Sampling snacks from over 40 countries, we don’t get to spend enough time with each. One country we hope to get more involved with is France. We have only sampled a handful of French snacks and the last one we tried was over a year ago. It was the M&M Crispy Candies, so we are not sure that counts. So tonight, we are trying a candy from France and review here on our international snack blog. Our snack under review is Pierrot Gourmand Lollipops. Pierrot Gourmand is a brand that was founded by a Parisian confectioner way back in 1892. The brand peaked in popularity in the 1950s and eventually went bankrupt in the 1970s. The Andros group then purchased the company and continues manufacturing today. In addition to their own brand they also offer a private label service. Today the company produces over 140 million lollipops a year. The packaging of the Pierrot Gourmand Lollipops appears high-end. Our sample came with two lollipops in a diamond shaped blue box. Unfortunately we liked the presentation more so than the actual candy. This snack is comprised of caramel with fresh milk and is a classic flat top lollipop. At first it had an unfamiliar taste and led us to believe the product had expired. Eventually it went away and it tasted like you imagine a caramel lollipop should. However, very little wow factor. It is most notable as a classic French lollipop though, so with that factored in we can see why many love this candy. Will World of Snacks offer the Pierrot Gourmand Lollipops in our international snack store? Probably not. That being said, we’d love to sample more French snacks. If you have a favorite that you think we should try leave it in the comments below. As always, keep on snacking world!
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World of Snacks is on a mission to locate the very best snacks on the planet! We’ve explored culinary specialties from 34 separate countries. Earlier this year we opened our international snack store and each month this year we are expanding out inventory by one country. Next month, snacks from Japan! Until then, we are continuing our search for future counties and to expand our current offering of foreign snacks. Today we are reviewing an American owned snack that is made for the European market only. It appears this version of the most sold candy in the world is from France specifically. We are reviewing M&M Crispy! Have you heard of M&M Crispy? If you live in the US and have a decent memory chances are you have. Originally released in 1999, this version of loved M&M’s was discontinued in 2005. What Americans may not realize is M&M Crispy was never discontinued in Europe, South East Asia, and Australia. That means our foreign friends have been enjoying this candy treat for nearly a decade since they were pulled from shelves in the US. Why did they stop selling M&M Crispy in the US? Chances are they didn’t perform as hoped. So do Americans not care for this chocolate candy? We think it may be because of competition. There are so many other chocolate candies in the United States to compete with. But we want to know what Americans think of this candy and because we don’t have a time machine (yet) we are going to do a taste test with several adults and a few kids, all American, most unfamiliar with M&M Crispy.
So how did our testers like the M&M Crispy from Europe? Pretty unanimously they all enjoyed them, some loved them, and others liked them. Only one tester recalled that the snack was offered in the US, he mentioned he ate them in high school, which is the exact time frame they were offered. So now that we are a majority of the way though out review of the M&M Crispy, maybe we should tell you exactly what they are. Well, in theory they are crispy rice balls covered in M&M’s chocolate with their much loved crunchy shell. However, the chocolate is different than the US market M&M’s as well as the coloring of the shell. The colors seemed to be dialed down, and with some research I learned that they do not use some of the artificial coloring that is used in the States. In fact, some of the coloring is banned from Europe! They chocolate is sweeter, and seemingly less milky. The crunch shell although is not as vibrant, seems to taste better. One tester mentioned they’d prefer it if it was the American chocolate around the European center. Overall though, we think this candy is perfect the way it is. Will World of Snacks offer M&M’s Crispy for sale in the US? Eventually we do think we will include this European snack in our inventory. We want to include as many American snacks with international flavors as possible. So until then, why don’t you check out our selection of Japanese Kit Kats for sale. Although out full inventory is not yet posted, we are 100% sure you will be excited about these flavors. As always, keep snacking world! In the US (and many other places around the world) they say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. For me, it’s absolutely true! My significant other and partner at World of Snacks initially won my heart with her exotic curry dishes from her home country of Myanmar, formerly Burma. Traveling through Europe as a kid, I came in contact with a variety of unique and delicious flavors, but nothing like what I was later introduced to. Our mutual love of food and culture ultimately brought us together and also helped us start our International Snack Company. For the thousands of followers we have made a connection with over the past 15 months or so, this is really an odd way to start our snack review and it’s not normally how we go about it. So how is this relevant to our review of Bret’s Indian Curry Chips? We absolutely love curry, in all forms, from all around the world. So we took the snack to our panel of testers to help get a fair review, or at least how Americans feels about this Indian Curry Chips. Before we jump into the taste test, let’s take a closer look at the snack under review. Although the flavor of these chips are titled Indian, this snack is actually from Brittany, France. Founded in 1995, in under a decade Bret’s has grown to a total output of 20,000 tons of chips annually, and now produce nearly a 3rd of chips consumed in France. Brett’s has carved a niche offering bold flavors included Braised Chicken, Navy, and Salted Butter Caramel. As you already know, our review is for Bret’s Indian Curry. Let’s take a closer look. We are sampling a full size bag weighing in at 4.4oz. It’s bright yellow with a purplish pink trim. The Bret’s logo is a red oval and uses a chip instead of an apostrophe. Of course it reads “Indian Curry” and just below is a pile of ingredients, most I cannot personally identify. So now we know what these French Chips look like, let’s get on with the taste test! As I mentioned before, I am personally a fan of curry. However, this is my first encounter with a curry flavored potato chip. I enjoyed the snack, the curry flavor was pretty accurate, and the chips themselves was on par with an American Ruffled Chips. The cumin and curry flavor stole the show and overall it made for a memorable and enjoyable snack. So what did our typical American testers think of Bret’s Indian Curry Chips? This snack from France received mixed reviews from our panel. Two of the testers actually spit the chip out, and one even mentioned it reminded him of a smelly armpit! Interestingly