Wednesday 7 January 2009

Food Interlood......

Having a break from the Snoopy 1980 Diary tonight to write something I should have done weeks ago (naughty 70s!! )

Last year I volunteered to take part in product testing arranged through Fuel my Blog and forgot all about it!! However, lo and behold a little while before Christmas a parcel arrived. How exciting..... it made a pleasant change from the mounds of mail I get from 'bill' and Readers Digest ......

My Teen pleaded with me for her to open it ..... I love opening parcels but hey ho I sacrificed my joy for hers. As she ripped open the envelope a packet of health food bars landed with a thud on the dining room table.

'what are they?' she asked
'mmm dunno' I replied
'where have they come from? she asked
'mmmm???... ahhh! I know!! they have come from the internet (that is all she knows.. mum writes stuff on the internet... sheesh I wouldn't want her knowing I was far more adventurous as a teen than she is!! lol) , we have to eat them and then I have to write what we think about them'
'write where?' she asked
'on the internet' I replied
'oh ... that's a bit random?...' and gave that shrug that only teenagers can do.

We opened the outer packaging and found it contained 3 x 50g handmade food bars made of natural ingredients. Each bar provides us humans with 25% of our daily fibre needed to stay healthy and 15% of our protein intake.

The manufacturer is Wholebake based in Corwen, North Wales. I have been to Corwen many, many times as a friend's mother lives in the hills near there and have enjoyed many beautiful walks in the area and fabulous barbeques when we have stayed over there......plus my grandfather was from St.Asaph and his uncles had farmland in Denbighshire ...

oops I digress ...back to the review.......I must say that this stage that we do have a healthy home cooked diet, eating little processed food and usually we get our 5 a day intake of fruit and veg... but health bars are not really 'our bag'

Teen opened a bar ... took a big bite and I am afraid ate it like it was poison then disappeared upstairs ....the novelty had gone from the moment......
'Hey it can't be that bad?' I shouted after her....... no response!

So I took a bite. The carob coating was very pleasant.... it was chewy, ok so far. Took a second bite and decided I didn't want to eat anymore. The bars are quite large and I can see that they would certainly fill a hunger gap in a healthy way during the day. I couldn't get along with the texture ... but that is why we don't do health bars... that is us and not the fault of the bar.

Because of our hate reltaionship with health bars, I needed to share this market research with a larger audience.. what better an audience than the rich mix that are my work colleagues!!!

I took the bars into work and cut them up into bite size pieces leaving them to be sampled at leisure... I told them all though that I needed to report back their comments so please be honest.......

7 people sampled them.....
'lovely where can I buy these?'
'I would like to try them without the carob'
'Can I have another one? I like them'
'What you didn't like them?.. you are weird!'
'Very tasty indeed'
' yep I would buy these'
'not sure about the carob but I like the taste of the bar'

So there you have it ... in favour of the bars was 7 to 2....

I have been looking on the website and I must say if you had sent the luxury/indulgent flapjacks Wholebake you would have got 9/9 ;-)

& thank you for the fabby Christmas card .. here's wishing you a 'hempy New Year' too :-)

P.S.....apologies but I had scans of your product Mark, Steve & Richard but google blogger are having non of it tonight (have tried 5 times) .. they are not loading :-(

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

carob does not = chocolate :-(

Daddy Papersurfer said...

Very scientific young 70's. I liked them but they were too big ......

I wonder if we can product test 50" Plasmas or yachts? or in your case, shoes ........

70steen said...

Nm ~ I am afraid not but it was a nice taste ;-)

70steen said...

DP ~ Thank you I do try to do a good job lol

I was wondering about shoes too but I am swayed by a mercedes or a jaguar car!!!

fracas said...

You are most definitely not weird fraccy sis. I'm not a fan of health bars either... and I know for a fact there's nothing weird about me!

Good idea to take them to work for sampling. Beauty *and* Brains!

(I'm considering moving to the UK so that I might get a chance to sample something and review it too. Poor Kevin's been teased so much about not sending me anything yet, I should probably give him a break. Perhaps DP has an extra room at the Cliff Top? I hardly annoy people at all...)

;-)

Daddy Papersurfer said...

Just hang on until I've built the shed Fraccy ........

Anonymous said...

maybe they could send me some corsets to test?

70steen said...

Yoh Dear Frac .. thank you I was beginning to think I was in a wilderness here lol
oh and you flatter me too much .. I occasionally have my brain in gear but as for the other bit .. eeek! :-)

(you know you should move over here and bring Olga with you.. DP would love you to move in with him ... but as you know you must be careful but you already know that as secretary with the insight.... however, if you can't do it then I will ask Kevin to send me double stuff and send the duplicate to you ;-).. sorted)

70steen said...

DP ~ no way you would put Dear Frac in the shed.... would you??

70steen said...

NM ~ I wonder if there is any corset testing available ... you would be the ideal candidate plus maybe a few inches could be shaved of me with one one lol ;-)

Anonymous said...

very beautiful posting and blog indeed... :D

fracas said...

LOL 70s... I seem to (in ages long ago_ recall being asked to go out behind the shed... but never being expected to live in one. I'm sure by 'shed' he meant 'posh and elegant guest room'!

70steen said...

Jingles ~ Thank you and thank you for visiting ... you have a cool page there :-)

70steen said...

Dear Frac ~ I am assured he has a swish guest room .. I have booked it for the 2012 Olympics .. but I have not told him yet ;)