Oh, this has been a long time coming! I finally bought some Icelandic chocolate and I’m comparing it to its Nordic brothers and sisters for the first time so this is the first of four battles coming over the next few months.
In the red corner we have Sirius, the Iceland contender. Sirius is a little unusual in this series, in that it’s not owned by Mondelez. As a general rule, I find it’s a good sign if Mondelez have bought a brand; it tends to mean it’s tasty. On the other hand, you can’t beat a good old independent national brand (forgive a couple of dents in the box; it got carried home in an overpacked duffle bag whereas the Marabou came in a well-packaged box in the post).
In the yellow corner, we have old faithful, familiar contender, Marabou. Marabou has competed in several bouts here, mostly because it’s easy for me to get hold of. You can buy it in Ikea. Marabou is owned by Mondelez.
Let’s have a look at the packaging. Sirius comes in a tasteful cardboard box with the chocolate itself wrapped in foil. I don’t know if it’s the red and white colour theme or the Scandi flower pattern but it kind of looks like the Christmas version that’s meant to look like you’ve chosen posh chocolate instead of everyday chocolate. But no, I bought this in Iceland in April and I’ve looked at the website and this is just what the packaging is like. Cardboard and foil are recyclable, so Sirius gets a point there. It’s hard to tell how much variety there is – the bars like this, which you get in supermarkets, don’t appear on the website but I don’t think there are more than six or eight flavours, although Sirius also makes the Traditional Icelandic Chocolate range, which comes in very tasteful white packaging or in packaging with gorgeous views from around the country.
Marabou comes in its usual yellow plastic. It’s possible that the seal on it preserves the chocolate better and it’s eye-catching and I like that you can alter it for different flavours without losing the brand identity. Sirius keeps the white but swaps the big red panel for its other flavours and it just slightly takes the edge off the consistency. Marabou has a huge range of flavours, actually. I wouldn’t eat it myself but I like the novelty of “licorice, raspberry & caramel”. I’d go for the orange crunch or the mint crunch.
And the chocolate itself. Sirius comes in square blocks and this particular bar is three squares wide. Marabou is four blocks wide and the blocks are more rectangular and they’re also a bit thicker. Colour – Marabou is a bit darker, which is interesting, because Marabou is 30% cacao and Sirius is 33%. I’d expect it to be the other way round, which is why I’ve just had to delete and re-write that sentence.
In an unusual move, I got my mum to join in the taste testing. Each chocolate is printed with its own logo but luckily, Mum doesn’t know or recognise any of them, so there’s no bias. Her opinion on Chocolate 1 (Sirius) is “it’s ok” and “it’s not Cadbury’s, is it?”. That isn’t a question, what she really means is “it’s not as good as Cadbury’s”. Chocolate 2 (Marabou): “It’s ok” again and “better than the first one”.
I have to say, I agree. I have a vague idea Sirius once made a little bit of noise about how Icelandic cows make creamier milk than other cows but when I tried a bar on my first trip, back in 2011, I thought it was quite dry and powdery and the opposite of creamy. In fact, it took until last April, well over ten years later, to try Sirius again. When buying chocolate in Iceland, I tend to go for imported brands. It’s not as bad as I remember but I definitely prefer Marabou. Marabou is definitely that bit richer and creamier. I can see why the big multinational has scooped up Marabou but not Sirius, put it that way. And shape does make a difference – Marabou’s chunkier shape just makes it more pleasing to bite into.
Yes, no surprises here that Marabou wins hands-down, all except on the eco-friendliness of the packaging.