Crisp almond, milk
Meiji Almond Chocolate — Whole Roasted Almonds, 79g
$6.03
$7.63 per 100 gYou are looking at this one
The range
Which one do I need?
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Crisp almond, matcha
Meiji Almond Chocolate Matcha — Uji Matcha, 67g
$6.99
$10.43 per 100 g -
Soft macadamia, milk
Meiji Macadamia Chocolate — Slow-Roasted Nut, 64g
$6.03
$9.42 per 100 g
Product information
About
Whole almonds roasted over an open flame, sealed in a milk chocolate built to carry the roast rather than cover it, so the first thing you taste is the almond's dry, hard snap. If you know chocolate-coated almonds from an Australian supermarket, this is the same idea with the balance tipped towards the nut. It is an everyday box in Japan, off supermarket and convenience-store shelves rather than a gift counter.
On the pack: アーモンドチョコレート (aamondo chokoreeto), simply "almond chocolate".
What you're getting
- It won't wreck your hands. These don't come off on your fingers. You can eat them at a desk, or one-handed in the car, without reaching for a napkin.
- Check the weight against what you have seen here. This is the 79 g box. Meiji cut it down from 88 g, and several Australian listings still show the old size.
- The shine is shellac. Each piece is polished with a glazing agent: shellac, a resin from an insect. It is what makes them gleam, and it is worth knowing if you avoid insect-derived ingredients.
- The honest bit: this is not quite the recipe it was. Meiji has cut back the cocoa butter and raised the vegetable fat, when cocoa prices climbed. It touched around forty Meiji products, and regular buyers in Japan noticed and said so plainly — you should hear that from us rather than find it later.
- Allergens: contains milk, almond and soy. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.
A few things worth knowing first. There is no resealable zip on it: the inner tray closes over but nothing seals, so it is a box to get through rather than one to keep half-open. It is still chocolate in an Australian climate: it handles better than most because of that coating, but keep it somewhere cool, which is Meiji's own instruction too. And if you are weighing it against the other two Meiji boxes, the difference is texture and coating rather than quality: this one is crisp under plain milk chocolate, the macadamia is soft, and the matcha is this same almond under a green-tea coating.
Ingredients
The maker's ingredient list, translated from the Japanese pack. Anything after the break is an additive — the Japanese label lists those separately.
Sugar (manufactured overseas), almonds, vegetable fat, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, lactose, reduced starch syrup, cocoa butter
lecithin, flavouring, glazing agent. Contains milk, almond and soy.
The printed label on the pack is always the authority on ingredients and allergens, not this page — please read it in full before you rely on our summary. If you are unsure about an ingredient, contact us.
Allergens
The maker declares:
- Allergens
-
- Milk
- Almond
- Soy
- Dietary notes
-
The pieces are polished with a glazing agent: shellac, a resin secreted by an insect. It is what gives them their shine. It also means these are not vegan, and some vegetarians choose to avoid it.
The printed label on the pack is always the authority on ingredients and allergens, not this page — please read it in full before you rely on our summary. If you are unsure about an ingredient, contact us.
Details
- Maker
- Meiji
- Prefecture
- Tokyo
- Made in
- Japan
Our guide
How to eat it
- The carton opens like a little drawer rather than a flap: slide the inner tray out instead of tearing the top, and it will close again between handfuls.
- Keep it somewhere cool. Meiji's own instruction is to store it below 28°C, and an Australian summer clears that for months at a time.
In their own words
What Japanese buyers say
What do the numbers mean?
Counts of how many reviews mentioned each thing, not a score. One review can mention several. Every quote is our translation, with the original Japanese beneath it.
- What they like
The almond's crunch, the chocolate's coating and sweetness — so good you keep eating one after another, a moreishness you don't tire of.
アーモンドのカリカリ感、チョコのコーティングと甘さ、おいしくてツイツイ何個も食べてしまう飽きない美味しさ‼︎
mentioned in ~34 of ~128 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
The cacao and milk balance is exquisite.
カカオとミルクのバランスが絶妙です。
mentioned in ~24 of ~128 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they grumble about
Delicious — but it keeps getting fewer and smaller.
美味しいけれども、どんどん少なく小さくなる。
mentioned in ~6 of ~128 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
I saw on a programme that there's real care in the almond's coating too — the toastiness and the bite are good.
