April 29, 2008
Hershey's, Cadbury Merger Rumors - Dogs & cats reported living together
More candy merger news - with Mars agreeing to buy Wrigley with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway - the rumors have cropped up about another merger between candy rivals - Cadbury Schweppes and Hershey Co.
People familiar with the matter said the two companies are not in talks now. But Hershey executives Monday were examining potential next steps, and the two could resume talks after Cadbury makes a previously planned move of separating its drinks business from its candy business on Friday, according to one of these people.
More at the WSJ
Image by Leanne Baily
April 28, 2008
Mars & Warren Buffett Looking to Buy Wrigley
Two icons of the U.S. candy business may become one. Chewing gum legend Wrigley and Mars (makers of Snickers and M&M's, in case you live under a rock). The deal is rumored to be at the $22 billion mark, financed by none other than Bershire Hathaway, Warren Buffet's team.
Mars Inc. and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. were close to a pact to acquire Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for more than $22 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that would remake the global confectionery landscape.
According to the WSJ, "a deal could spark further consolidation in the global candy business. Hershey Co. and Cadbury Schweppes PLC, for example, could be forced to merge."
In 2005, Wrigley bought Kraft's Altoids and LifeSavers, for about $1.5 billion, and has also recently purchased a Russian chocolate company.
More than just the impact this merger could have on the global confectionery landscape, this could mean the end to one of two notoriously private and independent companies.
April 26, 2008
Candy Snob Celebrates Earth Day All Week - Saturday's Pick
Decorative Tower Jar from YummyEarth. 70 assorted, organic lollipops in all sorts of fun flavors: Pomegranate Pucker, Mango Tango
Wet-Face Watermelon and Cheeky Lemon.
Image from YummyEarth
April 25, 2008
More evidence that dark chocolate can help blood pressure reduction
Some new studies have now shown that dark chocolate
can improve vascular health - because the cocoa flavenols in the chocolate help to make blood vessels more elastic, improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce blood pressure.
One of the studies was published recently by Mars in the Journal of Nutrition. Their study shows that CocoaViabars (fortified brand of dark chocolate) not only reduce blood pressure, but also lowers total and LDL cholesterol levels. Not that Mars would promote a study that said their candy was bad for you...we understand this is marketing after all...but if we can eat some tasty chocolate and have it even marginally improve our health, we're all for it.
Read more at the Heart Disease Blog
April 25, 2008
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Honey Truffle (Dark)
I thought about simply writing "mmm....mmm...mmm...." for my review of Ethel's Honey Truffle chocolate, but I thought better of it, although that's a completely accurate review. Imagine a churro wrapped inside creamy dark chocolate...add in the flavor of high-end honey...and give it a smidge of cinnamon flavor...and you have the Honey Truffle. This chocolate is really delicious and stands out as one of our favorites from Ethel's.
Read more about Ethel's Chocolates on Candy Snob:
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Peanut Better truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Gingerbread Spice Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Classic Cabernet Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Chewy Caramel with Dark Chocolate
Easter Selections from Ethel's Chocolate
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Espresso Truffle (Dark)
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Creme Brulee (Milk)
Candy Snob Celebrates Earth Day All Week - Friday's Pick
Candy Snob's week-long celebration of Earth Day is nearing the end of the road. Our next to last pick is a super cool chocolate maker, Taza. Taza is based near Boston, and is a true bean-to-bar chocolate maker. In addition, its the only maker of 100% stone ground chocolate in the United States.
Taza sources organically grown cacao beans directly from small farmer cooperatives ensuring those farmers receive more than fair trade prices for their high quality cacao. Taza is uniquely positioned as one of the only independently owned, socially and environmentally responsible chocolate makers in the country. Taza's chocolate making process is designed to capture the true flavor of the cacao bean by minimally processing the chocolate every step of the way.
The folks at Taza have recently been kind enough to send us some samples, so be on the lookout for our reviews coming soon. The stuff they sent looks amazing!
Check out Taza Chocolate
April 24, 2008
Candy Snob Celebrates Earth Day All Week - Thursday's Pick!
