CandyGerman and Koala Milch Cookies

Several Asian snack concerns that offer monthly or bi-monthly boxes or snack surprise packages have contacted me and I've reviewed those services. Recently, I was contacted by a similar service coming out of Germany. Since I've expanded the scope of this blog to include the occasional focus on other countries and their junk food, I was delighted when they offered to send me a (free) sample box so that I could get an idea of their service as well as enjoy what I was sure would be German snack treat delights.

If your notions of German treats comes from The Simpsons, in which we've seen (German exchange student) Uder eating "marzipan Joy Joy (mit Iodine)", then you've got the wrong idea. Think chocolate, gummy, caramel, and sugary delights. There was no marzipan in the box (though I would have been delighted if there had been), and, most fortunately, nothing which was fortified with Iodine... that being said, I did get a goiter in Japan so maybe I could use some Iodine in my snacks.

The assortment I was sent was not only broad, but large. CandyGerman, like many such services, chooses a variety of items and sends the box to customers. You don't choose what you get, but it is a good system if you like surprises. I don't generally have access to a lot of German candy, but some of these items or ones similar to them can be purchased at places like CostPlus World Imports. It would cost me about the same as a subscription fee to CandyGerman to buy this many European snacks locally, and I wouldn't be able to get every type of food that they sent in the box (not by a long shot). So, I pronounce this a pretty good deal based on my current shopping options. Of course, any person's shopping mileage may vary. If you've got a cheap German market down the street chock full of goodies - and, if you do, I envy you - then this may not seem like such a sweet package.

I received this package soon after they said it would ship and in very good condition. As you can see by the peanuts, it's packed well. None of the fragile items that were inside (cookies) were damaged in any way. Considering that it also included wafer-based "Happy Hippo" confections and they arrived in beautiful condition, I think that their packing passes any reasonable test.

If you think I was sent a "special" package with more or better items, then you can check on what they normally send by looking at/following their Facebook page. They're relatively new, but have posted some pictures and it looks like every box is as generous as the one that I received. I should note that the people who corresponded with me were polite, friendly, and prompt. I'm confident that if you have questions or problems that they'll work with you to make you happy. Their contact information with an e-mail address is on their site.

My conclusion is that the service is not "cheap", but it's not "expensive" for what you get either. You can have a box for around the price of a couple of decent chain delivery pizzas. However, I guess whether or not that comparison makes sense to you depends on what you believe is "decent" and what part of the world/country you live in. If "Little Caesar's" $5-8 pies are what you're finding fills your belly with fun-to-eat carbs, fat, and meat-like substances, then this may seem steep to you.

Over time, I will be reviewing individual items from the box, but I wanted to start with a curious one that overlaps with a Japanese snack since that is the name of my game most of the time. I was stunned to see a box of Koala cookies which is clearly the German variation on Koala's March (as they are sold as in Japan). I've tried several takes on this cookie (Hello Panda, Pucca, and a few different flavors of Koala's March) and I can say that, hand's down, this is the one that I've liked the best. I don't speak German, but I concluded based on the taste that "milch" is "milk". Also, I'm not a total dumb ass and realized that the two words sound similar long before I opened the package.

The basic look and feel of the cookie is pretty similar to all of the copies and the original, but there is a "cookie" flavor that these have which is much more prominent. The Japanese variation has a rather bland outer shell with super sweet filling. The shell on this German variation carries a sugar-cookie-style flavor and has a sweet milky white chocolate center. I don't like Koala's March enough to buy it most of the time, but I liked these a fair bit. However, be warned that they are quite sweet. Given that they are marketed toward the child market, this is no shock.

