The M.S. Hershey Foundation is celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Mr. Goodbar Candy Bar introduced on November 20, 1925. Samuel F. Hinkle, who graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1922 with a degree in industrial engineering, was hired as a Hershey plant chemist in November 1924, and a year later he developed the Mr. Goodbar formula.
According to Mr. Hinkle, who 31 years later in 1956 was promoted to President of The Hershey Company:
"We’d been experimenting with a peanut bar, peanuts being a popular product with the American people. We decided we’d better use Spanish peanuts rather than Virginia peanuts. We came up with this Spanish peanut, a small round peanut, and we left the little red shell on the outside. We called it roasted, but we really were frying the peanuts in fat and combining them with our milk chocolate. We began to think about a name. Actually, it was Mr. Hershey who really came up with the name. Someone said, ‘That’s a good bar.’ And his (Mr. Hershey’s) hearing being a little bad, he thought they said, Mr. Goodbar. So he named it Mr. Goodbar."
During the 1930s Depression era, Mr. Goodbar was marketed as a “Tasty Lunch” because the peanuts gave it added nutritional value. During these years the bars sold 2 for 5 cents. In the 1950s and 1960s Mr. Goodbar carried the slogan, “Quick Energy in Every Bar!”
As of 2025, the annual sales of Mr. Goodbar are estimated to be approximately $175 million (70% miniatures, 20% standalone bars, 10% seasonal/licensing). The Hershey Company considers the Mr. Goodbar to be a "Variety Brand," mainly bundled with its Hershey’s Miniatures Assortments.
