Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Godiva Easter Eggs

DSC00022rI’ve been asked a few times what I think of Godiva. To be honest, I don’t think much about it. When I was a kid and the same company who owned Pepperidge Farm (Campbell Soup) also owned Godiva (well, that’s still true today). There was a Pepperidge Farm thrift store not far from our home that we’d shop at once a month. Much of the time they’d have Godiva at ridiculously low prices. Besides chocolates at holidays, this was my only interaction with fine chocolates.

Of course I was in love with the elegant packaging. But I also appreciated the nice flavor and beauty of the chocolates as well. As I got a little older and became less impressed by those things, I realized, I didn’t like the chocolates themselves much. It’s not that they were bad, by any means, they just weren’t within my set of preferred flavors (you know, peanut butter and citrus) and I found the chocolate a little waxy.

So I don’t eat them, I don’t pay much attention to them.

But hey, it’s Easter and it’s about time I had something from Godiva represented here. So I popped into their shop over the weekend to see what was there for Easter. Lo and behold, it seemed they had a product that sounded right up my alley: an assortment of foil-wrapped Easter Eggs.

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The assortment included Solid Dark Chocolate, Solid Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with Coconut and Milk Chocolate with Almond Butter. Seeing that there were 16 eggs in the box and there were four flavors, I naturally assumed that there would be four of each flavor. Unfortunately there were only three of each of the filled eggs and five each of the solid eggs. Grrrr. I don’t want Godiva’s chocolate ... I want Godiva’s chocolates.

The eggs themselves are sizeable. At about .42 ounces each they’re twice the size of the regular foil-wrapped eggs we’re used to in Easter baskets.

The milk chocolate is nice. Creamy with a good caramelly milk flavor, though a little sticky and cloying as it melts on the tongue. The dark chocolate has a sweet but compelling scent, a little on the smoky side. It’s super creamy on the tongue with a slight dry finish. It doesn’t have the berry or fruity notes, just sticks to the woodsy/smoky side of things.

But let’s get to the fun ones! The pink foil holds a Dark Chocolate with Coconut egg. I could smell the nutty coconut as I unwrapped it. The center is a light and creamy fondant with little flecks of coconut. It smelled like coconut but also a little floral, like lilacs. Amazingly good.

The light blue foil holds a Milk Chocolate with Almond Butter egg. This one smelled immediately of dark toasted almonds. It was very soft to bite, I’m guessing from all the oils in the almond butter. Very thick and rich, the almond butter was fabulous, very much like a peanut butter, but with that unmistakeable almond taste. The milk chocolate set off the texture and flavor very well.

I really liked these but at almost a DOLLAR PER EGG they were horrendously expensive. Over $35.00 per pound. That price is fine for high quality boxed chocolates, but not for a product that was mostly solid chocolate. Keep your eye out for their post-Easter sale though if you’ve just gotta have them. (This particular box of foil eggs is already sold out on the site, but they have this more expensive version with only six eggs. (Jeeze, where’s a thrift store when you need it!)

Does anyone have any insider info on who supplies Godiva with their chocolate?

Related Candies

  1. Godiva Chocoiste Pearls
  2. Lindt Lindor Truffle Eggs
  3. Russell Stover Eggs
  4. See’s Egg Quartet
  5. Pure Fun Candy Floss
  6. Kinder Egg
  7. Reese’s Eggs
Name: Godiva 16 Foil Easter Eggs
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Godiva
Place Purchased: Godiva (Glendale Galleria)
Price: $15.00
Size: 6.75 ounces
Calories per ounce: 150
Categories: Chocolate, Nuts, Coconut, United States, Easter

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:40 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I’ve always thought Godiva was overrated.

    Oh, if someone gave some to me, i’d happily eat it and say “thank you.” But I’d never go out of my way to buy it. There’s something too prefab about the texture.

    Comment by The Velvet Blog on 4/03/07 at 9:37 am #
  2. I noticed you didn’t have anything Godiva on here! I’m a white chocolate fan myself and do quite specifically like Godiva’s white chocolate.  Could you maybe give it a try? I’m curious to hear what you think.

    Comment by Mrs. Jones on 4/03/07 at 11:40 am #
  3. I never understood the appeal of Godiva.  I’ll take See’s over Godiva any day.

