Well, well, well, Dollar Tree seems to be upping their game when it comes to nutritional shakes lately. That’s one of those things I never thought I’d see the discount retailer carry, considering the national brands – and even most private label versions – sell in multi-packs for over a dollar per bottle.

But the last time I was there, I found Members’ Mark chocolate shakes, which are typically available in Sam’s Club stores. I assume those were either overstock, or discontinued altogether, and I thought for sure once they were gone, DT was done with the whole nutritional shake thing. But lo and behold, they now carry an unbranded nutritional shake, in both chocolate and vanilla! I grabbed one of each, but unsurprisingly opted to try the chocolate one first.

One last point before I dig in: These don’t seem to be manufactured exclusively for Dollar Tree. I’m only basing this on the lack of “Distributed by Greenbriar International” on the packaging, which is often the case with products exclusive to the dollar store giant. Instead, this is distributed by “Diversified Foods” out of Louisiana. (NOTE: Of course I had to go and look them up: They make shelf-stable milk products, with their most notable being TrueMoo milk-in-a-box.)

Oh wow…color me impressed. This is more of what I was expecting out of Members’ Mark’s hideous attempt. This goes down smooth, just like the national brand (the one that gives you a “boost”), and the chocolate flavor is appealing. It’s not super-accurate, and it’s pretty sweet, but those are two traits that I happen to like. And come on, who doesn’t expect a chocolate drink to taste sugary?

I don’t know if I would say the value is “off the charts”, considering you can get Walmart’s brand for under $1 per bottle, but you have to commit to purchasing a 6-pack in order to see those savings. Dollar Tree is one of the few places I know of to sell them individually by the bottle, and for $1 to boot? That is a pretty solid deal. Now you can grab one or two at a time, without the need for any kind of commitment. Dollar Tree comes to the rescue again!

Now all we can do is hope this isn’t another product that shows up once, and then forever disappears. These are available by the case on their website, which seems to be a good sign, but the vanilla version isn’t, so not sure what that means. All I can do is pray these stay available for a long time to come.

Overall: 9/10. These are fantastic, especially for the price. The chocolate flavor is sweet, but very similar to the name brand; it also goes down easy thanks to its smooth texture. There are loads of vitamins and minerals contained inside (27 to be exact!), and the packaging can even be recycled, for all you environmentalists out there. This is a product that’s the antithesis of most Dollar Tree items, and one that’s highly recommended for fans of nutritional shakes.