We created World of Snacks and our International Snack blog over a year ago.  Our goal for developing this business was to be able to sample snacks from our diverse childhoods, explore unique flavors and treats, and make them available for purchase all across the world.  One of the treats that inspired us to go into the snack business was the Kinder Surprise, from what we though was from Germany.  So this week our international snack blog is in Germany?

The reason we ended the previous statement with a question mark is Kinder, although German for children, is not from Germany.  Today the Italian luxury snack group, Ferrero, owns Kinder.   So we are actually reviewing an Italian snack!  Why did we mention we sought out the Kinder Surprise?  Because this tasty childhood treat we desire is actually banned form the USA!  Something about putting small toys inside a chocolate candy is a little dangerous, well according to the FDA anyway.  So trying to fill the void that the Kinder Surprise Egg has left with us we have been sampling anything we can get our hands on with a Kinder logo.  Late last year we took a look at Kinder Friends.  Today, the Kinder Happy Hippo Biscuits are going under review.

So before we give our review of this Kinder cookie, let’s recap a little of what we have sampled over the last 13 months.  We will keep it short.  We have sampled many, many, many snacks from a total of 30 countries.  We wanted to start our review of the Kinder Happy Hippo Biscuits with a little bit of our background so the next statement is taken seriously.  The Kinder Happy Hippo Biscuits are by far, the best snack we have tasted from anywhere in the world!  We enjoyed this treat so much that all testers involved were actually smiling will consuming the biscuit.  The crispy wafer biscuit taste like a sugar cone that would generally hold soft serve ice cream. It provides a firm, hollow crunch that is very pleasant.  Inside, two of the finest tasting cream fillings we have encountered.  One is milk and the other cocoa.  The meringue undercoating adds a subtle flavor and holds the additional fragments of chocolate on the exterior.  All the independent ingredients come together to create a snack that is truly special.

Will World of Snacks offer Kinder Happy Hippo Biscuits for sale online in our international snack store?  Yes! We can’t wait until our inventory is expanded to include all legal Kinder products.  When we will sell snacks from Italy or Germany? Help us decide now by voting for your favorite.  Also, currently we offer both British Snacks and American Snacks for sale.  Each month this year we will expand to include a new country.  We’d love to know what snacks you think we should carry.  Leave your details to the right and we will keep you up to date.  Keep on snacking world!

3/15/2014 UPDATE:  You can now purchase the Kinder Happy Hippos online!

Certain snacks can bring back memories and remind adults of their childhood.  These same candies can excite children of today as well.   One of the reasons we decided to create World of Snacks was to seek out candy that we loved as children and to allow my son to explore these same treats.   Our candy under review today is one such snack- well soft of. 

Our snack from Germany came in a cardboard box filled with an assortment of 34 pieces of Kinder chocolate.  This Kinder assortment includes 4 flavors: Kinder Chocolate, Kinder Bueno, Kinder Country, and Kinder Schoko-Bons.

First to be sampled from the Kinder Friends Chocolate was the traditional Kinder Bar.  The classic is smooth, creamy, and outrageously delicious.   The center is filled with creamy milk and this is one of our favorite candy bars in the world.

Next up the Kinder Bueno, something we have not had the chance to sample but have seen around in our travels.  We have been missing out!  The Kinder Bueno is tasty, which is why “Bueno” translates to just that.  The center is a hazelnut cream filled wafer that is covered in chocolate.  The crunch is an added bonus.

Moving on the third candy from the Kinder Friends Chocolate box is Kinder Country.  This one caught us by surprise.  It tastes like a rice cake covered in Kinder chocolate.  Although we are not fans of rice cakes, this flavor did please us.  Although out of the assortment it is our least favorite.

Last but no least, the Kinder Schoko-Bons. This snack is a chocolate egg filled with chopped hazelnuts.  I personally like the other 3 flavors better but other tasters ranked this over the Kinder Country.   Their marketing on this German snack is geared towards children but I imagine adults would prefer it.

