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Kcal 195 Fat 8.4g Carbs 28.5g First off I have to apologise for my failure to deliver what was no doubt one of the most highly anticipated showdowns for Easter 2010 for ChocolateMission. Indeed my epic failure in securing a bag of Barratt Lovely Mini Eggs during the Easter period meant that 'battle of the Mini Eggs' never came to light. I don't know if Barratt had supply issues at all, but I couldn't find a pack of these 'Lovely Mini Eggs' for love nor money. Now three weeks after the event my local shops seem to have tons and tons of packets overflowing their shelves, and I managed to pick up a pack from my local OneStop discounted down to 20p! On the bag these came described as 'solid milk chocolate eggs in a crisp sugar coating', basically they are Barratt's attempt at Cadbury Mini Eggs.
My 20p bought a 40.0g pack, which contained about 12-15 small egg pieces. Looking at the packaging and presentation I think it is safe to say that these were nothing short of a shameless copycat product. The outer packaging was reasonably friendly and inviting with it's pastel colours, but the inner mini eggs looked absolutely identical to the Cadbury ones. They saying is all is fair in love and war and that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but I have had to knock off a few points for unoriginality here. Not to my surprise, like it is often the case with sugar coated products there was a distinct lack of aromas that emanated from the packaging, with nothing registering aside from a generic sugary sweet scent.
If you have read my previous Cadbury Mini Eggs review you will know that I am not the greatest fan of the things, so I guess it will come as no surprise that my enjoyment of these was pretty lacking. I don't wish to spend too much of my time jabbering on, so I will cut the story short. The outer shells were about the same thickness as the Cadbury Mini Eggs, though they were a little less spiky and sharp in terms of their sugar flavour delivery. Whereas this initially made the taste preferable to the Cadbury eggs, the taste took a turn for worse upon encountering the inner milk chocolate. The chocolate was noticeably more grainy and lax in melt, and it didn't have the creaminess in it's flavours that the Cadbury chocolate does. Ultimately it was a shame that the inner chocolate didn't build upon the more subdued flavours of the outer crisp shells. With the taste being so incredibly sweet, and not particularly enjoyable I wasn't inclined to eat the whole packet in one, and I ended up eating them across a few days.
Overall these Barratt Lovely Mini Eggs can only go down as poorer imitation product, which I guess from my point of view makes them pretty abysmal considering I don't enjoy the originals all that much. Despite the Cadbury Mini Eggs changing in recipe, and becoming increasingly sweeter this year, these Barratt Lovely Mini Eggs couldn't succeed in topping them as in my opinion the quality of the chocolate was even poorer than it was in the Cadbury equivalent. When you add in to the mix that Barratt didn't even try and differentiate the product at all from the Cadbury Mini Eggs then what you are left with isn't too endearing. I never saw these eggs at RRP so I am unsure what how competitive they were in price, perhaps a well informed reader can help me out with that ;) Unless they are significantly cheaper than the Cadbury Mini Eggs I simply can't make a case as to why you would choose them over the well established equivalent. They may not be my favourite product ever, but for me there is only one winner - Cadbury Mini Eggs.
5.8 out of 10
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25 comments:
I also tried these and thought they were rubbish.
They were exactly like the Cadburys ones but with crapper chocolate. Not worth even bothering with.
I think we can forgive you for being a bit late with this one.
I still haven't seem them anywhere and I doubt I will now that easter has gone. It doesn't look like I missed much.
I got a bone to pick about mini eggs.
They used to be special because the only time of year they used to be sold was around easter. Nowadays it seems you can just buy them all year round, which I think takes that special thing away from them. Companies don't seem to understand this any more. They are just too greedy.
Rxxx
These look pish. I'm not quite sure what you see in the packaging. I think it looks washed out and childish.
Looking at the eggs the chocolate doesn't look very nice either. It looks like it has a dusty white coating yuck.
I have seen these really vary in price when I have seen them in the shops.
Last week I saw superdrug selling them for 76p for packet like this, yet when I saw them in Coop yesterday they had been discounted to 20p. That is a pretty substantial price swing.
Jim this is a shocker. How can you not like mini eggs? This is pure crazyness, I mean everyone likes mini eggs.
I am shocked, very shocked => but I will let it slide this time. lol of course i am only joking with you. Lovely review.
Dx
I'm not too keen on mini Eggs either. However, they are rather moreish...
i had a pack of these a couple of days ago. they weren't half as good as the normal cadburys ones. they reminded me of the cheapo supermarket copies they used to do.
I am surprised that Cadbury let this fly? looking at the photos they looks absolutey identical to the mini eggs that have been around since began (so it seems anyway). You would have thought they would have had some sort of copyright protection around them.
Do Cadbury actually have copyright on 'mini eggs' though? Years ago Aldi used to do their own version of mini eggs AND creme eggs. Supermarkets have done imitations of big brands for ages now.
I have to say though I don't see why they bothered with these, there wasn't really a need for them was there?
I've never been a fan of Mini Eggs and never buy the Cadbury ones but was given a packet of these by my sister at easter and she and I actually really enjoyed them! lol I preferred them over the Cadbury ones: the shells seemed thinner to me, and to me the chocolate tasted pretty good too. I found them very moreish. I was quite surprised that i enjoyed them to be honest lol. Looks like everyone else thinks the opposite haha :P
I think it would be hard for Cadbury to Copyright the Mini Eggeven though you'd think it would be straightforward. I'm no expert but I studied it to some extent with my art. I may be wrong but they may have tried but I think essentially what I imagine they'd be told is that too many similar products exist (eg smarties)and the name is probably in too common a use :S
These have to go down as the most shameless copy of all time. It isn't as if they have even tried to hide the fact that they have copied Cadbury here.
