I know it’s really the wrong time of the year to talk about chocolate, but I just had to tell you about my latest find.

While shopping in a Carrefour in Calais (what a cosmopolitan lifestyle I lead), I came across a new (nouveau) line from Ferrero. Now, I know that Bueno has been a great success for them but I’m not a fan it’s just not chocolatey enough for me. But I love this new product.

Called Duplo (which I thought was a giant piece of Lego), it’s like eating Nutella on a wafer. So, it’s basically a chocolate wafer, but a very chocolatey one, with a hint of hazelnut. It comes in a box of eight individually wrapped pieces. Each measures just over 4" long and nearly an inch wide. I’m just hoping that Ferrero makes it available over here soon.

Another chocolate winner for me and this time one that’s already available here is Aero Mousse. Mousse-style products (apart from real chocolate mousse) don’t usually do it for me but this one is spot on. It’s described as having a ’velvety chocolate layer of mousse’ and it definitely does. Worth stocking, I think.

Moving on to something completely different, I’m always interested in retailers’ ways of trying to keep customers loyal. The latest is from Waitrose, which lets those with a myWaitrose card pick 10 products on which they’ll get a 20% reduction. Wow I thought, until I read the smallprint. You can’t pick any 10 products, you can only pick 10 from a special list. Although it’s quite a long list, I had difficulty picking my 10, as products that I typically buy were not on it. I’m sure some people were thrilled when they saw the list, but not me.

Also 20% sounds great but on groceries (even at Waitrose prices) it’s not a lot. But that said, I think I just made the wrong choices because those clever people at The Guardian worked out that if you chose the 10 most expensive items you could save almost £20.50. But I don’t like crispy aromatic duck and didn’t need any vitamins and minerals.

However, Waitrose is keen to get people in and, now that I’ve registered my ’picks’, they’re sending me a £6 off a £60 spend voucher. I’ve been tricked by that one before. I think I’d better pop into Waitrose to get my £6-worth of free goods, and end up spending £150. But that’s, of course, how they get you!

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