The company that makes these is not Lotte, but Kuchenmeister. My guess is that there is some agreement between the Korean/Japanese maker and the German one to allow for the packaging and product design, but the cookies have been modified to suit German tastes. There are two flavors - milk and chocolate - and it seems that they put a toy featuring a version of their mascot inside the boxes. Mine has a vampire motif, but the current one pictured on the web site has an ancient Olympic one featuring the mascot variations in togas. If Kinder Eggs have taught us anything, it's that Europeans aren't nearly as hysterical about toys with food marketed at children as Americans are. I tend to see this as a good thing, but I didn't bother to procreate so my opinion on this matter doesn't carry a lot of weight.

The cookies definitely get a happy rating. If I weren't such a sugar wuss, they might even get a "very happy", but they're a little too sweet for my aging palate. Nonetheless, they are tasty little cookies.

Random Picture #167

How can you make a Koala more adorable? Well, first, you "chibify" it by drawing it in a simple and cute Japanese-style. Second, you add a bow to its sweet little head. Third, you show it in cute little situations that humans tend to engage in. For those who didn't study psychology, that's called, "anthropomorphizing" and kids do it a lot, adults, too, but not quite so often.

Lotte has taken it's mascot's extreme cuteness and shaped a tin like its head. You can eat the packets of chocolatey biscuits inside, and then keep the tin for other things. There's also a charming little key chain so that you can remember to pick up more cookies on your way home from work. These tins have been sold in several of the Japanese and Korean markets that I frequent, but they tend to be rather over-priced for what they are. If I were still living in Japan and could buy these more cheaply (though probably not actually cheap), I still wouldn't buy this because this is the sort of thing which looks great in the store, but tends to get shoved into a closet at home. 

Random Picture #151

When I was in Japan, I saw plenty of knock-off products which aped American brands. In particular, it seemed for awhile there that every new coffee shop had a round, green and white logo which was working overtime to remind us of the one with the mermaid that sells coffee that aficionados claim tastes burnt and Philistines like me actually enjoy. Actually, it's pretty rare that I go to a Starbucks at all, but I do buy bags of their espresso roast at Costco and make it at home. I guess I just like "burnt".

At any rate, the Japanese did their share of knocking, but they also get knocked off a lot as the picture above demonstrates. There's a tiny little Asian market about a half hour walk from where I'm currently residing and they had this packet of cookies on the shelf. It's clearly a rip-off of Koala's March by Lotte. I've reloaded the picture I used in a recent review to allow for a comparison. Unlike Meiji's "Hello Panda," they aren't even bothering to hide the fact that they're stealing. The graphic on the box is nearly identical, as are the cookie shapes. They can steal the general look, but the graphics on the cookies are decidedly low rent and give away the fact that these are cheaply made. Still, I'd like to pick some up some day and complete a comparison of the three types (Koala's March, Hello Panda, and Golden Bear). I'm betting that Koala's March would win, but you never know when the long shot will come from behind and take the trophy. Also, with a company name like "Ego" (which almost certainly doesn't refer to the English word, but let me pretend), how can you not be a winner... at least in your own mind.

Lotte Koala's March Chocolate Biscuits

One of the things I'm coming to realize after returning to the U.S. is that all of the ooohing and aaaahing over weird Japanese flavors accompanied by whining about how America's flavors are so boooooring was pretty badly misplaced. There are about a million different flavors of Pop-Tarts on the market, so many that I can't begin to track them all. Since I don't like Pop-Tarts, this isn't a big deal. Similarly, there appear to be special flavors of Oreos being released at regular intervals (and only at certain stores). America absolutely has its fair share of funky flavors, though the really obscure ones tend not to be embraced by mainstream producers. Nestle Japan used to really go out on a limb with KitKats (not so much these days). You can't say the same for Oreos or Pop-Tarts. Sure, you can get turkey-flavored soda pop, but it's not going to be made by Pepsi or Coke.

At any rate, one of the things I tended to do in Japan was review the odder or newer flavors of a product while passing on the tried and true version. This would be tantamount to reviewing gingerbread Oreos, but never covering the regular version. I thought of this because, while I've covered a few oddball versions of Koala's March, I never reviewed the more pedestrian chocolate version.