Organic Sour Jelly Bears by the English company, Sweet Botanicals. Puckerific, these bears are sour, organic AND vegan.
Ingredients: Organic cane sugar, organic corn syrup, organic fruit juice concentrates (apple, apricot, blackcurrant, lemon), organic spinach powder, apple pectin, natural flavourings (apricot, blackcurrant, kiwi, lemon, pinapple), citric acid.
Check them out here.
Review: Starbucks Mocha Dark Chocolate Bar
To quote a friend of mine when she particularly enjoys a meal or beverage, "This chocolate bar is a good time."
First things first, this is an aesthetically beautiful bar. It comes in one piece (which is a little annoying to break pieces off) of smooth, dark chocolate - etched with a fairly intricate flower design.
At first taste, you get the chocolate primarily. It melts nicely, they obviously used pretty good stuff. When you add in the coffee, you get the added citrus and cocoa notes. But it is the texture is what puts this over the top. There are little (I mean almost sand-like) nibs of Guatemala Casi Cielo coffee throughout the piece, so whether you're a "melt" or a "chew" kind of person, you can't escape the coffee-licious goodness.
The wrapper says, "When coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate." The Starbucks Mocha Dark Chocolate Bar is dreamy for sure.
April 23, 2008
French Chocolate Truffles for Mother's Day
Does your mom like truffles? French chocolate truffles dusted with cocoa powder? French truffles, dusted with cocoa powder, with no trans fats? Then do we have a pick for you. This box is full of 2.2 pounds of truffles, which will either send you into sugar shock or give you a nice treat for weeks. It has been the #1 seller in the "Gourmet Products" of Amazon during the Holidays for the last three years.
And frankly, for $11.99you can't go wrong.
Check out these French Chocolate Truffles
Need more ideas for Mother's Day? Check out our Mother's Day Gift Guide.
April 22, 2008
Turrón Candy & '1880' Gourmet Guirlache Turrón
Ever had Marcona almonds? If not, you're missing out. They are not your every day almonds, these are thinner, usually a little oilier, and with an amazing, distinct flavor. But we digress...we're here to talk about candy that incorporates Marcona almonds. These delectable, cruchy nuggets of goodness make up 65% of the '1880' Gourmet Guirlache Turron gourmet bar. The almonds are bound together with delicious dark caramel and sandwiched with thin wafers. Its hand-made in Alicante, Spain.
The 'suprema' quality of this bar is similar to traditional turrón except that it is made from caramelized sugar and whole fresh (unroasted) almonds, rather than honey and egg white of the traditional turrón.
But what the heck is turrón candy??
"Over a thousand years ago the tradition of turrón began in Spain. By combining almonds and honey, the Moorish conquerors of Spain created a new version of their traditional halva candy. This natural sweet became a Christmas tradition over the centuries, and is now only made in the Mediterranean town of Jijona." - La Tienda
Check out all sorts of Spanish Turron candy.
Candy Recipe - Candy Covered Honeycomb
We reviewed Nestle's Violet Crumble awhile back, which is chocolate covered honeycomb. Thanks to Candy Addict, we now have a recipe for the crunchy, British treat.
Image from danzimmermann.com
Nestle's Q1 Sales Up 6% After Price Hikes
Marketing Daily reports that the maker of Kit Kat chocolate bars and the world's largest food company, Nestle, increased prices by the most in a decade. But it didn't seem to adversely impact demand - Nestle revenue climbed to $25 billion in the three months ended March 31, up from $23.8 billion in the year-ago period.
Ironically, Nestle also makes Jenny Craig diet meals.
From Marketing Daily
Candy Snob Celebrates Earth Day All Week - Earth Day Pick!
Sweetriot's flavor raw - new organic and antioxidant rich raw cacao beans!
While a little more bitter than normal (well, a lot more bitter), this is one of the healthiest ways to eat chocolate - "because raw cacao is the top antioxidant bearing food, it has double the amount of antioxidants of red wine and triple the amount of green tea leaves. it reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer and it contains theobromine - a natural mood stimulant and Phenylethylamine - the feeling of being in love!"
