Delicious, but not much of a difference

Choco Pie Hokkaido Caramel Cheese Cake

Brand: Lotte

Price: 390 yen

Place of purchase: Welcia

Rating:

Reportedly this version of Lotte's classic Choco Pie is inspired by Hokkaido-style fresh caramel cheesecake. It uses Hokkaido caramel sauce and cheese. It is always nice to try different flavors, especially limited editions, of a treat that you like. However, I really didn't feel like there was much of a difference between the regular version and this one. I also really didn't pick up on the caramel notes and only marginally could taste that the filling was more cheesecake cream than regular cream.

It loses a star because there wasn't that much of a difference between the regular Choco Pie and this special edition Hokkaido Caramel Cheesecake flavor. The price varies greatly between stores and even within a store, the price can change regularly depending on many factors. It is about 30 to 40 yen more expensive than the regular Choco Pie when there are no special offers. I don't think it's a premium enough version of the product to warrant such a price gap, but I presume the ingredients are more expensive than the regular version, so it is fair - on balance - that they charge extra for the limited-edition versions of Choco Pie.