Marmite launches chocolate bar

Okay, this is a tricky one. For those people that hate Marmite, the 'Very Peculiar' chocolate bar from Marmite, will simply be confirmation that the people running Marmite HQ are weirdos. But for Marmite lovers, this chocolate bar is likely to provoke the following reactions: euuughh, errrrrr and eh?!

Let's get things straight, Marmite lovers are passionate about this dark stuff, but it's usually offered up in various savoury forms. There was Champagne Marmite, Guinness Marmite and XO Marmite - all with their quirky different takes on the original, but all savoury. Even the cereal bar was savoury and I personally loved it. I could have eaten a whole box for breakfast quite happily. 'Very Peculiar' is of course, sweet. When you open the gold wrap, a waft of Marmite and cocoa hits you and it smells plain wrong. Marmite's latest offering conjured up a mixed set of emotions - when I smelt that first whiff, my stomach sank a bit. I felt a strange sense of disappointment, like when you realise your parents don't know everything, and that Giles Coren and Sue Perkins aren't really married.

But you cannot judge a chocolate bar on scent alone. 'Very Peculiar' actually tastes very normal for the first few seconds that it melts on your tongue. Then it gets weird, as the Marmite tang spreads over your taste buds. There's something too yeasty and stout-like to make Marmite a good match with chocolate. It's no salted caramel revelation for me, but instead of feeling anything extreme towards this bar, I just thought it tasted strange. On the front of the packet it says: 'A hint of Marmite indulgence. A perplexing treat that bewilders the taste buds.' It is exactly that: perplexingly peculiar. Not disgusting, not delicious, just weird, puzzling and down right odd. If you are partial to trying peculiar things, give Marmite's chocolate bar a go. You may not devour the bar in one frenzied hit, but you're likely to raise at least one eyebrow.

Priced at £3.00, Very Peculiar will be available from the 4th October 2010 in BHS, Debenhams and at http://www.marmite.com. 

Written by: Helenka Bednar