Aero (chocolate)
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Aero is a chocolate candy bar filled with bubbles of air, made by Nestlé.
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[edit] UK origins
It was originally introduced in the North of England in 1935 by the Rowntree Mackintosh chocolate company in York, one of the first products in a new marketing-led sales initiative introduced by the company during the 1930s. Distribution was increased to the rest of the UK during the following months. Rowntree Mackintosh was acquired by Nestlé in 1988, who continued the production of the Aero brand.
[edit] Flavours
There are several flavours of Aero. These include the Original Aero (which consists of milk chocolate throughout), Mint Aero (with a green bubbly mint-flavoured layer on top of a chocolate layer), Caramel Aero (with a caramel layer on top of the chocolate layer), Dark Chocolate Aero, White Aero (made of white chocolate), Latte-flavoured Aero and Crispy Aeros (similar to Nestlé Crunch bar). Orange Aeros (orange/chocolate layered) were sold for a while, as well. Back in the 1970s there were also Strawberry flavoured bars. In 2006 a special vanilla milkshake flavoured version was released only in Japan. It consisted of a vanilla flavoured white chocolate centre and outer dark chocolate layer. Another new version released in 2006 is the Aero Vanilla Yogourt flavour, available only in Canada. As with all other Aero bars manufactured by Nestle in Canada, it is manufactured in a peanut-free facility. In Australia there is also an Aero Temptations bar, which has the bubbly chocolate, but with a caramel topping.
When Aero changed its logo in 2005 it also released Irish Cream and Sticky Toffee flavours in the UK. Not long after this a new product was added to the brand called Aero Bubbles, balls of chocolate with half milk chocolate and half mint shells with bubbled chocolate inside.
[edit] Where Aero is sold
In addition to the United Kingdom, the bar is also sold in Canada, Australia, The Republic of Ireland, Japan, and New Zealand under the Aero name, and in the Netherlands by Nestlé as Bros (meaning: 'brittle'). The Aero bar was made available for a short time in the United States by Nestle during the 1980s, though it seems not to have been a commercial success. The British version is available in some parts of the US as an import. Aero enjoys a large market following in South Africa with Aero, Aero Mint and, recently, White Aero.
[edit] Manufacture
According to the entry in the patent database, Aero bars are formed by a method involving chocolate in a liquid state on the verge of solidifying. Air is run through the chocolate with a vacuum as it cools (in the form of many very small bubbles), resulting in evenly distributed bubbles throughout the bar and a honeycomb-like texture.
The exact procedure for making the bubbles is a closely guarded secret. The question of how the bubbles are so evenly distributed throughout the chocolate was the subject of a question in one issue of New Scientist, which made it into the compendium of readers' questions Does Anything Eat Wasps?. A spokesperson for Nestlé provided some clues but there has been no definitive answer.
[edit] Slogans
From 2000 to the redesign in 2005, Aero's slogan was "All Bubble. No Squeak", a play on the name of a British dish known as Bubble and Squeak.
After the 2005 redesign of the product, it was given a new tagline of "Have you felt the bubbles melt?", a slogan used for the product in Canada since 2003.
[edit] External links
- Aero at Nestlé UK
- A Brief History Of Aero (letter from Nestlé UK)
- Aero Patent