Check it out
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Dark Chocolate Truffle
Ethel's Dark Chocolate Truffle is what one might consider a more "traditional" truffle - dark chocolate with super-creamy truffle filling. But let us not mistake "traditional" for "average," for that is surely not the case. Beyond the high quality we expect from Ethel's, this truffle has quite a bit of depth of flavor. As you are enjoying the creaminess of the truffle, you'll notice the dark berry notes. From there, you will pick up on a coffee finish and aftertaste. This is a solid truffle for nearly any palette.
Read more about Ethel's Chocolates on Candy Snob:
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Peanut Better truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Gingerbread Spice Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Classic Cabernet Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Chewy Caramel with Dark Chocolate
Easter Selections from Ethel's Chocolate
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Espresso Truffle (Dark)
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Creme Brulee (Milk)
April 21, 2008
Review: Russell Stover Internationale - German Black Forest Truffle
Russell Stover Internationale is doing an interesting thing to compete in the "gourmet" chocolate market. It strives to take consumers to different areas around the world to sample the different chocolate tastes. So we tried the German Black Forest Truffle.
To be honest, it was surprisingly good. We hadn't set the bar too terribly high - nothing against Russell Stover. The bar is thin, divided into eight smaller pieces, which makes for easy eating. The dark truffle inside has a hint of cherry, and a very nice texture. Apparently, there is both dark and milk chocolate enrobing the truffle, which I didn't know until I read the package because I didn't taste the milk chocolate. Nice idea, but the subtlety was missed.
I think this bar would make more of an overall impact if it were a little thicker. Because it is so thin, there is naturally less truffle. This left me wanting more, and didn't give the texture contrast its just due. Also, if you're going to put a chocolate cake with white frosting on the package, wouldn't it make more sense to use white chocolate on the candy bar?
Reese Hazelnut Creme
Interesting find by Candy Blog via CacaoBug. Reese Hazelnut Cremes - apparently from Canada.
They officially have our attention. Hey Reese, when are they coming to the U.S.?
Image from Candy Blog
Candy Snob Celebrates Earth Day All Week - Monday's Pick
Chocolove Organic Dark Chocolate Bar with 61% Cocoa Content
"On a Caribbean Island, organic farming has stimulated the cocoa trees to produce cocoa beans that are full of character. The big fruity flavor, acidity, and bitterness of the beans are artfully crafted into a balanced full-bodied premium chocolate as only the Belgians know how to do. Upon eating, the extra cocoa butter softly gives way to tangy, bittersweet cocoa flavor."
Check it out
April 20, 2008
Askinosie Chocolate
Askinosie Chocolate is another one of the many artisan chocolate makers that have been cropping up around this country. This time, the company comes from Missouri. All of Askinosie Chocolate bars are made in small batches, pressed from their own cocoa butter, and only utilize traceable single origin cocoa beans.
The founder, Shawn Askinosie, was "a criminal defense lawyer for nearly twenty years, who started making chocolate in his law office kitchen less than three years ago. After studying cocoa post harvest techniques in the Amazon and apprenticing under a master chocolate maker in Ecuador, Askinosie became committed to working directly with farmers in order to ensure the highest quality chocolate possible."
If you want to learn more about the back story, check it out here. As for the chocolate and how it tastes? We've heard that the Soconusco and San Jose Del Tambo are well balanced, smooth, buttery, but not super sweet.
Heads up and image from Cool Hunting
Candy Snob Celebrates Earth Day All Week - Sunday's Pick
What could be better than a chewing gum with a name like Glee? That's right, not much. Which is why we're kicking off our week's worth of organic candy with them, to celebrate Earth Day. Glee Gum is an all natural chewing gum made with sustainably harvested rainforest chicle. There are five flavors: cinnamon, peppermint and tangerine, spearmint, and bubblegum.
BTW, the folks at Glee were kind enough to send Candy Snob all sorts of samples, so check back very soon for our reviews and comments.
