TASTE
PREMIUM CHOCOLATES ARE AVAILABLE IN YOUR GROCERY STORE
Premium chocolates don't have to be pricey
By CANDICE CHOI
Associated Press
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NEW YORK— Want to sink your teeth into gourmet chocolate this season? Put down that $30 box of truffles and go cruise your supermarket's candy aisle.
In the past several years, affordable premium chocolates have slipped into the mainstream, taking their place alongside American favorites such as Snickers and Kit Kats. Even household brands are rolling out new lines to keep pace with evolving tastes; this year, Mars Inc. introduced its M&M's Premiums.
There's no clear-cut definition for what makes chocolate gourmet; it could be organic ingredients, exotic flavors, sleek packaging or a high cocoa content.
"Chocolate has entered the same category as coffee and wine, where everybody has a different opinion about it or different kind they like," said Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association, a trade group.
It's no wonder chocolate accounted for more than half the 3,200 new candy products introduced last year. The National Confectioners Association doesn't track how many of those new chocolate products were gourmet, but says premium chocolate sales grew by 30 percent last year.
A standard Hershey's bar is about 1.5 ounces, but premium bars generally weigh more because of the chocolate is denser.
So if you're looking for a more refined sugar rush, here are some options that won't empty your pockets.
PRICE: A 3.5-ounce bar sells for about $3.49.
WHERE: Most major supermarkets and drugstores, Whole Foods and other natural-foods stores.
PRICE: A box of six individually wrapped ChocoPods sells for about $6. Individual ChocoPods (.39 ounces) are also sold for 99 cents. Large 2.8-ounce bars sell for about $6.
WHERE: Whole Foods.
PRICE: A 2-ounce bars sell for about about $3.
WHERE: Whole Foods and other natural-food stores.
PRICE: The 3.53-ounce large bars sell for about $2.
WHERE: Most major supermarkets, drugstores and mass retailers such as Wal-Mart.
PRICE: A 3.5-ounce bar sells for about $3.20. A 1.5 ounce bar sells for about $1.50.
WHERE: Whole Foods, Nordstrom, independent health-food stores and co-ops.
"It's a colorful, fun new way to experience premium chocolate," said Ryan Bowling, a company spokesman.
PRICE: A 6-ounce bag sells for about $4.
WHERE: Most major supermarkets, drugstores and mass retailers such as Wal-Mart.
PRICE: A 4.2-ounce bag of truffles and a 3.5-ounce bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans ranges from $4.99 to $5.49.
WHERE: Most major supermarkets, drug stores and mass retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart.
PRICE: A 9.6-ounce bag ranges from $3.99 to $4.69.
WHERE: Most major supermarkets, drugstores and mass retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart.
