The Wide World of Sweets

When you’re pawing through your Halloween haul, you’re likely to find candy like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms, Smarties, and KitKats. To American taste buds, these candies are classics. But set foot in another country and you’ll discover a whole new world of candy choices.

In the U.S., for example, you can get a KitKat bar in regular, super, and mini sizes—in three different types of chocolate. That’s a pretty good variety, but it’s nowhere near what’s available in Japan. There, KitKats come in nearly 300 different flavors, including blueberry, wasabi, and green tea!

“In Japan, snacks are wild and crazy—they will try any flavor combination,” says Richard Olivarez. He owns and runs World of Snacks, an online shop for treats from around the globe. Some of his top-selling sweets include Japanese KitKat flavors like pancake, strawberry cheesecake, and butter.

Olivarez sells candies from 12 countries. “Each has its own unique approach to snacks,” he says. England, with its love for chocolate, is similar to the U.S. Thailand may be the most different. “Thai snacks tend to be spicy, fishy, and earthy,” says Olivarez.

Even though unfamiliar treats can be a hard sell, Olivarez thinks it’s important to try flavors from around the world. “Food defines our heritage,” he says. “Sampling food from other cultures is a way to celebrate our differences—and also to realize people around the world have more in common than you may have thought.”