For the first time in 75 years, M&M’s is introducing a caramel-filled version of its candy.
M&M’s Caramel will hit shelves in May 2017 and is slated to be a permanent member of the M&M’s family, according to a press release. Like all other M&M flavors, the caramel candies will be covered in milk chocolate and dipped in a colorful shell. However, they are supposedly bigger than regular milk chocolate M&M’s.
Parent company Mars intends to use the candy to tap into the $2.2 billion caramel business, according to CNNMoney.
Mars, which spent a few years developing the new flavor, has called the caramel addition “one of the biggest launches in the brand’s history,” CNNMoney reports. The company reportedly spent $100 million to build a new manufacturing site in Topeka, Kan., which served a large part in the creation of Caramel M&M’s.
“After years of development, M&M’s now has the proprietary technology to enter the soft and chewy category partition with the launch of M&M’s Caramel Chocolate Candies,” Hank Izzo, vice president of research and development for Mars, told Fortune is a prepared statement. “Based on testing, consumers love the concept of M&M’s Caramel, scoring higher than any M&M’S Brand variant ever.”
The new flavor comes after Mars announced earlier this year that it’s getting rid of all artificial colors in its products and plans to identify natural alternatives to maintain the “vibrant, fun colors.”
