Forrest Mars was looking for a way to create a chocolate candy that could withstand warmer temperatures.
According to the company’s history, Mars was inspired by soldiers eating chocolate pellets coated with a hard sugar shell during the Spanish Civil War. The coating helped keep the chocolate from melting as easily.
That basic concept became the foundation for M&M’s.
The first M&M’s were introduced in the United States in 1941, giving consumers a chocolate candy that was portable, colorful, and protected by a crisp outer shell.
