Travelling Thoughts

Today’s writing prompt is deceptively simple: “What’s your favourite candy?”

If you ask anyone in Finland, you’ll get a unanimous answer. But if you ask a Finn who has spent any time living abroad, the answer comes with a side of desperation and deep nostalgia. For me, it isn’t a contest. It’s Fazer Blue (Fazerin Sininen).

The Best in the World (No, Really)

I’ve traveled, AND I’ve lived in different corners of the map. I’ve tried the artisanal chocolates of Central Europe and the overly-sweet so-called chocolate of Cadbury’s, and the waxy bars of North America. But nothing—absolutely nothing—compares to that iconic blue wrapper.

So, if it is the best, what makes it the best? It’s the fresh milk. While most of the world uses milk powder to mass-produce chocolate, Fazer still uses fresh milk, and you can taste the difference in the “snap” of the bar and the way it melts. In 2026, with the world moving toward synthetic everything, that authentic taste is more than just the favourite candy—it’s a memory, and much needed experience.

Icon of Finland

The Fazerin sininen (Fazer blue) is so iconic that back in the 2022 it even received its own stamp. Not because the brand wasn’t already famous worldwide, but maybe because we Finns living abroad needed something to remind us of the taste of home. And qhen you live far away from something so integral… it becomes something like a currency in itself.

The Expat “Currency”?

When you are living abroad—whether we are talking about our time in Spain or montha spent in Malaysia—Fazer Blue stops being a snack and becomes a currency.

• The Care Package: Opening a box from home and seeing those blue bars tucked between the wool socks is a spiritual experience. The small Finnish way of saying “hang in there, you are loved.”
• The Hoarding: You don’t just eat it. You ration it. One square for every ten pages written, as a reward with a cup of coffee. One square for a particularly tough day of research, or after a emotional phone call from your Mum.
• The Comparison: You find yourself standing in a foreign supermarket, like Mercadona, staring at the local options, and thinking: “This is fine, but it’s not Blue.”

So, what’s the one treat you would smuggle across a border if you had to move tomorrow? Let me know in the comments—let’s see if anyone can challenge the Blue.