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Kcal 210 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 24.0g As I reported a few weeks ago, my pals at Yankee Soda & Candy recently sent me package containing a whole variety of American sourced products for me to review for the site. One of the smaller, daintier products included in this selection was the Hershey's Heath, which came described as a 'milk chocolate English toffee bar'. In terms of comparator products, the Heath sits in a competitive part of the market, which is also inhabited by another Hershey's bar the SKOR (See HERE), and of course Kraft's Daim bar (See HERE). Having done some brief research via Google, and cutting a long story short - the Heath was first to market produced in 1921, with the SKOR coming in later in 1983. For a while the Heath bar directly competed with the SKOR, however in 1996 Hershey acquired a company called Leaf, which saw the integration of the Heath in to their portfolio.
History lessons now to one side, this bar in a 39.0g which is the same size as the SKOR, but significantly bigger than the average Daim bar we get here in the UK. In terms of the wrapper, I can see what Hershey are trying to do with the old school look, but personally I think the wrapper is teetering on looking dated rather than retro. US citizens may get more nostalgic pleasure from the design than us oblivious Brits!? - it would be good to hear some views from across the pond on this. Inside the bar cut a more appetising look, with the chocolate's clean, shiny complexion and the golden coloured inner toffee both looking nicely presented. Smell wise the bar didn't offer much aside from a standard set of sweet chocolate scents.
Apologies for constantly referring back to the SKOR and Daim bars, but comparisons were always going to be drawn given the similar propositions. In terms of the outer milk chocolate the layer was sweet and milky in taste, and melted at a decent pace and nice fluidity. Those of you wondering if there was any sense of the Hershey sour aftertaste lingering around, will feel comforted to know that there was nothing of the sort detectable, with the majority of the taste occupied by the generic sweet milk chocolate flavours. On the wrapper, the 'finest quality English toffee' was communicated as being on offer, but being an English lad I can tell you the centre was nothing like English toffee whatsoever. Toffee in the UK is normally more of a chewy, softer confection, but the lines between fudge, caramel and toffee are all so blurred nowadays I will resist a good old rant. Focusing more on what was, rather than what wasn't, the centre was actually pretty delicious so I can excuse the rather loose 'toffee' description. In comparison to the SKOR and Daim bars it had the same brittle texture, but was smoother to suck on, and had a more friendly, butter rooted caramel like set of flavours on offer. The less intense sweetness of these flavours, went nicely with the already quite sugary chocolate, which made consuming this bar in a single sitting a pretty easy and altogether satisfying task. As a little side note it was excellent after it had been left in the freezer for an hour or so - this made the toffee no more brittle, but the chocolate longer lasting in melt.
Overall if I had to pick a favourite out of all three big brand offerings I would have to go for this Heath bar. I think out of all three, it's balance in relation to both flavours and textures are superior to the other two, and with a little smartening up of the packaging and presentation it could really be up there as one of the better mass produced chocolates from the US. In terms of superior textures, the melt of the chocolate was better paced and smoother compared to what I can remember about the SKOR bar, whilst the inner toffee brittle thankfully didn't have the same roughness as the Daim. In terms of chocolate quality, it has to be said I would be very hard pushed to pick a favourite between all three as all of them offer pretty much the same experience. However, when it comes to the toffee filling, for me the Heath bar does manage to stand a little apart from the others with it's taste more rooted in butter and cream rather than the startling burnt sugar flavours offered by the other two. If you are fan of either the SKOR or Daim and haven't yet tried a Heath yet, I recommend you do so in the near future. You could well have a new favourite on your hands.
7.6 out of 10
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28 comments:
How odd they have two such similar bars. You would have thought that they would have just chosen to go with one when they bought one out. Hershey are terrible when it comes to fair competition aren't they.
The Daim is one my favourites of all time. It doesn't nearly get enough love because of it's small size. I think if they made a bigger one it would be far more popular.
How can you not love that wrapper :) lol no I'm only joking I see what you mean it looks pretty awful doesn't it.
I think they are trying to make it looks retro, but ended up just making it look 80's.
