Mars Wants To Change The Way You Feel About Protein Bars With New Snickers

It's no secret that Mars, Inc. is the world's leading chocolate producer, notes Statista, thanks to iconic brands like M&M's and Snickers. But the company is also rising up the ranks in a related category: protein bars. According to Fortune Business Insights, Mars is currently the world's fifth largest producer of protein bars, trailing fellow food giants The Kellogg Company and General Mills in the fast-growing market segment.

Protein bars have seen an explosive growth in popularity in recent years, with demand typically attributed to both their nutritional qualities, and their convenience as a food that can be consumed quickly and in any setting. The market size for protein bars ballooned to over $4.5 billion dollars by 2021, per Fortune Business Insights, and it's now projected to exceed $7 billion by 2029.

Given this growing market, it should come as no surprise that Mars, already a major player in the protein bar category, is looking to continue to grow its market share with exciting new products. The newest, per a recent press release, is a protein-packed version of the company's classic Snickers bar.

According to its recent press release, Mars' new Snickers Hi Protein bars will be on sale at least in a limited release as soon as January 2023, with full national distribution in the U.S. slated to occur later that year. In terms of flavor, the new Snickers protein bar will provide all the familiar favorites like chocolate, caramel, and peanuts. But the new bars will also boast a winning combination of high protein (20 grams per bar) and low sugar (only 4 grams).

"[A]fter talking with many consumers through the product development process, it was clear that the performance nutrition category was missing one key ingredient — delicious tasting products," noted Michelle Deignan, senior brand director for Mars Wrigley, in the press release.

Compared with the typical 2-ounce Snickers bar, which contains 29 grams of sugar, per Nutrition Value, the new 2-ounce protein bar is decidedly more nutritious. Each Snickers Hi Protein bar also delivers 220 calories, as well as 24% of the recommended daily amounts of dietary fiber, to go along with the 33% of daily protein, per the product page. The bars also provide 27% of daily saturated fat content.