Thursday, July 12, 2007

Jelly Belly - All Natural

Jelly Belly TropicalI’ve been holding onto the news since January and the Fancy Food Show that Jelly Belly is coming out with a line of all natural jelly beans. This means no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors (the colors I know are a big concern with some parents and hyperactivity in their children). Jelly Belly is currently test-marketing the new beans on the west coast at Whole Foods. The new line includes ten flavors at the moment. I picked up a package of Tropical Fruit Blend Jelly Belly.

This blend has six flavors: banana, coconut, lemon, orange, pineapple and strawberry. The flavors are actually from real fruits (the ingredients list things like coconut flakes, banana puree, pineapple concentrate, etc.). The colors are created using natural colorings like annatto extract, cabbage juice and curcumin.

Jelly Belly - All NaturalThe beans are pretty, though a little muted in color (but they’re still plenty shiny).

The standout flavors for me were banana, which tastes like a really ripe banana and pineapple, which has a nice tangy bite to it and then a smooth sweetness.

If I have a complaint it’s that the color combination made it nearly impossible for me to tell the beans apart. The pineapple was kind of a colorless bean as was the coconut and the lemon on the yellow side and then the orange was more of a light peach but I still got them confused in dim lighting situations. The unmistakable beans were strawberry (though I didn’t care much for the flavor on this one, it tasted a little canned and metallic) and banana (the mottled one).

If I were looking for this blend of flavors and I had a choice between the all natural and the regular ones, I’d absolutely go for the all natural. They taste great and I already get confused about the color keys for Jelly Belly anyway.

The package also says that Jelly Belly - All Natural are gluten free and Kosher. They do contain beeswax so may not be suitable for vegans.

For those of you who don’t get the JellyBelly.com newsletter, they’re running some pretty awesome sales in their outlet. For some bizarre reason they’re clearing out their Christopher’s Fruit Gems at insanely low prices ($2.99 for a box of 2 lbs unwrapped or $14.99 for 9 lbs in a basket of the individually wrapped ones). They also have something for licoricians (licorice-lovers) with their 15 ounce licorice assortment at only $9.99. And finally, for fans of games of chance, from now until Monday, July 23, 2007 or while supplies last, if you order 2-4 bags of Belly Flops you pay only 6.00 each. But if you order five or more bags, the price is slashed to only 5.00 per bag! (That’s $2.50 a pound for Jelly Belly, not gonna do better anywhere else.)

Name: Jelly Belly All Natural (Tropical Blend)
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Jelly Belly
Place Purchased: Whole Foods (Glendale)
Price: $3.29
Size: 6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 99
Categories: Jelly, United States, Jelly Belly, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:23 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. In other Jelly Belly news this summer, they are moving to a more widely accepted kosher supervision, the OU. The Ko symbol isn’t thought of as reliable by most Orthodox Jews.

    How do you sign up for the newsletter?

    Comment by Rachel B. on 7/12/07 at 6:50 am #
  2. Ohhhh, I really want to try these! Are the nutritionals the same as the normal Jelly Belly Beans? About 4 cal per bean I believe….

    Comment by Sera on 7/12/07 at 8:33 am #
  3. hihi! Im a frequent visiter of your website… i am just curious where do you get all your candies from?

    Comment by Terry on 7/12/07 at 7:42 pm #
  4. I’m confused - can those flops be ordered online, or just purchased in person at the actual outlet ? I’m not finding them at the online store but maybe I’m overlooking something… (or the Christopher Fruit Gems, for that matter)

    Comment by Tricia on 7/16/07 at 6:04 pm #
  5. Cybele's avatar

    Tricia - you’re not crazy, for some reason I didn’t include the link there. http://www.JellyBellyOutlet.com

    Rachel B. - I’m glad you mentioned that. I was going to, but then I realized that I didn’t really understand the distinction, except that it was worthy of a press release!

    Sera - yes, the label still said 4 calories per bean.

    Terry - at the bottom of each review I have the little “specs” box where I list where I got it from. Grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores, candy shops, friends, and even samples directly from manufacturers and stuff I find at the bottom of my purse.

    Comment by Cybele on 7/17/07 at 6:58 pm #
  6. Thanks Cybele - I’d trying search for “outlet” and various other things at the main site, to no avail. But now I’m golden, and my family will be sugar-saturated in 3-7 business days. :^)

    Comment by Tricia on 7/21/07 at 9:29 am #
  7. So I got my package, but instead of Fruit Gems, the box had some hodge podge assortment! I sent them an email and they admitted to messing up, and will be sending me Fruit Gems in another shipment. I think knowing about this place is going to be dangerous, though…

    Comment by Tricia on 8/03/07 at 2:17 pm #
  8. I’ve been hoping Jelly Belly would put out some natural jelly beans for ages, so am thrilled it’s finally happened. Now if I could just find them somewhere nearby…

    Comment by Anna on 9/07/07 at 6:16 pm #
  9. lol jelly bellyz r not kewl

    Comment by ouhofuh on 1/29/08 at 4:00 am #
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