Baby Ruth
An American candy bar made with peanuts, caramel, milk chocolate-flavored nougat, and a chocolate-flavored coating.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
Baby Ruth is an American candy bar brand whose core product combines peanuts, caramel, milk chocolate-flavored nougat, and a compound chocolate-style coating. It was introduced in 1920 by the Curtiss Candy Company after that Chicago-based confectioner reformulated and renamed its earlier Kandy Kake product. The bar became one of Curtiss’s principal brands and was reportedly the leading five-cent confection in the United States by the end of the 1920s. The product’s name has long been associated with baseball player Babe Ruth, but Curtiss publicly maintained that it honored Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of former U.S. president Grover Cleveland. That explanation was contested because the candy appeared during the period when Babe Ruth’s popularity was rapidly increasing, and because the company did not arrange an endorsement agreement with the baseball player. Curtiss later used trademark litigation to challenge a competing bar whose name and association with Ruth were more explicit. The controversy helped make Baby Ruth’s name one of the better-known examples of ambiguous brand etymology in American food marketing. Baby Ruth’s early promotion was unusually theatrical. In 1923, company founder Otto Schnering chartered an aircraft to drop individually parachuted Baby Ruth bars over Pittsburgh. Similar stunts were subsequently staged in cities across the United States. The brand also sponsored The Baby Ruth Hour on CBS Radio in 1929 and maintained a long-running connection with baseball through stadium advertising, sports sponsorships, retail promotions, and later licensed campaigns using Babe Ruth’s name and likeness. The brand remained part of Curtiss’s portfolio for more than six decades. Nabisco acquired Curtiss Candy Company in 1981, and RJR Nabisco sold the Curtiss brands to Nestlé in 1990. In 2018, Ferrero acquired Nestlé USA’s confectionery business, including Baby Ruth, and integrated the acquired brands into Ferrara Candy Company, Ferrero’s U.S. confectionery subsidiary. Ferrara relaunched Baby Ruth in December 2019 with a revised recipe. The relaunch used dry-roasted peanuts grown in the United States rather than the oil-roasted peanuts used in earlier versions and removed the preservative TBHQ. The main bar is sold in several U.S. pack formats, including full-size, king-size, share-pack, fun-size, and miniature versions. The brand has also been extended into licensed or related frozen and crisp products, although availability has varied by period and market. Its identity remains centered on an indulgent, peanut-forward chocolate confection with strong associations with American popular culture, baseball, movie placement, and nostalgic candy merchandising.
History
Baby Ruth originated in Chicago during the growth of the American packaged-candy industry. In 1920, the Curtiss Candy Company adapted its Kandy Kake confection into a bar built around peanuts, caramel, nougat, and a chocolate-style coating. The product was introduced as Baby Ruth and quickly became a central part of Curtiss’s portfolio. By the late 1920s, it was described as the best-selling confection in the five-cent category, giving Curtiss a mass-market product at a time when inexpensive branded candy was becoming a standard impulse purchase. The name generated persistent speculation. Curtiss said that the bar was named for Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Critics instead connected it with Babe Ruth, whose baseball career and public profile were expanding when the bar was introduced. The timing, the similarity between “Baby Ruth” and “Babe Ruth,” and the absence of an endorsement arrangement encouraged the view that Curtiss’s official explanation was designed to avoid royalty claims. The company nevertheless defended its naming position and successfully opposed a rival product that had a more direct connection to the baseball player. Curtiss promoted the bar through highly visible stunts. In 1923, Otto Schnering arranged for airplanes to drop Baby Ruth bars beneath miniature parachutes over Pittsburgh. The stunt was repeated in numerous American cities and helped establish the brand as a spectacle as well as a packaged snack. Curtiss later sponsored The Baby Ruth Hour on CBS Radio in 1929. Baseball remained an important part of the brand’s public image: after Babe Ruth’s famous 1932 World Series home run at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Curtiss installed an illuminated Baby Ruth sign near the location associated with the ball’s landing. The sign remained for approximately four decades. Ownership changed several times. Nabisco purchased Curtiss Candy Company in 1981. In 1990, RJR Nabisco sold the Curtiss brands to Nestlé, which continued to manufacture and market Baby Ruth. Nestlé also developed related formats, including a frozen bar and a crisp wafer product, though such extensions were distinct from the standard candy bar and their availability changed over time. Baby Ruth continued to use sports and entertainment marketing in later decades. The brand was placed in The Goonies in 1985, sponsored a NASCAR program in the early 1990s, and used Babe Ruth’s name and likeness in a licensed campaign in 1995. Baseball-themed advertising continued into the 2000s, including Chicago Cubs-related promotion and a television commercial built around a stadium audience. Ferrero acquired Nestlé USA’s confectionery brands in 2018 and placed Baby Ruth within the Ferrara Candy Company structure. Ferrara relaunched the bar in December 2019 with a reformulated recipe using dry-roasted peanuts grown in the United States and omitting TBHQ. The active brand remains primarily associated with the U.S. candy market and is sold in multiple pack sizes, from individual full-size bars to king-size, share, fun-size, and miniature formats.
