Four decades ago, Goya chocolate candies meant ACCESSIBLE and AVAILABLE even if you were a grade schooler with loose change for allowance. Goya chocolate candies were cheap, sold in most sari-sari (neighborhood variety) stores and even the school canteen. At that age, no one really wondered why Goya chocolates never seemed to soften and melt even outdoors on the hottest summer days.
Fast forward to about twenty years later and most of my generation, largely Goya lovers because we grew up with Goya, had already found out that chocolates that did not melt were not really good chocolate at all. By that time, we had come to treat Goya as an object of nostalgia — we smiled when we thought about Goya but did not crave a return to it much like a youthful summer fling that was good while it lasted.
Goya chocolates went very low profile for a long time. The company was bought by Nestle, the products became almost invisible on the market shelves and were patronized only by the most loyal fans until a Singaporean company bought Goya from Nestle and the road toward modernization and revitalization began.
When I started seeing new Goya items on grocery shelves, I was wary because new packaging did not necessarily mean improvement in quality. Then, Sam and I bought bags of Easymelt dark chocolate buttons, I used them in my chocolate-topped cream cheese cookies and hot chocolate with salted caramel, and I was ready to try more Goya products.
Yesterday, at the grocery, Speedy and I went a little Goya crazy. We bought items we hadn’t tried before and we sampled them last night.
What we sampled: Goya Bits (plain, with peanuts and with rice crispies) and Dark Raisins (whole raisins coated in dark chocolate).
We loved the Dark Raisins. The raisins were substantially sized, they were soooo soft and pillowy and the chocolate coating was generous.
The plain Goya Bits were okay. Rather small but much better than Nips because Goya Bits plain was sweet without being cloying and, most importantly, the colored sugar coating was thin so you get more chocolate with every piece.
The Goya Bits with rice crispies were good too.
The Goya Bits with peanuts was a disappointment though. The peanuts were so tiny and some tasted burnt. Goya needs to source the peanuts better.
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I also love Goya’s Easymelt Buttons.
I love Goya Dark Mint!
It almost satisfied my craving for Andes Chocolate Mint one time I was unable to find Andes.
Problem is, a package of Andes is good for two or three craving sessions while the box of Goya left me wanting for some more. Nakakabitin!I think Goya could be more expensive per gram than Andes, I will make a price comparison next time they are both available on the shelf. Or maybe the price comparison should be cost per craving session!
@natzsm The price per gram comparison should be interesting.
Ms. Connie,
Funny but during the times I canvassed the prices for the chocolates, Shopwise Makati was out of Andes and Shoemart Supermarket was out of Goya. Anyway, here are the prices as of just a couple of days ago:
Goya Chocolate Mint at Shopwise Makati is PhP30 for 40.5 grams or 74 cents per gram
Andes Chocolate Mint at SM Makati is PhP134 for 132 grams or about 1 peso per gram
The Goya Chocolate Mint is packaged in a box while Andes in shrink wrap cellophane. If Goya could dispense with the box, they might be able to further lower their prices.
ms. connie, how much per pack is the easy melt buttons?is it affordable?would love to use it for baking too
@farrah I don’t remember, Farrah.
@farrah I buy Goya EasyMelt Buttons from Landmark and Unimart, they’re usually around Php 80-85, but not more than Php 90
When I was a kid I usually would wait for my ride to school right in front of the Goya factory in marikina. Right there where I could smell the chocolates
When I saw the new EasyMelt packs, I bought (almost without hesitation) the dark and the white buttons. I even made my family members taste them and they were surprised when I said they’re eating Goya chocolates. A pack is less than php50 if I’m not mistaken.
may Sergs pa ba?
@Geekayness Re Serg’s. Wala na.