Those of you wondering if there was any sense of the Hershey sour aftertaste lingering around, will feel comforted to know that there was nothing of the sort detectable
There was no way I would even think of trying this just for this very reason. I hate that hershey aftertaste so much it has put me off all their products. Nice review thank you x
Rxxx
Well this has given me with food for thought. I do buy american things sometimes fro cybercandy but this isnt a bar I have ever considered. I thought it would be too similar to the Daim so it would be a waste of money. I might see how much it costs next time.
I think the wrapper for this Heath bar is a lot more appealing than the skor one you linked in the review. The skor looks a lot more european than this heath.
It would be cool to hear if it has changed much since hershey took over the reigns.
This does look very yummy.
I always thought toffee was supposed to be hard like it is in this chocolate.
Toffe is hard
Caramel is soft
Fudge is in between
Thats how I always remember it anyway.
Dx
This is pretty low in calories for it's size. Anything that sounds like it is a bigger version of the Daim is an attractive prospect in my book. I don't get why Kraft make the Daim so titchy. It's begging out to be about twice the size don't you think?
Two different bars made by the same company ....
that are entirely the same thing ..... riiiiiiight. It doesn't make much sense does it. I wonder if one of them is on its way out or something.
Its a bit odd how we have never seen anyone like Nestle or Cadburys try and make something to compete with the Daim in the UK. I think having three similar bars in the same market is excessive, but have a bit of choice would be nice.
How do you remember how things tasted from over a year ago. I just looked at your Hershey's Skor post and you wrote about that in April 2009. Lol in this review you talk as if you wrote about it just yesterday. You must have a fantastic memory.
Toffee isn't always hard. Think about the toffee crisp bar - that a soft caramel centre.
So essentially the story behind the Heath is that it used to be owned by someone other than Hershey who couldn't make a bar that was as good. So Hershey just bought them out :S that is hardly fair competition is it.
That is one horrid looking chocolate bar wrapper. Its so boring and brown. I wouldn't buy it just because of that.
I have to agree the wrapper is horrible. I've noticed with alot of the american bars you've reviewed the wrappers/boxes seem to all have that 'look', sort of very flat design work and slightly old fashioned looking but not in a retro way. Brown is probably the worst choice possible lol. Of course they may hate our wrappers lol
The bar itself sounds nice, I'm a big fan of the Daim bar, but I like the taste and texture of Daim, rather than just a buttery toffee flavour, and I don't have to import it/spend alot buying one. I'm not a great Hershey fan either. It's funny them calling it english toffee, it's a funny thing how they try and define them all. after all you can get hard caramels and soft toffee, even though you automatically think caramel is soft and runny and toffee hard and chewy.
I've really started to get into Daim recently, thanks to the lovely Milka bars. Prior to this I hadn't touched them in years. I wouldn't bother to try and buy this but it does look tasty. I agree the packaging isn't very good.
Whats the point having two products that do exactly the same thing? They look identical if you look at your photos. Totally pointless in my opinion.
I have been waiting for a king sized Daim bar to come about ever since time began it seems.
Why are the duo or king sizes bars never on the products we want. Who actually wants a king sized Mars or Snickers? I think the normal ones are big enough.
It is the smaller things like Cadbury Fudge, Daim and Caramacs that need to have bigger versions. Sorry for the rant.
I can't help but think there wouldn't be so much negativity from the comments left if people weren't aware it was made by Hershey. For some reason I think British folk have it in for them.
Ah ive got this one in my Pile of chocs to try it sounded like a Skor and looks very much the same as well.
I love the SKOR but always thought it would be abit better softer, so this one i might prefer.
Matt
I'm currently totally addicted to the Milka Daim. I can't enough of it :) I think its the best new product to have come out for a long time.
I would give this Heath a try if I got the chance mind you. I find it hard to believe that I would like it more than a Daim though.
@Ganesh - I'm sure they brought a D'aim Duo out recently. I remember reading about it somewhere.
They have indeed brought out a Daim duo I bought one a few weeks ago :) 2 bars in one pack yay! It's called Double Daim!
@Estelle I think people sometimes view Hershey negatively because of some of the choices they have recently made such as 1) Removing cocoa butter from their chocolate and replacing it with inferior ingredients. 2) Moving production of many of their main lines to Mexico to exploit cheaper labour.
