Meiji Marble Chocolate: Japan’s First Grain Chocolate
Chocolate candy became widespread rapidly from the 1920s to the 1930s in Japan.
However, after that, Japanese people had difficulty getting chocolate because the import of cacao beans dropped sharply due to World War Ⅱ.
Meiji Marble Chocolate
In 1960 when the import of cacao beans to Japan was liberalized, food manufacturers began creating various chocolate treats.
And in 1961, Meiji introduced this Marble Chocolate (マーブルチョコレート), known as Japan’s first grain chocolate, into the market.
Features
The product consists of 7 different colors of milk chocolate coated with a thin layer of colored sugar.
The sugar coatings are colorful and glossy, making the grains like marbles.
The outer sugar coating is crumbly, and its original aim was to prevent the chocolate inside from melting in the summer heat.
However, thanks to the bright, fascinating colorfulness that quickly caught the eye, Meiji Marble Chocolate was able to gain tremendous popularity among children.
Taste
These chocolate grains don’t have a strong cacao flavor. Instead, the treat is milky with a gentle sweetness, so anyone from adults to children can like it.
In fact, Meiji Marble Chocolate has become one of Japan’s most-loved chocolate candies now.
Ingredients/Nutrition Facts
Lastly, let’s see the ingredients and nutrition facts of the Meiji Marble Chocolate.
| Sugar, Cacao mass, Whole milk powder, Cocoa butter, Vegetable oil/fat, Starch, Starch syrup, Gelatin, Eggshell calcium, Emulsifier, Thickener (Gum arabic), Colors (Flavonoid, Gardenia, Carotenoid, Beet red, Spirulina blue, Squid ink), Flavoring, Brightener, Cellulose (Partially including Egg, Milk component, Squid, Soybean, and Gelatin) |
Nutritional Values
| Calories | 161 kcal |
| Protein | 1.8 g |
| Fat | 7.4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 21.8 g |
| Salt equivalents | 0.04 g |
(Reference Pages: Wikipedia マーブルチョコレート, チョコレートの歴史 )
I just got these from my local international market and they’re great! I actually prefer these colors over the artificial colors of m&ms. Got these mainly to avoid artificial colorings and I don’t mind paying more just to have treats with natural colors.