- 2019
Baby Ruth is relaunched
[1]Ferrara introduces a revised Baby Ruth recipe using dry-roasted U.S. peanuts and excluding TBHQ.
- 2018
Ferrero acquires the Nestlé USA confectionery business
[1]Ferrero takes ownership of Baby Ruth through its acquisition of Nestlé USA’s confectionery brands.
- 1990
Nestlé acquires the Curtiss brands
[1]RJR Nabisco sells the Curtiss brands, including Baby Ruth, to Nestlé.
- 1981
Curtiss is acquired by Nabisco
[1]Baby Ruth becomes part of Nabisco’s confectionery portfolio.
- 1929
The Baby Ruth Hour launches on CBS Radio
[1]Curtiss sponsors a CBS Radio program carrying the Baby Ruth name.
- 1923
Parachute-drop promotion begins
[1]Otto Schnering promotes the bar by dropping individually parachuted Baby Ruth bars from an aircraft over Pittsburgh and later other U.S. cities.
- 1920
Baby Ruth is introduced
[1]Curtiss Candy Company converts its Kandy Kake product into the Baby Ruth candy bar.
Products and positioning
Mainstream American chocolate-and-peanut confectionery with a nostalgic, sports-linked identity.
Chocolate confectionery · 1920
Baby Ruth candy bar
The core product is a layered candy bar containing peanuts, caramel, and milk chocolate-flavored nougat beneath a compound chocolate-style coating. The current U.S. formulation uses dry-roasted peanuts and is sold in full-size, king-size, share-pack, fun-size, and miniature formats.
Frozen confectionery
Baby Ruth ice cream bar
A related frozen product associated with Nestlé, consisting of a vanilla-and-nougat-flavored ice cream center with chocolate-covered peanuts and a milk chocolate coating. It is distinct from the standard shelf-stable candy bar and availability has varied.
Wafer confectionery
Baby Ruth Crisp
A related crisp-format product made with chocolate-covered wafer pieces, caramel-flavored cream, and crushed peanuts. It was part of a broader Nestlé Crisp product family that also included other branded confectionery variants.
Marketing campaigns
- 2007Baseball-themed advertising
United States
Advertising connected Baby Ruth with Major League Baseball and the Chicago Cubs, while a television commercial used a stadium and seventh-inning-stretch setting.
Outcome. The campaign continued the brand’s long-running baseball-centered identity.
- 1995Babe Ruth licensed marketing campaign
United States
A company representing the Ruth estate licensed Babe Ruth’s name and likeness for use in a Baby Ruth campaign.
Outcome. The campaign directly connected the brand with the baseball association that had long surrounded its name.
- 1992NASCAR sponsorship
United States
The brand sponsored Bill Davis Racing’s No. 1 Ford in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series; the sponsorship moved to Jeff Burton’s No. 8 Ford the following year.
Outcome. The promotion extended Baby Ruth’s sports positioning into televised motorsport.
- 1985The Goonies product placement
United States
Baby Ruth was featured in The Goonies, where the candy plays a memorable role in Chunk’s attempt to befriend Sloth.
Outcome. The appearance strengthened the bar’s association with 1980s American movie culture.
- 1923Parachute candy drops
United States
Baby Ruth bars were dropped from aircraft beneath miniature parachutes, beginning with a Pittsburgh event and expanding to cities in more than forty states.
Outcome. The stunt generated broad publicity and became one of the brand’s defining early promotions.
Brand decisions
2019
Reformulate and relaunch the barGeneration changeBackground
After Ferrero’s acquisition of the former Nestlé confectionery brands, Ferrara updated the Baby Ruth product.
Action taken
The relaunch changed the peanut preparation to dry roasting, specified U.S.-grown peanuts, and removed TBHQ.
Aftermath
The revised formulation became the basis of the brand’s relaunch in December 2019.
2018
Move into Ferrero’s confectionery portfolioM&ABackground
Ferrero expanded its U.S. confectionery operations through the acquisition of Nestlé USA’s confectionery brands.
Action taken
Baby Ruth transferred from Nestlé to Ferrero and was operated through Ferrara Candy Company.
Aftermath
Ferrara became responsible for manufacturing and marketing the active U.S. brand.
1920
Convert Kandy Kake into Baby RuthProduct launchBackground
Curtiss Candy Company sought to turn its earlier Kandy Kake confection into a mass-market bar.
Action taken
The company reformulated and introduced the product under the Baby Ruth name.
Aftermath
The bar became Curtiss’s leading product and a major five-cent confection by the late 1920s.
Recent events
Ferrero brands launch children’s hospitals campaign[2]
Reported:
CRUNCH, Butterfinger and Baby Ruth launched a campaign featuring limited-edition packaging and donations from participating product sales to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, up to $350,000.
Sources2 sources
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