New Brunswick has undergone many changes in recent years. A population boom. A housing crisis. New strange and controversial names for amalgamated communities.
But sometimes the change simply goes too far: like what some call a soft, soft redesign of the Pal-O-Mine bar, made by Ganong, based in St. Petersburg. Stephen since 1920.
The Pal-O-Mine, sold in a yellow and red wrapper with cursive writing, consists of two pieces of brown sugar candy coated in dark chocolate and pieces of peanuts. It is “one of the oldest candy bars ever produced in North America,” according to the manufacturer.
The yellow and red wrapper advertises the bar as “original since 1920”. Some critics say recent iterations of the bar bear little resemblance to the original they recall. (Julia Wright / CBC)
While the firm’s super sweet taste has always had its detractors: “sugars” are listed as the top five ingredients in the bar, but that hasn’t stopped New Brunswickers from enjoying them for more than a century. . Like Ganong chicken bones.
“It’s unique. It’s one of those things where you ask for it,” says Saint Johner Daryl Steeves, 66. “There was nothing else. It had to be a Pal-O-Mine.
“I don’t remember a time without them.”
“Soft and soft”
But the time-tested texture, which West Johner Heather McBriarty describes as “a kind of crystallized, firm, sandy sugar candy,” has recently been replaced by a filling that some find “very soft and soft “.
When he grabbed a bar a few weeks ago, McBriarty said he immediately realized it was “a little sticky. It’s not such a nice, firm texture.”
Steeves said Pal-O-Mines seemed almost impossible to get for a few months, and when they returned to the store shelves, “he knew immediately that something was wrong.”
If it had been called a bar of something else and eaten by me, I could have said, “Hey, that’s fine.” Daryl Steeves, lifelong Pal-O-Mine consumer
“It didn’t look good. It was evenly square, the chocolate was changed. It just wasn’t a Pal-O-Mine. If it had been called a bar of something else, and I ate it, I could have said, ‘eh , that’s all right.
“It’s almost like a thick, caramelized texture.”
The interior of a Pal-O-Mine has recently changed from what consumers describe as a “firm, sandy” sand candy to a “soft, caramel-like filling,” which Ganong attributes to a “change in manufacturing “(Julia Wright / CBC)
Steeve’s remarks were confirmed when he posted about the bar on social media, garnering dozens of outraged responses.
“Certainly other people have noticed,” he said. “I have friends in the west who said they were upset about it.”
The “redesigned” bars, Ganong says
In response to a CBC News query, Ganong confirmed that the bar has indeed changed.
“Our Pal-O-Mine bars have been redesigned due to a change in manufacturing processes,” Ganong said in a statement.
“The wording is very similar and the biggest change is the texture. The current formula has a creamy texture compared to a candy bar. We appreciate your feedback and the opportunity to improve our products.”
Ganong did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on what had changed, specifically, in the manufacturing process.
Candy controversy
Ganong sparked controversy in 2019 when he suspended his classic white and pink double-thickness winter minds. In response to popular demand, the mints were later brought back in a limited edition collectible can.
“When you have a classic, and it’s something people expect, radically changing the formula takes away the uniqueness and nostalgia of this particular chocolate bar,” McBriarty said.
“For the past 100 years, Pal-o-Mine has been shared with friends and family across Canada,” according to the candy maker’s website, to which sweets fans like Steeves have only one answer.
“Please be a Pal-O-Mine and fix it,” he said.