Kelp Crunch – Sesame Ginger

Despite the somewhat unappealing Kelp Crunch name and “seaweed energy bar” tag line, their Sesame Ginger bar is rather enjoyable.  Made with sesame seeds, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, kelp, ginger, cayenne, and vanilla, the bar has a distinct flavor that you won’t find in other bars.  The base, which is almost entirely sesame seeds, is crisp and crunchy, while the added ginger and cayenne give the product some heat to its finish.  In the middle of all of this, there’s a light amount of sweetness and the kelp, which give the product a slightly Asian inspired taste.  Nutritionally, the bar has 124 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of fiber, 3g of protein, calcium, iron, and small amounts of Vitamin A and C.   Based on the 1 oz size and the nutritional content, this bar is definitely the right portion for a snack.  Packaging is a simple foil wrapper that has been decorated with an illustrated image of a whale jumping out of the water.  While it certainly has a vibe of authenticity to it, it’s not an image that’s overly appetizing in our opinion.    However, we do like the placement of the “100% organic gluten-free vegan” badge, which will certainly help with their target consumer.  Lastly, they are donating a portion of the proceeds to Allied Whale – that’s something that might be worth more prominent billing.  Overall, a nice tasting product, but the current look of the label isn’t going to help sell bars.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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Honest Foods: Blueberry Vanilla Crackle

Of Honest Foods’ “Granola Plank” line, this was our favorite – and a new member of our Hall of Fame. The bar blends flavor and texture perfectly, starting with a base of nuts, seeds, and puffed rice, wheat and corn. It’s soft but has a slight amount of chew and crunch, which has then been perfectly flavored with vanilla extract, dried fruit (blueberries & cranberries), brown rice syrup, brown sugar, natural flavors, and a touch of salt. The resulting bar has great depth of flavor, starting with the grains and nuts, followed by the dried fruit, and finally finishing with vanilla. From a nutrition point of view, this bar, which is labeled for 2 servings, has 380 calories, 3g of fiber, 4g of protein, iron, calcium, and 300mg omega-3. It’s got a lot of substance to it, so we’d certainly recommend that you only eat half at a time – you certainly won’t be hungry. Packaging is simple and extremely appealing, with a large window to view the bar. The placement of the Honest Foods logo in the centers adds a touch of wholesomeness and credibility to the product. Overall, one of the best bars we’ve had in a while.

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Pure Protein: Blueberry Crumb Cake

This protein packed workout bar has two layers for your, uh, chewing pleasure. The soft blueberry pie filling stuff on top isn’t bad, but the “crumb cake” layer has the consistency of dried silly putty. Still, the maltitol in the vanilla yogurt coating gives it enough of a sweetness level for you to choke a bar down – while providing the non-fattening sugars that a carb-watcher needs. All in all, it’s not a bad change-up from the usual chocolate and vanilla protein bars.

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Calories: 300
Fat: 10 g
Carbs: 29 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 28 g

Cascade Fresh: Activ8 Cherry/Vanilla Probiotic Crunch Bar

Cascade Fresh’s Activ8 Cherry Vanilla bar is a “probiotic crunch bar”, meaning that it has 5.5 billion CFUs of live probiotic cultures in each bar. To keep these creatures living, the bar requires refrigeration, which means you’ll have to look for it in a different place than you’d normally find bars in your local retailer. As far as flavor goes, this bar is pretty heavy on peanut flavor, which is probably the most enjoyable part about the bar. Since it’s refrigerated, the bar is pretty stiff and this did have a slight impact on our level of enjoyment of the bar. They’ve added also cherry and vanilla flavoring, which doesn’t tastes like flavoring rather than the real thing. That was definitely a disappointment. Functionally, we appreciate their desire to deliver real probiotics, plus the bar has 6g of protein and 3g of fiber. Lastly, there’s the look of the bar, which is decent, but hard to read. We think they’ve missed the mark by putting “organic” in a script font, making it easy to glance over this somewhat important bit of information. Overall, an enjoyable bar that’s innovative in concept, but the use of flavorings and less than appealing packaging leave room for improvement.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Bumble Bar: Original with Almond

Bumble Bar’s “Original with Almond” is a good improvement over their Original bar.  This chewy bar combines sesame seeds, flaxseed, brown rice syrup, almonds, evaporated cane juice, vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt, and natural vitamin E into a USDA Organic certified recipe that’s also vegan and gluten free. The flavor is big on sesame, with a touch of flax and almond to the finish. However, there isn’t enough in the way of sweetness or almond to this bar — and there’s a slightly off (almost burnt) note that we can’t determine the source of.  Still, if you want a bar that’s made with organic, simple ingredients, this one is hard to beat.  On the outside, this bar has an attractive design, but it also might lead one to believe that this bar has something to do with honey, which it does not.  Otherwise, the bar’s lack of a window to see the bar might be a deterrent, especially since the product lacks any sort of descriptive text that might let the consumer know what to expect inside this wrapper.  Overall, an edible bar made with only a few simple ingredients, but we’d like to see a better connection of the brand to the flavor.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Details: calories 230; total fat 16g; fiber 5g; potassium 160mg; protein 6g