Love it, Hate it... It's Marmite.

The sweet with a savoury sting in the tail... Marmite chocolate

By LOUISE ECCLES
Last updated at 8:31 AM on 30th September 2010

New chocolate: The ‘Very Peculiar’ bars cost £3 and will be available from Monday

They are not flavours you would normally connect.

But Marmite is challenging perceptions of taste by combining its yeast spread with chocolate.

The ‘Very Peculiar’ milk chocolate bars cost £3 and will be available from Monday in stores, including BHS and Debenhams, and online.

Like the brand’s advertising slogan, the new line is likely to prompt ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ reviews.

The strong-smelling 100g bar is made with 98 per cent milk chocolate and two per cent Marmite flavouring. This includes yeast extract, onion powder and garlic powder.

Chef Rowley Leigh, owner of Le Café Anglais in West London, agreed to try the new product for the Daily Mail. He was not impressed.

‘The thing is, they have so little faith in the product that there is hardly any Marmite in it. Although you can smell it quite strongly, the taste only comes at the finish,’ he said. 

‘They have tried to make it as mild and sweet and innocuous as they can. It starts out as slightly bland chocolate but, in the background, it is deeply nauseating.

‘If you like Marmite, why would you not just eat Marmite?’

Unilever, the company behind Marmite, has described the 100g bars as ‘a devious treat for the in-laws’ at Christmas or ideal for those struggling to find a present for a loved one. 

The chocolate initially forms part of Marmite’s limited edition Christmas range.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1316390/Marmite-Very-Peculiar-chocolate-Sweet-savoury-sting-tail.html#ixzz111CVVJt6