Will World of Snacks offer the Kinder Friends Chocolate Assortment when we launch our international snack store early next year?  Yes, we plan to offer all varieties of Kinder when Germany is added to our inventory.  Until then, starting January 1st you will be able to purchase snacks from England and have them shipped in the US and around the world.   Each month following a new country will be added.  To stay up to date with the progress of our online store leave your details to the right.

World of Snacks is racing across the globe in search of inventory to eventually offer for purchase in our international snack store set to launch early next year.  So far we have explored sweet and salty treats from a total of 27 different countries.  For this international snack review we find ourselves back in Germany, a country I was lucky enough to explore as teenager. 

Our snack under review today is produced by an Italian confectionary company called Ferrero. This snack producer has long standing roots as a multinational company.  In fact Ferrero was the first company in Italy after World War II to become an international group.  Today the company is still family owned and produces a range of loved snacks including Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, and one of my personal favorites- Kinder!

Hanuta, which is an acronymic for Haselnusstafel, or German for Hazelnut Bar is delightful treat.  The snack is comprised of two toasted wheat flour wafers filled with a generous portion of sweet chocolate and chopped hazelnuts.  The wafers are firm and crunchy.  The wheat flour make up did produce an extra toasty hint and at first seemed overcooked.  The creamy sweet chocolate is just right and the nuts are subtle but add to the overall presentation.  Myself and our taste testers all agreed that if this snack was offered in the US that we would opt to buy it in the check out line of the grocery store.  

Well all of our US followers know the Ferrero Hanuta is not offered for sale in the US, but will World of Snacks change that?  Yes!  At this time we do plan to offer the Hanuta as a part of our German snack selection when we launch our online snack store early next year.  If you are interested in this snack or would like to know when our snack shop launches be sure to leave your details to the right.  Keep on snacking! 

On our search for the best snacks in the world, our international snack blog has traversed much of the globe.  One country World of Snacks has not focused enough on is Germany.  I personally traveled through out Germany and truly enjoyed many German snacks.  However, our snack today is not one and I am not sure how I missed such a loved German candy.

Last time World of Snacks visited a top selling snack from Poland we took an in-depth look at the very delicious Prince Polo by Kraft.  This time we are reviewing Milka Milkinis which is also now owned by Kraft as well.  Although this chocolate bar currently is manufactured in Poland  got it start from Philippe Suchard in 1901 who is considered a Swiss chocolatier, and when it comes to chocolate that is a fine distinction.   Suchard opened his first factory in Germany and his company Milka was considered  a German confectionery producer.  After his initial success Milka became a major player in Switzerland making the categorizing of this snack product difficult.  To add to the confusion Kraft International purchased the company in the early 90s and the Milka Milkinis are it’s best selling candy bar through out Europe.  

Although we are not 100% sure where they are from we do know how they look and more importantly how they taste!  Our snack sample is a slim box containing a total of 8 chocolate bars.  A playful cartoon cow that happens to be purple, or lilac to be exact graces the box.  Each bar is individually wrapped in a crisp foil and consist of four sections with the friendly cow in place on each piece.  They are pleasant to look at and appear to be made to appeal to children, although the packaging in the US would seem more on the upscale end.

Sure they look good, but how do Milka Milkinis taste?  The bars are a sweet milk chocolate with a creamy milky filling.  They are 51% sugar so they are much sweeter than typical chocolate bars out of Germany or Switzerland.  The chocolate is soft and light colored and the milk center is bright white and moist.  They strongly resemble one of my personal favorites, the Kinder bar from Germany.  If not being so familiar with Kinder I am sure I would have been through the roof about this snack.  However, being a fan of Kinder I appreciated the Milkinis but preferred my trusted favorite.  Overall our panel all enjoyed the snack and our 10 year old Director of Taste proclaimed this is among his favorite candy bars from around the world.

Will you be able to purchased Milka Milkinis chocolate bars online from World of Snacks?  Providing we do not consider these a German snack we hope to offer Milkinis as a part of our normally stocked inventory.  A little more research is needed and if they do fall under a German favorite we may decide not to stock the snack being it is so close to Kinder.  We will make a final decision prior to the end of the year when we anticipate the launch of our international snack store.