Posts Tagged With: Albert Heijn

Last week, a controversy arrived in the Netherlands: Lay’s chips now come in a box. Why is that a problem, you ask?

Because normal sized bags of chips are 185 gram, and the new boxes are 125 gram. For the same price.

Chips van Lays in een doosje, kiloprijs schiet omhoog from nos.nl (Lay’s chips now in a box, price per kilogram skyrockets). The company says the price increase was due to the improved package, as the boxes don’t make as much noise and you can re-seal them so the chips stay fresher longer.

I for one won’t be buying a box (although that is also because there are healthier options available if you want to snack on chips). I’ll miss the Doritos, though.

Has this phenomenon started appearing in other parts of the world yet?

I spotted a weird item in the Easter section at Albert Heijn last week. Check it out:

That’s right… marshmallow croissants. They are also filled with chocolate “flavor” (vulling met chocoladesmaak). On the positive side, they do look realistic-ish. But they must be really weird to bite into. I’m not a huge fan of marshmallows so I will skip on this one.

Another weird item at Albert Heijn, but this time I actually purchased it: Lay’s chorizo and onion potato chips, one of those limited flavors that may or may not stick around. It wasn’t too bad, if you like chorizo. I’m not sure I would buy it again but the flavor was exactly as described.

The flavor is part of a poll to choose the best limited flavor. The other two flavors in the poll are 1) garlic and herb 2) mac and cheese. I’m willing to try the garlic and herb but I can’t bring myself to buy a bag of mac and cheese potato chips.

Great. Now I am thinking about marshmallow croissant flavored potato chips…

Apparently cronuts (a crossing between croissants and donuts) were first made in New York City in 2013 (Wikipedia). But I first had one last year, from the Dutch grocery store Albert Heijn. Technically I’m not a huge fan of sweet stuff – I like it in moderation – but this is a nice exception. A few times a year.

Check out Marco’s lovely knife work to show off a cross section of the cronut. So much flaky goodness! And the texture does indeed taste different than a normal donut.

Consider this your public service announcement (PSA): if you live in the Netherlands and have an Albert Heijn nearby, see if they stock cronuts. They come in packs of two. Put it in the fridge for a few hours so it gets a bit colder before you eat it. It’s also great with a cup of black coffee to counter the sweetness.

Although you’re talking to someone who loves storing her gummy bears in the freezer, so maybe take my advice with a grain of salt…

Here is an unexpected item which you can purchase at the local Albert Heijn:

It will definitely cause you to do a double take! The reason it is hamster pasta is because that is the mascot of the Albert Heijn. The hamster forms are definitely cute but I wonder how the form affects the taste. What I do like is the use of the apron as part of the label – that is nicely done.

Today was a lovely day full of sunshine, no rain and not too much wind. Marco and I even went to Florencia and got an ice cream, our first of the year. I had mocha and Marco had lemon and mango. (Note: I linked to the website but it is pretty sparse at the moment. The website owner left a note that they are working on it.)