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I don't know about you guys but there is something about the word 'NEW' that always seems to be able to grab my attention when looking at packaging on supermarket shelves etc. It was a simple bit of signage shouting this very word at me that caught my attention in my local Londis convenience store when I walked in there recently and came across these new chocolate products called Jaxx. NEW NEW NEW ... Hook, line and sinker I was sold! I obliged and bought a few packs of the two flavours on offer.
The 50.0g packs informed that they had been manufactured by a producer called Bonds Confectionery. I hadn't heard of them before so I did a little bit of research, and stumbled across the Jaxx facebook site. The limited amount of information on display currently suggests that they are only available in the likes of Martin's, McColls, Londis and Spar - these are all smaller UK convenience stores. From what I could gather, the range consists of three different flavours of chocolate coated biscuit bites - my thoughts on the two I could get hold of are below:
Jaxx Milk Chocolate Coated Crunches
Kcal 222 Fat 14.3g Fat(sats) 10.3g Carbs 22.3g (per bag)'Milk chocolate coated crunches'
I believe these are supposed to be the original variant in the range and consisted of shortbread biscuit centres covered in milk chocolate. In terms of size they were about twice as large as Malteasers, it's a pity they didn't taste twice as good :D From my first mouthful it was obvious the chocolate was of a very low quality. It was very sugar based in it's flavours and it melted with lazy waxy melt generating very few cocoa impressions whatsoever. The biscuit centres were more generous to the taste in terms of their buttery malt flavours, but these were similarly short lived and failed to create a substantial or lasting flavour impression.
5.6 out of 10
Jaxx Milk Chocolate Coated Coco Crunches
Kcal 222 Fat 14.3g Fat(sats) 10.3g Carbs 22.3g (per bag)'Milk chocolate coated coco crunches'
As you can most likely tell by the photographs this differed very little from the above blue coloured variant apart from the simple substitution of the shortbread biscuit for a chocolate based. As expected the exterior chocolate was no different whatsoever from the aforementioned and was unfortunately every bit as poor. Similarly though, the chocolate biscuit centres were at least at little more contributive, supplying just an additional hint of chocolateyness as if someone had sprinkled just a fine dusting of hot cocoa powder into the biscuit.
5.8 out of 10
Overall by and large these were totally unimpressive. Aesthetically and propositionally the concept of Jaxx isn't actually bad when you think about it. Chocolate covered biscuit bites aren't exactly a leading edge innovative concept for anyone, but lets be fair there aren't too many other players apart from Payne's Poppets who play in this chocolate mini-snack on the go offerings. Unfortunately, these Jaxx chocolates are pretty much every bit as poor as anything Payne's have to offer. I thought the quality of the chocolate was frankly abysmal, with the only saving grace really being the biscuit centres which were on the whole pretty tolerable. As nice as it would have been to have unearthed a cool new brand to recommend to you guys, I simply cant do that here. I would just avoid them altogether if I were you.
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66 comments:
One of my friends was descirbing these very differently to me the other day. She was saying they were like crispy M&Ms but actually nice lol. You must have thought v differently lol.
Did you write this review a while back Jim? I wouldn't say they are the newest of products I've seen.
They have been around my newsagents for about 6 months now.
Hmph these don't look bad to me. I wouldn't have any qualms trying them.
There doesn't look like there is much to dislike here. I know you don't approve of the quality of the chocolate but I haven't had some of the quality of chocolate they you have tried so I'm probs alot less fussy then you are. Lol not all of us have done over 100 hotel chocolat reviews ;)
Call me a whatever you like but I don't mind things like poppets and cheeky little cheap things like that. I must be a kid at heart because I do buy this kinda thing every so often and I really don't mind them that much.
I like the name and I like the packaging. The actual chocolate sound crummy though.
Its just a generic idea that we have seen done a million times before by several different people. Lol tell me that you would ever buy these over the kit kat pop choc ... I think not.
Why are there so many things like this popping up at the moment? Between the galaxy bites, cadbury shots, kit kat pop chocs, clusteters its not like the options are limited is it?
They would have been better off making a bar that had biscuit in rather than small pieces like this. Ever since dairy milk got rid of their chocolate bar with biscuit in its never been replaced by anything.
Oh dear these are the first things to have bombed out for a long time. Poor Jaxx they don't look unattractive at all, its a shame they don't have the taste to match.
Did you know they also make an orange flavour aswell. I don't expect you to review them lol. I just thought you might want to know that they did them. Please don't take this as a request from you. I think we have seen enough Jaxx for a lifetime.
