Opinion: Chocolate box rejects – and why we love to hate them

As Christmas chocolate boxes are cracked open across the country, sensory scientist Professor Joanne Hort uses food consumer science to explain why no one wants the last chocolate.

It's that time of year again!

Which tub or box of assorted chocolates have you grabbed for the family?

Coming from the United Kingdom, Quality Street gets my vote, but Favourites may be the Kiwi go-to? Something for everyone, right?

That is, until you dig in, only to find everyone’s rejects lurking at the bottom. The Cherry Ripe, the coconut eclair, the fruit cream, the nutty one? Somebody loves them, they’ve been around a long time, but not you, and you can’t fathom why.

It’s because the flavours and textures we enjoy are determined by a variety of things.

Cherry Ripe is a classic example. Bitterness perception varies genetically, and so if you’re highly sensitive to bitter, you probably don’t like dark-chocolate-coated chocolates. Coconut, also in Cherry Ripe, is a very polarising flavour. Depending on what smell receptors you have inherited from your parents, you may perceive the lactones and fatty acids it contains as rich, pleasant, even tropical – just downright soapy and waxy.

Cherry Ripe has the triple whammy of dark chocolate, coconut and cherry flavour – or a compound called benzaldehyde. People who are very sensitive to benzaldehyde find it very chemical-like, as opposed to the cherry/fruity/almondy-like flavours most of us experience.

It’s not just genetics though! Benzaldehyde is used to flavour some medicines and, by association, is disliked by many.

If you grew up eating Cherry Ripes, then your past experiences likely impact your attitude towards them in a couple of ways. You may feel great nostalgia for the Christmases gone by when you eat them, even if you don’t think they taste the best! Alternatively, you might avoid them completely in case it affects your street cred - you would look way too old-fashioned if you were caught eating one!

What about the fruit creams? Personally, I dodge those like the plague – way too sweet for me – but the rest of my family love them as they take after my husband, who has a seriously sweet tooth. Again, your sweetness preferences will depend on a mix of genetics and what you are used to.

For others, it’s the texture that puts them right off. Expectation has a big role here – if you were expecting a runny or thick centre and it’s the opposite, then you’ll be disappointed and perhaps in a mess! For thicker centres, whether it’s the sugar that has crystallized and gone gritty or the pasty feeling it leaves on the tongue, those super-sensitive to texture will be throwing it back and reaching for something crunchier or chewier.

What’s your preferred eating style? Some researchers think people choose the foods they eat based on whether they are predominantly crunchers (peanut brittle?), chewers (chewy caramel?), smooshers (fruit cream?) or suckers (hard toffee?).

Of course, dental health can also come into it , and as much as you may want to go nuts on the chewy caramel calling to you, it pays to be careful on the chewy or hard centres to avoid an expensive visit to the dentist in the new year!

In our house, we tip out the box and take turns picking chocolates so we get at least some of our favourites.

Well, that’s what they think – being a coconut-liker, I get to choose my second and third favourites first, knowing the coconut eclairs will still be waiting for me, whilst the rest fight over the fruit creams!

Professor Joanne Hort is the Fonterra-Riddet Chair of Consumer and Sensory Science and the Director of the Food Experience and Sensory Testing (Feast) Laboratory at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University. Feast is a hub for sensory and consumer research that explores how we experience food through taste, texture and even our environment, helping to better understand consumer acceptance.