Sky Bar Could Become MA's Official Chocolate Bar Under New Bill

SUDBURY, MA — A state representative in Massachusetts recently filed a bill to designate a candy bar crafted in Massachusetts as the state's official chocolate bar.

Rep. Carmine Gentile (D-13th Middlesex) filed bill HD5583, which would make the 88-year-old Sky Bar the official chocolate bar of Massachusetts. The bill has since been referred to the House Rules Committee.

The Sky Bar is the first chocolate bar with multiple flavored centers: caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge. It was first invented in 1938 by the New England Confectionery Company.

Before the candy bar debuted, NECCO initiated a competition for its name, and “Sky Bar” was ultimately chosen as the winning entry. They also decided to run a skywriting advertising campaign to build up excitement before its release.

The public was treated to a flyover of Boston and the surrounding towns. The words“Sky Bar” were clearly visible on certain days of the week, a representative for Duck Soup told Patch.

But in 2018, NECCO went bankrupt, unable to find a buyer for the entire company, and was forced to sell its assets piecemeal. That’s when Louise Mawhinney, the owner of a general store called Duck Soup in Sudbury, bid on the candy bar and won the rights to the intellectual property of the Sky Bar.

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The gourmet store on Boston Post Road sells unique coffee, food and gifts. Mawhinney said one of the reasons other candy companies didn't take the Sky Bar was its difficulty to make.

"It's quite hard to make a candy bar with four different centers because they've all got to be at the same viscosity and temperature, or else it'll just burst through the chocolate," Mawhinney told Patch back in February. "So it took us a while to learn that, but now I think we're pretty much on a roll, and I have a fantastic team."

The Sky Bar has also become a family affair, as Mawhinney’s son, Frank, who works at Duck Soup as a manager, is also the production manager at Sky Bar Candy Co.

Duck Soup said that when people found out the Sky Bar had been saved from extinction, there was overwhelming support to keep it alive. Fans still travel to see the Sky Bars being made at its Sudbury-based factory.

Now, nearly 90 years since its creation, Duck Soup is the only manufacturer of the original Sky Bar, and the candy bar is the only NECCO product still made in New England.

"Sky Bar has been a great chocolate candy bar for generations. I enjoyed it growing up. It was a favorite of mine," said Rep. Gentile in a statement to Patch. "After its previous manufacturer closed down years ago, I was delighted to celebrate its rebirth at Duck Soup in Sudbury by filing legislation to recognize it as the Commonwealth’s official chocolate bar."

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