Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Battle of the Strawberry Chews | Hi-Chew vs Mentos


I have more strawberry goodies! This time they are candies or candy chews, to be more specific. The first one is Hi-Chew Fruit Chews in Strawberry Flavor, and the next is Mentos Incredible Chew Strawberry Flavour Chews.

They are both available in other flavors such as grapes and apple, but you know that I'm pretty loyal to strawberries. I'm not really that much into other fruit flavors. 


I got them both at 7-Eleven. I got the Mentos Incredible Chew for 33 Php. It has 10 chews in a pack. Hi-Chew Fruits Chews, on the other hand, contains 12 pieces in a pack. I'm not positive about the price, but I think I also got it for 33 Php. With that said, Hi-Chew is more inexpensive.



They do have pretty similar packagings, just in different lengths. They even have the same style of opening.


Hi-Chew is made in China. It's actually a quite popular Japanese fruit chew sold by Morinaga & Company in different countries. It was first released in 1975 and got re-released in February 1996 in its current style or packaging.


Mentos, on the other hand, is made in Vietnam. It's definitely a more recent release than the other one, but just like Hi-chew, it is already available in other countries.




For the lists of ingredients, check out the photos above.


Here's the nutritional information for Hi-Chews. Mentos doesn't come with such detail.


As you can see, even the wrappers and forms are extremely similar. Hi-Chew is just a tiny bit longer than Mentos.



Try to guess which is which. Kidding! The one above is still Hi-Chew while Mentos is the one below. Mentos has a pinker inside.




They are still in the same position. I'm not sure if you can tell, but Mentos has a more even and cleaner cut than the one above. It is also more uniform and consistent.

I guess it has something to do with their different consistency. Mentos is a bit denser and firmer, while Hi-Chew is more squishy and easily deformed.

Mentos starts out a bit firm yet chewy, then it transitions nicely to a softer, thinner consistency as you chew. On the contrary, Hi-Chew suddenly gets too soft that it almost feels soggy. It is a bit more gummy. I don't mean gummy as in gummy bears, but gummy in a bubble gum way. Do you know what I mean? xD

Anyway, let's move on to the scent and taste.


Mentos has a sweet strawberry scent. The taste also starts out sweet, but then it gets less sweet and the sour-sweet taste of fruity strawberry comes out more as you chew.


Hi-chew smells sweeter and a lot more like candy. That's also pretty much how it tastes. It actually reminds me of Frutos, a Filipino candy. If you're familiar with Frutos, all flavors have the same underlying taste. Hi-Chew has that. However, its strawberry-ness isn't similar to Frutos strawberry. I think it's a bit zestier and fruitier than that.

I adore Hi-Chew for being the original, but I think Mentos has a better and improved vibe. Also, unlike Mentos that gets tastier and yummier as you chew, Hi-Chew has a one-dimensional taste. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't taste bad. No, not at all! In actuality, I like it too. It's just that there's an additional enjoyment when chewing Mentos, since again, it gets better. It's like a life or a story that is slowly unfolding. Okay, maybe I'm getting too sentimental about this. Hahaha Anyway, the point is I prefer Mentos a bit more. ;)

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