Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
SUDBURY, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A decades-old chocolate bar could be seeing some new popularity, thanks to a bill on Beacon Hill.
Bill HD.5583 was proposed by Sudbury State Representative Carmine Gentile back in January, and if passed, would make Sky Bar the state’s official chocolate bar.
The candy was first invented in 1938 by Joseph Cangemi at the New England Confectionery Company, also known as Necco. The bar is iconic for being molded into four separate flavor sections of caramel, peanut, vanilla, and fudge, all covered in a chocolate coating.
After Necco went bankrupt, Sky Bar and other Necco products almost disappeared. However, when Sudbury general store ‘Duck Soup’ owner Lisa Mawhinney and her son Frank purchased Sky Bar from Necco at an auction in 2018, it breathed new life into the chocolate treat.
Frank said it’s a good feeling to keep something with such deep-rooted history alive.
“It’s wonderful. We’re the last thing from Necco to still be made in New England as a whole, and Necco was huge. I think it was the biggest candy company in the world at one point,” said Frank. “It would make sense that this iconic candy bar would be the official chocolate bar, because it’s still here representing Massachusetts.”
The new Sky Bar Confectionary Company location now sits right next to Duck Soup in Sudbury. Using locally sourced ingredients and some slight variations to the original 1938 recipe, Frank said they put in hard work to put out a product people can enjoy.
‘We we’re able to use their recipes as a starting point, but then modified it to work with our equipment and access to ingredients,” said Frank. “We can make just over 5,000 bars every day. That’s with only five people.”
Rep. Gentile said he hopes to push the bill forward later in April.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jared Brosnan (@JaredBrosnanWBZ) reports.