Supermarket Guru For the Week of 10/27

Hi I’m Phil Lempert with the New Product Hits & Misses.

Welcome to our special ALL chocolate review!

First we have Moonstruck Dark Chocolate Bar Strawberry & Basil which is a HIT.

This chocolate is one of the most interesting that I’ve seen. Freeze dried strawberries on top, surrounded by sugar and basil. This would make a perfect and special gift. The chocolate itself is good, but the overall flavor of the strawberries just doesn’t come through. This is more of a novelty than a great indulgence. 230 calories, 14 grams of sugars and 14 grams of fat in a about a third of this bar.  Retails for $9.00 for 3.1 oz.  Total Score is 85.

General Mills Monster Cereals Count Chocula is a HIT.

I know what you’re thinking, how could we include a ‘chocolatey’ cereal in our all chocolate review? Well, the whole grain cereal actually does contain cacao – along with a lot of other ingredients. It’s very crunchy, but no surprise, it really doesn’t taste like chocolate. They have marshmallows that are shaped more like triangles than ghosts in different sizes; but the cereal itself is shaped like the head of a ghost. Go figure. 3/4 of a cup is just 1 1/2 grams of fat, 9 grams of sugars and 100 calories without milk.  Retails for $2.79 for 10.4 oz  Total Score is 86.

Simply Eight Junkless Chewy Granola Bars Chocolate Chip is a HIT.

This is definitely one chewy granola bar with a terrific list of ingredients. The only problem is you can barely taste the chocolate chips. One bar is just 4 grams of fat, 6 grams of sugars and 130 calories. I know by adding more chocolate chips the sugars will go up, but if you’re going to call it Chocolate Chip you should be able to taste them.  Retails for $3.99 for 6.6 oz (6 bars).  Total Score is 88.

Himalania Hemp Seeds Dark Chocolate is a HIT.

This might just be the product that pushes hemp mainstream. Hemp seeds enrobed in a delicious dark chocolate. Nice and crunchy, these are perfect to snack on and add on top of ice cream or in yogurt and even on breakfast cereal. A 2 tablespoon serving is 160 calories, 3 grams of protein and 11 grams of sugars and contains a half a gram of omega 3s and 1 1/2 grams of omega 6s. Go hemp!  Retails for $7.99 for 6 oz.  Total Score is 89.

Madecasse Madegascar Chocolate Salted Almond is the HIT OF THE WEEK.

This recipe is delicious and a bit unusual. The roasted almonds actually sit at the bottom of the bar and the flavor of the sea salt is much stronger than I’ve ever tasted in chocolate. The chocolate itself is nice and smooth and is 63% cacao. A half a bar is 220 calories, 16 grams of fat and 10 grams of sugars. Well worth it!  Retails for $5.99 for 2.64 oz.  Total sCore is 92