Check out more Glee Gum
April 19, 2008
A Spanish Treat for Mother's Day
Still looking for a sweet but unique Mother's Day gift? How about some Spanish chocolate truffles or bon bons by Delaviuda, the celebrated candy makers of ancient Toledo, Spain?
First is the Gourmet Chocolate Bon Bon Gift Box. It comes in a beautiful black candy box, topped with a nice red bow - so you don't even have to wrap it! Each piece is a hand-made dark chocolate shell, with almond, hazelnut, coffee bean or truffle on a praline filling. Wow.
Or if your mom would like something a little less bad for her, there's always the Sugar Free Milk Chocolate Trufas. These individually wrapped, gourmet milk chocolate truffles are rich enough that you'll forget they are 100% sugar-free.
Click here to see all the Spanish chocolates at La Tienda. Or if you need more ideas, check out Candy Snob's Mother's Day Gift Guide.
April 18, 2008
Candy Bar Checks
Now you can take your candy addiction all the way to the bank. To learn more, check it out on Candy Addict.
Nestlé Wants to Build Market Share in Premium Sweets
The WSJ reports that Nestlé SA plans to enter the premium-chocolate market to increase sales in its confectionery division, but it will need time and money, analysts say.
Citing annual growth rates of as much as 8% for high-end chocolate products -- twice the rate of the general chocolate market -- the Swiss food-and-beverage company says it wants to lift the share of sales from dark and other luxury chocolate products from the current 4% of its total of 108 billion Swiss francs ($108.2 billion).
This year, Nestlé inaugurated a luxury-chocolate research center in western Switzerland and entered a pact with Belgian specialty chocolatier Pierre Marcolini. Nestlé will receive creative input from Marcolini while helping its partner to expand.
"Dark chocolate is a still-accelerating trend. Even countries which have no dark-chocolate tradition are successfully introducing such products," Nestlé's head of chocolate operations, Petraea Heynike, said in an interview. She declined to give a sales target for Nestlé's effort.
Check out Nestle chocolate & candy.
Continue reading: "Nestlé Wants to Build Market Share in Premium Sweets"
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Pudding Pie (Dark)
We really looked forward to this tasting, chocolate pudding seemed decadent yet jovial. The Pudding Pie is a dark chocolate piece found in Ethel's American Pop Collection. Flavor-wise, the filling tasted like really good chocolate Jello-o pudding, which hit a nostalgic nerve was not quite as noteworthy as I'd hoped. In addition, the filling was thicker that I would have thought - I would have expected pudding to be much thinner. Overall, there is really nothing wrong with the Pudding Pie, it is a completely enjoyable, delicious candy. But I had raised the bar pretty high in my own mind, which I think caused it to fall a bit short.
Read more about Ethel's Chocolates on Candy Snob:
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Peanut Better truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Gingerbread Spice Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Classic Cabernet Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Chewy Caramel with Dark Chocolate
Easter Selections from Ethel's Chocolate
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Espresso Truffle (Dark)
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Creme Brulee (Milk)
April 17, 2008
Fine and Raw Chocolates - Artisan, Sustainable & Healthy
Cool Hunting posted about these eco-friendly, guilt-free treats. The ingredients are sustainable, and they are choc (no pun intended) full of health stuff because of the raw preparation. The post says they have a "creamy soft consistency on par with the normal stuff."
Here are the vitals:
- Made using artisan low heat techniques to preserve raw vitality.
- Made from sustainably-produced shade grown raw cacao harvested from the Ecuadorian rainforest
- No sugar, dairy or additives
- Loaded with anti-oxidants, magnesium and other nutrients
- Made with the finest Blue Agave Nectar (a low gylcemic sweetener with fewer calories than sugar), coconut oil and lots of electrolytes.
- They contain Himalayan Sea Salt contains all the minerals and trace elements that comprise the human body.
It appears these are only available in the greater NYC area (hey, send us some samples Fine and Raw!), and cost about $7.
Thanks go to Cool Hunting for this find.
Review: Starbucks Vanilla Bean Truffles
We waded into the Starbucks chocolate waters recently, with one of their new grocery items - Vanilla Bean Truffles. Let's start with the packaging. As to be expected with Starbucks, the packaging is a well-designed triangular box with really attractive pics of the truffle on the outside. But like many grocery store items, the package never holds as much as you'd like - I believe it had 9 truffles.
