Today it's back across the Atlantic once more, to the African nation of Nigeria. Specifically, the topic is the Trebor Butter Mint candy, from Cadbury Nigeria. As you might expect, this was another find from the So It Is African Market.
Cadbury, of course, is a behemoth of a company. I've talked about its products at least two times previously. Therefore, if you want a brief company history, see my post on February 3, 2018, which covered some British and Irish treats. Also, back on July 27, 2016, I discussed another Cadbury owned, Nigerian-made candy--Tom Toms. But, to add a few tidbits about the Nigeria Cadbury company, it is about one quarter locally owned by Nigerians--25.03%, to be exact. This affiliate was formally incorporated in 1965, after having been founded in the 1950's to source local Nigerian cocoa beans. Besides the Butter Mints and Tom Toms, Cadbury Nigeria also markets hot chocolate, regular chocolates, a mint/gum (Clorets), and Bournvita, a malted beverage.
Trebor Butter Mints: The candies were individually wrapped white ovals, about 1 inch by .5 inches (about 2.5 cm. by 1.5 cm.). Like the Tom Toms, they were lozenge-style--hard candies which dissolve slowly in your mouth. They had both their advertised flavors. The butter taste mixed with mint was weird to me, and a little off-putting. Overall they were okay? I guess? Sorry to be vague, but this candy was odd. I can kind of take them or leave them--they're not great, but not terrible, either. I guess they're an acquired taste.
As is my wont, I'll flesh this out a little with a few fun facts about Nigeria. It is the biggest country in Africa, based on population, which is estimated to be over 200,000,000 currently. Which makes it the seventh most populated country in the entire world. The Nigerian movie industry, nicknamed, "Nollywood," is reportedly the second busiest in the world, after India's "Bollywood." I saw a whole range of estimates for its average annual output of films, from 1,000 to 10,000. As far as famous Nigerians, or at least folks with significant Nigerian heritage, there's a bunch. In the world of music there's Sade Adu, winner of four Grammys. Also Shirley Bassey, probably best known for singing multiple James Bond movie themes. In the sport of basketball, specifically the NBA, there's Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon, Emeka Okafor, and the still active Andre Iguadala. To choose just a sampling of Nigerians who played in the NFL, there's Christian Okaye, B. J. Raji, Osi Umenyiora, and former Philadelphia Eagle Jay Ajayi. Nigeria's first, and only non-team winner of an Olympic gold medal was Chiome Ajunwa, who won the women's long jump in the 1996 Summer Games. Title belt holding boxers who were Nigerian include Samuel Peter (heavyweight division), and Richard Ihetu (aka Dick Tiger), a middleweight/light heavyweight. Arguably the most famous Nigerian actor is Chiwetel Ejiofor, who appeared in such films as "Amistad" (1997), "Dirty Pretty Things" (2002), "Serenity" (2005), "Inside Man" (2006), "Children of Men" (2006), and "12 Years a Slave" (2013). And finally, there's John Boyega, best known for playing Finn the Stormtrooper in the three most recent "Star Wars" movies, and also from "Attack the Block" (2011), "Detroit" (2017), and "Pacific Rim: Uprising" (2018).
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