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*** Jim's Corner ***
Hi All,
7 Days of Chocolate Reviews is back by popular demand and there is plenty to catch up on :D
Behind the scenes I have a few exciting things bubbling away including the ChocolateMission Awards 2010 (more on that in a minute!), a new 'Stars & Their Bars' post, some hot chocolate reviews, Valentines day 2011 reviews and even some new products from several of our favorite suppliers.
I will keep this section short this week as there are hundreds of news articles to post. Please make sure you check out the competition at the bottom.
Have great weekends
JIM
News from the Chocolate Market
* Cadbury are putting some money behind their hot chocolate Highlights range ... See HERE
* Cadbury are also bringing back their Creme Egg Muller Yogurts ... See HERE
* Nestle are bringing back the Aero Caramel aswell as the Orange bar ... See HERE
* Onken are bringing out a new chocolate yogurt ... See HERE
* Divine have revealed their Easter range ... See HERE
* Are you prepared for the new Snickers Maxximus ... See HERE
* The final bar of chocolate has rolled-off the production line at a Cadbury factory at Keynsham near Bristol ... See HERE
* Another factory closure ... this time Burtons are the sufferers ... See HERE
* You may have noticed that the Easter products have already been on the shelves for a month ... See HERE
**** COMPETITION ****
I need your help for the ChocolateMission awards 2010!!
Quite simply I need you to pick your favourite three reviews from 2010 and send me your selections to Jim[@]chocolatemission.net ... Please ensure you make the subject name of your e-mail 'AWARDS 2010'
Doing so will enter you into a prize draw for some Ritter Sport chocolate bars - (I will post a picture of the prize next week).
This competition couldn't be easier to enter and is open to all readers. The winner will be announced on the award post itself.
Good Luck
Blogs I have been reading this week
* The Impulsive Buy - Drew, a new write at TIB checked out this new Special K cereal ... he must be a January dieter ... See HERE
* Foodstufffinds - Liz is as busy as ever hunting down the latest snacks and foods. I really enjoyed this review of this 'Saucy Fish Co' Salmon product ... See HERE
* ChocolateReviews - Lee has been checking out some more chilli chocolates from the Dartmoor Chilli Farm ... See HERE
* CandyBlog - Cybele posted a long over due review on our very own Mars Delight ... See HERE
* Foodette Reviews - It looks like these guys need to take some tips from Heavenly Cakes when it comes to gluten free cakes ... See HERE
* Gone Chocco - There have been plenty of Moser Roth reviews on Gone Chocco this week. How on earth did they all make their way to Australia?? ... See HERE
Saturday, 15 January 2011
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38 comments:
Nice one Jim thanks for running another competition. Are any of the ritter bars the new praline one? You got me really fancying that the other day.
Why is it that all these manufacturing places are getting shut down :( Its so bad for our economny having people out of work :( Not even chocolate can save us from this mess by the looks of things.
Loving the idea of giving away some Ritter Sport Jim thank you ever so much, it's awfully generous of you.
I am going to send you the three I think are best now. Just to clarify are we voting on the reviews that we liked or the products in the review?
When do the awards get announced then? You didn't say.
I don't know how but I totally missed that Aero Caramel annoucement. I do read those websites everyday aswell :S
How very unexciting. What is the point of removing things like the Orange and Caramel bars only to bring them back a few years later? IMO neither of them are (or at least were) no better than the peppermint one.
Wait a second. Have they stopped making Wagon wheels altogether then? That is a shocker if thats true. This should have been front page news lol. Have a good weekend Jim. I'm off to send my comp entry to you now.
Rxxx
Great news round up Jim. Did you not have any of the 'chocolate is healthy for us articles though?'
They are always good for a laugh lol.
How are we meant to pick just three? They have all been so good. Thank you for the competition mate. Can you give us a heads up to what will be included in the prizes. Please say there is a white chocolate cornflakes bar in the offing.
Woop woop awards and prizes :) :) :) me likey
Dx
Seeing all that Easter stuff on sale on boxing day didn't half make me laugh. I mean what the hell are they playing at? They are just devaluing the special feel of all of the chocolate by having them out for so long.
A few years ago it used to be that you could only get Cadbury Creme Eggs for a few weeks a year and that was what caused such a scramble (excuse the pun lol) to get hold of them in that limited period. I swear you could buy one any week of the year nowadays if you looked hard enough.
Dont you think its a little late for Cadbury to be pumping money behind their hot chocolates? It's got loads warmer round where I live now. If they had been advertising during that cold snip last month I bet it would have been ten times more effective for sales. They need to get themselves a weatherman at Cadbury HQ lol.
Lol I swear you must work for Ritter. Whenever you run a comp its always the prize you give away. Please please please dont see that as me complaining lol. I love ritter sport.
