Review: Get Fruity Bars

When it comes to snacks, I know my stuff. I’m the girl with a handbag full of goodies and a car full of wrappers, a habit I’m trying to break! But when it comes to snacks I’m willing to give my son, I’m far fussier. In fact, I’d go as far as to say, I’m probably too strict on him. He doesn’t have cake, he’s never tried chocolate and I do my best to avoid salt where possible, which means it’s not easy to find snacks for on the go. Especially ones that he’ll eat. So when the team behind Get Fruity bars got in touch to see if we’d like to give their natural fruit and oat bars a trial I jumped at the chance. Here’s how we got on…

What are Get Fruity bars?

Get Fruity bars are 100% natural bars made from a combination of fruit, oats and virgin coconut oil. Created in 2013 by Cornish mum of 2, Davina, they aim to be a fruit snack bar that is exactly what a fruit snack bar should be; nutritious, moist and packed full of flavour. Coming in six different flavours; Scrumptious Strawberry, Moist Mixed Berry, Juicy Apricot, Orange & Ginger, Tangy Pineapple, Coconut & Lime, Radiant Raspberry and Marvellous Mango, the Get Fruity bars really do have a flavour to suit most taste buds.

The science bit

Not only are they gluten free, dairy free and vegan certified, they also contain absolutely no refined sugars. The gluten free oats provide plenty of fibre, vitamin B, antioxidants and protein helping reassure me that I’m giving a snack that’s going to give my son plenty of nutrition, something that’s important when he insists on following a diet that’s 90% yoghurt the rest of the time! Additionally the bars use virgin coconut oil; a natural sweetener that’s being toted worldwide currently as the latest superfood due to it’s beneficial properties. What does that mean for me? It means on paper they’re perfect for my little one. They’ve even won awards, the Moist Mixed Berry Get Fruity bar picked up a winner’s title in the Free From Food Awards in 2015.

But what about taste?

I’m always a little cautious when it comes to testing new foods with my son. His eating is hugely dependent on the time of day, his mood, tiredness levels, the phase of the moon… it seems to change from day to day, meaning finding something he’ll eat is almost always hit and miss. With that in mind, we actually tried these bars ourselves first, completely forgetting him in the process. Easily done when it comes to food.

I’d read the descriptions and found myself fancying them more and more, especially the Tangy Pineapple, Coconut and Lime bar… doesn’t that sound delicious?! I’ll admit that I wasn’t holding out much hope when it came to taste though, let’s face it, when you hear gluten free, dairy free, vegan friendly with no refined sugar, you have to ask whether they’re also flavour free. Thankfully, I was wrong. The bars genuinely are packed full of flavour and bursting with fruit. As with all natural bars, there’s a dense texture to them that can take some adjustment but the taste quickly wins out. They even passed the husband test who declared them delicious. Praise indeed.

Aware that we’d eaten far too many ourselves, we gave the Get Fruity bars the ultimate taste test. The baby. Here’s where they came in to their own, he loves them! For a child who seems to hate eating at home, he quickly tucked away an entire bar, even cracking out his ‘more’ sign for the first time… success!! Since then we’ve taken them with us for days out as a treat/distraction whilst we’re shopping and he’s polished them off in record time, time after time. I think we’ll take that as a sign of approval, or in sing and sign terms… a big thumbs up!

Would I buy them?

When it comes to snacks for your child, it’s hard to find something that gets the balance right between pleasing you and pleasing them. I genuinely think we’ve found a treat that I’m happy with as a parent; it’s healthy, nutritious and he’s still getting to try new tastes, flavours and textures. The bars are just the right size to provide a filling snack even for adults (we’ve tested this for you, you’re welcome) and they travel well in lunch boxes for snacks on the go. At £2.49 for a pack of four, or £15 for a pack of 25, they’re actually one of the more affordable natural snack bars on the market. Especially when you consider the price of other ‘free from’ foods and fruity snacks aimed at children.

Get Fruity bars are available to purchase from Ocado, Waitrose, Tesco, Co-op, Amazon or directly via the Get Fruity website. For more information on ingredients or to hear more about the Get Fruity story, please visit their site.