Adam Sandler Should Forget About Marathon Chocolate and Try One of These 7 Vegan Candy Bars Instead

M&Ms, KitKat, Snickers, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are just a few examples of the types of candy that have made it into space. After all, astronauts need sweet treats, too. But only a Marathon bar will do for Adam Sandler, who plays an astronaut in his new Netflix movie Spaceman. Luckily, the actor isn’t a real astronaut, because Marathon bars have been discontinued in the US since the 1980s. The closest thing to the braided chocolate caramel bar is a Curly Wurly, widely available in the UK, but not in the US.

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“I guess right now [I’d take] a Marathon bar. You ever have one of those? They don’t make them anymore. Maybe they make only a few,” Sandler told reporters at the Los Angeles premiere of Spaceman. He also hinted that he might be able to still get his hands on the discontinued treat. “I’m Sandler for God’s sake,” he said. “I can get a Marathon bar, all right.”

But we’re confident that for Sandler, and for you, of course, we can find several delicious vegan caramel candy bars that are just as delicious as any dairy chocolate bar. In fact, we already have—find some of our tasty recommendations below.

Why choose vegan chocolate bars?

There are many, many reasons to choose vegan candy bars. For one, they don’t contain any cow’s milk, which is better for the planet and the animals. The dairy industry relies on animal agriculture, which is detrimental to the environment. The United Nations notes that the livestock industry contributes 14.5 percent of global emissions, for example.

To produce milk, cows also need to give birth, which means they need to be repeatedly artificially inseminated and then separated from their calves. Farmers themselves have confirmed that is a highly stressful and traumatic process for many cows, which you can read more about here.

But research also suggests that cow’s milk simply isn’t well tolerated by many people. According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 70 percent of the world’s population has lactose malabsorption. Research also suggests it’s more prevalent in people of certain ethnicities—it’s particularly common in people of Asian descent, for example, as well as Ashkenazi Jewish people. In fact, research suggests it could affect up to 80 percent of the Ashkenazi Jewish population.

Sandler is from a Russian-Jewish background, but he has not publicly spoken about whether or not he experiences symptoms of lactose intolerance, which includes bloating, nausea, stomach pain, and gas. 

Vegan caramel chocolate bars for Adam Sandler (and you) to try next

Whether you want to eat vegan chocolate for the planet, the animals, your stomach, or because you just love the taste (we don’t blame you), we have rounded up a few of our favorite Marathon-like options below. We hope you’re reading, Sandler.

Lindt

1 Lindt Vegan Salted Caramel Bars

Swiss chocolatier Lindt knows how to make a delicious chocolate bar, there’s no doubt.  That’s why it was super exciting when the brand decided to launch into the vegan market for the first time back in 2020 with a handful of dairy-free chocolate bars. Since then, it has expanded its vegan range (it launched new oat milk truffles at the end of 2023), but this Salted Caramel candy bar is, without a doubt, one of the best choices for caramel lovers.
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2 No Whey! Foods No Tricks Bars

You can count on New Jersey-based chocolatier No Whey! Foods to produce vegan alternatives to mainstream candy favorites, and honestly, they’re often even better than the original. For a chewy, caramel chocolate bar, look no further than its No Tricks cookie bars, which feature a shortbread cookie and caramel core, which is coated with delicious vegan milk chocolate.
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3 GoMax Jokerz Candy Bars

Another popular vegan brand that is masterful at creating deliciously addictive vegan candy is Go Max Go Foods. Based in Portland, OR, the brand delivers its wide variety of tasty sweet treats across the US. Nutty chocolate fans will adore its Jokerz Candy Bars, which feature layers of dry-roasted peanuts, peanut nougat, and caramel (of course).
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4 Orgain OMG! Chocolate Caramel Bars

Those who love candy but don’t want anything too sugary should check out these tasty chewy Chocolate Caramel OMG! Bars from Orgain. Made with organic brown rice, peanuts, nougat, chocolate, caramel, and pea protein, they contain only two grams of sugar per serving.
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Ritter Sport

5 Ritter Sport Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars

Ritter Sport is another popular mainstream choice when it comes to candy, but the brand also offers plenty of delicious vegan options in its iconic square shapes. This Salted Caramel flavor, for example, is made with hazelnut paste, crunchy chunks of caramel, sustainable cocoa, and almond flour.
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6 Whims Oat Milk Caramel Cookie Bars

Is there a better combination than chocolate, cookies, and caramel? Honestly, it’s hard to beat. Get the deliciousness of all three wrapped into one with these super indulgent Caramel Cookie Bars from Whims. And it might not taste like it, but each serving only contains one gram of sugar.
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Taza

7 Taza Chocolate Toffee Almond Sea Salt

Those who prefer toffee to caramel (fun fact, the only difference is that toffee is made with brown sugar on a slightly lower heat) will love this vegan candy bar from Taza. Made with 60 percent dark chocolate (which is stone ground), the minimally processed bar also contains a delicious blend of almonds and sea salt.
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Charlotte is a writer and editor based in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.