The funny thing is that so many of the big corporations like Hershey and Kraft do this. They just don't do it as openly as Hershey.
David
I have to admit it doesn't seem all that good for competition that Hershey bought the Heath licence. Who knows ... perhaps the offer they made was just too good to turn down.
Nick
It sounds like you need to have a look out for this Daim Duo bar. According to some of the guys it does exist.
Justin
Perhaps they just haven't changed it since the 1980s :D Haha it would be interesting to see how it has evolved over time. It doesn't look like they have changed it at all does it.
Rachel
This does annoy me to be honest. So many people get put off a lot of Hershey products just because of their original milk chocolate bars. I guess it is their own fault, but some people are really missing out on some great bars.
Duncan
As I said in the review if you like the occasional Daim bar I would recommend this.
Steven
To be honest I don't particularly like either of the wrappers that much. I do agree that the SKOR looks a lot more like it is for a european market out of the two.
Daisy
Na toffee can sometimes be soft and chewy. Caramel can also be hard like Werthers Originals etc ... the boundaries are so blurred nowadays its hard to know what is what.
Julie
It looks like there is a bigger size available! You might want to keep your eyes peeled for it.
Ryan
Nope I think both are established bars in their own right so I don't think either will be disappearing anytime soon. I hear the Heath is harder to find than the SKOR though - I think that is the right way round anyway.
JT
It is a bit odd isn't it. I guess they just understand that it would take a lot of convincing to get a Daim bar consumer to switch to a different bar. Old habits die hard and all that.
Golden
It was already that long ago. That surprised me. I like to think I have a good memory :D
Colin
Yep yet another example of blurred definitions.
Anon
I don't think it was quite that clear cut. Like I said above I am sure the people who used to own the Heath hardly did badly out of the deal.
Kim
I wouldn't let it put you off - the actual chocolate is a lot more accomplished than the wrapper.
Alan
I never like seeing a brown wrapper. The only one I can think of that actually works is the Galaxy one.
Like I said above the boundaries of toffee, caramel and fudge are all so muddled up it is hard to know what is what nowadays.
I think it is funny they tried the whole English Toffee route - its a bit cheeky isn't it :D I bet none of the ingrdients were English either.
Phil
The Milka Daim bar is pretty special isn't it. It is one of my all time favourite Milka chocolates.
It is funny how the packaging is putting quite a few people off today.
Marshall
They did differ in terms of taste. Looking back and comparing the photographs I do see your point about them looking the same. The centre of the Heath bar was notcieably lighter in colour mind you.
Ganesh
I think you might be mistaken there chap. According to Phil and a few others there is a Daim Duo about - I haven't actually seen one myself but it obviosuly exists.
I agree Cadbury need to sort themselves out and make a bigger fudge bar though.
Estelle
I don't think people have it in for Hershey at all. It does frustrate me that some people stay clear of some of their products just because they had bad experiences with their milk chocolate though.
Matthew
Good to hear I will be getting a second opinion soon :D I look forward to reading your views chap be sure to share them.
Nigel
The only way of finding out is to try it for yourself chap :D never rule anything out until you try something chap.
Phil / Alan
I've never seen it guys. Where have you seen it before?
David
Like you say a lot of companies are in the business of cost savings at the moment. I don't like the sound of any of those changes they have made, but hey you got to put it in to perspective - so many are companies are looking to cut corners nowadays. Lets not criticise just one company for being open about their operations.
Thanks everyone. It sounds like some of us need to find this Daim Duo bar doesn't it. Keep your eyes peeled everyone.
JIM
I usually like Hershey's but I have to admit I was a slightly disappointed today hoping it would be another HC Monday...I had never had a Heath bar till recently and was suprised how much I liked it. I didn't know it was Hershey's - for some reason I thought Heath was an English brand lol, I guess it was the 'English toffee' marketing. I think the Heath is pretty popular in the US - my uncle was shocked I hadn't ever tried one and insisted on buying me one, which I made the mistake of leaving out in the open for a few hours during which it was promptly consumed (he bought me two more to make up for it)!
I prefer the Heath Bar over Skor. Whenever I go to Hershey Park, I always stock up on them!
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