Credit: Fiona Peltonen

WSPN’s Fiona Peltonen, Alex Evangelista and Jessie Dretler unwrap the story behind a chocolate factory in Sudbury. When you enter the store, the mural of the Sky Bar can be seen painted on the walls. When the original owners of Sky Bar went out of business, the Mawhinneys took over the product and the Sky Bar come back began. “I don’t know any other food item that is so beloved,” L. Mawhinney said.

The Sky Bar, a candy bar from the 19th and 20th centuries, which was discontinued in 2018, has made a state-wide comeback. Introduced in 1938, the candy bar consists of four different sections each containing a different filling: caramel, vanilla, peanut and fudge.

The Sky Bar was discontinued when the manufacturer, New England Confectionery Company (NECCO), went out of business. NECCO was an American candy manufacturer dating back to the 1840s that sold their confectionery products across New England during their heyday. After going out of business in 2018 due to bankruptcy and sanitation issues, the company sold the rights to most of their products, including their popular chocolate bar, the Sky Bar.

Duck Soup, a local gourmet grocery store in Sudbury owned by manager Louis Mawhinney and store manager Frank Mawhinney, had been carrying Sky Bars in their product line before NECCO went out of business. They were a fan favorite among customers, which caused distress when NECCO announced the Sky Bar line was going to be sold.

“We had a lot of fans of the Sky Bar, and they were concerned,” F.Mawhinney said. “They were asking ‘What’s going to happen to the Sky Bar?’”

The news of NECCO pulling their products spread fast, and L. Mawhinney quickly got wind of the imminent disappearance of the Sky Bar, prompting her to look at NECCO’s auction website. She saw that the Sky Bar was one of the items on the auction list, and placed a bid. She did not go into the auction with high hopes, so receiving the message that she had won the rights to Sky Bar made her surprised.

“I was shocked, absolutely horrified,” L. Mawhinney said. “I never really thought it was going to happen.”

L. Mawhinney kept quiet about her newly acquired candy bar ownership that fall due to the details she had to work out while continuing to run Duck Soup. However, in January of 2019, she decided to tell the world that she was now the owner of the famed Sky Bar line.

“I finally did the press release, and the world went crazy,” L. Mawhinney said.

Now that they acquired the legal rights to the Sky Bar, the Mawhinneys had to begin production. Initially, they thought they would have to find a manufacturer who could make Sky Bars for them, but after a consultation with former Head of Research and Development at Necco Jeff Green, they realized there was a better solution.

“He told us we could just make [the Sky Bars] ourselves,” F. Mawhinney said. “We were able to create a computer driven, highly complicated machine.”

Around this same time, the owner of a retail clothing store next to Duck Soup retired, creating a vacant space. Seeing the opportunity to open a Sky Bar store next to Duck Soup, the Mawhinneys purchased this building and got to work.

“We really lucked out,” F. Mawhinney said. “We immediately moved in. It was all very convenient.”

Typically, to construct the type of chocolate factory the Mawhinneys were planning to build, one would need all renovations to comply with code. However, this was not required for the Mawhinneys because both Sky Bar and Duck Soup are located in the Mill Village shopping plaza.

“Mill Village is the oldest commercial district within the town of Sudbury,” F. Mawhinney said. “It’s the inside of the first commercial mill, meaning the building codes are already in place.”

Both stores were already up to the codes and met the requirements needed to start renovating. With all permits and compliances in check, Sky Bar was ready to be restored.

The Mawhinneys original plan was to have Sky Bar and Duck Soup be completely independent of each other, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the following year changed their proposal. The retail feature of Sky Bar took a hit due to the national quarantine effect on in-person customers. It was not able to bounce back after the quarantine ended, so the Mawhinneys decided to combine their two stores.

“We were never really able to justify staffing [Sky Bar], so ultimately, we just simply connected the two stores, and now it’s flourishing,” F. Mawhinney said.

Now, using the small factory inside Sky Bar, they produce about 3000 Sky Bars a day, which is about 38 bars per minute. The machines need a minimum of two people running them at all times, and typically go through one run a day, producing 3000 Sky Bars. These bars have a pretty high success rate, with only about 1% breaking or being unable to shelf.

“Out of a maximum of 2800 bars, roughly, that we make per run, we are fully wrapping and boxing about 2776,” F. Mawhinney said.

The bars that break are reused, either as components in Duck Soup’s homemade fudge or sold in bulk as Sky Bar pieces.

Duck Soup has an tight connection to its community thanks to their close-knit relationships after years of familiarity. The relationship the Mawhinneys created with their customers through Duck Soup allowed Sky bar to start off with a certain amount of built up trust, stirring excitement within the community more efficiently.

“We all grew up here, and have people that went to the store as kids now bringing their kids in,” F. Mawahinney said. “I think it definitely really helps with that intimacy with the community.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut companies down, the internet became the source people turned to. This change left the sense of community they were so used to feeling weaker.

“I’m not against going online, but I think you have to move with the times,” L. Mawhinney said. “There’s just something about having a neighborhood.”

The intimate connection local businesses have with communities is an asset when it comes to new entrepreneurs.

“I think Sky Bar is a great place,” sophomore Ava Fogg said. “I love local businesses because they support the community.”

Small businesses like Sky Bar offer unique products that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. The Sudbury factory is the last manufacturer of Sky Bars in the world, which has led people to travel across the country to purchase and see the creation of this famed candy bar.

L. Mawhinney recalled that a man and his wife drove 13 hours during the COVID-19 lockdown to watch the creation of the Sky Bars for the man’s 70th birthday, then proceed to turn around and drive the 13 hours back. This was not the only time people went to great lengths to see a Sky Bar again. The Mawhinneys have numerous stories to tell of other Sky Bar fans.

“I’ve had grown men hug us and cry,” L. Mawhinney said. “I don’t know any other food item that is so beloved.”

Although they had no previous experience in manufacturing, the Mawhinneys thought bringing back the Sky Bar would be achievable because of how many people loved it.

“We knew people were going to love it, so it was easier to deal with the hiccups, to deal with the problems and to deal with us being down for weeks or months, ” F. Mawhinney said.

The faith of the Mawhinney’s and willingness to combat the problems that would come up played major parts in the rediscovered success of Sky Bar.

“If anybody is going to start up anything like this, any business at all, whether it’s a retail business or if they want to be a writer or director or anything, always start off with the sincere belief that what you’re doing is going to work,” F. Mawhinney said. “Every problem that comes up is a solvable problem. You just got to figure out how to solve that.”

In a few short years, the Mawhinneys have transformed the Sky Bar from a fading relic to a thriving business. Their journey is a source of pride for L. Mawhinney.

“It makes my heart feel good,” L. Mawhinney said. “That’s just what it does. Makes my heart feel good.”

Gallery • 7 Photos

Credit: Fiona Peltonen

Some machines create chocolate bars. The room is surrounded by windows so customers can view the manufacturing process of the Sky Bar, as well as the people who make it. These machines were custom made for the Mawhinneys. “That machine next door,” Co-Owner Frank Mawhinney said. "Is the only machine of its type in the entire world.”