Part of the reason for this was that tried this product a long time ago, and it was not much to my liking. The main issue was that it was just too sweet for me. I decided to revisit it, however, when I read about a change in the recipe on some food forum or other. The claim was that the sweetness level had been dialed down. That gave me hope that I'd like them better. Also, I wanted to compare them directly to "Hello Panda", which I reviewed not too long ago. I wanted to test out whether they were essentially the same, but just focusing on different types of bears.

Aren't they adorable? Don't you just want to eat them up? ;-)

To address the first point about flavor, they are not as sweet as they used to be and this is an incredibly welcome turn of events. Now, remember when I say, "as they used to be", that I am likely comparing them to an experience I had more than 10 years ago. If you've had them more recently than that, this may be the same old biscuit that you've known all along. 

The chocolate inside of the almost wafer thin cookie shell is slightly bittersweet and has a pretty serviceable flavor depth for a consumer grade product. It's got good cocoa notes as well as a bitter bottom flavor. It's mellowed out by the creamy texture of the filling as well as the bland cookie shell. It's not strong on milky flavors, but those who hate darker chocolate flavors will probably be placated by the way the fatty filling seems to add in some buttery notes.

In terms of how it compares to "Hello Panda", though they look rather similar, they are absolutely two different experiences. These have a much thinner cookie shell which serves mainly as a delivery mechanism for the thick creamy filling. There isn't much of a sense that these are cookies so much as the cookie equivalent of an M & M. That is, you're eating chocolate in a way which is not messy. "Hello Panda" cookies taste like chocolate chip cookies with a much thicker outer shell, sparser chocolate filling, and a stronger "biscuit" flavor. Also, "Hello Panda" has a creamier filling which isn't nearly as close to solid chocolate as Koala's March.

These were either a lot better than I remember them being or they really have changed the recipe. I'd even buy these again some time since they are rather nice to have around as a small, chocolatey morsel to pop in your mouth when you have the urge. 

Random Picture #101

The stores recently have been flooded with products meant to encourage students to do well on their school entrance tests. These cute-looking boxes of Koala's March cookies feature their mascot in a daruma doll get-up and different designs are imprinted on the cookies. This is part of a Lotte series which encourages these products for those who "aim to succeed" at their entrance tests. Since lots of study uses up glucose and these cookies are chock full of sugar, they may indeed help a person succeed. Personally, I'm not a fan of these cookies as they are too sweet for me, but I do love the box designs

Random Weekend Picture 2

A display of special doll festival (March 3) "Koala's March" cookies at a high class supermarket called "Queen's Isetan". This variety shows their mascot in prince and princess garb. The cookies are strawberry and vanilla flavored.

Variety Friday: Lotte "Sweet Stay" Hotel

Image captured from the Lotte City hotel web site.

Several weeks ago, I learned (via The Japan Times) that Lotte is opening a hotel. This in and of itself is not a shock since most Japanese companies are conglomerates with their hands in a lot of pies. Companies that make food often also have other types of related or greatly divergent businesses.

The hotel will be located in Kinshicho in Tokyo, and will not be far from Shibuya, the National Sumo Stadium (Ryogoku Kokugikan), and a Disney resort area. A web site for the hotel is located here. As far as I can tell, it is largely a pretty normal hotel with a few specialty rooms featuring Lotte's Koala's March cookie mascot. The site, what little there is at the time that I'm writing this, calls the hotel a "premium business hotel". There is something a bit odd in the pairing of the image of an elegantly appointed business hotel and cheesy use of cutesy Koala images in theme rooms. It's as if they couldn't decide if they want follow the Hilton hotels or the often tacky love hotels so they just decided to do a little of both.