I hate stuff like this. Sorry I just think it is really poor practice.
I don't think any one was ever going to accuse of being late to review these Jim. I still haven't seen them around so I am not surprised you haven't either.
One theory could be that they might have only been on sale in random parts of the country. Am I right in thinking you are from the South? If that is so maybe they were only released up north.
I love mini eggs they are amazing. I must have consumed about twenty packets of them over Easter I can never get enough.
I can relate to the person talking about them being available all year round though, I do find that really annoying and it does make them feel a bit less special when you see them in October and the like.
Omg you also noticed that cadburys changed their mini eggs this year. Why has no one else picked up on this? It was so obvious they are more more sugary than they were previously.
I think it is yet another example of a manufacture cutting costs at the expense of consumers.
There are no imitators to the originals. They don't feel the same without the Cadbury parrot and the bright yellow packaging.
@Justin - If you think this is bad, how about this: Aldi do a soup called "Cup of soup" and their milk chocolate is called "Dairy fine".
I can't imagine most people ever buying these instead of their normal Cadbury mini eggs. They are just one of those non-neogtioable brands that people are willing to pay the money for I think.
Could Barratts have made these suck anymore than they have done? Rip offs that don't taste as good. Geez well done guys.
It just goes to show that you should always just go with the brands you trust. Imitators are never as good as the real deal.
Lol I don't know what you are all complaining about. I thought they were ok myself. Had I not know they weren't the Cadbury ones I am not sure I would have been able to tell.
What a copy. So so lame.
PART 1
David
I am glad to hear I wasn't the only person who had difficulty tracking these down. For anyone that hasn't yet, I don't think you are missing out on much.
Steven
I can't think of any arguement to play devils advocate with that statement :D
Rachel
Indeed I totally agree with you. I feel the same way about the Cadbury Creme Egg. It is pretty much exactly the same as, and is out all year round. Like you say it makes them feel less special I think.
Golden
I think the packaging is one of the best bits out about this product, but that isn't saying much :D I think it may just be my photo that makes the innards look a bit rubbish.
Nick
Wow that is a huge price difference. I would say they are maybe worth a try at 20p, but never would I advise anyone to pay 76p! That is too much for what they offer.
Daisy
Sorry D! They just aren't my favourite thing. Much like I find with Galaxy Minstrels I don't like the way that the outer sugar shells dominate the taste. Thanks for the nice words about the reviews.
Claudia
I think they are moreish because they never give quite deliver the chocolate hit that other chocolates do. Personally I find that really annoying.
George
I have never seen any supermarket do an own label version of Cadbury Mini Eggs. I know M&S have done a very similar product ... I even think I reviewed them last year.
Richard
I have no idea about copyright laws so I wouldn't like to comment. I guess that Cadbury don't have that sort of protection, as Barratt obviosuly wouldn't have been able to manufacture them if they did.
Phil
You are right chap - Sometimes the names of their own brand copycat products can be hilarious. I can't think of any right off the top of my head, but if I remember tham I will post them. Cadbury obviously don't have the protection of their products to that level.
Alan
Haha it does look like you are pretty much alone here. Oh well each to their own - not everyone can dislike them eh!? If that was the case they wouldn't exist.
I think you are talking a lot of sense about copyrighting sugar coated chocolate candies. When you think about it there is certain brand called M&M's :D which have been making these sort of products for a lot longer than Cadbury (so I think!?).
Justin
I am not the biggest fan of blatant copycat products either. Oh well, I guess the idea is that they are priced on a different tier so people who can't afford the Cadbury ones have a different option. The arguement to that I guess is that they are so cheap anyway, there really can't be too many that can't afford the originals.
Emma
Hmmm I don't know - I wouldn't be able to pass comment on the regional distribution without hearing from some other people about availability! Round my neck of the woods they are very poorly distributed I know that much.
Lauren
20 packs :D boy that is plenty. I totally buy in to the point that they shouldn't be available all year round. I also hate seeing such products around September/October time. It just shouldn't be allowed.
Paul
If you look at my Mini Egg review you will see my views on the slight changes to Mini Eggs this year :D .... Cin at Foodstufffinds also thought this was the case aswell.
Ganesh
Yep I couldn't agree more. It has been a while since the parrot campaign :D
PART 2
Phil
Got to love some of the dodgy own brand names :D You should see some of the Lynx deodorants copies out in Superdrug at the moment. They are litterally 100% copies.
Kim
As I said, I don't think there are going to be many people that can't afford the Cadbury's ones in the first place. I just don't think these have any legs in them i.e. I don't think we will see them next year.
Mysterio
Haha not a fan then chap?
Katie
I would say that this is more than often the case with most products like that just copies of originals. I can't think of a really decent product like that off the top of my head!?
Estelle
Wahey it looks like Alan isn't alone then :D I guess if you only have them now and again (once a year etc!) then the differences might not be all that obvious. As a conniseur of Cadbury chocolate I could tell right away :D
Anon
These don't seem to have that many fans.
Thanks everyone - I got a great review coming up tomorrow that I think you will all enjoy. Haha I know I always say that but seriosuly I think you will like this one.
Cheers
JIM
they are now selling the cadbury mini eggs all year round bought them on saturday in montreal a small odd size bag for more money- but honestly they do not taste the same at all? wondering why they altered the recipe for the all year round ones?
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