The truffles are pretty small, but beautiful. Each comes wrapped in gold foil, twisted at the top. Inside is a conical truffle that's 1/2 perfectly smooth dark chocolate and 1/2 pinstriped. Its a really nice looking piece of candy.
The package says "Sweet and dreamy vanilla from Madagascar meets exquisite dark chocolate in a lovely pairing." My mouth started to water just thinking about it. But here's the deal, the chocolate is quite good and flavorful. The problem is with the pairing - the chocolate overwhelms the vanilla, rendering it nearly indistinguishable. Don't get me wrong, its a tasty treat for sure, but it is does not have the vanilla pop I hoped for, leaving me a little disappointed.
Overall, if I were giving this a rating, I might rate it a solid 6 or 7, because it is beautiful and the texture is solid. If they can figure out the right balance between the dark chocolate and vanilla bean, this would be a killer piece of candy.
April 16, 2008
80% Cacao Dark Chocolate by Blanxart
For the dark chocolate connoisseur. This bar is made of 80% premium dark Ghanain cacao, and is then mixed with real cane sugar and authentic vanilla for a deep, rich, mellow flavor. Why Ghanain chocolate? Because after conducting a survey of all of their chocolate sources, the chocolate makers at Blanxart concluded that the chocolate from Ghana was superior.
Read more about this bar.
Other Candy Snob posts on Blanxart:
Blanxart Dark Chocolate Duet from Spain
Dark Chocolate with Orange by Blanxart
April 15, 2008
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Key Lime Limbo (Dark)
Today's Ethel's installment comes to us from their Fruit Collection, straight from the Florida Keys - the Key Lime Limbo. Visually, this is a stunning chocolate. It is spray painted in green, but its on a gradient, so it get gradually lighter as it moves up the chocolate. Like many of Ethel's chocolates, this is a piece of art.
The Key Lime Limbo is a dark chocolate piece, which frankly intrigued me at first, I wasn't sure how dark chocolate would work with key lime. But as you taste it, it is the key lime pie flavor that is dominant. There is a hint of chocolate - which adds a touch of creaminess and depth. But its this flavor ratio that I think makes it work, and work well. If it were equally key lime and chocolate, I'm not sure it would have tasted as good.
Read more about Ethel's Chocolates on Candy Snob:
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Peanut Better truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Gingerbread Spice Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Classic Cabernet Truffle
Review: Ethel's Chocolate - Chewy Caramel with Dark Chocolate
Easter Selections from Ethel's Chocolate
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Espresso Truffle (Dark)
Review: Ethel's Chocolates Creme Brulee (Milk)
April 13, 2008
Mother's Day Gift Guide
If you want to give your mom a really special chocolate gift
Chocolove Nine Great Chocolate Bars - No question, Chocolove is one of our favorite chocolate makers. So this 9 bar gift box gets a big thumbs up from us. It contains all Chocolove brand flavors except the 77% Extra Strong Dark and Toffee & Almonds in Milk Chocolate. Not to mention, look how cool the book-like package is!
We love any of the summer assortments from Lake Champlain as gifts, but we especially think their Chocolate Flowers would make a wonderful gift for Mother's Day. What mom doesn't love chocolate AND flowers from their kid? Other Mother's Day Chocolates from Lake Champlain.
If your mom likes minty candy
Kshocolât Peppermint Creams Gift Box- besides the great taste and high end ingredients, these peppermint creams come in a pretty unique box - unique because it is so plain and basic. Very cool design and would make a great gift.
If your mom loves retro candy
If your mom loves candies that she grew up with but has trouble finding anymore, she check out I Love Mallo Cups, where there are many favorites that are still around but aren't as easy to find, like: Boyer Mallo Cups, Boyer Smoothies, Twin Bings, Nut Goodies, Goo-Goo Clusters, Sky Bars, Big Cherries, Idaho Spuds, Valomilks, and many more.