According to the Nikkan Sports news, there is going to be a chocolate café ("Chocolate Factory Charlotte") and shop, a Korean restaurant and a room specifically advertised to provide a view of the Sumida fireworks. The sense is that the hotel is meant to attract women, though this flies in the face of the idea that it is supposed to be a "premium business hotel." Yes, there are business women in Japan, but there aren't that many of them and even fewer are involved in the types of work that requires travel.

Image pinched from My Com Journal.

Of course, this being a snack blog, I was interested in tracking down the Koala's March room and finding what it was supposed to look like. You have to comb Japanese news sites to see if Lotte's PR people released any images and I found one on the "My Com Journal" news site. (Note: When I wrote this post, the hotel's web site was just one page with one picture. Now, a full-fledged site is up with more pictures.) Frankly, it looks like the sort of room you'd put together for a 5-year-old to stay in and it appears to be designed for an adult and two children. There is a "common room" with a regular-looking bed and space and the Koala's room. The entire area is meant to accommodate three people. I don't think Lotte is offering these rooms as any more than a token publicity stunt as there are 213 rooms and only 2 of them have the Koala's March theme.

The odd thing about Lotte's entry into the hotel market in Japan is that this is their first one. They already have hotels in South Korea, but are late to the domestic market. The hotel will open on April 6, 2010. If my husband and I can make our way there, I think it'd be interesting to pay a visit to the café and the chocolate museum which are mentioned in the .pdf that Lotte offers with information on the shop itself.

Soft Cream Koala's March (Koala No Maachi)

Some food items in Japan are very much flashes in the pan. You see them for awhile and they vanish forever. Others have been around for a long time and never seem to go away, even though you never buy them. The Koala's March brand of tiny biscuits (cookies) is one such item for me. Way back when I first arrived in Japan in 1989, I bought a box of the chocolate variety and sampled them. I didn't buy another box again until recently when I was lured in by the "soft cream" variety with it's strong vanilla flavor connotations.

The Koala's March biscuits only pre-date my arrival by about half a decade. They were created as part of the Australia boom back in the 80's and originally showed koala bears playing musical instruments. The "march" part of the name was supposed to be related to "marching band", I guess. Originally, the number of cute little bears on the cookies was small, but has since expanded to nearly 300 designs.

Click this image for a larger one with a lot more detail.

When I looked at the cookies in the foil packet, I noticed a lot of the designs included Japanese characters (kanji). I wondered if they were doing this to teach kids kanji. I believe these biscuits are marketed mainly toward children because they're so cute and quite sweet. However, in Japan, it's hard to tell since a lot cute things are marketed toward adult women, especially those in their 20's.

The cookies are very tiny. I'd say they are akin to a Hershey's kiss in terms of volume. The outside is a crispy, flavorless cookie with a small hole in the back where the filling was pumped in. The filling is tooth-achingly sweet and carries a very intense (likely artificial) vanilla flavor. When I say they hurt your teeth, I'm not kidding. The filling is like thick, dried-out frosting. It's a little soft, but dense. While the crunchiness of the cookie outside is very satisfying and the textural contrast between the filling and cooking is nice, the filling spoils the experience. That being said, I think kids may love these since their tolerance for very sweet things is higher than that of the average adult.

Each box of biscuits is 55 grams (nearly 2 oz.) and there are tons of little cookies in one box. They are very cheap at 100 yen per box (93 cents USD). Though I think it'd be impossible to consume an entire package in one sitting, it'd cost you 300 calories if you did. Given the high cuteness factor and sugary nature, these would probably be a good souvenir for kids if you didn't mind the fact that they are fairly toxic nutritionally. The ingredients include a lot of the usual suspects (flour, sugar, fat, caramel coloring, whey powder) as well as the surprise addition of cocoa butter.

If it's any consolation, the Australian Koala Foundation receives benefits from the sales of these cookies. Your tooth decay and expanding waistline can help save the lives of koala bears. Personally, I'm glad to give them my 100 yen, but I'm going to throw away the rest of the cookies.