    Comment by Randi on 4/03/07 at 2:40 pm #
  4. It’s funny how much more per pound it is than, say, bulk Valrhona or El Rey (< $8/lb).  Molding and wrapping must cost a lot (sarcasm!).

    The only info I’ve found on Godiva’s suppliers is in this article on chocolate slavery where they quote a Godiva rep who names Barry Callebaut as their cocoa supplier.  If true then that would mean that their $35/lb eggs are < $5/lb chocolate.  I guess if you want a 87% profit margin on your product you gotta mark it up a LOT.

    Comment by william on 4/04/07 at 6:07 am #
  5. I’ve always been turned off by the waxy texture and taste.  However, I understand the European Godiva doesn’t add as much paraffin and that’s probably why that chocolate has a much better reputuation.

    Comment by Realnicegirl on 4/04/07 at 7:12 am #
  6. Cybele's avatar

    realnicegirl - I’ve done some research and can find no evidence the Godiva uses paraffin. In fact, I’m not sure that paraffin can be legally added to American chocolate. I know that it’s present in chocolate products sold in tropical regions and some ration bars created for the military. The waxy texture can be achieved just by the ratio of cocoa solids and cocoa butter along with the conching (size of the cocoa particles) and tempering (the way the chocolate is allowed to cool).

    William - thanks for that info! As I just reported, Callebaut also owns Brachs (though I’ve heard they’re trying to unload them). So that pick-a-mix stuff may be rather similar!

    Randi - yes, my purchase of Godiva pretty much stopped once I moved to See’s country!

    Mrs. Jones - good to know about the White Chocolate. Perhaps I’ll check them out after Easter to see if I can get a good deal.

    The Velvet Blog - I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that!

    Comment by Cybele on 4/04/07 at 7:53 am #
  7. I work for godiva and I can tell you that if any company is using non-conflict-free chocolate, it’s godiva. they go for the cheapest means possible of doing everything, and there is at least a 1000% profit margin on all products. it’s ridiculous!
    and all I know about supply is that the chocolates are made in a facility in Pennsylvania.

    Comment by emily on 4/05/07 at 8:27 am #
  8. I actually work for Godiva as well. And if you caught the Easter sale, you could’ve gotten those eggs for 35 cents a piece.

    Quality? Well. The milk and dark is lacking. Added butter oil and other fats that really shouldn’t be in there. Their white chocolate is probably the best bet of them all, but that comment on Sees…

    oh dear lordy. Yes, please! raspberry Maybe people would understand the appeal in Godiva if they live in the Midwest where it is SO difficult to find. I had to get my boyfriend to take me on the Navy base to find See’s anywhere near me!

    If you’re going to try any white chocolate from Godiva, I highly HIGHLY recommend just going to the bulk counter and asking for the White Ganache Bliss. Their solid white chocolate is good- but that piece - mm-mm good! There isn’t/wasn’t (the easter sale ended today) any white chocolate in there, except for the Praline chicks (which I was actually fairly impressed with, much better than their white praline hearts).

    I honestly don’t know anything about the suppliers of Godiva. But I do know for a fact that the Godiva found in Europe is indeed better quality as well as better tasting. I have heard it from many many people. US and Canadian Godiva is technically just..American chocolate. US Godiva’s company has an American president. Note on the European website that (well, they used to be-) almost none of the pieces are the same between the two. They seem to be bringing the “New Gold Collection” to Europe though, which makes me thoroughly sad. Half the pieces are…well, not worth it. Though I’ve adopted a love for more exotic flavours, so for those who like the traditional route, it may be good.

    Try and get your hands on some chocolate from Vosges or Moonstruck! Excellent, very different varieties, definititely worth sampling.

    Comment by Jill on 4/21/07 at 6:36 pm #
  9. how many calories are in the green foiled one?

    Comment by rose on 4/04/10 at 5:26 pm #
  10. Cybele's avatar

    Rose - Godiva did not provide the individual calories for each variety. If you’d like I can do the math to give you an estimate. If an egg weighs .42 ounces and there are 150 calories per ounce, then one egg has approximately 63 calories.

    Comment by Cybele on 4/04/10 at 5:40 pm #
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