Im going to have to pick one of your Hotel Chocolat box reviews because they always leave me feeling the hungriest.
Some of the ones you reviewed at Christmas were extra special. Its going to be tough to pick a winner.
That new snickers bar sounds pants. I think the nougat bit is the best, I dont understand why you would want to take it out. *sigh* I will try it but I wont be holding out much hope with it.
God man its like impossible just choosing 3. I will be putting some serious thought in to this :) I hope you reward me with some ritter sport.
Its worth noting that it was a double decker line that was the last produced at that Cadburys factory. It will be interesting to see if there is a noticeable change in the quality of the products from one factory to the other. I dont eat them so someone else will have to be our testing expert lol :)
Its so stupid that you can move production to a different country to the one you sell it in and be able to make more money. That shouldn't be allowed to happen if you ask me.
LMAO I have been following your twitter Jim and I have seen all the messages you have been sending the celebrities. I look forward to seeing what they had to say, I have seen a few of their answers and they are pretty interesting. I would have thought most of them would have gone for posher ones.
You weren't lieing when you said you were gonna be running more comps. Thanks Jim its well nice of you to offer us prizes and a chance to vote for a winner. Cheers mate.
Argh no. HARDEST.COMPETITION.EVER.
Next time make it knowledge based Jim. There is no way I can pick out three favourite reviews. There are loads of them that I love. Thanks for running it.
Sorry am I missing something here. What is 'stars and their bars'????????
Awesome Jimbo. I enjoyed the awards ceremonies you did last year. Make sure you pick as wisely as you did last time ;) no pressure.
btw mate we sure stuck it to you poms yesterday. We are on the road to recovery now. The ODIs are gonna be an aussie whitewash now.
Noooooooooooooooooo! This cant be the end to Wagon Wheels. This is the worst news I've had this year. Please someone tell me this is untrue.
Andy, @killer_instinct
Are the categories for your awards going to be the same as last year? Can I suggest another one that I dont think you have covered.
Can you do a 'Best value for money chocolate' I think it would be a sensible one.
I got my predictions ready for you for this weekend mate.
Liverpool 0 Everton 0
Tottenham 3 Man U 3
Both draws I think. I will give up on football if we lose. I just despair of us at the minute.
I like the sound of all these things coming up. I could do with some tips for Valentines day lol My ideas are always so unoriginal.
Have a gr8 wk end mate. Hope you lose.
Cool I chance to vote and win some chocolate :-) Perfect thanks Jim.
Wow it will be hard picking just three lol
I havent spotted any of the Aero orange yet.. not sure who's stocking them?
Thats sad about the Burton;s factory but am not sure what the panic is regarding Wagon Wheels etc.. unless I read it wrong it said nothing about cancelling any products lol. They make hundreds of products for themseleves and other comnpanies (like Cadbury) and have just revamped Jammie Dodgers, so I don't think theyre gonna stop making Wagon Wheels!
A comprhensive news round up (cheers!!!) + a competition.
Our lucky day eh :) Cheers Jim. Having a top weekend matey.
Hot chocolate? Yes, please :D
Choosing only three was difficult, it left out so many great ones... but now I'm curious to see the results for all categories (I'm assuming it will be something like last year - reader's choice, selection boxes, biggest surprise, best new, best overall...)
Thanks for running this interesting competition. Will be tough to choose the reviews though for the award though!
Nice to see the Onken Yoghurt. In Germany that kind of flavour is made by quite a few companies, usually under the name of Straciatella after the popular ice cream flavour. There are some versions with a fruit flavoured, instead of vanilla, yoghurt base around as well. But why only as limited addition? Am sure a lot of people will love it and will be sad to see it go again…. Maybe if it sells well enough Onken will rethink and keep it.
Terrible to see all these factories closing and people loosing their jobs. Even though I am not British, it makes me sad to see all these traditional companies closing manufacturing plants etc.
The Divine Easter Range doesn’t sound to exciting but nice nevertheless. Would be interesting to see how the Speckled Eggs compare to the good old Cadbury Mini Eggs. *review request* ;-)
Here is another good article on that cadburys factory closure it has a few more interesting facts in there
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/223231/Famous-chocolate-factory-Cadbury-s-gets-chop
Thank you for the comp Jim. I got my toes crossed I win something.
On average how many entries will you get?
Are we talking hundreds or more? Your best review has to be the hotel chocolat selection for Xmas. That was so good with the pictures and stuff.
Cadburys bringing back those mini egg desserts is not good news for my health LOL. Honestly I got a little obsessed with them last year.
Im going to blame cadburys for that one though because they were always on buy one get one free deals. It would have been rude not to eat them both.
