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Tastes like other brands of dipped bars and at a decent value. |
Well, like I told an uncaring audience in a previous review, my wife has been doing almost all of her "self-isolation" shopping at Meijer lately, so now I've been getting a chance to try their versions of products I typically get elsewhere. And today, we've got dipped granola bars, which are a nice, quick snack.
I’ve tried these from a couple of
different store brands, so why not see what Meijer’s have to offer?
Well first of all, what is it with
almost all of these having generic, colored wrappers? The individual
wrapping on each individual bar is green, with white lettering that
says “dipped bar”, but with no identifiable brand information.
I’m not too sure about Aldi, but I’m pretty sure Kroger’s
version also come in this off-putting packaging—probably a good
chance both of them come out of the same factory, if this is the
case. And if that is the case, which it probably is, then that means
this is probably almost the same product offered elsewhere, too. And
if that is also the case, which it very well might be, then that
would mean that a comparison between all of these private labels
would more or less all come down to taste, considering they would be
using roughly the same recipe.
This is just pure speculation on my
part, though, so don't go taking it as fact—maybe some day I will
gather up enough interest to do a blind taste test off different
items across different store brands to finally put some of these to
rest. But until that day, "pure speculation" is all that we have.
Also very similar to other versions of
this bar is the size: they are really, really small. Smaller than the
average granola bar. I don't know if this is to keep the caloric
content to a minimum, or what the reasoning is, but all of the dipped
granola bars that I've tried are this same teeny size. Then again, I
guess you don't need to load up on chocolate and peanut butter first
thing in the morning.
After digging in, I've got to say that
my above theory could very well be true: The taste is good, but
standard for this kind of bar. There’s a soft layer of enticingly
melty chocolate on top that gives way to another gentle layer
underneath, but this time it’s peanut butter. The story with the
peanut butter is the same: it's got a great, soft, pretty creamy
texture (at least, for a mass-produced chocolate bar), with a
straightforward peanut butter flavor to match. Combined, you get
what you should probably be expecting: creamy peanut butter combined
with the taste of dollar store chocolate, with some granola thrown in
so it can give the slight appearance of healthiness. The granola bar
might also be flavored, but I don't think it is: there's so much
chocolate and peanut butter covering it that I'm thinking it's to
cover the “boring” taste of granola.
To be clear, I actually don't mind the
overall flavor—in fact, it was pretty much exactly what I was
expecting from trying similar bars—but it’s nothing that's going
to make you go out of your way to get these from Meijer versus
virtually anywhere else that offers them.
Value here is pretty good, though
nothing outstanding, with each 6-ct. box retailing for $1.69. This
puts it lower than Kroger's own private label brand, which retails
for an excessive $1.99, but far behind Aldi, which offers theirs for
$1.29. It's middle-of-the-road, but still cheaper than the national
brand, which retails for over $2 when not on sale.
Overall: 7/10. In terms of flavor—and
based completely off memory as I did not directly compare them—these
are pretty equal to every other similar brand out there, with a
combination that plays out like dollar store chocolate (albeit with a
nice, melty texture) meets standard peanut butter, meets granola
thrown in as an afterthought. About the only differentiator is the
price: $1.69 for six bars, which isn't outstanding (and higher than
Aldi's $1.29 price tag), but cheaper than other store brands, making
it a decent value proposition. It's certainly not worth going out of
your way for, but it's a good option if you find yourself already
inside a Meijer store, with a desperate craving for a mass-produced
granola bar.
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