Grand Coconut Finale

This is it, ladies and gentlemen!  The grand finale of coconut!!  And I'm starting off with something I've reviewed before, but apparently you can't get anymore.  So I am totally torturing you.  Trader Joe's Almond in the Coconut:

You just can't beat these - like an Almond Joy, but better.  Great chocolate, loads of coconut and bits of almond throughout.  YUM!  I hate it when Trader Joe's makes something awesome, hooks us, then pulls it from the product line.  Bummer.

I'd never seen anything like these before:

They are made in Holland and are coconut and coco - very light:

Interesting to try, but not something I would seek out.  But again, I don't love coconut.  A light, different take on the coconut/chocolate combination.

This is it - Easter is finally gone!  These coconut nests are made by Long Grove Confectionery:

And they are great!  They have the right coconut to chocolate ratio.  Lots of coconut, mixed with chocolate - delish!!!  If you can find them, they blow those abominations Russell Stover made this year out of the candy aisle.   (Don't they k=just look great?)

The white chocolate didn't work for me at all - too sweet, and kinda weird tasting.  This is a definite no go.

These are by the Crown Candy Company based in my hometown of Macon, GA:

They are chocolate and caramel coconut tips:

And they are terrible.  They taste like sugar more than anything else.  The chocolate is that crappy chocolate and I don't know what the heck that "caramel" is.  These are just a waste of coconut.  Bleech. 


Abdallah offers this Haystack:

The chocolate is good, but it really overpowers the coconut.  And in a haystack, it just ain't supposed to be that way.  Not bad, but too heavy on the chocolate.

I've reviewed Sanders products before:

And they are always pretty awful.. Their coconut "delights" are no exception.  They not only have coconut, but also crisped rice - which I didn't think added anything.  Not good.

This is peanut brittle covered with dark chocolate and coconut:

I guess my question here is, "Why?"  Peanut brittle is so good, I don't think all this adds anything.  It's not enough coconut to really taste and as a topping, the texture is just kind of gross. 

If you MUST combine peanut butter with coconut, then there is really only one place to go:

Oh yes, the much maligned Chick-O-Stick - crunchy peanut butter and toasted coconut candy:

This is like a Butterfinger without the chocolate, rolled in coconut.  And I gotta tell ya, it works.  I haven't had one of these in years, and I really don't crave the Chick-O-Stick, but hey, it's pretty good.  I ate the whole thing and I pitched the coconut peanut brittle.  I think that speaks for itself.

Remember - it doesn't have to be expensive to be good!  And don't take anything for granted - Trader Joe's reminds us that something great may not be around forever. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed your island vacation!  You can thank Kris for our voyage - she the lover of coconut and dark chocolate.  Next we've got to get back to Scotland for the Shortbread Showdown!! 

Old Time Religion

Okay, as if my mere mention of the dreaded Chick-O-Stick was not enough, look at this great review from my friend Jonny of Candy Gurus:

http://candygurus.blogspot.com/2009/02/chick-o-stick-islander-treat.html

He's in Hawaii right now on vacation, lounging around and blogging about candy. The Recession isn't raining on his parade either! Go Jonny!!

It makes me want to actually eat one of Dem Chicken Bones.

So, what do we learn by this trip to Mast General Store?

Candy is the drug of choice during the recession. Hey, you don't have to believe me! In Tuesday's edition of USA TODAY, the Sr. VP of Marketing at Ghirardelli said, "In hard times, chocolate is comforting and affordable." Uh - actually chocolate is always comforting and affordable. That's the best he's got?

Ghirardelli's 2009 sales are projected to surpass those of 2008. Hershey's also reported strong sales. (Clearly this is a direct result of this blog. And of all the chocolate I give out in my seminars. See, I TOLD you I was bailing out the chocolate makers!!! Who else would buy a $50 5 lb. Hershey bar?)

But I digress.

The bottom line is that we love our candy. It makes us feel better, it's fun, and it's relatively inexpensive. Candy is great.