You got some exciting things in development Jim I look forward to seeing them all. Thanks for the ritter prizes, I am off to send you my vote now mate.
@Warren - I actually like the idea of a Snickers without nougat. It'll mean more caramel and peanuts, which are the best bits. I presume it'll be a bit like a Starbar.
Thanks for doing the competition Jim :) I'm gonna have to have a good think about the best reviews from last year as there were so many.
I wonder if this, er, "new" caramel Aero will be any different to the last one they made. I actually quite liked that one, but recently I think the quality of Aero chocolate has gone down. The only Nestle products I buy these days is Kitkat and occasionally a Toffee Crisp.
Ooh am excited about the new Snickers - sounds good! Don't think I tried the Aero caramel before so am looking forward to that - I lurrve caramel :) Thanks for the competition dude!
@ Phil when I read the description it sounded exactly the same as the first Aero Caramel, I still think theyve done it to try and cash in on the absence of Wispa Gold.. I wonder how well they'll do.. everyone compared them to WG before (before they were re-released) so now theyve had them again I think they'll suffer even more in comparison.
Youre right about quality though, theyre not as nice and those silly bar shapes they now do for the smaller single bars with those wierd bumps look tiny compared to the old ones. Mind you - when you seen the tiny size and weight of Lion Bars and Toffee Crisps compared to the Cadburys equivalent types like Double Deckers? Absolutely tiny against those!
Not sure if anyone has seen the new Aero bars wrappers.. I like them both, the caramel one is very jazzy.. but it doesnt have the iconic look of Wispa Gold.
http://www.fdin.org.uk/2011/01/new-aero-orange-blocks-from-nestle/
Hi All,
Thanks for all the votes that have come in so far. Some of you have been way too kind in your praise on your entries :D I can't say it will help your chances of winning but thanks for the ego boost nonetheless guys and girls.
By the looks of things there are a few details I have been a little sketchy about the competition etc ... let me sort them out ...
David - Yep the new praline is one of the bars I have spares of.
Steven - The review. Hopefully if it is your favourite product I would have done it justice anyway :D
Anon - The awards will be announced on the weekend of the 30th/31st
Golden - Sorry chap I couldn't actually find one this week. It was a bit unexpected really as I thought people around this time of year would be wanting to justify eating it more than ever.
Paul - Sorry chap I have already given away or the white chocolate cornflakes ones.
Nick - I couldn't agree more with you. They should just keep them out for a more limited period to keep them feeling special. It doesn't help that the Cadbury Twisted is out all year round mind you.
Kim - Indeed it would have been highly appropriate for Cadbury to have been advertising their hot chocolate a few weeks ago but no one could have predicted that horrendus weather would have come as early as it did. If you remember all the cold weather came a bit later the year before.
Mark - No I dont work for Ritter.
Warren / Phil / Alan - I think the Snickers Maxximus sounds interesting enough. It will be make for a good review anyway :D I do like the nougat though. That could be a sore point.
Lucy - Lets keep an eye on the double decker indeed. You should be able to notice when they switch production as it will have to be stated on the wrapper.
Karen - I have been bombarding them for answers haven't I :D I have a lot of responses now so it wont be long before I post them all up.
Anon - See Here -->
http://www.chocolatemission.net/2008/01/stars-their-bars.html
&
http://www.chocolatemission.net/2008/01/stars-their-bars.html
Justin - You Aussies got off to a decent start today didn't you :D 1-0 ... only the 6 left to claw it back haha :D
Richard - Yep categories will be the same as last year chap. VFM is considered when awarding bar of the year :D Don't worry it is all considered.
Alan - Thank you for putting Warren's fear to rest for me :D I like your logic. A few people have messaged me on Twitter saying that they have been buying the Aero Orange from Tesco. It could be worth a look in there if you get the chance.
Ana - Indeed it will be. Unlike last year I will be posting the entire lot on one weekend though. There is no sense in dragging it out across multiple days.
Anne - If you do end up liking that flavour you could always just revert to the Muller equivalent. That one has been out the best part of a year now. I think Onken bringing this one out is a direct response to how popular that one has been.
I will note your request regarding the speckled eggs :D it sounds like the sort of thing I can make happen :D
Kev - Interesting find there chap. It is sad to see that place shut down huh!
Shane - No idea to be honest. I guess we will have to see.
Phil / Alan - I fully expect it to be exactly the same bar that we had a few years ago. It does seems a bit puzzling why they didn't bring it out at the same time to counter act the Wispa Gold. That would have made a lot more sense then randomly bringing it out now. I guess we will have to just see.
Roxy - Well at least someone is excited :D Its good to hear someone is looking forward to my reviews haha :D
Right you lot I hope you have had decent weekends. More chocolate reviews on the way to you tomorrow.
JIM
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