アーモンドのコーティングにも拘りあると某番組で見ましたが、香ばしさと歯応えがいい。
mentioned in ~15 of ~128 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
Not too sweet, and far too good.
甘すぎなくて美味すぎました。
from monolog
- What they like
Your hands don't get messy, they're easy to take out, and you can carry them around!
手も汚れないし、取り出しやすいし 持ち運びも出来ちゃう！
from monolog
- What they grumble about
But — as someone else wrote — I noticed they'd changed what the label calls it, and wondered since when? A while back?? It was a shock.
しかし、別の方も書かれていましたが、準チョコレート表示に気づいてしまい、いつから？結構前から？？とショックでした。
from monolog
Our tip: This is the one we'd rather you heard from us. Meiji cut the cocoa butter back and raised the vegetable fat. We say so at the top of the page.
- What they like
The almond is crisp and light, and the chocolate tastes superb.
アーモンドはカリカリ軽いし、チョコの味も最高です。
from monolog
- What they like
There are plenty inside, and the almond makes it properly satisfying — I thought again how good it is.
中に入ってる個数が多く、アーモンドが入っていて食べ応えがあるので、改めて美味しいなと思いました。
from monolog
- What they like
I love it way more than Lotte's almond choc!
ロッテのアーモンドチョコより大好きで〜す！
mentioned in 5 of ~128 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they grumble about
Sure enough, I got heartburn. The fats in the new recipe must not agree with me.
案の定、胸焼けを起こした。準チョコの油脂が合わないのだろう。
from monolog
- What they like
Lotte's is cheaper, but I don't find it as good so I avoid buying it.
ロッテの方が安いのですが、ロッテはあまり美味しくないので買わないようにしています。
from monolog
- What they like
Ate it after ages and thought — this is good! I'm not a chocolate person, but I can feel the quality in this one.
久しぶりに食べたら美味しいな！と思いました。チョコレートが好きではない私ですが、この商品はクオリティーの高さを感じます。
from monolog
- What they like
I've always taken this almond choc along as a travel snack.
昔から旅行のおやつにはこのアーモンドチョコを持って行きます。
from monolog
- What they grumble about
Too expensive… it's got so dear I can't buy it often.
高すぎる… あまりにも高くなってしまい、しょっちゅう買えません。
mentioned in ~22 of ~128 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
Almond choc on the way home from work, to top up body and spirit. You can pick at them even while driving, so they were gone in no time!
仕事帰りにアーモンドチョコで心と身体の栄養補給のために。車を運転しながらでもつまめるのであっという間に食べちゃいました！
from monolog
- What they like
I usually reach for new products, but this has the steadiness of a standard.
いつもは新商品を選びがちですが定番の安定感あります。
from monolog
- What they like
It being a little drawer somehow gives me a lift every time I open it.
引き出しになっているのがなんか開けるたびウキウキします。
from monolog
- What they grumble about
Every so often there's a dud almond that isn't nice, but it's good.
たまーにハズレの美味しくないアーモンドがあったりもしますが、美味しいです。
from monolog
- What they like
There are more in here than in the macadamia one, so this feels better value and I prefer it.
マカデミアナッツよりも沢山入っているので、こちらの方がお得感があって好きです。
from monolog
Real quotes from Japanese review sites (monolog), translated by us. We show no star rating from those sites.
The maker
Where it comes from
- Meiji
- Tokyo
Meiji put this box on Japanese shelves in 1962, aimed at adults rather than children, and it has stayed there ever since: the same idea, whole almonds under milk chocolate, for sixty-four years.
The roast is the part Meiji makes a fuss about. The almonds go over a direct flame rather than through a dry oven, and the fire and the timing get adjusted through the year as the weather changes, so the nut comes out the same in February as in August. The chocolate around it is mixed to be mild, which sounds like faint praise until you taste one: it is built so the roast reaches you first.
The gloss is deliberate too. Each piece is polished so it comes out of the box shining, and the coating is formulated to stay on the almond rather than on your fingers.
Product facts here are checked against the maker's own page: meiji.co.jp (opens in a new tab)
Often bought together
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Meiji Almond Chocolate — Whole Roasted Almonds, 79g
$6.03
You are on this one
