RXBar launched this year in the UK, and I figured I may as well pick up one of the few flavours to try. The premise is interesting, so let’s give it a go.
First off, RXBar looks to be hitting some sort of “startup” style vibe. The website www.rxbar.co.uk is quite a simple, clean looking site, but it’s lacking an “about us” section. Which then makes me look at the bottom of the page, at the “Chicago Bar Company LLC” name. That feels a bit weird to me, but as I know absolutely nothing about the brand, I figure there’s more to it than that.
Turns out, RXBar is owned by Kellogg’s. It wasn’t originally, but they bought it and now it’s theirs. Rather than stamping their name all over the product (which would probably hurt them in the market they’re trying to crack), they’re leaving the RXBar brand to do its thing.
The idea is this;
A protein bar made with real ingredients. Simple as that. No artificial flavours. No added sugar. No gluten. No fillers.
The packaging itself has that same consistent message, with the ingredients list being unusually placed on the front, in a font that’s larger than the branding and the flavour of the bar. It’s interesting, it’s eye catching, and in a market saturated with chemically created protein bars – it’s different.
Of the Peanut Butter bar, they say;
Smooth and creamy with just the right added crunch, this Peanut Butter bar satisfies that scoop (or three) of sweet and salty peanut butter you crave. Made with simple, honest ingredients you can count on one hand, we pack in the high-quality protein and keep the bad stuff out.
My thoughts:
The bar is sticky to touch, with a bendy texture (Just look at the photo above!). It pulls a bit like a short-pull caramel.
This thing is chewy – and the chew lasts ages. Despite that, the bar is soft. It’s not a “pulling fillings out needing a trip to a dentist” type of chew.
After you’ve chewed for a little while, there’s that sort of ‘slime’ texture you’d get with raw egg whites. It’s a little unusual, but it isn’t awful. Just don’t take large bites of the bar in an attempt to down it quickly. This isn’t the sort of thing you’d want to have at an eating competition.
Additionally, this doesn’t say “free range egg whites”. This SHOULD be made with free range egg whites, in my opinion. It’s a premium style product and any company that isn’t using free range for its egg components is just disappointing. Kellogg’s is behind this brand, so it’s got the resources to figure out a supply chain for it. Sort it out Kellogg’s, the chickens deserve better.
Smell wise, I get dates and bit of nut.
Taste wise? Well, it’s salty. There’s a peanut flavour here but it’s not outright ‘peanut butter’. I want some roasted flavour from it, and it’s not there. I think that’s partially why the saltyness doesn’t seem to connect to the peanut for me. It’s like there’s peanut on one side, salt on the other, and they’ve forgotten to shake hands.
This is definitely a “functional food”. I’d not pick it up for a snack, but it isn’t full of chemicals and nonsense. It doesn’t have the powdery quality of most protein bars and I think that if you’re in the market for some chewy protein after a workout, you can do much, much worse. To me, it’s odd but not awful and I’m tempted to try another flavour and see if it works better for me. I really wasn’t a big fan of this one.
Beyond that I really like the concept. I’m getting tired of seeing all sorts of random ingredients that don’t look like food put together. I like that this is understandable and I do think it will appeal to the gym market being targeted.
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