Information of M&M's

M's (named after the surnames of Forrest Mars, Sr., & Bruce Murrie of Hershey's)are "colorful button-shaped candies" produced by Mars, Incorporated. The candy shells, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case on one side, surround a variety of fillings, including milk chocolate, dark chocolate,crisped rice, mint chocolate, peanuts, almonds, orange chocolate, coconut, pretzel, wild cherry, and peanut butter. M&M's originated in the United States in 1941, and are now sold in over 100 countries.^[1] They are produced in different colors, some of which have changed over the years.   

1930s and 1940s

Forrest Mars invented the recipe for M&Ms chocolate during the Spanish Civil War. Mars saw soldiers eating pieces of chocolate covered with a hard sugary coating. The coating preventing the candy from melting in the hot sun. Forrest Mars received a patent for his manufacturing process on March 3, 1941.

Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey.

1950s and 1960s

In 1950, a black "M" was imprinted on the candies. It was changed to white in 1954. Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954, but first appeared only in the color tan. In 1960, Peanut M&M's added the yellow, red, green, and orange colors.

1970s and 1980s

Red candies were eliminated in 1976.

In 1980, M&M's were introduced internationally to Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

1990s

In 1990, Mars Snackfood US signed up to be a sponsor for NASCAR.

In 1991, Peanut Butter M&M's were released. These candies have peanut butter inside the chocolate center .

In 1995, Mars ran a promotion in which consumers were invited to vote on which of blue, pink, or purple would replace the tan M&M's.

In 1996, Mars introduced "M&M's Minis", smaller candies usually sold in plastic tubes instead of bags

2000–2005

In 2002, Mars solicited votes in their first ever "M&M's Global Color Vote" to add a new color from three choices: aqua (turquoise), pink, and purple. This time, purple won and was featured for a limited time.

In the summer of 2005, Mars added "Mega M&M's" to the lineup.^[20] These candies, at 55% larger than the traditional M&M's, were a little smaller than the ogre-sized version. They were available in milk chocolate and peanut varieties. The colors for Mega M&M's were changed to less-bright colors – teal (replacing green), beige (orange), maroon (red), gold (yellow), blue-gray (blue), and brown to appeal to a more adult consumer.

2006–present

In July 2006, Dark Chocolate M&M's reappeared in a purple package, followed in 2007 by Dark Chocolate Peanut M&M's.

M&M's also introduced another new product called "M&M's Premiums" in 2008. They come in five flavors – chocolate almond, mint chocolate, mocha, raspberry almond and triple chocolate (milk, dark, and white chocolate)

M&M's Premiums do not have a candy shell, but are coated with carnauba wax and color. Dark Chocolate was added in 2009, replacing Mocha.

In Summer 2009, M&M's launched a limited-edition "Strawberried Peanut Butter".

In April 2010, M&M's launched a new pretzel variety