"Kronk" is the name of a candy bar sold throughout Central America, and which I encountered in Costa Rica. According to the packaging of the bar I have in front of me (and which I have been carrying for over two months), it is made by the Marisela company, although the actual manufacturing is by the Bimbo company, a large bakery brand across all of Latin America. I am not sure which company owns which or is a brand of which. To be honest, this is the first time I have thought of it.
Anyway, back to the Kronk bar. It is not so much of a candy bar, as a wafer bar, which is a slightly different thing. In this case, it is a wafer bar with layers of peanut butter between the wafers, and then covered with chocolate. This is very similar to the familiar Little Debbie Nutty Bar or a Super 8 bar. And like both of those, the Kronk bar is cheaper than its competition, with the typical price at convenience stores being 200-250 colones (about 35-50 cents, depending on the exchange rate). And what do you get for your money? Well, at least for me, it was a good bargain. It is a bit more chocolatey than other wafer bars, a bit more wet than the dry Super 8 from Chile, and a bit more chocolate and vanilla than the fatty Little Debbie. In fact, if I would have to characterize it, I would call it the missing link between a wafer bar and a true candy bar, and a quite reasonable purchase if you are at a minisuper with just some change in your hands.
To write this, I just consumed the Kronk bar I was saving since my return, and to be honest, it is hard to describe because the memories it brings back to me are very specific. Sitting in a city square waiting for a bus that had no posted schedule, and wanting something quick to eat when I was feeling hot and humid. Waking up in my AirBnB and feeling a bit homesick and too depressed to get up and go out, so eating one of the many Kronk bars I had stashed around. Coming back on the train from a trip around San Jose, walking through the University of Costa Rica campus and eating one stashed inside my bag. So maybe this is just a cheap, mass-produced wafer bar, but with those memories, it means something more to me.