La France Pears are a popular variety of pear originating in France and cultivated in Japan in Yamagata Prefecture, known for their distinctive fragrance and sweet and juicy flavour. It’s rare to find pear, let alone La France Pear, flavoured foods in Australia and while it’s not prevalent in Japan either, we find it flavouring ramune as well as here in Senjaku Ame Zeitaku na Gumi Yamagata no La France.

Each gummy is about 2.5 cm in diameter with a firm outer coat and a soft inner core, and a collagen content of 1000mg. Many brands of gummy candy in Japan are marketed to Japanese women who are obsessed with the purported skincare benefits of collagen.

These gummies have a film of cornstarch clinging to their surface that masks the initial hit of the pear flavour in the gummy. But as the powder dissolved, the flavour of the pear came through with a firm and bouncy gummy texture that gave a satisfying resistance when bitten. As the outer coat dissolves, the flavour builds to recall the rich sweet taste of fresh juicy pears. The inner core is soft like a gooey jelly but does not have any flavour of its own. The gummy leaves no aftertaste. Cornstarch film aside, I enjoy these elusive pear-flavoured gummies.

This Senjaku Ame Zeitaku na Gumi Yamagata no La France contained 40 g or 10 pieces. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Okayama, Japan in 2015.