Imagine my joy when I saw one of my childhood favorites sitting on a shelf in Dong Guan. Also known as the Black Currant Pastilles, Nestle’s Fruittips Frutips is a candy many of us have fond memories of. Sharing them with our siblings, compromising the enamel on our susceptible baby teeth, those were the good days. I had this tube with me for a couple of days, and realized it was kinda different, so I bought another tube of it in Hong Kong when I dropped in for a weekend.
The packaging for one were different. The Mainland version had a big sunny face on it and the background was different colored.
The shapes of the actual candies were also different with the Mainland version using a flat cylindrical form, while the Hong Kong version using a molded fruit shape that looked more like a lemon than a currant.
The sugar crystals were of a different quality. You can probably see from the pictures that the Mainland version uses a fine crushed sugar, while the Hong Kong version uses larger crystals.
The shapes of the actual candies were also different with the Mainland version using a flat cylindrical form, while the Hong Kong version using a molded fruit shape that looked more like a lemon than a currant.
The sugar crystals were of a different quality. You can probably see from the pictures that the Mainland version uses a fine crushed sugar, while the Hong Kong version uses larger crystals.
More telling were the differences in ingredients:
China Version: Fruit Juices not less than 2.5%
Hong Kong Version: Fruit Juices not less than 25%
I can’t remember what the price differences were, but I don’t recall it justifying a 10x difference in this key ingredient. That would be like buying a wedding band with a plastic crystal in China while selling the same one with a diamond in Hong Kong. Remarkable what those creative people at Nestle come up with. The thing is, the two candies actually tasted quite similar. The subjects whom I scientifically taste tested this on (Gwen and I) didn’t notice the difference unless the candies were had within the same sitting. As a testament of its success, I brought the Mainland version to work one day, and they were devoured quickly by my co-workers. Problem solved!
2 comments:
How come they are called Fruittips? I remember they were called Black Currant Pastilles. 黑加倫子橡皮糖。
I think the mainland China version is what we remember from our childhood. No less than 2.5% and no less than 25% can technically be the same thing, if say, they both had 26% fruit juice.
Post a Comment