Did you note how much these cost Jim? If they were like a cheap option like a cadbury fudge (20p) then I can see them having a position to fill but if they are going to cost the same as like a mars bar then I don't think they will ever catch on.
Typical you've only managed to go and miss out the best flavour of the lot lol.
I'm not saying they are anything amazing but make sure you include them in a future bits and pieces review or something mate. I think you will certainly come away say they are the best of a bad lot.
Unles they were offering superior biscuits or nice chocolate these were never going to be successful were they. I don't see the point in them releasing these if they knew they had neither, what a waste of money.
Well I think I can safely say these wont ever be seeing the light inside of my tummy =)
Oooh these photos are a little different today. Are they your own Jim? They aren't like your normal style. I wouldn't say it's any better or worse than normal, just different ....... lol they look good whatever tbh with you.
Look at their site http://www.jaxx-world.com/Faxx.aspx there is a third orange colour pack shown with these blue and red ones. One would assume they are orange flavours, I could be wrong.
Was this really a product you 'found' or did they send you samples to appear on the site Jim ;) Come on tell us the truth m8.
Hey J
What did you make of all that Tevez stuff then? I bet you are glad to see the back of him in the premiership, he was always a thorn in your side wasn't he. I'm sad to see him go because he was a character but the guy was blatantly a money sniffer, it's so sad they all are these days. There's no loyalty left in the game.
I've not see these Jaxx things anywhere yet. They might be one of those things that I only ever see on here lol. I won't be looking out for them thats for sure.
Cheers
N
I don't think I've ever seen a site where you have to be over 12 years old to enter it :-)
Why do you have to be over 12? Surely there isn't content that is going to majorly do wrong by an 11 year old but be fine for anyone over 12 lol. How stupid.
I haven't seen these yet. I don't think I will be making any great effort to go get some now lol. What ChocolateMission says is normally right.
I've seen these being sold for 5 for £1 already in home bargains lol. For a so called 'new' product they didn't half make the bargain bins fast lol
I hold no interest for these at all sorry. They aren't offering me anything at all that hasn't already been in the offing for years now. I can see the sense of someone like cadburys just making them part of their exisiting range, but as a launch product basis I would highly question the decision, its not like they have tried pulling any rabbits out the hat with something that offers people something completely new is it.
Lol well I know now that I can avoid these and be safe in the knowledge I'm not missing out on anything. Reviews like this one are nearly as useful as any hotel chocolat one you do mate.
Their packaging and overall look doesn't look too bad. I would say they look quite modern with the glossy bag.
This may be my inner chocolate snob speaking but I just don't engage with these sort of products any more. They just pass over my head, I couldn't care less about them tbh with you. Soz mate I don't meant to put a downer on the review you've done here. It's a good one, just not on anything that interests me.
A small bag of chocolates telling my kids to be mouthy. Yes that makes sense doesn't it!!!! Telling my kids to be mouthy is what all parents want of course
....... (thats sarcasm if you hadn't picked up on it)
Overall by and large these were totally unimpressive. Aesthetically and propositionally the concept of Jaxx isn't actually bad when you think about it. Chocolate covered biscuit bites aren't exactly a leading edge innovative concept for anyone, but lets be fair there aren't too many other players apart from Payne's Poppets who play in this chocolate mini-snack on the go offerings. Unfortunately, these Jaxx chocolates are pretty much every bit as poor as anything Payne's have to offer. I thought the quality of the chocolate was frankly abysmal, with the only saving grace really being the biscuit centres which were on the whole pretty tolerable.
...sparkling conclusion :p reading between the lines its clear you think they are pretty crappy. You just don't explicitly say it lol.
There have been a few reviews of these on the sites I follow and none of them have said they were any good. Lol you would have thought that there wouldn't be much to hate here, they are only biscuits and chocolates afterall.
These look terribly unexciting. I always get drawn in by things that have new badges on them lol. I don't know what it is about that word but it does a job more getting me interested more than not.
Sorry but Jaxx just look daft to me. Didn't Cadbury just come out with exactly the same sort of product but with half decent chocolate on them aswell.
Its not nice saying this about a new company but you got to think they are doomed lol.
I don't think they look as bad as being made out.
If they are reasonably priced I might give them a go. I love cadbury animal biscuits still and these will be a lot less embarassing for me to buy. Lol I'm just a big kid at heart.
Tell me if I'm going mad but didn't Hotel chocolate try and make some very similar chocolates once? I don't think you rated them at all highly either did you Jim?
Like I said I could just be imagining all this. I wish I could find the reviews.
