Sunday, October 11, 2009

Wonka Sploshberries Gummies


I was very excited to find these new Wonka Sploshberries Gummies at Target over the weekend. I assume they are part of the new Wonka "Gummies" product line which includes Sour Puckerooms and Sluggies, however the Sploshberries are not listed on the gummies page at wonka.com. The Sploshberries come in four shapes and flavors - raspberry, blueberry, goji berry, and cloud berry. Raspberry and blueberry I had covered, but I was unfamiliar with both the cloud berry and the goji berry. To my surprise, both are real. Cloud berries are an edible, amber colored fruit that grow in the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, they are mostly confined to Canada, Alaska, and a few northern states like Minnesota and Maine. The goji berry is the popular name for the wolfberry. Goji berries grow in China, Mongolia, and the Himalayas. They carry claims of possessing "superfruit" cancer fighting properties, along with other health benefits. Am I crazy to picture Oompa Loompas in the Himalayans picking these rare berries for this candy? I love the thought, but I'll have to ignore the fact that neither goji or cloud berry juice are listed ingredients.


The "splosh" in Sploshberries comes from the dab of fruity gel filling found at the center of each piece. The candies actually have three components. There is a gummy top, a dense marshmallowish bottom (which is kinda of similar to the white part of a peach gummy ring), and a fruity filling. Each piece is also decorated to resemble its namesake. Judging by the photos I viewed online, the goji and cloud berries really do look similar to the real thing. But of course the most important question here is, how do they taste? I surprised myself by really liking the Sploshberries. At first thought, gummy and fruit filling didn't appeal to me but the gummy portion is not at all slimy and holds up nicely to the fruit filling. I think the marshmallowish bottom also contributes to a tougher chew which I prefer. The flavors were also very nice. As I mentioned earlier, I have no point of reference for the goji or cloud berry, but like the raspberry and blueberry, they all just tasted fruity.

I like these candies. They are fun, eye-catching, and taste good. And if I want to imagine they were created for me by Oompa Loompas, that's an added bonus.

2 comments:

cybele said...

Cool find. What strange flavors to pick. I mean, people don't really eat goji berries because they love the taste, so selling them to kids seems a little odd.

I found these at Target earlier this week after your posting.

Unknown said...

i must go on the hunt for these! the oompa loompas tell me i must!