Skip to main content

Candyhero.com - An online chocolate factory



I landed back home in Delhi last friday after a rare on-time arrival by the Bhopal Shatabdi this winter.

I skipped the staid dinner served onboard and saved the calories for something nicer. Excited like a little boy, the first thing I did after reaching home was rip open a small brown carton which had arrived earlier that week. It was my Candyhero shipment of Hero Energy Mints and their assorted candy bag - Odds & Ends, all the way from England.

Caution: If you love all things sweet and are watching your weight or sugar levels, please stop reading at this point. What I am about to reveal below will overcome even the most doggedly- determined sweet tooth.

Candyhero.com
If Willy Wonka ever decided to set up a store online, it would probably be like Candyhero.com!  From Jellybeans in every imaginable flavor (and then some)  to the downright-disgusting/quirky-delectable Strawberry Scorpion Lollipop, this website has it all.


I came across them while looking for energy mints online. A caffeine-addict, I need these to perk me up when I can't whip up my Aeropress or grab an espresso, like those ultra-boring review presentations. I was introduced to these mints by Pow Energy mints in Mumbai, during my TISS days a few years ago. Sadly Pow disappeared from the Indian market soon after and there was no replacement available, not even online.

I found some great stuff on Amazon.com, but they don't ship anything edible to India. I had almost given up when I stumbled upon Candyhero. They not only had the biggest collection I had ever seen of candies, energy products and other things yum, they also shipped to India!

Obviously, I ended up ordering much more than just energy mints. I mean, how can you resist a packet of Haribo Dinosaurs or a vintage Cherry Cocktail! The shipping charges are quite nominal and the website even shows prices in INR now. If shipped by the untracked Royal Mail option (the cheapest one), the shipment usually takes 7 days to reach an Indian metro.

Shipping & Customs Duty
The bigger your order, the cheaper shipping charges per item. I was under the impression that there's no custom duty on candies. Once, in a particularly low state of self-control I ended up ordering a dozen boxes of Jelly Bellys and assorted candy bars. Brimming with excitement, when my security guard called to say that I had a shipment from the UK, I rushed out only to be rudely surprised.

I had to pay nearly 100% of my total product plus shipment cost to DHL as custom fees, before they would release my package. I later found out that the duty-free shipping only works on relatively small shipments through the Royal Mail. Since then, I have exercised greater self-control and have had no customs trouble.

Pro tip: Selecting the 'Gift' option during checkout also helps, as I believe gifts don't attract customs duty in India.

Anyway back to Candyhero, the website is neat and well categorized. You can browse through candies from different countries, flavors or wacky stuff like those scorpion lollipops. Worth bookmarking is their discount section, with near/past date candies going for as much as 10% of their original MRP. I did some looking up and found that candies are mostly safe to eat till couple of years after their 'best before date' - owing to high sugar content which acts as a preservative.

My top picks on Candyhero are (so far) :
  • Hero Energy Mints - the most economical option for energy products and they taste alright 
  • Mlilitary Energy Gum - apparently developed for US Airforce pilots, these gums are by far the most effective caffeine delivery edibles I've come across
  • Sheets Energy strips - Caffeine-mints on a strip, fits into my wallet for emergencies like a groggy morning drive
  • Cherry Cocktail and Idaho Spud - Classic American candy bars. Also calorie bombs
  • Sugar Free Jelly Bellys -  Guilt-free candy!
Odds & Ends - what was left of them after 10 mins



The checkout process is pretty smooth - you enter your address after registering, select your shipping option, put in your card details and bam! Candy is on it's way. Like other foreign e-commerce websites, there's no two factor authentication. They also have a loyalty program and you can shave off a few a pennies with coupon codes you can find online. 

If you have a particularly intense sweet-tooth, then by now you are either cursing me or are eternally grateful. Anyway, I'm going to go and rip open my shipment of Liquorice sticks!

Note: Inspite of my adulation for Candyhero, this post is not sponsored by them. I'm just really happy I found these guys,
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Insights into Sushi with Chef Hirotoshi Ogawa at IFCA 2015

Image source: IFCA Facebook page Image credit: Sharanya Chander “Press the rice as gently, as you would press your lover’s palm!” quipped Chef Hirotoshi Ogawa as he tactfully shaped a lump of vinegared rice for a Nigiri. The deft and graceful movement of his hands held me in a trance, much like the mudras of an Odissi dancer.  Chef Hirotoshi Ogawa teaches at the All Japan Sushi Association and was conducting a Sushi workshop at the International Chef's Conference, IFCA 2015. His face shone with sweat as he surgically sliced through a hunk of tuna, with hardly a glance at it. He was streaming out every step in great detail in a flurry of Japanese, made comprehensible by his adept translator Ruchi Naithani Chinoy. The twinkle in his eyes, when he spoke about Sushi immediately reminded me of Jiro-san of the legendary 3-Michelin starred Jiro’s. I, sadly, have only laid eyes upon Jiro and his masterful creations in the Essential-watch-for-every-Sushi-lover movie, Jiro Drea...
1 comment
Read more

A guide to eating out in Anna Nagar, Chennai

Back at Amala Mess, one of Anna Nagar's best kept secrets. A Karaikudi family has been serving no-frills Chettinadu food for close to two decades. The fare is not doused in oil nor lit up with spice, and your stomach certainly rest easy after the meal. I love their light Surra Puttu (sort of Shark meat bhurji) and toothsomse Chicken roast. #pursuitofyummyness A photo posted by Amit Patnaik (@patnaikamit) on Jun 22, 2016 at 6:25am PDT Anna Nagar West, Chennai - 40: The very first address that acquainted me with the city I’ve called home since 2013.  I have a faint memory of being driven under two huge arches, abutting the naked pillars of a half-finished flyover. Barring this eyesore, Anna Nagar is unusually well laid out for an Indian locality with wide Avenues, leafy Main Roads, and logical nomenclature for the streets. My only gripe with Anna Nagar was its seemingly drab offerings for dining out. While Mylapore and Triplicane had classic Madras Tiffen centr...
7 comments
Read more

Gwalior ka Mela - Khajala and giant Papads at the Gwalior Trade Fair

Note: This post is reprised out of my memories in the winter of 2014, spent in Gwalior. About a month ago, I noticed a hive of activity in the otherwise sleepy city of Gwalior - bemusing if catchy, announcements  welcomed you to try everything from a Car to Chaat Masala at the annual Gwalior Mela. Soon, almost everyone was talking about it. I learnt that the fair was started nearly a century ago by the Maharaja of Gwalior, to promote trade in the region and is regarded as one of the biggest trade fairs in India. Locals tell me that up until a few years ago, all goods sold at the fair were exempt from sales tax. The mela is indeed huge; with stalls spread across the sprawling mela grounds, you need a good 5-6 hours to see it all. Everything from cars to kitchenware and horses are on sale here. An insider told me about leather jackets from Kashmiri leather stalls. Kashmiri leather is regarded to be of very high quality - grass fed lambs, grazing the Himalayas yield some of th...
3 comments
Read more