Yeah, I think this is a bigger deal than most people realize. US went through a generation of unfettered corporate search for the bottom line, with no restrictions, and we got what we deserve.
Things are finally swinging back the other way: we do have good chocolate, beer, bread, etc, but it’s ”premium”, expensive. So, do you choose the bread you can afford or the bread with texture, fiber, nutritional value, and less sugar? Somehow we need to get past this market segmentation, so better quality items can be more commonly available. I no longer eat mass market candy, bread, or beer, and I don’t think that’s pretentious partly because it also means I do without more often, and I don’t miss that swill
That’s fair, Europe has also plenty of cheap and subpar chocolate.
But none of the cheap European stuff is disgusting. It’s overly sugary, grainy, or dull-tasting. But still miles better than my Hershey’s experience.
Milka comes to mind for me. I can have one piece and I’m good. It’s flavor is certainly better than Hersheys but ffs it’s so sweet it tastes like they forgot to add the chocolate.
It’s the cheapest commonly available option, of course it’s not good. (We have even worse stuff but it’s pretty much only seen around Easter)
The US has terrible and incredible options for pretty much everything. Beer, chocolate, beaches, whatever. It’s just never the mass-marketed stuff.
Yeah, I think this is a bigger deal than most people realize. US went through a generation of unfettered corporate search for the bottom line, with no restrictions, and we got what we deserve.
Things are finally swinging back the other way: we do have good chocolate, beer, bread, etc, but it’s ”premium”, expensive. So, do you choose the bread you can afford or the bread with texture, fiber, nutritional value, and less sugar? Somehow we need to get past this market segmentation, so better quality items can be more commonly available. I no longer eat mass market candy, bread, or beer, and I don’t think that’s pretentious partly because it also means I do without more often, and I don’t miss that swill
That’s fair, Europe has also plenty of cheap and subpar chocolate.
But none of the cheap European stuff is disgusting. It’s overly sugary, grainy, or dull-tasting. But still miles better than my Hershey’s experience.
Milka comes to mind for me. I can have one piece and I’m good. It’s flavor is certainly better than Hersheys but ffs it’s so sweet it tastes like they forgot to add the chocolate.