Mrs Grocery Gems has reached a two year milestone with her blog. What started as a small idea to capture thoughts about new and limited editions grocery products has blossomed into a wonderful blog with a generous and supportive community. We have quietly supported her work, frequently bearing the high cholesterol heavy load of buying and eating new grocery products. It's all in a day's work for us here at Grocery Gems central.
To celebrate the 2 year milestone, I offered to prepare and post a review and Mrs Grocery Gems gratefully accepted (and by "offered" I mean badgered and by "gratefully" I mean begrudgingly).
The Cadbury's "Marvellous Creations" range has been going for a while - you'll find reviews here and here. I am not a fan of this trend of re-packaging and selling leftovers of other products which are already available separately.
The package states "Dairy Milk presents Marvellous Mix-Ups" and contrasting goodies fly out of a chocolate top-hat. I assume we are supposed to marvel at the odd "mix-up" nestling in the bag. The marketing is clearly inspired by the funfair or carnivals of old but a more accurate description would be a PT Barnum freak show; the chocolate equivalent of a bearded lady.
This new versions comprises giant chocolate buttons, white chocolate buttons, purple and yellow pebbles (chocolates in a crispy shell) and mini-Oreos. Each of these taste exactly as you would expect. Individually these items are unspectacular, but together they are worse. Take a look at the picture above. The chocolate pebbles were cracked and chipped. The white chocolate buttons are covered in a layer of mini-Oreo crumbs. Everything shares this dusty biscuity film. Together it tastes like a gritty, dusty, chocolatey, biscuity mess.
I suppose these companies think we'll lower our expectations due to the novelty value of the product. It also happens to be cheaper and easier than making a new chocolate bar. But the novelty aspect has worn off. I'm not looking forward to the next Marvellous Freak Show Mix-Ups.
Grocery Gems Verdict: Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Mix Ups with Oreo
RATING: 3 out of 10.
Buy them again?: No (but Mrs Grocery Gems will buy and review the next one!)
Nutrition (per 100g): 505 calories.
Purchased: Asda.
Price: £1.00.
*Note from Grocery Gems: Well done on the review Mr Grocery Gems. Thank you for eating the whole bag and then telling us all that you didn't like it!
HAHAHA! Mr Grocery Gems has high standards! And loved the sarcastic message from the Mrs!
ReplyDeleteThanks Harmony, glad you enjoyed it! I couldn't resist that little jest at the end :)
DeleteHahahahaha! Excellent. In summary then: they're rubbish. I'd probably buy them just because I'm a sucker for mini-Oreos (I don't know why when I'm not bothered about the full-size ones). The Marvellous Creations range irritates me though; it's a mish-mash and in my opinion makes no sense in a bad way rather than in a delightfully wacky way. If they want to have so many different products coming out I'd prefer a simple expanded range of basic flavours.
ReplyDeleteAgree with all of the above. The Marvellous Creations range does annoy me too, it has a "swept off the factory floor" feel about it, rather than being proper new products. I'd much rather they did some new flavours for Dairy Milk instead or brought back the Coconut Boost!
DeleteNo Nonsense by Mr GG, love it! as GG never seems to give a rating of less than 5 out of 10, I agree with every word written too
ReplyDeleteMr GG is loving all these positive comments!
DeleteI did give the Cadbury Creme Egg Biscuits a rating of 4 out of 10 recently... Just sayin... http://grocerygems.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/review-cadbury-creme-egg-biscuits.html
I do agree with you though, most of my reviews are very positive. Mainly because I wouldn't normally buy a product that I suspect I won't like (such as these Mix Ups) or that don't appeal to me. Why would I waste my money? But on this occasion, when Mr GG offered to write a review, I couldn't resist buying the Mix Ups, as I knew he would hate them lol
You are too nice Katherine!!
DeleteWhat a funny and honest review! I don't buy these because I think they are a con.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, you have trained Mr Grocery Gems well. First presents from Hong Kong and now this! Haha.
Haha thanks Maria! It's taken two years but he's finally written a review! I'll try to persuade him to write them more often :)
DeleteSpot on review! Cadbury's have been really testing the market to see how cheaply they can go-reducing sizes and adding cheap fillers. Normally I would trample other shoppers to get my mittens on something new but when I saw this I was totally unimpressed and didn't buy it. Good to hear your review as it clearly is as bad as it sounds.
ReplyDeletelol love your descriptions RedSetter! I feel exactly the same which is why I didn't bother reviewing these Mix Ups when they came out a few weeks ago. I thought they looked absolutely awful and I honestly can't understand the fuss about them. The Mix Ups with Maynards version looks even worse than this Oreo one!
Deletelovee the revieww!
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of Mr GG... thanks!
Deletei tried the other variety...it wasn't bad but wasn't good either :( not much in a bag either sadly :( i don't think i'll be trying these :P
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Charlie, this bag was half empty too. Thanks for letting us know, I doubt I will try the other variety then!
DeleteDon't much fancy the sweets, but thanks to this review I have found out Oreos have changed their recipe and are now suitable for vegetarians, so yay!
ReplyDeleteGood news! :D
DeleteThat's a bit of a disappointment then. My guys love Oreos.
ReplyDeleteEven though they might still like it (my kids thought this Mix Up was okay), I'd still recommend just buying some Mini Oreos instead!
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ReplyDeleteNice site1
Deletespot on review really - it took me ages to find these (tesco had them on their cardboard display poster, but not actually on the shelf) - bit boring, and not many in the bag. i liked the pebbles, so just bought a bag of those next time :-)
ReplyDeletehave you seen the dairy milk mix up desserts? just bought 2 in asda - same kind of packaging, one is cherry cola, other one is popping candy type. chocolate section with side car of the mix ups.
I'd much rather just have the Pebbles on their own too!
DeleteI've seen the Mix Up desserts. I was quite tempted by the Cherry Cola one, it looks quite interesting, but I'm just not a fan of this Mix Up range. I'm sure I'll pick them up at some point. Did you like yours?