Aero (chocolate bar)

Aero is an aerated chocolate bar manufactured by the Vevey-based company Nestlé. Originally produced by Rowntree's, Aero bars were introduced in 1935 to the North of England as the "new chocolate". By the end of that year, it had proved sufficiently popular with consumers that sales were extended throughout the United Kingdom.
By 1936, sales of the chocolate had reached the US, and later spread to many other countries including Canada, South Africa and Japan. Aero has been manufactured by Nestlé since 1988, after a takeover of Rowntree's. Known for its unique "bubbly" texture that collapses as the bar melts, it is available in many different flavours, and various forms including Aero Bubbles and Aero Biscuits.
The process of manufacture was patented in 1935 by Rowntree's in York, England. The patent describes how the chocolate is heated and then aerated to create small bubbles. It is poured into moulds of the solid outer chocolate shell. As the chocolate cools, reduced air pressure allows the bubbles to expand inside the bar's filling.
In 1935, Rowntree's launched Aero into the United Kingdom, followed by the Peppermint Aero from 1959. The wrapping was brown (green in the mint version) and displayed the "Rowntree's" script logo and the large word "AERO", along with the slogan "Hold on tight or I'll fly away!" below the "AERO" name. In 2014, the historical 1935 Aero packaging was placed online by historians at Rowntree's to help trigger nostalgic memories in people with dementia. The vintage packaging from the Nestlé UK & Ireland Archive was later released as a "reminiscence pack" on advice from the Alzheimer's Society. It included a 1950s Aero label to transform modern products. The 1953 Aero packaging commemorated the Queen's coronation.
During July 1983, the heatwave in the United Kingdom caused the bubbles in Aero bars to collapse due to the chocolate melting.
In 1997, Unilever sued Nestlé, stating that Nestlé infringed Unilever's patent for aerated chocolate ice cream products.
In 2004, three workers at the York factory were dismissed for intentionally misprinting rude messages on the packaging of 20 pallets of Aero bars.
In 2008, the old Nestlé York factory on Haxby Road was closed, and a new £15 million Aero factory was opened next door, with the capacity to make 183 million chocolate bars per year. That same year, Aero's packaging was updated with metallised laminate film to improve freshness. In 2015, the factory was making more than one billion Kit Kats and 200 million Aero bars each year. Nestlé invested over £1 million in new factory equipment in 2015 to manufacture the new Aero Mousse bars.
In February 2015, York's Chocolate Story museum celebrated the 80th anniversary of the launch of the Aero bar with demonstrations and activities. In September 2015, fashion designer Matthew Williamson collaborated with Nestlé to release a limited edition wrapper design for Aero Milk Chocolate and Aero Peppermint bars. The packaging was in soft pink and mint shades with metallic highlights and Williamson's butterfly motif.
The Aero flavoured McFlurry frozen desserts were available up until 2015, and brought back in the UK in May 2019. The flavours include Aero Chocolate and Aero Mint Chocolate, with chocolate pieces and sauce.
In Brazil, the bar is known as Suflair, but in 2014 Nestlé launched Aero in Brazilian market through subsidiary Garoto; in Hungary, Aero is known as Boci Aero and in the Netherlands as Bros (meaning "brittle"). Aero enjoys a large market following in South Africa with Aero, Aero Mint, and recently White Aero and Cappuccino Aero.
The Aero bar was made available for a short time in the United States by Nestlé during the 1980s, though it seems not to have been a commercial success. They are still available at certain speciality vendors or supermarkets such as Big Y, Wegmans and Publix that import the bars. Previously, The Hershey Company sold Aero bars in the United States under licence from Rowntree Chocolate Company from 1937 until 1939. Hershey recently marketed a similar bar called Hershey's Air Delight but has since been discontinued.
Aero bars were produced in Australia from the early 1970s until 1996. From 1996, the Aero bar was produced in Britain. In 2011, Nestlé recommenced manufacturing Aero bars in Australia at their Campbellfield factory in Victoria, with a capacity of up to 1000 tonnes per year. The bars had a different formula for Australian tastes with a smoother, creamier taste. The Aero bars sold in Britain would retain the older recipe.
In April 2001, Nestlé Canada announced that Aero and other bars manufactured at their Toronto factory would now be made alongside bars containing nuts. Nestlé no longer guaranteed that the bars were free from nut-protein contamination. In May 2001, the decision was reversed due to consumer outcry, and the company retained their nut-free guarantee for Canadian bars.
In 2004, Ukraine commenced producing Aero bars.
In 1998, amateur rocket enthusiast Derek Willis was eating an Aero bar and was inspired by the bubbles to create the low-cost fuel, Asprop (Aerated Solid Propellant).
In 2007, an observational study published in the British Medical Journal explored the use of the texture of Aero and Crunchie bars as a technique to explain bone structure to patients. They determined it was an overly simplistic method.
In 2011, Ford engineer Carsten Stake was inspired by the texture of Aero bars in a bid to reduce the weight of plastic engine covers in their Focus vehicles. The MuCell plastic is injected with gas bubbles during moulding, making a microscopic honeycomb-like structure that is twenty per cent lighter and so lowers fuel consumption.
The Aero bar was advertised in the late 1930s with the slogan, "You get a lift". Advertising about the imported bars in Melbourne, Australia in 1938 announced the Aero as the "...original English aerated milk chocolate... ...crisp, light and yet so sustaining".
