The Classic Cadbury Chocolate That Deserves To Be Resurrected

Cadbury has been making chocolate products since 1875, so it's no surprise that some of its range has joined the ranks of discontinued candy bars, including the iconic Bar Six. Although four years of consumer pressure forced Cadbury to go back on its 2003 decision to discontinue the yummy Wispa bar, at the time of writing, the Bar Six remains gone. Yet it's far from forgotten and, if social media wishes are to be believed, thoroughly deserving of a comeback.

I was among the confectionery treat's many, many fans. For me, they were inextricably linked to outings or journeys, because I always saw them sitting in vending machines at our local pool and the train station. Bar Six chocolate stood out in every way, from its eye-catching orange wrappers to the six snappable sections of smooth hazelnut cream and crispy wafer, all enveloped in Cadbury's famous "glass and a half" milk chocolate.

Many of us love a bougie bar of chocolate, but back in the day, Bar Six was pocket-money friendly, too. Launched in the 1960s, it initially cost sixpence before decimalization in 1971 (equating to 3 pence or around 4 cents USD today) and was popular throughout the 1970s before it was finally discontinued in the 1990s. One Facebook commenter wrote that they "Loved these. I considered taking out legal proceedings against Cadburys for mental cruelty when they stopped producing Bar Six and Aztec bars! Despicable and outrageous behaviour that went unpunished."

The love for Bar Six remains strong decades after it was last seen in stores. To this day, devotees maintain it was superior to Nestlé's KitKat, once the subject of a weird ketchup-based TikTok trend, as well as the Waifa bar, made by fellow British confectioner and Cadbury rival Terry's. "My favorite chocolate bar growing up. I would eat each stick in layers [,] saving the creamy middle for last," mused one wistful fan on Facebook. Meanwhile, on Instagram, a commenter enthused: "These were absolutely incredible. Massively would smash if they were still around."

Although Cadbury never messed around with the recipe for Bar Six, the company did tweak the packaging in the 1970s, changing the font and color of the name from brown to yellow. However, in the 1980s, the distinctive orange wrapper was replaced with the company's iconic purple. Later, the separate foil underlay was dropped too, eliminating the tactile fun of running a fingernail between each segment and snapping it off, much like the KitKat (Nestlé ditched its foil wrappers in 2002).

There's an online theory suggesting that Cadbury's packaging switcheroo contributed to the demise of Bar Six, as it became one of several purple-branded bars and got lost in the shuffle. In the end, it was replaced by the uninspired Dairy Milk Wafer, which lacked the much-loved hazelnut cream filling. Given the chance, Bar Six could just make a comeback. "Bring them back" has long been a rallying cry online, so who knows? Perhaps one day Cadbury will finally have a change of heart.