What to Buy at Jungle Jim’s for the Holidays

It’s the only question on anyone’s mind this season: What kind of holiday goodies can you find at one of the biggest grocery stores in the world? For the uninitiated, Jungle Jim’s International Market, located in Fairfield, Ohio, may just be the biggest and craziest grocery store on the planet. And, actually, it just got bigger. They just opened an expansion to their already-enormous store with aisles dedicated to a couple new countries and a seasonal section that will change theme depending on the time of year. Right now, that seasonal section is chock full of winter holiday goodies and gifts. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting items I found.

Celebrations Variety Pack: There was no shortage of different Celebrations gift boxes and bags on the United Kingdom shelf, so this must be a popular selection of candies. Per the packaging, you get Tootsie Roll-sized portions of tons of different chocolates: Snickers, Twix, Milky Way, Mars, Bounty, Maltesers, and two different types of Galaxy Chocolates. I haven’t had the U.K. versions of the familiar names in this list, so this is a great introduction to another country’s take on our classics and a few new names to boot.
Maltesers Truffles: Speaking of Maltesers, I’ve had more than a few chocolate truffles recently but these still managed to get my attention thanks to the unexpected crossover. British Maltesers are similar (but not identical, as any European expat will tell you) to the American malted milk candy, Whoppers. And the milk, white, and dark truffles in this box appear to feature a thick layer of malt inside.
Niederegger MANNERSACHE Apple Bourbon Chocolate: The German “MANNERSACHE” roughly translates to “man’s business,” which is pretty unnecessary gender coding for a candy bar. That said, this aggressively-packaged chocolate features apple bourbon-flavored marzipan, so I’m gonna let it slide for now. Gender roles are fake, but I’m very susceptible to unique little treats.
Niederegger Marzipan TRINKSCHOKOLADE: Another offering from the German sweet company Niederegger: marzipan-flavored drinking chocolate. Drinking chocolate is similar to hot chocolate; it involves directly melting pieces of chocolate into hot milk or water rather than a premade mix. I’ve never seen a marzipan-flavored product before, so this is definitely an interesting option if you’re tired of Swiss Miss.
Walker’s Gingerbread Mince Pies: These Scottish mini pies feature a gingerbread-shortbread crust with a filled center of fruits and spices. That center sure looks like standard mincemeat filling at a glance, which is what scared me initially. But then I remembered that there’s no actual meat in mincemeat.
Walker’s Glenfiddich Highland Whiskey Cake: This is for the adults to cut into while the kids are enjoying their gingerbread-meat facsimile. Leave it to the Scottish to figure out how to fix fruitcake. These fruitcakes are infused with 12-year-old Glenfiddich whisky.
Simón Coll Sardinas Chocolates: This product of Spain sure looks like a can of sardines from a distance, but you actually get three sardine-shaped milk chocolates in each box. This would be a great stocking stuffer for the sardine hater in your life (which is most people, last I checked).