Production ceased during wartime, and the bars were relaunched in the 1950s. The relaunch campaign had commissioned oil paintings of 40 "ordinary" women, to highlight that the chocolate bars were an accessible treat for all. The slogan used was 'Different... For her, Aero - the milk chocolate that's different!". After advertising Aero from 1951 to 1957, some of the portraits decorated the York factory for decades. In 2013, Nestlé attempted to identify the models, known as "Aero girls", to better track their company history. The portraits were exhibited as "Who Were the Aero Girls? Discovering Hidden Art in the Archives", at York's Mansion House, and the project website. Some of the models were later identified as Barbara Pitt, Janey Ironside, Rose Wylie, Myrtle Crawford (later, Lady Acland) and Pamela Synge.
In the 1970s, Rowntree's aired an advertisement in which children flew an Aero bar as if it were a kite.
In 1980, Nigel Havers featured in a train-themed Aero advertisement, which was included in the Animated Britain online project.
In the late 1980s, the slogan "Each Aero Chocolate Bar Has The Nourishment Of Almost Three Ounces Of Milk" was created by Toronto advertiser John Straiton. In 1987, the advertisement won the Rotten Apple Award from the Quebec Corporation of Professional Dietitians, as the comparison between the nutritional benefit of confectionery and dairy was considered misleading. Rowntree had previously received the same Rotten Apple Award in 1984 for a similar comparison between the bar with milk in a previous advertisement.
The slogan for Aero in Australia during the 1980s was "It's the bubbles of nothing that make it really something." From the 1999 redesign and "singers" advertising campaign Aero's tagline was "Have you felt the bubbles melt?" This slogan was invented by Nick Welch, an advertiser and the father of Florence Welch of the indie band Florence and the Machine.
In circa 1989-1993, a young couple playing chess advertisement was popular in Ireland on television.
The Aero packaging in 1993 in America had the slogan, "Melt into the moment.", supported by television advertising showing a woman taking a bath in liquid chocolate.
In 1996, Nestlé repackaged the Aero bar and relaunched it with television advertising that used voice-over by Dani Behr, and the phrase "Great chocolate taste." They changed the structure of the blocks to make it easier to break into sections. The advertisement showed a woman's day dreams while floating away during eating an Aero.
In 2000, Nestlé apologised and withdrew milk and white chocolate cranberry-flavoured Aero bars from the market. The accompanying slogan "Stuff Xmas! Treat yourself!", was considered potentially offensive by the Church of England and led to the suspension of distribution. In January 2001, the packaging was described as featuring a cartoon turkey with the words; "Delicious Aero chocolate with a touch of sauciness - What could be more uplifting than bubbles that melt into delicious Nestlé chocolate?".
In 2001, The Aero White was relaunched as a permanent offering with a campaign theme, "Here to Stay". In May that year, Nestlé UK's "All Bubble. No Squeak." campaign was previewed online prior to television, an unusual step at the time. It was previewed on the internet first, as the mouse character, Aeron, was computer-generated and this was considered a good strategy. The advertisement slogan, "All bubble. No squeak.", and the clip showed a man buying an Aero bar, which included a free hula-hooping mouse. He declined the mouse as the chocolate bar was considered good enough as to not require gimmickry. The animated mouse later won Best Animated Animal at the 2002 All Star Animal Awards. The promotional campaign included people in mouse costumes in Manchester providing passers-by with a hula-hoop challenge in exchange for a free Aero bar.
In July 2001, presenter Davina McCall accidentally promoted Aero during a live eviction episode of Big Brother UK. She highlighted crowd banners that stated, "Hats Off To The Bubble," mistakenly thinking that they were about evictee Paul "Bubble" Ferguson. It turned out that they were advertisements for the chocolate bar.
In 2002, Nestlé Canada's research showed that consumers would often break the Aero bar into pieces and then let it melt in the mouth to prolong the experience. Their subsequent advertising showed two women, the first biting into the bar, the other responding, "What are you doing? That's not right.".
In 2007, Aero Hot Chocolate was promoted as an ideal Winter drink, with an animated bubble "Lovely Bubbly" television campaign.
In 2009, skateboarder Bob Burnquist featured in a UK ad called "feel the bubbles", filmed skating through chocolate coloured balloons, with the Jackson 5's song ABC playing in the background.
The slogan in 2011 was "Irresistabubble"—a revival of a 1980s campaign that also featured the same word, and was created by Salman Rushdie, during his time as an advertising copywriter. Rushdie has said that he invented a whole series of bubble words for the campaign, including Delectabubble.
In 2012, agency Skive created the 'AeroMail' social media campaign in which consumers could "spread the bubbliness" of Aero with a digital balloon on Facebook.
In 2018, The Interflex Group won the "Best use of process colours only" in the FlexoTech Awards for their work on the Nestlé Aero Chocolate Bubbles print design. The judging panel highlighted the use of CMYK with metallic effects by lamination, achieving a 'copper' look.
There are several flavours of Aero bars, with the Original being composed of milk chocolate throughout. The Aero bubble sensation has also been extended to other confectionery and dessert products.
Aero Bubbles are balls of aerated chocolate with a chocolate shell, sold in a resealable bag.
In 2012, Nestlé removed artificial colours, flavours and preservatives from its entire confectionery range. The green colouring of the Mint Aero Bubbles product was changed to result from a plant extract.
On 4 May 2011, Nestlé introduced the Aero Biscuit. Aero Biscuit consists of the classic flavour Aero chocolate and round pieces of biscuit. It is currently sold throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.