...
Anyway, moving swiftly on to…
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THE BAR – The Packaging
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Like many other Cadbury’s products, the packaging is dominated by purple. Since the look of the outer packaging really only differs from ... Read review
Advantages: Very tasty and filling Disadvantages: Looks like a turd. Fattening.
Here I sit, alone in an empty warehouse (OK, it’s not empty, but it SOUNDS better if I say it does). In front of me is a cup of coffee (Nescafé, if you’ve been reading my work), and a chocolate bar.
Now, I know that a chocolate bar is not the healthiest of breakfasts, but it’s what I have. You see, a few days ago, our work experience lad came back from Asda with a four pack of CADBURY’S PICNIC BARS for the very ... ...99p, because that fact is splashed all down the right hand side of the four-pack).
“I’ll try one,” thought I (it’s very easy to take risks when it’s someone else’s chocolate). Well, my little Picnic was very nice indeed, so I send our lad off to get me a four pack of my very own.
So I arrive at work this morning, and I still have three left. And there’s no-one in the warehouse ... more
Here I sit, alone in an empty warehouse (OK, it’s not empty, but it SOUNDS better if I say it does). In front of me is a cup of coffee (Nescafé, if you’ve been reading my work), and a chocolate bar.
Now, I know that a chocolate bar is not the healthiest of breakfasts, but it’s what I have. You see, a few days ago, our work experience lad came back from Asda with a four pack of CADBURY’S PICNIC BARS for the very reasonable price of 99p for the four (I know it’s 99p, because that fact is splashed all down the right hand side of the four-pack).
“I’ll try one,” thought I (it’s very easy to take risks when it’s someone else’s chocolate). Well, my little Picnic was very nice indeed, so I send our lad off to get me a four pack of my very own.
So I arrive at work this morning, and I still have three left. And there’s no-one in the warehouse to nick them. Joy! Furthermore, and perhaps most crucially, there’s no-one in the warehouse to tell me I should be working rather than writing about chocolate. So, lucky, lucky you – a chocolate op.
Anyway, moving swiftly on to…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BAR – The Packaging ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like many other Cadbury’s products, the packaging is dominated by purple. Since the look of the outer packaging really only differs from that of the actual bar packaging (except for the 99P PACK shout on the outer), I’ll just briefly describe the wrapper on the bar…but you should be able to find the four pack from the description as well.
To recognise this bar, the most important information is on the front. That’s because it’s where it says Picnic in letters so large they cover most of the front. Furthermore, the word Picnic is surrounded by what looks like a jam splodge. Or maybe blood. Which is odd, since the bar has neither jam nor blood in it. If you look carefully to the left and right, you can see what it DOES have in it – peanuts and raisins. It even informs you in gold writing that it’s ‘Packed with Peanuts and Raisins’ (would someone PLEASE tell me why the capitalise Peanuts and Raisins? Maybe that’s the name of the people they minced to get the blood-coloured splodge on the front…)
In fact, hidden on the side, it tells you that the bar is indeed ‘Milk chocolate with caramel, peanut, crispy cereal and raisin centre.’ Clearly not suitable for nut allergy sufferers then.
Turning the bar over, you get the usual bumf – nutritional information, barcode, best before date, weight (48.4g, if you want to know), ingredients and contact information – none of which I will repeat here, except to say that there are 230 Kilocalories per bar. Ouch!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BAR – Appearance upon Opening ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK, I’m getting hungry now. I’ve just spent ten minutes looking at the packaging – I want to open the darned thing!
Around five inches long, the bar does indeed appear to be packed with SOMETHING. There are large bumps all over the upper surface of the rounded bar. The chocolate is…well…milk chocolate coloured (brown). The shape is…well…this is where I have a problem.
You see, usually, I hold the bar in the packaging, open just the top, and nibble down, thus avoiding a mess on my fingers. However, in the interests of completeness, I’ve taken the whole thing out of the wrapper.
And it looks like…a turd. It really does. Like a turd after you’ve had corn on the cob, or something else that tends to come out the same way it comes in. I think I’ll eat it my normal way from now on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BAR – The Smell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK, I am being anal…but it kind of suits the theme *grin*. It smells weakly of chocolate. I needed to hold it right up to my nose to smell it (oh, the visions you must be having – I am, of course, talking about the Picnic bar, not anything else it might resemble).
Anyway, I feel that’s about enough said on the smell. Suddenly, I don’t seem to feel quite so hungry…ok, I’ll press on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BAR – The Taste ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is where Cadbury’s atone for the rather unpleasant appearance (didn’t anyone NOTICE how the damned thing looks??).
I bite into it. Through the chocolate (which is Cadbury’s typical yummy milk chocolate) It’s crunchy (at the top teeth) and chewy (bottom) (due to the cereal and nuts for the crunch, and the caramel and raisins for the chew, I assume). It’s sweet, but not too cloying (I think the peanuts help cut some of the cloying caramel sweetness.)
The peanuts are not as predominant a flavour in the Picnic as they are in a Snickers; in fact, I’d say the raisins have a stronger flavour. The cereal is the most noticeable crunch texture, and the caramel the most noticeable chewy (damn peanut just fell out on my desk…munch).
Forgive me, the flavour is difficult to describe, perhaps because there are so many different flavours and textures competing for attention. However, the blend DOES work. The flavours do meld together, providing a very nice taste sensation indeed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BAR – Matty’s Verdict ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, I like Cadbury’s Picnic Bar. I’ve finished the bar, and just taken a slurp of (now lukewarm) coffee, and, not surprisingly, the flavours work well together. Perhaps it’s not the healthiest of breakfasts, but…hey, it’s tasty. It’s given me a boost of energy. AND it’s provided inspiration for an op. What more can a gal ask?!
