Choco Pie: Chocolate + marshmallow + cookie = freedom

Brought to you by [Quartz Obsession] Choco Pie December 14, 2017 The taste of freedom --------------------------------------------------------------- 24-year-old North Korean soldier Oh Chung-sung was shot at least five times in a daring daylight defection to South Korea last month. When he finally regained consciousness, the first thing he asked for was a Choco Pie. The sticky-sweet confection—made of marshmallow sandwiched between two cookies, and then covered in chocolate—isn’t just an indulgent snack. For millions of North Koreans living in a totalitarian regime, it has become the ultimate symbol of affluence and capitalism, and a black-market currency in Kim Jong-un’s regime. For Oh—who was quickly sent 100 boxes by confectionery company Orion, and promised a lifetime supply—the Choco Pie was an assurance that he had indeed made it to South Korea, and living proof of a better life. Here’s the story about how a humble dessert became a geopolitical flashpoint and a black-market currency. Confectionery becomes currency --------------------------------------------------------------- Orion first introduced Choco Pie—small chocolate-covered cakes filled with marshmallow cream—to South Korea in 1974, but it wasn’t until 2004 that they made it north of the DMZ. The two Koreas started building a joint industrial zone in Kaesong, North Korea, about an hour’s drive from Seoul, in 2004. Each day, the South Korean managers overseeing the project would give the North Korean laborers—almost entirely women—Choco Pies as snacks. “Orion wrappers were nowhere to be found in the rubbish bins of Kaesong,” writes Richard Lloyd Parry in the [London Review of Books](. “The local workers, most of them women, had quickly realised that the Choco Pies were too delicious and valuable to eat. Kaesong employees, the best paid in North Korea and among the worst paid in Asia, were hoarding their pies, and selling them on at remarkably inflated prices: as high as the equivalent of $10 a piece, a large proportion of their monthly take home pay,” “It’s an invasion of the stomach,” noted North Korean defector Ha Tae Keung. Brought to you by Hewlett Packard Enterprise 👋 Psst. Hugo here. --------------------------------------------------------------- Ever feel like it’s impossible to keep up with the latest tech news? That’s where I come in. I’m a bot that can chat with you about tech trends in the areas that interest you most. Ready to see what I know? Let’s chat. After all, our conversations make me a better bot.[Go ahead: start your conversation with Hugo]( By the numbers [2.3 billion:]( Number of Choco Pies sold by Orion in 2016, a 24% increase [100:]( Number of years MoonPies—the Choco Pie’s American equivalent and possible forerunner—have been sold [600 lbs:]( Weight of the giant MoonPie dropped from the sky in Mobile, Alabama each New Year’s Eve [50%:]( The amount of a normal adult’s daily maximum sugar intake taken up by ingesting one MoonPie Take me down this horribly racist 🐰 hole Choco Pie analogs exist all around the world: MoonPies in the American South and Mallomars in the Northeast US, Tunnock’s Teacakes and Wagon Wheels in the UK, and Angel Pies in Japan. But in many parts of the world, there’s some weird racist stuff going on with chocolate-marshmallow treats. Countries all over the world looked at a marshmallow covered in chocolate and dubbed them things like “negerzoenen” (“negro’s kiss” in the Netherlands) or “[negerinnetetten]( (either “negress’s tits” or “negress’s head” in Flanders—either one is pretty awful). The names have gone out of style, but the origins are a good reminder that human beings can sometimes turn your stomach. Maybe we should all just stick with s’mores. 👋⏰🤔 WELCOME TO NOSTALGIA WEEK This week, the Quartz Obsession is exploring the ways[nostalgia and the economy]( intersect. The crackdown The popularity of Choco Pies as black-market currency caught the attention of Pyongyang, which in 2014 [banned South Korean companies]( from bringing in Choco Pies to the Kaesong facility. South Korean managers replaced Choco Pies with instant noodles, coffee, and sausages. Street food sustenance It's black-market street food that's keeping many North Koreans alive --------------------------------------------------------------- Food insecurity is a massive problem in North Korea. Despite the isolated nation’s growing economy and open imports for food, millions still go hungry every day. North Korea has nominally tolerated [a black market of private food sellers]( for years. These informal markets, known as jangmadang, offer food for sale, along with electronics, housewares, and other staples. Some markets are sanctioned by the government, while others disappear as quickly as they sprout up. Nearly one in five North Koreans depends on them for survival. Reuters photographer Kim Hong-Ji photographed some examples of common snacks and street food eaten in North Korea markets at a Seoul restaurant run by a North Korean defector. The snacks consisted mostly of repurposed corn meal, soy, and rice. Pop Quiz “MoonPie aficionado” DW Smart wrote in the National Enquirer that he believed the MoonPie originally came from where? GodAn ancient Aztec recipeOuter spaceThe future Correct. According to the The Great MoonPie Handbook (a real book!), Smart believed that the original MoonPie salesman was an alien leaving a clue for future generations in the form of a delicious confection. Incorrect. Wrong, might as well be eating s'mores. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Quotable “I don’t comment on Choco Pies,” [says Tony Namkung, a high-level negotiator who has accompanied Governor Bill Richardson, President Jimmy Carter, and Google’s Eric Schmidt to North Korea](. “We’re trying to prevent a nuclear arms race in the region.” The knockoff Similar but not the same --------------------------------------------------------------- North Korea attempted to create its own Choco Pie. Photos released in 2015 show Kim Jong-un in a lab coat touring a factory and inspecting a Choco Pie knockoff. [chocopie_2] A side-by-side photo of a Choco Pie and its copycat show the North Korean version is much smaller and less evenly coated in chocolate. According to a South Korean reporter who tried the imitation, the North Korean Choco Pie had little chocolate flavor and was overwhelmingly greasy. A researcher at a food manufacturer she spoke with said that because cocoa is an expensive raw material, it’s likely the North Korean makers overcompensated with more butter, oil, and sugar—much like the makers of the [choco-hazelnut treat Nutella](. Fun fact Choco Pies have also become a political flashpoint in China. Sales of Orion’s flagship product plunged as the countries squabbled about South Korea’s installation of US antimissile defenses. But the decline was short-lived: Sales have [already bounced back to 90% of their previous level](. Choco Pies also hold the top spot in the China Brand Power Index, compiled by brand ranking agency Chnbrand, for the second year in a row. Poll How do you feel about chocolate-covered-marshmallow-cookie treats now? [Click here to vote]( Headed to the black market with cash in hand.I prefer my sweet snacks without racist origins, please.MoonPies over Mallomars, y’all.Mallomars over MoonPies, you'se guys. 💌 Sound off! ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?subject=Thoughts%20on%20Choco%20Pie&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next%3A&body=) 📼 [Tell us about a song you used to jam out to on cassette tape](mailto:obsession%2Bprompt@qz.com?subject=Your%20best%20mixtape%20song%20is%3A&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:?subject=Quartz%20Obsession%20about%20Choco%20Pie.&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0A%0AEmail%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1157031%2F%0ASign%20up%20for%20the%20newsletter%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fquartz-obsession) The fine print In Wednesday’s poll about whether you thought so much of our communication would be done with our fingers, 64% knew that AOL’s Running Man was a herald of our collective typing futures. Today’s email was written by [Hailey Jo]( [Adam Pasick]( and [Susan Howson](. Images: Reuters/Kim Hong-J (street food) Read the complete [nostalgia economy]( series at Quartz Ideas. The correct answer to the quiz is Outer space. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States Share this email