Expensive Candies at Wal-Mart

I won't lie, if I come out of the candy section of a store spending less than $20, I consider that a victory. I'm one of those people who purchases things when something catches their eye. It's a wonder that I haven't strained my credit card with ridiculous things I see on television. One store where I always expect to save a bit more money at is Wal-Mart. I'll maybe save a few cents more at Wal-Mart than I would have at Target. However, I found some items at Wal-Mart that were a bit on the higher end of the price spectrum. When I say higher end of the price spectrum at Wal-Mart, I mean anything $4 or more.

It surprised me quite a bit to find that Wal-Mart was selling small boxes of candy at prices of $4 and more. They still had the big bags of Airheads, Swedish Fish, etc. for reasonable prices, but these more expensive candies intrigued me. I decided to buy two of them to see if they were worth the price. First up there's:


Ever since I purchased sea salt caramels at Nugget in Davis, I've been trying to find them at other places, but unfortunately I was never able to find them. The next best thing was probably Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt. This is why I decided this would be my first choice of pricier candies to buy. At $4 a box, would it be a better purchase than a less expensive big bag of caramel chews?

The candies are individually wrapped and come in a sealed bag

An unwrapped caramel

I have to say that this candy didn't exactly disappoint me, but it didn't meet the level of sea salt caramels I had purchased before. I think it was because this candy was rather smooth, as opposed to the caramels I purchased in Davis which had coarse grains of salt in them. There's still a sea salt flavor and they taste a bit fancier than regular caramel chews, but I think that's because I paid $4 for a box. I'm not sure if I would get these again.

Next up:

This looked like a box holding cologne or perfume and came in at $6.50 a box. The box, while small, was quite heavy for it size. They offered other flavors, such as toffee, but I chose peppermint due to personal preference.

All this talk about Formula 23 really intrigues me

Here is a look at the creator of this candy

"Sup?"

They come individually wrapped in shiny green wrappers

They don't look that fancy without the wrapper

I swear I didn't bite into this

So how did these taste? Well, imagine a large Andes Chocolate Mint, but not quite the same. I happen to like Andes Chocolate Mints, and many of my students do as well. In fact, it was the favorite of one of my students for a while, until she turned to Swedish Fish. Anyway, a large bag of Andes Chocolate Mints comes in at about $3 on a regular day, and at around $2.66 on a sale day at Target. I would probably take the Andes Chocolate Mints over this because I enjoy the texture of a thin mint over this. However, if texture is not an issue to you, then you could go either way.

What did I learn from this? I learned that sometimes pricier isn't always better. Well, the prices weren't that much higher than other candies, but in the world of candy, a $1 chocolate bar is MUCH cheaper than a $2 chocolate bar. I've also learned that sometimes more expensive candies are just have better wrappers than regular candies. And so, it's best not to judge a candy by its wrapper or its price tag, but instead by its taste. The next time you are in possession of higher priced candy, ask yourself if that candy tastes like something that costs less. By asking yourself this, you may be surprised sometimes.