Flavors Tried: Original, Salted Caramel, Raspberry
Price: Way too much if you’re ordering in the US
Nutrition: 210 Calories, 5g Fat, 23g Carbs (13g Sugar), 20g Protein
Back in 2022, I reviewed the Mars Hi Protein Salted Caramel bar and was genuinely impressed. After paying way too much for international shipping again, I finally got my hands on a few other flavors to try to get a true feel for the Mars Hi Protein line.
For anyone not familiar, Mars bars in the UK are basically what we know as Milky Way bars here in the US. The naming gets confusing internationally since they also have Milky Way overseas, but that’s generally what you need to know.
These Mars bars pack pretty standard protein bar macros: 210 calories, 5g fat, 23g carbs, and 20g protein. What stands out is the 13g of sugar, as most of the protein bars in the US contain very low amounts of sugar.
While most companies try to keep sugar as low as possible these days, I actually don’t mind seeing some sugar in protein bars. It usually means they’ll taste more like actual candy… at least that’s what my hope is.
I tried three flavors this time around: Original, Salted Caramel, and Raspberry. Let’s break down each one.
Mars Hi Protein Bar Review
The original flavor smells amazing right out of the wrapper. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were about to bite into a true candy bar.
The bar looks the part, too. With the smooth milk chocolate exterior, it certainly looks appealing.
When you bite into this bar, you’re met with a nougat center and caramel layer, although the caramel is not nearly as gooey as you’d find in a real candy bar.
It’s definitely chewier than I’d like, but the flavor delivers. There’s a slight “protein” taste that comes through, but this genuinely eats like a candy bar, just denser and chewier.
It reminds me a bit of Fulfil bars in both flavor and texture, but I’d consider this bar sweeter than Fulfil bars. I guess that’s what 13 grams of sugar will do for you.
If you’re someone who doesn’t eat a lot of protein bars and wants something that actually tastes like candy, this fits the bill. You just need to deal with that typical protein bar chewiness.
Salted Caramel Mars Hi Protein Bar
The Salted Caramel version doesn’t smell any different than the original, and it looks like the same exact bar, but the flavor is where it shines. It’s actually the least chewy of all the flavors I tried, too (which surprised me because caramel is famously chewy).
A lot of protein bars completely miss on the “salty” part of salted caramel, but this one nails it. The salted caramel flavor comes through in a big way.
The texture being less chewy than the other flavors, combined with a spot-on salted caramel flavor, makes this bar a home run. It’s reminiscent of Barebells, which I have long considered the best protein bars in the game.
If this bar were available in the US, it would easily become a staple in my rotation.
Raspberry Mars Hi Protein Bar
The Raspberry flavor has a very strong fruity scent, and it reminds me of what you get in a box of chocolates (even though raspberry chocolates have always been the one flavor in a box of chocolates that I try to avoid). Luckily, this bar actually smells like real fruit rather than artificial flavoring, which is a huge plus.
Unfortunately, this one is much chewier than the others. It looks like it would be really soft and fluffy inside, but that interior was incredibly chewy.
The flavor is decent if you like fruity chocolate, and the caramel layer adds a nice texturally compontent, but I’m just not a fan of the combination here.
The way this bar breaks down as you chew it kind of reminds me of expired gum… it gets almost chalky as you continue to chew. A very strange experience considering I did not notice anything remotely similar with the other flavors.
To be fair, these bars traveled thousands of miles to get to me before this review, so there’s always a chance that the texture changed due to the changing atmospheres and temperatures. I suppose I will never know.
Mars Hi Protein Bars: Overall Thoughts
All of these bars give me serious Milky Way vibes, and I am overall very impressed. Obviously they’re not as soft and fluffy as the candy bar, and the caramel isn’t as gooey, but the flavor profile is definitely reminiscent of the real thing.
The higher sugar content might turn some people off, but it’s exactly what allows these bars to taste more like actual candy bars than protein bars.
Sometimes a little sugar goes a long way in creating an enjoyable protein snack, and Mars seems to understand that better than most protein bar companies since they’re a candy bar company first.
I would love to see these come to the US market, though they’d probably need to be called Milky Way Hi Protein here. That said, I’m sure they would completely change the formula for the US market and not be nearly as good.
Most American protein bars try to be virtually sugar-free, which would probably ruin what makes these bars special. In fact, that’s exactly what happened with Snickers Hi Protein.
If you’re in the US and don’t want to pay an arm and a leg to have these bars shipped overseas, Fulfil bars are the closest comparison you’ll find to these. Fulfil bars are smaller and the texture is a bit different, but the flavor profile feels very similar.
While Mars Hi Protein bars are not perfect, the flavors are good enough to make these worth seeking out if you have them available to you.
