Eat Natural: Almond & Apricot Bar

Made in the UK, this bar is billed as being a “luxurious bar full of premium quality ingredients and nothing else.” It’s a yoghurt coated bar that’s made with dried fruit, nuts, puffed rice, and honey. Flavor is really good, with a pleasant tasting body that’s light but crispy, with a sweet note of honey, fruit, and yogurt followed by some crunch from the almonds, which are added in large pieces. Eat Natural has done a great job with this bar, blending extremely enjoyable flavor, substance, and nutrition. From a nutrition point of view, this 235 calorie bar has 2g of fiber, 4g of protein, calcium, and iron, which certainly isn’t the most nutritious bar out there, but it’s still a good one. Packaging is intuitive and appealing, with the name “EAT NATURAL” making a pretty obvious statement about what’s inside the wrapper. Plus, you can see through the clear plastic wrapping, which helps whet the appetite. Overall, a very enjoyable bar that’s flavorful, nourishing, and nice looking.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bora Bora Organic Snack Bar: Almond Sunflower

The Almond Sunflower variety of the Bora Bora Organic Snack Bar line is an extremely enjoyable bar. It’s made with only a few simple ingredients, including raisins, nuts, seeds, rice, agave syrup, and brown rice syrup and it’s certified organic. From a flavor point of view, the product actually has a lot more peanut flavor than it does almond, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. That’s followed by a touch of salt, some sweetness from the brown rice and agave sweeteners, and a fair amount of crunch from the nuts and seeds. Wellements’ effort is extremely well executed, with just the right amount of sweet & savory as well as a nice balance of chew & crunch. Nutritionally, the bar has 180 calories,, 2g of fiber, 5g of protein, iron, and calcium. Lastly, there’s the packaging, which is appealing and lets you get a good look at the bar before you open it. Overall, a very palatable and nourishing bar that looks great to boot.

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Think: Thin “Bites” White Chocolate Flavored Raspberry

From a marketing point of view, this is a pretty clever line of bars for Think. There are actually two portions in each wrapper, with 75 calories per portion. They’ve clearly labeled it for the purposes of diet programs, such as Weight Watchers, and hope to get some buzz from those programs. Inside the wrapper, the flavor of the bar is certainly edible, with the pairing of white chocolate and raspberry. The white chocolate provides the coating to this chewy bar, while a soy, rice, and peanut butter center is filled with a touch of raspberry. Packaging is clean and functional, with the calories and note about portions listed clearly on the front of the wrapper. Images of white chocolate and raspberries provide a nice accent, although the white chocolate blends in with the beige color of the background. Overall, we like the clever approach and the bar is definitely an above average entry.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Eat Natural: Macadamia and Fruit Bar

This bar is billed as a “luxurious bar full of premium quality ingredients and nothing else.” It delivers nicely on that promise, with a soft base of puffed rice, coconut, and sesame seeds, followed by some sweet apricot flavor before having just a touch of crunch from the nuts (macadamia and Brazil nuts). We really enjoyed the layers of flavor, especially since the bar tastes very raw and natural. They’ve carefully balanced the various flavors, resulting in something that gives your palate just the right amount of savory and sweet. From a nutrition point of view, this gluten free bar has 243 calories, 15g of fat, 3g of fiber, and 4g of protein. It also has 22g of carbohydrates, 8% RDA of iron, and 35mg of sodium. The packaging is straight forward and easy to understand, although it lacks the visual pizzazz that you’ll find in some competing bars (e.g. KIND). Punching up the look seems like the biggest opportunity for this bar. Otherwise, we wouldn’t change a thing.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honest Foods: Choco Peanut Butter

Using a base of baked whole oats and peanut butter, this bar has achieved a very desirable chewy consistency.  It’s loaded with flavor, with notes of peanut butter, oats, and chocolate throughout.  However, it’s also a bit on the sweet side, making it eat very much like a dessert product.  That’s fine by us, at least in moderation, especially since the execution of the bar is spot on. From a nutrition point of view, this 230 calorie bar has 10g of fat, 6g of protein, 4g of fiber and calcium and iron. Packaging is simple but attractive, with a wholesome feeling design between the “honest foods” name, the font treatment, and the clear wrapper that allows you to see what you are about to eat.  Definitely worth a try.

Rating: 4.5 of 5