Did you know that Hershey’s moved their main chocolate manufacturing plant into Mexico? Several American companies have followed suit due to the cheaper wages paid to workers in Mexico and cutbacks in the United States economy.

Dulceria means candy store. Visiting a Mexican candy store or dulceria is a fun experience. In Los Algodones, Mexico, which is just eight miles from Yuma Arizona there are approximately six candy stores operating in the spring of the year and in the fall and winter time, there are several more. That’s because the fall and winter are known as ‘the season’, mainly referring to the amount of tourists flocking into the area for inexpensive dental work, optical and pharmaceutical services.

Recently in a visit to Dulceria Blanca Nieve’s (Snow White’s Candy Store) it struck me how different yet familiar a Mexican candy store can be. They’re different because most dulcerias don’t sell the single chocolate bar. No, they’re marketed in the box of twelve to twenty-four. Everything seems to be sold in bulk except for the fresh brown sugar penuche fudge, over-sized coconut macaroons and individual-sized packets of candied nut brittles stacked in glass display cases unwrapped. Tri-colored sweetened coconut slabs resembling the Mexican flag are sold for twenty-five cents apiece.

Walking into the startling purple shop from the dusty street, I found myself pawing past the hanging brightly colored piñatas to find the entrance. These piñatas are the perfect accompaniment for the bags of hard and semi-soft candies and chocolates sold here. Piñatas of Disney characters, Spiderman and others dangle temptingly and even though I’m here for chocolate for myself, at some point I feel I’ll want to buy one. Why? I’ll figure that out later.

Inside the shop it’s dimly lit as most of the light comes from the sun and that’s blocked from the front entrance and doors by the piñatas. The store clerk was a pleasant woman that spoke little English but chocolate is an international language so we both got our points across. Stacks of bagged candies, mostly fruit flavored are on the shelves. Also fruity and popular are the pulps. Prune pulp is sold in bags of one hundred individual packets. Tamarindo pulp is a big seller here. I found the cutest little Mexican flower pots that held about two teaspoons of tamarindo pulp sold in small boxes of six for about $1.50 U.S. dollars.

Past the bags of caramel disks as large as hamburgers on parchment paper, I finally came to the good stuff I was in search of – chocolate. The Carlos V bar is similar to a Dove bar in size and taste but it would take one and a half to two of them to make a whole Hershey bar. The Bubulubu is a favorite of mine. It’s a long bar of marshmallow layered with strawberry jelly and dipped in milk chocolate.

I found ChocoNugs to be similar to a Mounds candy bar and chocolate-covered marzipan can be found in all shapes and sizes. Huge lollipops of marshmallow dipped in chocolate and packaged in shiny colored foil are found in this section of the store. The Winky compares to a Snickers bar but is it formed more short and stubby and has fewer peanuts.

Croc! is a molded chocolate frog with crisp rice. Although my first impression was that it would taste like a Nestle Crunch Bar, it was far from it. The chocolate was dark and very hard. And I must say, it was not a pleasant chocolate taste. It was more on the bitter side than the sweet which was very surprising. And of course, all of the chocolate items were sold in bulk boxes, not singly. Croc! was $1.43 for a box of twelve.

Mexican chocolate has a taste all its own. Some might refer to it as an acquired taste. If you like to sample chocolate, Mexico is a paradise for varieties within the chocolate genre.