Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Eiffel BonBons

Eiffel BonBonsI saw these last year at the All Candy Expo, but didn’t really give them any of my attention. I didn’t get them. They’re called Eiffel BonBons but I just didn’t know what they were beyond the chewy candy description on the package. The little beret wearing bonbon with his mustache and spats just seemed a little like it was co-opting a stereotype. (He’s also kind of creepy because he seems to find himself tasty.)

Then folks commented that they were fabulous and I was missing out on something. So I started looking for them. After all, they were introduced in the United States after being known as a sleeper hit amongst travelers to France and students of the French language (apparently they’re sold by French clubs at schools all over North America). Supposedly they’re available at Target or Wal-Mart, but I’ve not seen them at all.

But what are they?

Even after eating a whole package, I’m not sure if I can adequately describe them.

Eiffel BonBons - Strawberry

They’re little spheres, about the size of a hazelnut or garbanzo bean. They’re not completely consistent in color or size but in the case of the Strawberry ones, they’re pink with darker pink flecks. They’re powdery on the outside, kind of like Smarties can be. They smell like strawberry or pink cotton candy - just sweet and fresh.

On the tongue the coating is sweet. There’s a slight shell on the candy, but it’s not crunchy, more like a Smarties kind of crumbly compressed dextrose coating. It’s not tangy though, just sweet with a light touch of strawberry.

Inside is a soft and tangy fruit chew. It’s a foamy Starburst, it’s pillowy when you bite into it. (Also like a Starburst it has gelatin.)

It doesn’t have the sophistication that the name seems to indicate, but the taste & texture are definitely unlike other candies that I’ve had. If you’re going to go to the trouble of importing a candy into the crowded American confectionery market, it should be unique.

I’m smitten and I really want another bag ... this one was only 1.25 ounces. They also come in Green Apple.

Caitlin at Candy Addict gave them an overall positive review.

As far as I can tell there are two avenues for purchasing this. You can stumble across it wherever it’s been picked up for retail or buy it online (Apple & Strawberry only). The other option, if you know you like it, is to buy in mass quantities from the same place that school groups do for their fundraisers (but you’d better be sure you like it, the minimum is 80 packages and they also carry the full range of flavors like Watermelon, Cherry & Blue Raspberry).

Related Candies

  1. Starburst
  2. Mentos Berry Mix
  3. Doscher’s French Chew Taffy
  4. Airheads
  5. Strawberry HiCHEW
Name: Strawberry Bonbons
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Eiffel (distributed Foreign Candy Company)
Place Purchased: sample from All Candy Expo
Price: retail $.75 to $1.00
Size: 1.25 ounces
Calories per ounce: 104
Categories: Chew, France

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:39 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Wow, I haven’t had these since junior high French class. I remember loving them at the time. Maybe I should check out those websites…

    Comment by K on 6/11/08 at 9:32 am #
  2. My sister tasted these in French class and screeched at me for weeks to find these for her. I finally broke down and ordered a box online, but I don’t see what makes these so special. My conclusion is that the French are brainwashing American high school students through these seemingly innocent candies.

    Comment by Ace on 6/11/08 at 12:56 pm #
  3. My situation is the same as K’s - I haven’t seen (or eaten) those BonBons since MY junior high French class either!! Ahh, memories :0)

    Comment by VeggieGirl on 6/11/08 at 2:07 pm #
  4. Our high school French club ordered these and sold them as a fundraiser but EVERY year they always ran out early. They had us all addicted.

    Comment by Katie on 6/12/08 at 4:44 am #
  5. Just like when Caitlin reviewed them, you’ve made me nostalgic for middle school and high school French! I used to lose so much money selling these because I’d eat at least half of my lot every time.

    Comment by Rosa on 6/12/08 at 12:06 pm #
  6. I loved these in high school and am glad to finally find them!

    Comment by Mommy C on 6/16/08 at 5:46 am #
  7. I found someone selling packs of 14 of these on eBay. She has all the flavors and you get to choose how many of each you want in the 14. Pretty cheap too, I think it was around $10 without shipping.