enough, they were both from the Southern part of the US, typically a region steeped in traditional flavors and a low influx of exotic items. The strongest concentration of testers rated this snack OK. They enjoyed it, thought it was unique, but didn’t really think they’d actively seek it out. Lastly, one of the testers loved Bret’s Indian Curry Chips. This tester frequents Asia and is too a fan of curry in general. Will World of Snacks offer Bret’s Indian Curry Chips for sale in our international snack store? Maybe, we have yet to find a selection of loved French snacks, so we are not sure which items will make the cut. Currently our online snack store features British Snacks and American Snacks for Export. In just a few days we will add our full line up of German Snacks and each month this year we will add another country. If you’d like to stay up to date with our progress be sure to leave your details to the right. Keep on snacking world! For nearly a year now World of Snacks has explored candy, chips, and cakes from all across the globe. Our international snack blog has documented our journey. Although our site is currently just a blog, starting in 2014 it will transaction into an online snack store that will ship all around the world. Our initial reason to get into the snack business was to connect with snacks from England, where I spent much of my childhood. English snacks will be the first stocked items with many more countries quickly following. Our snack review today is of an English Snack that is manufactured in France. Let’s get on with our review and see if it will make the cut. The loved Cadbury Brand produces our French/English Snack, which is a subsidiary of Mondelez International. Cadbury is British candy company and is the second largest confectionery manufacture in the world. Cadbury has been around for a while, well since 1824 and is the creator of many loved snacks including the Dairy Milk, one of England’s best selling candy bars. Our snack under review is not the Dairy Milk, but it is another candy bar offered by Cadbury. Let’s take a look at the Cadbury Bournville Classic Dark Chocolate.
Will World of Snacks offer the Cadbury Bournville as a part of our normal inventory when we launch our international snack store at the first of next year? The answer is maybe. In preparation for our launch we have already placed our orders with our English suppliers. So far we have a mix of 16 English snacks en route and the Bournville is not currently one of them. With that being said we are still searching for another 4 snacks from England and this treat may make the cut. If you’d like to see this candy bar offered for sale worldwide please be sure to comment below. Our international snacks blog is authored by Richard Olivarez. Please contact for article suggestions. Highlighting snacks from around the world, our international junk food blog is searching the globe for the very best sweet and salty treats. We have traversed all across the world and have circled back to France. The last and only snack we have sampled from France was the Eiffel Bon Bon's and we pretty much determined it was an imposter snack! The Eiffel Bon Bon's are solely made for US consumption. For this international snack review we wanted to make sure we had a genuine French treat. So World of Snacks searched for something written in French!
Little Higgy by Cemoi This French snack definitely looks good. It comes in a dark chocolate color plastic bag that is highlighted with a caramel color. Pictured front and center appears to be a very tinny hedgehog eating a tempting chocolate snack. The text on the front is in both French and English. On the back there are several additional language making it apparent Cemoi produces for the international market. Now we know how Little Higgy chocolate snacks look, let's see how they taste! The Taste Test Sweet! Petit Herisson Cemoi is among one of the sweetest snacks we have discovered from around the world. This French sugary snack is a fancy marshmallow that is coated with caramel and crispy milk chocolate. I am sure this would be a hit with kids but unfortunately our test group was only adults for this review. Typically international snacks are less sweet than American snacks, however this is not the case here. Although the snack is packed full of sugar, we did enjoy it. The gooey marshmallow surround by a crisp crunchy chocolate made for an enjoyable experience. We believe in moderation the Petit Herrison or the Little Higgy is delicious, but once you've had a few you may move onto something else. Will World of Snacks stock Little Higgy by Cemoi when we launch our store for snacks from around the world later this year? So far our selection of French snacks is limited. If we locate several more loved snacks from France than chances are we will indeed stock this snack. If you'd like to stay up to date with our progress and be notified of our international snack store launch be sure to like us on facebook. Bonjour, we are heading to France for this week’s candy review by World of Snacks. This is our first time examining a snack from the French Republic and we are excited to be sampling our first sour treat. We are ripping open a bag of Eiffel Bon Bon’s, an apple flavored chewy candy. Let's get started on our review! Eiffel is the brand listed on the bonbons but further inspection of the packaging shows these are imported to the US by The Foreign Candy Company. It’s not uncommon for some of our international snacks to be brought in and offered wholesale stateside. What is a little unusual is I am not able to find any information on Eiffel, other than what the Foreign Candy Company wants us to find. We have reviewed many delicious delicacies from all around the world from a variety of manufactures and Eiffel is the first company we are not able to locate ANY history or background information on. This leads us to believe this snack may not be a traditional French treat, but instead something designed and manufactured for the US market.
Will World of Snacks include Bon Bons Chewy Apple Candies in the launch of our international snack store? We are not certain just yet. If they are indeed a French favorite than we must stock them. If they are made for the US market and only offered in specialty shops then we still may carry them. We have yet to locate enough snacks from France to dedicate a page solely to this country. We may include Bon Bons during special promotions or on a limited run as well. If you are interested in receiving an invite and special coupon to the grand opening of our online based international snack store be sure to sign up now! If you have any suggestions on snacks from France we should review be sure to share!
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The Snack Blog
Follow along as we explore cookies, cakes, candies, chips, crackers, and nuts from all across the world. Many of the international snacks that we highlight will be offered in our store over the course of the next year. We currently offer British Snacks, American Snacks, German Snacks, Mexican Snacks, Filipino Snacks, Japanese Kit Kats, Pakistani Snacks, Italian Snacks, & Korean Snacks. Each month this year we will add a new country and their best snacks inventory. Shop
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May 2018
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