single color M&M® batches are combined, the pieces are sifted to eliminated
any misshapen pieces. If an M&M' is missing an imprinted "m," it is not considered a
reject. Because of the minor variations in shape from piece to piece, it is impossible to
guarantee an "m" on each piece of candy.
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