United States Military Chocolate - The Tropical Bar

The Tropical Bar

In 1943, the Procurement Division of the Army approached Hershey about producing a confectionery-style chocolate bar with improved flavor that would still withstand extreme heat for issue in the Pacific Theater. After a short period of experimentation, the Hershey company began producing Hershey's Tropical Bar. The bar was designed for issue with field and specialty rations such as the K ration, and originally came in 1-ounce (28 g) and 2-ounce (56 g) sizes . After 1945, it came in 4-ounce (112 g) D ration sizes as well.

The Tropical Bar (it was called the D ration throughout the war, despite its new appellation) had more of a resemblance to normal chocolate bars in its shape and flavor than the original D ration, which it gradually replaced by 1945. While their attempts to sweeten its flavor were somewhat successful, nearly all U.S. soldiers found the Tropical Bar tough to chew and unappetizing; reports from countless memoirs and field reports are almost uniformly negative. Instead, the bar was either discarded or traded to unsuspecting Allied troops or civilians for more appetizing foods or goods. Resistance to accepting the ration soon appeared among the latter groups after the first few trades. In the Burma theater of war (CBI), the D ration or Tropical Bar did make one group of converts: it was known as the "dysentery ration", since the bar was the only ration those ill with dysentery could tolerate.

In 1957, the bar's formula was changed to make it more appetizing. The unpopular oat flour was deleted, 'non-fat milk solids' replaced 'skim-milk powder', 'Cocoa powder' replaced 'cacao fat' and artificial vanilla flavoring was added. It greatly improved the flavor of the bar, but it was still hard to chew.