Earlier I reviewed Millville’s Blueberry Crunch Squares, a cereal that is available occasionally as a special buy through Aldi stores. I mentioned in that review that there doesn’t seem to be a “national brand”, making it one of the few cereals that seem to have been created by private labels.
Well now, I will be reviewing the same offering through another popular private label, Malt o’ Meal, which was one of the first companies (if not THEE first), to put cereal inside large bags, thus omitting the box altogether. I don’t think I’ve hidden the fact that, as good as Aldi’s Millville cereal line is, I prefer Malt o’ Meal overall, as they seem to get even closer to national brand taste, while being just as inexpensive, or in some cases, even cheaper than, Millville cereals. In fact, I think Malt o’ Meal is the best private label cereal brand, period, so I always get excited when I see one of their cereals being offered at ridiculously low prices because I never hesitate to pick them up.
On my latest trip to Big Lots, I saw massive 2 lb. bags of Malt o’ Meals Blueberry Crunch Cereal being offered for a measly TWO DOLLARS. That’s right, two bucks for enough cereal to last me a week, and that’s actually saying something; I go through cereal at an alarming rate, so if it’s going to last me a week, it’ll last the normal person, or maybe even an average family, twice that length.
As you may recall, I scored Millville’s version of this cereal a 9 out of 10, and I pretty much have to give MoM’s version the same score, as they are both very similar in terms of appearance, and taste. If memory serves me right, I feel like Malt o’ Meal’s cereal has even more sugary goodness on top, but I might be mistaken (a quick search on the internet of both labels reveal both have 10g of sugar per serving, so I think I am mistaken), but it also crams in loads of relatively realistic blueberry flavor (thanks, in part, due to having actual blueberries in it, though the ingredient list spans a country mile).
Obviously, this kind of cereal isn’t going to appeal to everyone, and you probably already know right away whether or not this is going to be a cereal for you. Anyone over the age of 10, for example, will probably find it to be too sweet, while others will no doubt be turned off at the thought of a blueberry-streusel cereal to begin with. I definitely agree that it is very sweet—hence the reason I don’t get it very often—but for a change of pace, it’s a solid bet, and once again it’s Malt o’ Meal delivering an excellent product at a price that’s more than reasonable.
Overall: 9/10. Just as good as Millville’s (Aldi) version, but also with enough slight differences to justify trying both versions. Though it’s been a while since I’ve tried Millville’s, I seem to remember this has more sugary coating on top, which is a delicious thing, but is also balanced out by a strong, and relatively authentic, blueberry flavor. This probably isn’t going to be the kind of thing that appeals to many people older than 10, but in my opinion, it’s a vastly underrated cereal, and one that I go for when I’m craving something sweet. Keep an eye out at Big Lots, where large bags of this (and other Malt o’ Meal cereals) can be had for under $3 from time-to-time.
