Anyone not heard the Wispa? (Cadbury's Wispa)

Member Name: bondgirlk8

Product:	Cadbury's Wispa
Date:	21/10/08 (500 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Yummy, scrummy for my tummy

Disadvantages: I'm paranoid they'll take them away; no longer costs 16p; addictive

I'm not really a chocolate person. I don't know why, I'm just not that bothered. For me, it is the savoury snack all the way, crisps (of any kind) being regularly top of my snack-o-meter. No, chocolate is not my thing. That is, of course, with the exception the Wispa.

Apparently...it's returned. Now I bet you didn't know that, did you?

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Background
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The Wispa was introduced as a trial back in 1981 in the North-East. Word is that it was so successful, a whole new factory had to be built by Cadbury to allow them to launch it nationally.

The Wispa arrived on our shelves nationwide in 1983 following a launch campaign which used the phrase 'Have you heard the Wispa?' but sneakily kept the details of the product a secret. At the time it cost a whopping 16p, however, this was a whole penny less than a mars bar so a bit of bargain really the Wispa, clearly, being far more scrummy.

My favourite comedy 'little known' but allegedly genuine fact about the Wispa is that the original bar was considered "Too big for a lady to fit in her mouth" and so had to be scaled down.

During the 1990's variations on the Wispa started to arrive. There was the Wispa Gold, the Wispa Mint, the Wispa Bite. They were all, frankly, inferior. Some things really shouldn't be messed around. If you have created the perfect chocolate, why spoil it?

In 2003 the Wispa was inexplicably taken out of production. The conspiracy was that this had something to do with declining sales. It was, for a short period, replaced by the Dairy Milk Bubbly. This was a little bit like Wispa chocolate, but presented in the standard Dairy Milk 'chunks' format rather than the solid bar we knew and loved. It tasted all wrong. Cadbury's went a bit wild with these Dairy Milk 'such-and-suchies' at the time. I'm sure they tried to do the same thing with the Crunchie?? Anyway, there was biscuit, mint, a few others that were clearly very memorable, and the wretched bubbles.

This didn't last long, and eventually Cadbury abandoned bubbly chocolate for good. This left addicts such as myself having to resort to bad but bubbly chocolate such as the Aero, or nice-ish but sadly bubble-lacking substitutes such as the Twirl.


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The Campaign
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Cadburys may have decided that the Wispa was doomed, however, would the Great British Public stand for that? No, they jolly well wouldn't. It did, admittedly take a few years. The proliferation of the internet and the advent of networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace led to a collection of campaigns and on-line petitions. Wispa fans, possessed by the love of their forbidden chocolate, even invaded the stage at Glastonbury Festival during the Iggy Pop set. They held a banner demanding that we 'Bring Back Wispa'.

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The Trial Re-Launch
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Eventually, Cadbury cottoned onto the fact that there might be a market for the poor old Wispa after all. In August 2007, it announced that the Wispa would return for a 'limited period' in October 2008. We were told that they would produce 27 million bars, and maybe, just maybe, if sales were high enough they would bring it back FOREVER.

In October 2007, suddenly, in select places, there they were! It was like heaven, the Wispa was back! This was however, a very troubling time for the Wispa connoisseur. We were wild and out of control. The power of the Wispa had led to over-gorging and panic buying ensued. Wispa very quickly could be located nowhere. This left us confused and cross with Cadbury, resenting the fact that they were ever brought back at all if they were to be so quickly wrenched back from us. How dare they remind us just what it was we were missing? We'd have to go cold turkey all over again.

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The Permanent Return
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Finally, in August 2008, we received the news that the trial had been a success and that the Wispa would be brought back permanently in October 2008. They turned up in my local shop during mid-September. I'm trying not to panic buy and gorge this time. I take it a day at a time.

So what is all the fuss about?

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Price
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Well no, it isn't 16p anymore. It is currently retailing in the Sainsbury's Central near my office (Central London, so maybe less elsewhere) at 48p. However, I have spied them in newsagents and convenience stores at wildly fluctuating prices. The most I have paid so far is 60p. Quite a bit for a bar of chocolate, but that is what hype will do. If you can get it, why not charge it? I paid it. I'm sure other addicts will have too.

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Packaging
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The Wispa comes wrapped in pretty dark blue foil. It features red writing with a gold trim. Cadbury, possibly to try to capitalise on the retro-80's (despite them only having been gone for 5 years) image, have kept the style of the packing and writing very close to the version originally introduced. It does stand out on the shelf as, to be fair, it DOES look a little bit retro and unique.
The main difference from the original is that the nutritional information is now much more prominent in light of the recent 'fight against obesity' and the general demand for simpler information about the contents of food. Interestingly, in the dark ignorant days of the 80's when we had no idea that chocolate was less healthy than an apple say, we had much less obesity to 'fight'.

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Nutritional Information
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Well, in these enlightened days, we now know that the Wispa is perhaps not the healthiest item you could choose. Its packaging has advised me to be 'treat-aware' and I share this information with you now so that you can make a fully informed decision before accidently purchasing it:

Each bar contains:

Calories: 210; 10.5% GDA
Sugars: 21.1g; 23.4% GDA
Fat: 12.9g; 18.4% GDA
Saturates: 8.1g; 40.6% GDA
Salt: 0.09g; 1.4% GDA

Oh yes, the Wispa is quite a Bad Boy indeed.

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Scent
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Once you have purchased your Wispa, and you peel back the corner of the wrapper, take a moment to enjoy the smell. You'll be glad you did. They say that 70-75% of what we taste actually comes from our sense of smell. Enjoy the magical aroma as it wafts out of the wrapper, giving your brain a little tease of the heaven yet to come.

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Taste
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Of course, the most important aspect of any food review surely has to be the taste. It is so special I saved it till last. If you followed my advice with the smell, you will too.

The experience of eating a Wispa is fairly unique, despite it not being the only bubbly chocolate on the market. The shape is a long, solid bar of chocolate with no 'chunk marks'. It is intended to be bitten, not broken. It is made of classic Dairy Milk style chocolate, this causing a very creamy, milky taste. It has a taste that is unmistakably Cadbury. How much this appeals to you will vary on your individual taste, and can probably be solved with this simple test: Which of these three do you prefer? Dairy Milk, Yorkie, Galaxy?

Dairy Milk - hooray, you'd like Wispa
Yorkie - no, I think you should stick to Aero
Galaxy - well, the jury is out, give it a try. Join us.

The bar has an outer 'coating' of milk chocolate, and the inside is made up of a million tiny bubbles, again of pure Cadbury milk chocolate. The outer layer is a well thought out thickness, being neither too thin to prevent the bite sensation, nor to thick to hinder the bubble sensation. Ahhh, the bubble sensation. Other than generally preferring the taste of Cadbury chocolate to Nestle, I find the little delicate bubbles of the Wispa give for more in-the-mouth-satisfaction than the big, butch bubbles of the Aero. Again, that's just me.

I hope this helps you decide if the Wispa is for you. I'm off to get some now before the shop sells out. Happy Wispa-ing!

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Thank you for reading

© BondgirlK8 October 2008

Summary: Its back, I'm glad, I'm hooked again.