Chocolate-coated (or chocolate-covered) peanuts are a popular

bulk vending Bulk vending is the sale of unsorted confections, nuts, gumballs, toys and novelties (in capsules) selected at random and dispensed generally through non-electrically operated vending machines. Bulk vending is a separate segment of the vending ...

product. They consist of

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s coated in a shell of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

. They have a reputation in many countries of being an item associated with the concession counter at places such as

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

s. In some countries, they are sold under the brand Goobers, which is the earliest and one of the most popular brands of the product, made by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

. They can be found at movie theaters and grocery stores around the world. Many other brands also exist.

Vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

chocolate-coated peanuts that do not contain

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

are made of sugar (non-refined),

cocoa mass Chocolate liquor, also called cocoa liquor, paste or mass, is pure cocoa in liquid or semi-solid form. It is produced from cocoa bean nibs that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The nibs are ground to the point ...

cocoa butter Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible Vegetable oil, fat extracted from the cocoa bean (''Theobroma cacao''). It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter h ...

, and

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the ethanolic extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin ...

History

Goobers were introduced in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1925 by the

Blumenthal Chocolate Company The Blumenthal Brothers Chocolate Company was a Philadelphia-based chocolate manufacturer that existed from 1909 to 1984. Its factory was located at Margaret and James Streets in the city's Frankford neighborhood. History The company was founded ...

. Ward Foods acquired Blumenthal in 1969. Ward Foods was acquired by Chicago-based Terson Company in 1981. Nestlé acquired the brand on January 9, 1984, from Terson Company. Goobers are currently owned by Ferrero, who obtained the Goobers in 2018 after acquiring much of Nestlé’s USA chocolate products in 2018 in a 2.8 Billion business deal.

Etymology

While the brand name "Goobers" is trademarked, "goober" itself is an

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

word for peanut, probably derived from the

Gullah The Gullah () are a subgroup of the African Americans, African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within ...

word ''guber'' (meaning "peanut"), which is in turn derived from the

KiKongo Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola. It is a tonal language. The vast majority of present-day speakers li ...

word ''n'guba''.

References

Chocolate-covered foods Peanut confectionery {{confection-stub

History

Etymology

See also

References