Battle Royale: Heath vs. Skor

Heath and Skor are the two major toffee-based candy bars on the market today. As a result, you might think that they're competitors. At one time that was true - Skor was introduced by Hershey's in 1983 to compete with the much older Heath - but Hershey's actually acquired Heath in 1996, meaning it's been almost 15 years since they were really in competition with each other. You might have thought Hershey's would phase one or the other out, but evidently they decided that both brands had sufficient admirers and that it was therefore easier to keep both on the market. The question is, how much difference is there between them, really? And which one is better?

Heath's toffee is light in color and bits of almonds can be seen on the inside. The taste is primarily that of almonds, with the chocolate coating providing additional flavor. The toffee snaps fairly easily under the teeth upon biting into the bar. Heath contains palm oil (the only ingredient it contains which does not also appear in Skor), which might help explain its slightly softer texture.

Skor's toffee has a rich, buttery taste which dominates the product. The outer layer of chocolate is barely even noticeable from a flavor standpoint. The toffee is also much darker in color and while it does contain bits of almonds, their flavor does not predominate as they do in Heath. The dark, buttery toffee flavor is the driving force. Also, while the two bars are about the same thickness, Skor's toffee is slightly stickier and more resistant to the tooth.

The Verdict

This may seem odd coming from me. In terms of everyday foods, I love almonds, while I'm not a huge fan of the taste of butter. But the taste of Heath, while certainly good, just seems weak when stacked up against the richness of Skor. Heath tastes like a chocolate bar with toffee in it; Skor tastes like toffee, and I actually like the butteriness in this context. I was actually a little surprised just how different the two bars were; it's easy to see why both remain on the market, as aside from both having the word "toffee" on the label and looking superficially similar from the outside, they're pretty much entirely separate entities, with a much bigger heads-up taste difference than something like, say, Coke and Pepsi. But put everything together - Skor's richer taste and its entertaining packaging (as far as I can think of, it's the only mainstream US candy bar that actually shows a picture of the bar on its wrapper, which I've always enjoyed) - and you come up with a clear winner.

Winner: Skor