    Thought you’d like to know. smile

    Comment by Saragato on 6/19/08 at 7:45 pm #
  8. Candy makes my heart melts

    Comment by Kevin on 6/20/08 at 7:23 am #
  9. I was actually quite surprised when I read this entry, bonbons are abundant in Ireland and used to be sold in confectioner’s from glass jars bought weighed out in ‘quarters’ and ‘pounds’.  Although these confectioners aren’t quite as popular now we can still buy Bonbons in packets so to find out that they seem to have a French origin surprises me.

    Comment by Samantha on 7/03/08 at 4:11 am #
  10. I just read this review earlier today and then happened to find some of these while I was out today at Alco. They are definitely addictive!

    Comment by Tabatha on 7/15/08 at 1:01 pm #
  11. I remember these from middle school. The band or somebody used to sell them, we all bought them up like hot cakes. They are definitely hard to describe. Powdery and chewy… and addictive!

    Comment by Yurei on 8/14/08 at 11:09 am #
  12. I too had them french class in 8th grade. They were very popular and I haven’t seen them since. I’m going to look on line. : )

    Comment by Blair on 12/23/08 at 3:37 pm #
  13. hey!
    i sell these for my french class!!
    hahaha

    Comment by angela on 1/10/09 at 11:03 am #
  14. Haha now that is quite a funny thing because I am French and even though I’ve never seen this particular brand and even though I have no clue if this confection is actually French in the first place what I do know is that we have quite a lot of different flavors of this type of candy in France under different brands. They are not so easy to find in regular grocery stores but I remember buying these in little packs when I was in high-school in the cafeteria and you can find them in most “Boulangeries” (bread stores) by the weight. They come in a few different flavors besides from strawberry and apple like peach, caramel etc.. I love these!

    Comment by Myriam on 8/13/09 at 1:04 pm #
  15. The Foreign Candy Co creates these and they are fantabulous! I get them every year for our French Club and we sell them and they go like crazy. The number I call for them is 1-800-767-4575

    Comment by jonathon on 10/27/09 at 5:51 am #
  16. hey, just for y’all that are looking for a place to buy them, i found a good deal for ten bags on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Eiffel-Bonbons-10-CT-FRENCH-import-candy-2-FLAVORS-/120615257820?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var;=&hash=item61ca81bf86

    Comment by justin on 9/15/10 at 3:30 pm #
  17. http://cgi.ebay.com/Eiffel-Bonbons-10-CT-FRENCH-import-candy-4-FLAVORS-/120626050989?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var;=&hash=item61caa14909#ht_1632wt_1292

    Comment by steve on 11/11/10 at 7:13 pm #
  18. I’m in college now (grad school). But I remember back in middle school the kids used to sell them but they had to do it discreetly b/c it was against school policy for students to be selling candy to other other students during school hours. So it always had to be done very subtly.

    This one kid - I told him I would pay him back his $1.00 but I never did. I still feel kinda bad. I just kept forgetting.

    Now I see that he must have been in the French club and I guess they were selling them for raising money for their club?? Or maybe he just realized how good these candies were selling and he decided to copy the French Club kids. LOL

    Comment by Debbie on 2/23/11 at 3:14 am #
  19. Too bad these candies have pork gelatin. It’s not suitable for vegetarians, vegans, or people that just don’t eat pork.

    The ingredients are:
    Sugar, Wheat Syrup, Water, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, Dextrose, sorbitol, Pork Gelatin, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavors, Glycerol Monostearate (Emulsifier), red 3

    Comment by Michael on 2/23/11 at 6:19 pm #
  20. You can purchase Eiffel bon bons at http://www.foreign-candy.com
    The more you buy the more you can save per package!

    Comment by Jay on 4/06/12 at 9:19 am #
  21. Please if anyone knows where to find these in the pine mtn. Ga. Area please let me know

    Comment by Samantha l on 1/11/13 at 3:54 pm #
  22. BonBons can be found at Cost Plus World Market!

    http://www.worldmarket.com/

    Comment by red on 7/22/13 at 9:03 am #
  23. I found them on eBay. The sellers have smaller quantity option if you don’t want to buy in bulk.

    Comment by Jenny on 6/24/14 at 1:39 pm #
  24. If you live in Wisconsin or Illinois they sell them at Woodmans grocery store!!

    Comment by Hannah on 7/19/14 at 4:42 pm #
  25. If you’re in Canada, Stickies Candy has many different flavours, more than the two mentioned in this article smile

    Comment by Cameron on 10/31/15 at 3:13 pm #
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