Another possible lesson is that we might actually return to some simpler pleasures. I don't know about this for sure - we've gone pretty far down the path away from this. Just today I saw people out walking their dogs and all of them were on their cell phones. The dogs interacted way more than the humans did.

But nostalgic candy does remind us of our childhoods - of Halloween, of family holidays, of summer fun. I remember my Dad coming home from work and bringing me Now and Laters. I loved them because I loved my Dad. Well, maybe I loved my Dad because I loved Now and Laters.....but you get the point. Love was involved...in some way. Life was simpler and not so scary then - or so we like to remember.

I just know that candy makes me happy - it did then and it does now. And I am clearly not alone.

Some of these crazy candies show us that if something is really good to four or five people, chances are it's good to many others. You don't have to sell as many Cherry Mash bars (are they really bars? More like Cherry Mash balls) as Snickers bars to still turn a profit. And with the Internet, small candy companies can get the word out and reach a larger market. They have a much tougher time getting into the grocery stores where Hershey and Mars have distribution locked up.

Some of them, however, might want to consider upgrading. I don't have access to their sales figures, but Kits are really sub par. And the process to make all those crappy little squares and wrap them all individually surely can't be completely cheap. Unless they are making a fortune, maybe they could try to get better?

I overheard a teenager in Mast commenting "These are all the candies that have gone out of business!" Obviously this teen was not the sharpest tool in the shed. After all, if the companies had gone out of business who did she think was making the candy? And I don't think that candies go out of business, the companies that make the candies go out of business, but you can appreciate what she was thinking. Maybe if she had texted her thought it would have been more literate.

Just because something has been around a long time doesn't mean it's good. But just because something is new doesn't mean it's good either. If the only competitive advantage you have is that you've been around a long time, you better reconsider. For example - Squirrel Nut Zippers are bad - they look greasy and creepy in their wrappers and don't taste much better. But that's a kicking name and I bet they could do some research, improve the product, and laugh all the way to the bank! That French Taffy was awesome!! But the packaging needs a serious redo. If it looked better and more people tried it, I swear they'd be hooked. The stuff is good! Work what you've got!!

These candies are all a lot like us - not everyone of us can be a Snickers (a Brad Pitt if you will), hogging all the shelf space, making millions, getting all the press. But we can all be great enough to have good friends and a great life. We can still draw a crowd at Mast General Store! Make the most of what makes you unique and special and keep developing those traits or growing in new directions. You'll have your fans - even if you are a Chicken Bone.

Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Chicken Bones

Thanks to Carl Weaver of the NCA we now know where Chick-O-Stick came from. (Thanks, Carl - you were way more persistent that I was. Atkinson's needs to consider revising that "fun" page design!)

This is from the Atkinson's web site


ORIGIN OF THE CHICK-O-STICK NAME


How did the Chick-O-Stick get its name? The real answer has probably been lost in our corporate history, but here’s one account by Eric Atkinson, President of the company. Generally, when we began making Chick-O-Sticks in the late 1930’s, that kind of candy was traditionally known as “Chicken Bones”. Back in those days, Atkinson candy was distributed only inside the State of Texas. In the 1950’s, Atkinson Candy Company began distributing their candy nationally and discovered that another company already owned the rights to the name “Chicken Bones” (and that’s probably a good thing). Our then Vice President of Sales, J. Powell Ware, working with Joe Atkinson and an artist for the box company, somehow came up with the name Chick-O-Stick..…and it stuck! Why “Chicken Bones” in the first place? Well, one thing is certain about that – there is no chicken in a Chick-O-Stick! Our best guess is that the toasted coconut on the outside of the candy gives the appearance of a piece of fried chicken.


Can you say - "GROSS!" Chicken Bones? Not even "Chicken Legs" - Chicken BONES. Maybe these guys were drinking some Texas Moonshine when they came up with that. What peanut butter and chicken bones possibly have in common is beyond me. But candy history is infinitely fascinating!!

And I do think that to stay engaged with life - you have to have something that captures your interest. It doesn't have to be candy, but there has to be something. If you lose interest, you lose the fire.

So keep burning! (And long live the Chicken Bone! AKA the Chick-o-Stick)