Global food manufacturer Mars Inc.’s variety of M&M’s products are iconic, but it was the Crispy variety that locked-up the 2016 Product of the Year designation in the chocolate category based on a TNS consumer survey.

Originally debuting in 1998, M&M’s Crispy returned to shelves last year after a 10-year hiatus. Mars credits the comeback to the “unwavering loyalty” of consumers who utilized all forms of social media and communications to get the company to hear their pleas in what Mars said was a “decade of phone calls, petitions and Facebook posts.”

The candy features a crispy center covered in chocolate and enclosed in the signature M&M’s candy shell. Mars said the return of crispy marks the biggest M&M’s brand launch since the introductions of the pretzel variety in 2010.

This was the first product in Mars Chocolate history to be “brought back” because of fan requests.

“It's only fitting that a survey of 40,000 consumers helped secure M&M’s Crispy the designation as the 2016 Product of the Year in the chocolate category,” says Tanya Berman, senior brand director, M&M’s brand. “This award really belongs to our fans who were the true catalysts to ensure M&M'S Crispy could be enjoyed by millions of others for years to come.”

The Mars Chocolate manufacturing facility in Topeka, KS was selected as Food Engineering’s 2015 Plant of the Year.