Cheers, Kate
HEY!! Under 1000 words – this must be a first for me…
Advantages: Tastes Delicious Disadvantages: Quite Messy to Eat, Plenty Of Calories
During my product research on Chocolate Bars for the (sole) purpose of Ciao reviews I realised two things. firstly that Nestle and Cadbury's seem to have a complete monopoly on the market and secondly that there are quite literally dozens of Chocolate Bars still out there that I have yet to try. My most recent purchase to buy, devour and cross off the list is a Cadbury's Picnic.
THE BACKGROUND
Cadbury's Picnic bars first appeared back in 1958 under ... ...had become part of the Cadbury's conglomerate and the Bar proved to be very successful establishing itself as one of their leading brands. Following the Cadbury's takeover of Fry's a major revamp and restructure of the industry took place which saw many of the established brands disappear in favour of new more exciting brands and sadly the Picnic Bar disappeared from our shelves. Thankfully Cadbury's re-launched the Picnic bar in 1999 to the original ...
micksheff 09.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cadbury Picnic
Advantages: Erm Disadvantages: If you like peanuts you'll be disappointed, not creamy just chewy.
...might as well sample a Cadbury Picnic bar seeing as they were lurking downstairs.
The packaging is however, very attractive and I did find myself becoming tempted by looking at it. The wrapper is purple with white bubble text of 'Picnic' and exploding from the sides are lots of CG peanuts and raisins. Underneath, it says 'packed with peanuts and rasins' though there is no actual description of what the bar actually is (I.e. Wafer, caramel, toffee, ... ...It had the nice cadbury chocolate smell to it. I couldn't smell any peanuts or caramel, unlike the very predominant smell of peanuts in a Snickers bar.
Biting into the bar, I could taste the creamy Cadbury chocolate. Unlike a Mars Snickers bar, the chocolate was not 'contaminated' with a peanut taste, so I could enjoy the flavour of Cadbury chocolate.
My teeth sunk through the crispy rice, which was based in the centre of the bar, with a satisfying ...
LaceyR26 27.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cadbury Picnic
Advantages: tasty and chewy Disadvantages: a little small, easily squashed
I sometimes wonder what possessed me to try a Cadbury’s Picnic. You see I have been eating them for several years on and off and by rights when I first tried one I shouldn’t have liked it. But why? I hear you ask. The answer is very simple: raisins. As a child I hated raisins, and sultanas, currants, glace cherries, candied peel and all those other things that can find their way into sweet treats. I would pick all these nasty little jellied things ... ...would do my utmost to avoid them. I could not stand the texture of them in my mouth, the wizened jelly-like thing that was both hard and soft at the same time. I hated them. So why on earth did I ever try the Picnic? And more to the point why on earth did I like it? The Picnic, after all, contains raisins. Well to this day I still don’t know but I am glad I tired it. I think I’ll just put it down to one of the great mysteries of the universe.
Anyway ...
jammy_banana 06.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cadbury Picnic
Advantages: Tastes nice Disadvantages: Too many will make you fat
I popped out to get a paper today, and whilst I was at the till, a Picnic just “magically” fell into my hands. Once I got home, it just seemed rude not to eat it. And since I ate it, I thought I’d tell you about it :)
-=What is it? =-
Picnics are made up of Peanuts, raisins and crunchy cereal bits, which are bound together with caramel and enshrouded with a thin layer of Cadbury’s milk chocolate. Sounds good doesn’t it? -=Packaging=-
The plastic ... ...then there is the word “Picnic” in large white lettering with reddy-orange background, which reminds me of a giant blob of paint. Some peanuts and raisins look like the have been fired out of the back of the letter P. At the end of the packet there is a huge yellow strip that says “25% extra Free” (yay me). The extra chocolate means that there is 60.5g instead of the usual 48.4g.
-=Appearance of the bar=-
To be honest, they don’t look that appealing ...
Barbsie 04.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cadbury Picnic
Advantages: Filling, Tasty Disadvantages: Price varies dependant on store, Can be abit messy to eat and bits get stuck in your teeth
...people! According the cadbury website www.cadbury.co.uk the picnic bar has been available since 1958. If it is still around now then that must mean it is one tasty chocolate bar and who am I to disagree. So I shall now go on to tell you more about the chocolate bar. *Wrapper* The wrapper for the cadbury's picnic bar is quite exciting and eye-catching with what looks like an explosion of caramel, peanuts and raisins in bright fun colours of cadbury's ... ...the wrapper is what made me fancy getting some picnic bars because it looks more interesting than your standard cadbury's products. It is quite a good solid chocolate bar and the wrapper is not full of air and misleading like some products you can get on the market so what you get is what you see. The front of the wrapper is simply bold letters with the word "Picnic" and an illustration of exploding peanuts, caramel and raisins as though they are ...
miss_sherlock 17.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cadbury Picnic
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mousse and honeycombed granule centre. We all delved right in and tried these because they were new. They?re ace! The packaging is a cream wrapper with baby blue at both ends and ?dream? written across the front in large blue letters.
Furthermore there?s Timeout which is a milk chocolate covered wafer with a flaky milk chocolate centre. A little like the Twirl because people consider it to be less special than others. The wrapping is a royal blue wrapper with timeout written across the front in large dark red letters.
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