Aero (chocolate)

An Aero bar

An Aero split

Aero is a milk chocolate bar filled with bubbles of air (see air chocolate), made by Nestlé and primarily sold in the United Kingdom (where it originated), Ireland, Mainland Europe, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Middle East and Canada.

History

The process of manufacture was patented in 1935 by Rowntree's. Registration of the trademark and manufacture to market started soon after.^{[citation needed]}

In 1935, Rowntree's launched Aero into the UK, followed by the mint variation in the 1970s. 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. The words "Aerated Milk Chocolate" ("Aerated Milk-Mint Chocolate" for the mint version) were seen multiple times in the word "AERO." In the 1970s, an advertisement was aired in which kids flying a kite thought the kite was an Aero bar. Then, brown and white bubbles would fly out of the imaginary bar to form the Aero wrapper. In 1988, Rowntree Mackintosh (as it then was, having merged with Mackintosh's in the 1960s) was losing money and was sold to Swiss company Nestlé, who was already famous for its own Nesquik flavoured milkshakes and Milkybar white chocolate bars. Nestle continue to manufacture many former Rowntree bars and products, and until 1993 several chocolate products continued to use the Rowntree/Rowntree Mackintosh brand name. Since then only the sugar confectionery bears the old Rowntree name (Fruit Pastilles, Fruit Gums, and so on).

Flavours and related products

A Mint Aero bar

An Aero Mint split

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 centre, covered in milk chocolate), Caramel Aero (with a caramel layer on top of the chocolate layer), Dark Chocolate Aero, White Chocolate Aero, Latte flavour Aero and Crispy Aeros (similar to Nestlé Crunch bars). Orange Aeros (orange/chocolate layered) were sold for a while as well, and larger 100g sized bars are currently available in some stores. In the 1970s there were also Strawberry flavour bars. In the UK, and recently Canada, Aero Bubbles are also available. These are small, round chocolates with a bubbly centre, available in Milk Chocolate and Mint flavours and a mixture of both. In May 2012, Aero Orange and Aero Bubbles Orange were both introduced in Canada and in the UK as a limited edition.

Japan has produced dozens of unique Aero flavours, among them Vanilla Milkshake, Hot Milk, Green Tea and others. They usually consist of a flavoured, coloured chocolate centre and outer milk chocolate layer. Aero Cocoa (plain, Green Tea and Strawberry flavours) is also sold in Japan. Released in 2006, the Aero Vanilla Yoghurt flavour was released only in Canada. As with all other Aero bars manufactured by Nestlé in Canada and Nicaragua, 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. In Ireland there was an Irish Cream flavour Aero.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010 in the UK and 2011 in Ireland, Nestlé modified the ingredients and colouring of the Mint Aero Bubbles product. This resulted in the product retaining its mint flavour, but losing its distinctive green bubble interior. This has been explained by Nestlé as being a response to corporate policy to remove food colourings from the product. There has, however, been no indication that the Mint Aero chocolate bar is to be modified in the same way.

Aero Mint now contains colours derived from a natural source; Copper Complexes of Chlorophyllins and Circumin.

in 2011 Nestlé made an Aero Lamb for Easter that year, it came back in 2012 with a peppermint centre and again for Easter of that year. It also returned for Easter of 2013.

In 2012 Nestlé discontinued the medium areo bars and replaced them with areo bubbly bars, there is also a 12 week only single orange bubbly bar.

Aero Biscuit

Main article: Aero (biscuit)

On 4 May 2011, Nestlé introduced the Aero biscuit. It consists of the classic flavour Aero chocolate, and round pieces of biscuit. It is currently sold throughout the UK and Ireland, and is also available in Aero Orange and Aero Mint varieties.

Countries where the Aero bar is sold

As well as the United Kingdom, its place of creation, the bar is also sold as Aero in Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Ireland, Kuwait, Malta, Mauritius, Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.^{[citation needed]}

In Brazil the bar is known as Suflair. In Hungary it is sold by Nestlé as Boci Aero and in the Netherlands it is sold by Nestlé 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. However, they are still available at certain speciality vendors or supermarkets such as Big Y and Wegmans 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 currently markets a similar bar called Hershey's Air Delight. Another place to find them is in the United Kingdom section of the World Showcase at Epcot, Disney World, as well as the international food aisle in Kroger, Fresh and Easy, Meijer, World Market, and some Publix and Winn Dixie locations nation-wide.

Manufacture

Aero bars are manufactured in nut-free facilities in England and Canada. However, in Australia where they are manufactured, they do have traces of nuts. They are made in a number of discrete stages beginning with deposition of unaerated shell chocolate into the bar moulds. A frozen cone shaped to fit into the bar is then pushed down to spread the liquid chocolate into the entire mould and set it. The aerated chocolate is then deposited into the centre and the moulds are shaken to distribute the chocolate evenly in the cavity. This is then chilled to set the bubbly chocolate in place before a final backing off deposit is created to give the back. The moulds are then shaken again to get a flat even back. The moulds are specially shaped to ensure that no meniscus is formed on the bottom, which can give the chocolate a scuffed appearance and also cause issues with the machines when they break off and build up. The bars are then chilled again for a longer period. This helps to make the chocolate contract for easier demoulding. The moulds are then tipped over and hammered to demould the bars, which then go to the packaging section.

Slogans

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. The latest slogan as of 2011 is now "Irresistabubble". In 2012 the Aero bar slogan will be changed to "Get your bubble on".^{[citation needed]}

Marketing and advertising

An Aero Caramel split

One commercial involves two women buying the bar from a convenience store and one of the women instructing the other to wait for the bubbles to melt. They both try it and remark to one another (their mouths still full of the chocolate), "You feel the bubbles?" "I love the bubbles".

More recently an advert featured American actor Jason Lewis in just a towel explaining how chocolate melts at 37.0 °C (98.6 °F) (body temperature) and that as the bubbles melt it "increases the pleasure...".

A recent commercial from Aero was shot by Ty Evans and Wayne Daly, featuring skateboarder Bob Burnquist; it consisted of skateboarding through a skate park full of balloons. This advert has become very popular due to its entertainment value and its lack of "gender branding".^{[citation needed]} The song used in this advert is Jackson 5's "ABC" song.

Aero conducted a six week roadshow to promote their Aero Hot Chocolate product. This experiential marketing campaign was exclusive to Asda stores and included 45 activity days. It proved very successful winning the ISP (Institute of Sales Promotion) Gold award for Experiential Marketing at Point of Purchase 2009. The key success criteria for this campaign was a product sampling rate in excess of the original forecast of 150k—throughout the six week roadshow; 179,450 samples were taken with a sample to product conversion rate of 64%.

Varieties and Flavors

Normal

• Milk Chocolate
• Mint Chocolate
• Orange Chocolate
• Dark Chocolate (70%)

Aero Bubbles

• Milk Chocolate
• Mint Chocolate
• Orange Chocolate

Aero Biscuit

• Milk Chocolate
• Orange Chocolate

Aero Bubble Biscuits

• Milk Chocolate

See also

• Mirage (chocolate)
• Wispa

External links

• Aero to share
• A Brief History Of Aero (letter from Nestlé UK)
• Nestlé Aero Bubbles
• Aero "hunk" advert