Okay, I'm exaggerating, of course. But it is a really complicated situation. The candy I'm talking about, Kinder Joy, includes both a candy half, and a toy half, each comprising half of an "egg." The candy itself was made in Poland. The toy was manufactured in China. "Final assembly" took place in the U.S.A. But, the company that owns and makes Kinder Joys is Ferrero, which is an Italian company. Although "kinder" in this context is a German word meaning "children." So you can see why I went with the snarky title for this post.
Ferrero was started by Pietro Ferrero back in 1946. In addition to making confections and candy, the company also makes some frozen desserts, and spreads. Arguably their biggest, most famous product, is the hazelnut spread Nutella, which was developed in 1964. To give you an example of how huge a brand Nutella is, 25% of the whole world's annual hazelnut supply is used by Ferrero to make this product. Ferrero is a giant across the board, too. It's the second biggest confectionery company in the world, based on sales, trailing only Mars-Wrigley out of the U.S. (To be fair, some websites claimed that another company, Mondalez International, is the real #2 company, but these were older articles, so I think Ferrero is the legitimate #2 as of 2020.) Not surprisingly, given its success, Ferrero has acquired many other famous candy and cookie brands over the years, such as the English Thorton's, and the American firms Fannie May, Famous Amos, and the Little Brownie Bakers, makers of Girl Scout cookies. Also, confusingly, the American Ferrara candy company. Ferrero exports to over 170 countries across the globe--pretty much everywhere except for most of Africa, and much of the Middle East. They employ over 30,000 workers. The current CEO, Giovanni Ferrero, is currently credited as the richest person in Italy, and the 43rd richest period, with an estimated fortune of 26.3 billion (U.S) dollars. I was amused to read that this behemoth business is allegedly extremely publicity-shy, and very concerned about corporate spying. One article said that Ferrero has never held a press conference, nor allowed any media to visit their plants. Perhaps this will change after the five Golden Tickets are found, or a disgruntled Oompa-Loompa successfully escapes and tells their story. But seriously, other main products of Ferrero are their Mon Cheri, Pocket Coffee, Ferrero Pralines, the Kinder line, and the breath mints Tic Tacs.
Kinder Joy: As I said, the containers looked like eggs, being that shape, and approximate size, about 7 cm. by 5 cm. (or about 2.75 inches by 2 inches). Once opened, there are two compartments, corresponding to that half of the "egg." One holds the toy, and the other the food. The latter is two flaky brown colored balls, surrounded by a yellow/white/brown layered gooey substance. The spheres tasted like chocolate cookies, and the goo was a sweet cream and chocolate spread. A small scoop was enclosed, to better get up the goo. The flavor of all these things was good--decent cookies, and solid cream and chocolate filling. I actually got two Kinder Joys, and the toys were different. One had a plastic basketball hoop to construct, with cardboard "players." The other was a plastic winged dragon, which again required a little assembly. So, my overall impression was positive--a good confection, and fun cheap toys--I can see why kids enjoy these. They were maybe slightly overpriced, at $2.19 per egg, but I can see myself buying these again on occasion. Here in the U.S. they've become near ubiquitous on cash register checkout lines, so they're in prime position for impulse buys.
Kinder Joys have only been sold in the U.S. (and Australia), since 2018. Which explains why I only recall seeing them for sale fairly recently. Also, one of the products in the Kinder line, Kinder Surprise, is banned in America. It's a plastic egg "yolk" encased in a candy coating. This violates U.S. federal laws against having food with non-nutritive objects in them. Which, actually seems reasonable--having this seems like an obvious chocking hazard for young children. At least the Kinder Joy eggs have a clear demarcation border between the candy and the toys.
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