Booooooooo Jaxx. You've wasted a full two days worth of chocolate reviews on your rubbish biscuity crapness. You should've done this as a snack of the week so it didn't take up the space Jim. They aren't worthy of having two days are they.
J,
Ignore my comment. Just seen the news that teve isn't leaving after all. This really is funny season in football isn't it. You don't know what/who to believe.
N
I could have seen myself trying these if you had said they were any good but now I defo wont be bothering.
Does anyone know the actual price of these? I keep reading they 'aren't cheap' but it would be nice to get a figure put on it please.
See this sort of thing is going to be ok if you have decent chocolate to begin with, but if you don't they are just going to be rubbish like these were by the sounds of it. You do wonder why some of these companies bother in the first place.
Im a sucka for trying anything new so I might still give these a whirl. After reading this they might stand a chance with me :) my expectations are rock bottom.
Aha found them - HC Munchkins :) I knew I wasn't going completely crackers lol.
http://www.chocolatemission.net/2009/12/december-17th-hotel-chocolat-munchkins.html
See even they didn't score that well for Hotel Chocolat. Put them with the gemstones earlier in the week and it would appear you aren't a fan of this sort of thing eh Jim?
I hate it how some people on here are so negative about something they haven't even tried.
I respect your opinions Jim but I just find it so stupid that so many of the people who comment and write in just follow what you say like they are some sort of sheep.
You people shouldn't comment on something you haven't eaten yourself. You might as well just go comment on how much you like/dislike the new Ferrari F50.
Hey hun. At last you have managed to write about a chocolate that isn't giving me the itch to go buy it right away. Recently you've been writing about way too many chocolates that have given me the urge to go buy them. Jaxx can take a running jump if they think they are going to get my precious monies, not on your nelly.
Rxxx
If I wanted this sort of thing I would just buy maltesers. I know they aren't biscuit in the middle but they do the same sort of jobbie.
Lol Jim this part of their website made me laugh ......
You told us you wanted something with attitude, something that was NEW, something that packed a punch. Jaxx shakes you by the bones and shouts EAT ME. Jaxx really Paxx a punch.
Eat them while you're online, listening to music, on the bus, walking home, after sports, by yourself or together with friends. There are millions of ways to enjoy Jaxx.
Doesn't that sound like some desperate 40 something year old marketing person trying their upmost to be 'down with the kids'. Lol they don't have a clue :-)
Whats with all the love about the packaging? I think it's horrible. That big mouth reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on it. They just look cheap IMO.
Oh no. I can't see these guys doing very well if they don't get the internet bloggers on their side. I can see the first thing people doing when they first see these is googling them. If they find a load of unpositive reviews they are pretty damned aren't they.
Mouthy chocolate? What do they even mean by that?
Do you think they even know themselves
@Richard
The article here http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=independentarticle&ID=216688 says they cost 69p which isn't cheap considering who they are competing with.
Its cool seeing a new brand on here but they look like they epically failed with their actual product.
I can see small kids probs quite liking this sort of thing but I'm sceptical as to whether they are different enough from what other more well known makes do already. Time will tell I suppose.
I wont be giving these people the pleasure of even having my money once =)
Not only have I not heard of the company before but they haven't even made an attempted to make people aware of who they are with adverts or anything. How they hell do they expect to shift anything? Just being cheap nowadays dosen't mean anything.
It's a shame that these Jaxx were rubbish as I'd definitely buy good quality chocolate biscuit bites.
@ Paul - I loved Dairy Milk with shortbread! Wonder why Cadbury discontinued it?!
"In terms of size they were about twice as large as Malteasers, it's a pity they didn't taste twice as good"
I'd love Maltesers that were actually twice as large as Maltesers haha - yum! ;)
Thanks for the review dude x
I wonder how companies like this stick around - then I remember not everyone reviews chocolate haha.
A comment up there said it was similar to M&Ms... craving those now...
Ive not seen these atall yet but I'd probably give thema go (esp the orange ones) if they were on sale.
Bond's Confectionary (or rather Bonds of London) is a very old company, founded in 1895, best known for making its sweets rather than chocolate, like the old fashioned types.
http://www.bonds-confectionery.com/default.asp
Ive seen their sweets in the supermarkets before.
On the jaxx website at the bottom (and on the Bonds website) it suggests that these are actually made by another company, NYL Foods Ltd, trading as Jaxx, and one of its distributers is Bond's, rather than them being an actual Bond's product. A bit like the biscuit companies who make Cadbury biscuits.
Hi Everyone.
These didn't set my world on fire did they :D
If anyone is wondering I did write this review a few months ago. As they were so unspectacular they have had to wait their turn coming up on the site.
