The Zero Candy Bar is a candy bar produced by the Hershey's Chocolate company. According to the wrapper, it is made from Caramel, Peanut and Almond nougat covered with white fudge. The first thing I have to say about the Zero Candy Bar is that before discovering it in my local food liquidators a month ago, I had never heard mention of its existence. Given, that, as mentioned, I have been a fan and student of candy bar for decades, it is surprising that I had never heard of the Zero bar before. Was this some type of Mandela Effect? Was this a Berenstain Bears situation? My local liquidator is not like the Grocery Outlet, safely corporate and predictable. This is a real fell off the back of a truck type of place, and I wondered if they had inadvertently received a shipment of candy bars from a parallel dimension. I also briefly wondered, based on the name, whether this was some sort of diet candy bar, and whether it was made with invert rice sugar and sorbitol and had no calories. But nope, this is a full caloried candy bar, made by the country's major candy bar manufacturer, that for some reason, I have never heard of.
But what does it taste like? I don't actually know, I have had it by my side for weeks, wanting to share the experience. So...are you ready?
When unwrapping it, the rich smell of white chocolate is noticeable.
It has a chewy texture with a nutty flavor.
Surprisingly, I don't have anything that I can easily compare this to. Maybe a snickers bar with a Hershey's white chocolate bar wrapped around it?
The chewy texture means it takes a while to get through.
White chocolate and/or white fudge has a decidedly light taste, while almond is meatier and more "natural", so this bar has a contradiction between having tastes and textures on both sides of the candy bar continuum.
Well, I have finished that. Certainly an interesting candy bar. The name "Zero" is certainly interesting, because it certainly was not a light or uneventful process. In fact, my mouth feels assailed by the contrasting tastes and textures, as well as the somewhat difficult task of chewing. To be fair, as mentioned I bought this from a liquidator, so perhaps it is better when fresh.
Still, the Zero Candy Bar remains a mystery to me. My best guess is that this was a test launch of a product that didn't catch on, and thus was being liquidated. But, to be honest, I am just going to let the mystery percolate, like a summertime romance that could never go further, and wasn't quite compatible, but makes sense in a mysterious way as a one time thing.