Candy Review: Fini Candies

Friday, May 1, 2009 - by Caitlin

When your apartment is routinely inundated with candy samples from various companies, it really means something when you consistently return to one box in search of your daily sugar fix. In the past few weeks, that box has been from Fini.

When I first got an email from Fini, I wasn’t sure what to expect from them. They’re a Spanish company and I had no idea what they made or how well they made it. They asked what we’d like to review, and I just asked for whatever they could spare. And boy, did they come through! I got a giant box full of various kinds of candy – gum, filled licorice, gummies, and more. I barely knew where to start! Luckily, that didn’t stop me for long.

I started with the filled licorice type things, and was absolutely blown away. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like them before. One kind had an interior that reminded me of circus peanuts or those marshmallow-y bunny things you get at Easter (not that I got any at Easter, seeing as how the Easter Bunny totally neglected me this year *sniffle*). The outside was a smooth red licorice-type stuff that was very soft and pliable. Together they made a delicious pair. (Note: don’t save one final piece to enjoy weeks later as you write your review. It will go stale. You will be sad.)

Until last year at the All Candy Expo, I didn’t even realize more than two companies (Haribo and Jelly Belly) made gummy berries. Well, now I find that Fini also makes them… and makes them really really well. In fact, they’re almost a perfect combination of the previous versions – large like Haribo, but flavored like Jelly Belly. In other words, delicious! Distinct flavors and wonderfully soft – definite thumbs up from me.

Ok, come on, just look at these. Even if they tasted like feet they’d still be cool. Luckily, they don’t! They’re wonderfully soft with a small liquid center and a great fruity flavor. These would be great around Halloween, but I’ll take any excuse to enjoy them again.

Gum seems to be a big product from Fini. I had football gum, watermelon gum, tennis ball gum, egg gum… you get the idea. A lot of them had a gimmick of one kind or another. The package on the watermelon version proclaimed “With Real-Like Seeds!” Despite my initial reservations (who wants seeds in their gum?), I discovered that they were all really good. The watermelon was especially tasty, with that great fake watermelon flavor from something like Jolly Ranchers. Yum! And no, thankfully you don’t really notice those “seeds.”

The tennis ball was a lemon-lime flavor, but the yumminess wasn’t really there until the liquid center mixed with the rest of the gum. After that happened, the gum became a wonderfully soft texture and had a great flavor. None of the gums held their flavor for an amazingly long time, but their fun shapes and good flavors more than made up for that. Both the watermelon and the tennis balls were uncomfortably large, but ultimately worth the risk to my jaw. Plus, the tennis balls come in a fabulous container that looks exactly like a package of real tennis balls – if you know a tennis nut, these are a must-have.

Fini has a lot more fabulous products to choose from. While they’re not all groundbreaking, they’re all solidly good. I enjoyed a great gummy worm that had lots of flavors throughout its length, as well as several others gummy products that had good flavor and texture. There were also some sour products which I didn’t try (sour isn’t my thing). But, if they follow the trend of all the other products, I have no doubt they’re solidly yummy as well!

I’m not entirely sure where you can get these products in the US; my box was sent from Europe, so I have a suspicion that they’re not available here yet. But keep your eyes open, and if you come across any of their products, definitely give them a try.

• Fini Website