Tried them....can't really see the point of them. (Mikado Chocolate Biscuit)

Member Name: Whizz11

Product:	Mikado Chocolate Biscuit
Date:	10/09/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Eat on the go, handy

Disadvantages: Not amazing

Tried them....can't really see the point of them.

The television advertisement is great, a Japanese man eats a Mikado biscuit stick in what looks like the copier room of a generic business. He then places them on a high shelf. A female worker comes in, sees the biscuits but can't reach them, she uses the copy machine as a leg up but unfortunately hits the copy button at the same time, just when the man walks back into the room and he gets an eyeful of her undergarments!!

The ad may be great but I have to say I wasn't that impressed with the product.

The biscuits sticks have quite an interesting background, hailing from Japan. Here, they are called Pocky and were first released in 1966. According to an article I read they are extremely popular in Japan and are often served in bars with a glass of ice water. They have been called Mikado in this country after the popular game Mikado, often known as pick-up sticks. I can definitely see the similarity to pick up sticks as they actually really look like the sticks you play with.

In the UK the biscuits are distributed by Kraft Foods. The biscuits are basically bread sticks coated with chocolate. The chocolate does not coat the whole stick, there is a little bit left plain at the end hence the comparison with pick-up sticks. This was done with a certain reason in mind. The sticks are being marketed as a product specifically for customers on the go. Kraft say that "Mikado is a unique and delicious treat that customers can nibble whenever they fancy - and because one end of each biscuit is left undipped, they won't end up with sticky fingers!" This is because, according to an article I read, "The on-the-go biscuits snacking category is booming, achieving +16 per cent growth and valued at £50 million."

The biscuit sticks are quite thin, I would liken them to a Matchstick and come in much the same packaging as Matchsticks would. I unfortunately found this biscuit sticks quite uninspiring though. They tasted ok but they weren't anything special in my opinion. The chocolate was nice but you didn't get much of a chocolatey taste as the covering was quite thin and the biscuit taste took over. I would not choose them over an actual biscuit as I thought they were too small to actually pack a punch. I also would not choose to buy them for say an after dinner snack at a dinner party as one would with say Matchsticks or AfterEights so really I probably would not buy these again.

You can buy a 75g pack for £1.19 and they also come in smaller 39g packs but unfortunately not something I would buy again!

Summary: Mikado Biscuit Sticks