The bigger, the better

What it costs It may be a novelty to own a 2kg bar of chocolate, but does it make financial sense? Let's find out.

The World's Largest Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar, at 2.26kg, is not something you want to attempt in one bite.

If the Dubai Mall wasn't cloying enough with one of the largest sweet shops in the world, Candylicious, a sister store has opened that is devoted to the star of American chocolate, Hershey's. With the new Hershey's Chocolate World comes the confectioner's line of "World's Largest" sweets - basically, Hershey's takes one of its iconic treats and transmogrifies it to truly elephantine proportions, dozens of times larger than the originals. So we decided to look at these bulk buys as, well, bulk buys. Let's see if any of these three giant

The background Hershey's signature sweet, more than 80 million of the distinctively shaped milk chocolate pieces come off the assembly lines every day. The only time the factory has been closed since 1907 was during the Second World War, when rationing prevented the company from acquiring enough aluminium for wrapping. Macro vs micro This isn't exactly an exact comparison because Hershey's Kisses are sold in bags, but you'd need to buy five-and-a-half 226g bags to amass enough chocolate to match this 1.27kg mutant. Worth it? Not quite. While the World's Largest Kiss is positively enormous, you could buy the same weight of normal Kisses by the bag for Dh88.50 at Waitrose. Other considerations Unlike the other two products listed here, this Kiss is much more involved in its design and packaging. That makes it look more appropriate as a gift than the other two, which look more like gags. On the other hand, the World's Largest Kiss is hollow, unlike regular Kisses, which - we have it on good authority - slightly changes its flavour.

The background The one that started it all. The Hershey bar was the first mass-produced chocolate in the US, although it was hardly Milton Hershey's first product - his chocolate business was at first a side project of his much more successful caramels company. Macro vs micro To equal the sheer size of this giant confection, which weighs 2.26kg, it would take 64.6 of the normal-sized 35g bars available in the UAE.

Worth it? Yes! If you buy five pounds of Hershey bars the old-fashioned way, it would cost you Dh178.75 at Waitrose (and more at a petrol station). Other considerations Bulk is great if you can actually eat your delicious dish before it goes off. It might be a better buy for a party than for late-night nibbling. On the other hand, don't eat your hoard too quickly - the bar contains 12,000 calories, four to six times the daily guidelines. Finally, don't forget the pickaxe or steel knife you'll need to cut through two-inch-thick chocolate.

The background Hershey's once employed a dairy farmer named HB Reese, who became so inspired by the growth of the company that he left the farm one day to start his own business. Of all the products Mr Reese dreamed up in the basement of his home, only his original peanut-butter sweets have survived to the present day. Macro vs micro These gargantuan goodies weigh 227g each, and you get two to a pack. You would need 27 normal-sized cups to reach the total size of this dynamic duo.

Worth it? Unfortunately, not even close. Reese's sells its cups three to a pack, so buying 27 cups would cost only Dh33.75. Other considerations Reese's Peanut Butter Cups depend on the surprisingly complex interplay of peanut butter and chocolate, as opposed to the one-note chocolate flavour of the other two products. Changing the size of the cup almost necessarily changes the taste - and while some connoisseurs prefer miniature cups to the normal ones, many food reviewers have commented that there's just too much chocolate and peanut butter in the super-sized versions to provide a well-rounded experience. [e-mail]