Description
Visitors to our shop quickly learn that many of their favorite American snacks are available in flavors they never knew existed.
While we love bringing you these exotic regional flavors, we were also intrigued by how traditional US candies take on their own distinctive taste and texture when manufactured in other parts of the world.
These variations can be driven by many factors such as regional dietary preferences or restrictions around the use of artificial ingredients. In some cases, the differences simply come down to who owns the manufacturing rights for a candy in a given country.
Included in this UK Candy Sampler are 8 staples that you'll find in the candy aisle of any convenience store here in the states, except we've curated their UK counterparts!
Each bundle includes individual sized servings of each of the following candies: Skittles Fruits, Skittles Crazy Sours, Starburst Original, M&M's, Peanut M&M's, Twix, Rolo, and KitKat.
Can you see and taste the differences?
Did you know?
- Skittles and Starburst in the UK do not contain animal gelatin and are therefore Vegan-friendly. They also do not contain artificial colors or flavors (or the controversial Titanium Dioxide), giving them a different texture and, in our opinion, a much better flavor! The colors aren't as bright as what you'll find in the US version, but the flavors are more intense.
- Due to licensing requirements, the United States is the only country where Hershey Chocolate enrobes the KitKat and Rolo. The rest of the world uses Nestle Chocolate.
- M&M's in the UK are slightly larger than what you'll find in the states. They also use natural colorings derived from fruits and vegetables where in the US, we use artificial colors. These small differences definitely alter the taste!
- Twix bars in the United Kingdom are made with real butter. In the United States, we use vegetable oil, which gives it a slightly different flavor and texture from the original.
- "Skittles Originals" are called "Skittles Fruits" overseas and they feature blackcurrant rather than grape. Until recently, the UK Skittles were the only place you'd find Lime Skittles after the US removed them from the lineup in 2013. We recently replaced Sour Apple as the green Skittle here in the states with the reintroduction of the "Original Lime Up" Skittles.
- "Skittles Sours" are called "Skittles Crazy Sours" in the UK and they feature different flavors such as Sour Pineapple, Sour Cherry, Sour Raspberry, and Sour Mandarin. UK Crazy Sours also mix the sour flavor into the Skittle rather than dust the outside like we do here in the states.