It’s 6pm and the dinner party I’ve scored a last-minute invite to kicks-off at 6:30. Florists are closed and it’s too late to whip up a batch of choc-chip cookies, but I can’t turn up empty- handed.

That’s how I find myself, at 6:35pm, standing in the chocolate aisle of a supermarket trying to choose between a box of Favourites and one of Roses.

The Roses are a classic ‘dinner party’ gift; the kind of thing people used to bring to my parents’ house when they came over for dinner. People would pass the choccies around the table after dessert, using the printed guide to figure out what colour wrapper to reach for. If I was lucky, there’d still be a mint one left by the time it got around to me.

I suspect, though, that Roses have lost a bit of their allure in the past few decades. Do we still see them as ‘fancy’? Have they become something only nostalgic, chocaholic grandparents appreciate, or have they become so uncool that they’re cool again…?

The box of Favourites meanwhile, packed with mini versions of popular Cadbury chocolate bars (and Turkish Delight…), is fun, colourful and familiar, but is it dinner party-worthy, or does it have ‘Halloween house party’ vibes?

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I check the prices – we’re in a cost-of-living crisis after all. The 420g box of Roses RRPs at $18, while the Favourites come in at $16 for 340g. That puts the Roses at 43 cents per 10g choccy, of which there are 42, while the 23 Favourites come to 70 cents a pop, at around 14.8g each. Working out to be around 4.3 cents per gram for the Roses and 4.7 cents for the Favourites, I can probably rack price up as a tie.

Then there’s the packaging, not to be underestimated when you’re handing over a gift in lieu of flowers.

The Roses rest in a thin, dark blue, rectangular box decorated with a magenta rose pattern, the word ‘Roses’ written in a kind-of dated calligraphic font in the centre. Inside, chocolates are wrapped in shiny, metallic wrappers, their colours decodeable via the handy ID guide inside the lid.

The Favourites box – a shape I’ve come to find out is a ‘truncated rectangular prism’ – is ‘Cadbury purple’, decorated with pics of the chocolates inside. It’s a bit more modern, but probably doesn’t scream “thank you for inviting me into your home and cooking me a beef Wellington.” Slim advantage: Roses.

And then, of course, there’s the chocolates themselves. Both are a mixed bag (and by that, I mean both include Turkish Delight…). Roses have some top-tier inclusions like the crisp hazelnut swirl, soft and aromatic vanilla nougat, and the after-dinner champion, peppermint crème, plus two excellent caramel options: oozy caramel deluxe, and the more solid-set classic caramel.

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As someone who retches at the thought of combining fruit and chocolate, I can’t personally endorse orange crème, strawberry crème or the viral 2023 addition of dark chocolate-enrobed passionfruit delight, but I know they have their admirers; someone at the table will want to reach for something fruity.

Meanwhile, Favourites includes a strong mix of familiar brands – plus Moro, the Mars bar clone that I maintain doesn’t exist outside of a box of Favourites. It has some decent variety, but only the Cherry Ripe, Turkish Delight and the magnificent, all-conquering Crunchie shake up the chocolate/caramel/nougat/nut party.

A few points to the Old Gold and Dream for bringing a bit of dark and white chocolate variety respectively, but ultimately I have to give the points – and the overall victory – to the Roses.

And so I arrive at the door fifteen minutes late for the party, but armed with my box of Roses. I ring the doorbell and hand over the box, the host responding with a delayed “thank you!” and a bemused smile. I’m guided to my seat and the box of Roses is placed on the sideboard, alongside the four identical boxes of Roses brought by the other guests. It turns out Roses were the favourites all along.

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