From now on I will writing my feedback to you all as follows (non-personal unless totally necessary!). The volume of comments is getting too much to do them individually I'm afraid.
- I wasn't aware of the orange flavour until later on when I was offered samples from Jaxx themselves. If I do come across them I will stick them in an upcoming B&B review.
- My own prediction regarding these is that they wont be around for too long. They have already failed getting distribution in the major supermarkets as far as I can tell. This is never a good start for any credible product that is making to get mainstream.
- I think all the pricing questions have been answered already but FYI of you all I bought them for £0.60.
- Nigel .... You are correct there isn't any loyalty in the game anymore. Sadly it's just all about the money these days. Sad but true.
- Looking over the rest of the reviews from the chocolate sites on my blogroll they are also very scpetical about Jaxx. They don't look to have won many fans with us anyone.
- Hotel Chocolat Munchkins vs Jaxx ... don't even get me started only one winner there.
- Peter your point about people shouldn't be offering opinions on something they haven't tried is valid to an extent but only about the taste of them. It's fair cop that people express their opinions on the marketing of them, why would you have an issue with that.
Sorry for being in-personnel everyone but it's the only way I can manage the site realistically going forward and maintaining my work life balance to some degree.
I would encourage you all to please still leave your opinions and comments etc. Not only does it stimulate good conversations between yourselves but I know that several brands who have their products posted on here are very keen hearing what consumers have to say.
JIM
How odd, my comment never showed up grrr lol. Bond's is actuallya really old company (1895)best known for its traditional sweets rather than chocolate.. and it seems looking on the Jaxx website Bond's appear to be distributers rather than actual makers which would make sense Id say :)
These to me look like they are one of products that has been launched in a different foriegn market first and then just brought over here to the uk and launched for the sake of it with very little thought. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear they came from somewhere random like Poland or somewhere similar in middle Europe.
Jim I can join your exclusive club of people that have tried these :)
I had a packet of the blue original ones and I personally wouldn't have rated that low. I don't think they were anything special, but I wouldn't go as far as saying they were tasteless like you have. I don't think I would buy them again but I wouldn't chuck them away if they got given to me x x
Right, I think we get the idea here. Avoid like the plague lmao =)
I value your opinion J but you never give things like this that higher scores do you. That persons example of the Hotel Chocolat one is just the start. I had a look at how you rate things like mars planets and revels etc and you seemingly don't have much love for them either. Is it something against packs of smaller things you have issues with :) Do you just prefer chocolate bars or something?
Lol you made a great attempt here J making these look half interesting for a second. If I was forced to trying them I would go for the red ones but thats if my hand was forced lol. You can just tell that the biscuits in the blue wrappered ones are going to be the most average tasting biscuits ever. Their lack of chocolate expertise was never going to be a good thing for them was it.
Whats with all the hate being lumped at Paynes Poppets eh? I got to say I have a soft spot for the orangey poppets you can buy. They are so rarely found nowadays, I can't of bought any for well over a year.
Why do I get the feeling no one will have a clue what you are on about if you mentioned these same time next year. I can't see these sticking around for any time at all. Its all well and good getting people to buy you once but if you fundamentally don't taste very nice you aren't ever going to get people rebuying you. We are talking ABC of marketing there lol.
Did you post this one today just because I said you had forgotton how to write critically. I was only joking when I said that Jim. For your sake I would rather you review products you liked, sorry I should have been clearer when I said that I've only just looked at how you responded tbh. Apologies if this was a little bit my fault.
I saw these for sale on a stand by the till in my local newsagents not long ago. I was midway through paying for whatever I was buying at the time so I didn't bother picking up a packet. Reading this I'm glad I didn't bother now.
These to me look like they would have been better sold in supermarkets in multipacks to put in school lunch boxes or eaten in home. They don't seem like the sort of thing that should be competing against things like mars bars or twixs. You wont ever beat them trying to out sell them in newsagents etc, no new brand is ever going to do that unless they have a good story of how they are different to what they are.
I hope the people who work for Jaxx don't see your review mate.
ALAN - Do Bonds still make anything else we might have heard of? Fascinating they are trying to be hip and cool with these if they are supposedly a very old company with heritage don't you think.
TONY - Not according to Alan!
BECCI - Indeed welcome to the club :D
NINA - I've never thought about it like that. I don't have preference of one thing over another ... not that I'm aware of anyway.
BEN - No offence taken. I'm not that sensitive you know :D
SIMON - I think you could be right there. They could be much better off sold in that guise.
Be sure to tune in for tomorrows Bits n Bobs post all. I hope you enjoy it.
JIM
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