The Daim bar is a Swedish confection consisting of a brittle, crunchy almond caramel core enrobed in milk chocolate. It is produced as a chocolate bar and marketed internationally.
History
The product was created by the Swedish chocolate manufacturer Marabou in the early 1950s. Marabou originally sought a license to produce the American Heath bar, but after the Heath Company declined, it provided a list of ingredients. Using this information, Marabou developed its own recipe and tested the confection in Stockholm in 1952. It was launched under the name Dajm in Sweden and Norway the following year, and later introduced to Finland (1963) and Denmark (1971). The name “Daim” derives from a Norwegian phonetic rendering of the American ten‑cent coin “dime.”
In 1990 the product’s spelling was standardized to “Daim” in most markets, although it continued to be sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland under the name Dime until 2005, when the spelling was aligned globally.
Ownership
The brand changed hands several times: Marabou sold the product to Kraft Foods in 1993, and the brand became part of Monde Mondelez International when Kraft’s snack division was spun off in 2012.
Product composition
The core consists of almond caramel, a mixture of sugar, almonds, butter, and other caramelizing agents, which is baked to a hard, glassy texture. This core is coated in a layer of milk chocolate, giving the bar its characteristic “smooth on the outside, crunchy on the inside” texture.
Variations and marketing
Since its introduction, the Daim brand has been extended to a range of flavored and specialty editions, including cappuccino, forest fruit, Coke‑flavored, white chocolate, dark chocolate, blueberry, lemon‑orange, mint, and limited‑edition orange chocolate variants. Limited‑edition caramel latte and strawberry versions have also been released in the early 2020s.
The bar has been featured in notable advertising campaigns, such as a 1995 television commercial in the United Kingdom starring comedian Harry Enfield, which popularized the tagline “smooth on the outside, crunchy on the inside.” A 1996 commercial spoofed Raiders of the Lost Ark and further cemented the product’s cultural presence.
Commercial presence
Daim bars are sold worldwide and are imported from Marabou’s manufacturing facilities in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. The confection has appeared in various foodservice contexts, including as a flavor in McDonald’s McFlurry in France. In 2023, IKEA announced it would cease stocking Mondelez International products, including the Daim bar, as part of a shift toward its own branded confectionery.
References
Information summarized from the Wikipedia entry “Daim bar,” which compiles historical, corporate, and product details up to March 2024.