I’ve taken a look at other flavor varieties of this same product across a couple different retailers, so let’s just add Meijer to the mix, shall we?
As with many mass-produced products, I think the only way to truly differentiate between the tastes of the different store brands would be to have a blind taste test, which I might just do with a few products next year, assuming I get bored enough. These taste basically like every other “sweet and salty” cashew bar that I’ve had. I do feel like they might be slightly less sweet than some of the others, but outside of that, you get the same basic flavor profile.
The texture is also very similar to others, as it offers up that classic “chew”. I guess I’ve never really paid attention to what’s actually in these bars, because I do seem to notice some puffed corn in there amongst the granola—and very few, if any, actual cashews. Hmm…that’s a little odd, I guess. Is puffed corn standard in these? I’ll have to pay closer attention next time I get a different store’s brand, but I don’t feel like I noticed them in Aldi’s version.
Either way, though, at the end of the day, you’re getting pretty much exactly what you think you’re getting—for better or for worse. I would imagine these bars only appeal to a certain subset of Americans who enjoy things that skewer toward the “very sweet” side…and that’s pretty much exactly who these bars are catering to, as well. In other words, if you’ve had other private label store brands’ sweet and salty bars, or even like the national brand version, chances are that you will find something here to like, as well.
All that leaves is value…and that’s where this one takes the biggest hit. A six-pack of these bars comes in at $2.19 which, to be fairly dramatic, I thought was the retail price before the sale. Nope, that’s the actual price. While I guess that price doesn’t quite qualify as a financial sodomizing, it’s also not very good at all—the national brand version costs just $.30 more at the same store. So while the taste might be pretty similar to the national brand, so is the cost—and that’s not something we ever want to see.
Overall: 6.5/10. Outside of being maybe slightly less sweet than other brands, this one serves up a very similar flavor profile to other ones I’ve had. It will still be too sweet probably for most (no way my wife could eat these without feeling sick afterwards), but for kids, or people whose tastes skewer toward that end of the flavor spectrum, these deliver what you’d expect, and then some. The biggest downfall? Value. Each six-count box retails for a rather high $2.19, which is just $.30 cheaper than the national brand, and about $.50 higher than Aldi’s own private label version. I suppose it’s not that horrible of a deal, but it’s also not all that great, so whatever.
