Friday, October 5, 2007
Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt SnacksAfter reading the publicity materials and nutrition label on these, I don’t think they can be called candy. But I have them and some folks expressed interest in the new Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Snacks, I thought I’d do a review. The snacks come in five flavors: Blueberry, Strawberry, Cherry, Raspberry and Peach. They are little, firm jelly pieces made with real fruit puree covered in a yogurt confection coating. The first ingredient on the label is Fruit Puree (depends on the flavor, which always includes real fruit of that kind), followed by Fruit Juice Concentrates ... then Sugar. Of course the next item is Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, but I’m guessing that’s so low on the proportions it explains why the fat content is only 3 grams per serving (approximately 1 ounce or half the bag) and it says 0 grams of trans fat. Not all the flavors interest me much, so I’m not even going to open the Peach ones. Some lucky Trick-or-Treater will get that later this month. While getting my samples on the last day of All Candy Expo the guy at the Promotion in Motion booth (they folks who make these for Welch’s) apologized for not having any Cherry. I told him that was no big loss either for me. Generally, the little bits are kind of crumbly. The yogurt confectionery coating isn’t like a white chocolate, it’s not buttery smooth. It’s kind of like a flaky frosting. It’s not bad, it’s not too sweet and adds a bit of a milky flavor to the whole thing, but also a little chalky texture ... I’m guessing this because so many of the ingredients are dairy powders (whey powder, yogurt powder). But the coating has something to offer - both calcium (10%) and vitamin D (25%) as well as active cultures of Lactobacillus acidophillus and Lactobacillus caseii. Oh, yeah, and 100% of the RDA of vitamin C and 25% of your RDA of vitamin A. Raspberry: lovely light scent, sweet and tangy. The jelly center is firm, with a nice crumbly chew. It’s not sticky, it’s not at all like a gummi or a standard jelly candy like Dots or tough like a fruit leather. It doesn’t have that fine smoothness that jellies of all kinds have, but the texture is pretty nice. The yogurt coating is only okay, as mentioned above. Strawberry: smells like light spring flowers and cotton candy (pretty much how fresh strawberries smell to me). There’s a slight tangy ice cream scent as well. Blueberry: this really tastes like blueberries, though it doesn’t have the deep flavor profile that the two other berry flavors sport. The yogurt coating fell off of the centers when I jostled the bags around a lot. I would have recommended throwing these into a snack mix of some sort - nuts, maybe some chocolate panned nuts, dried fruits and pretzels. But I don’t know if the could stand up to it. The ones shown here are a two portion bag (perhaps for parents to share with their kids or kids to share with each other). They’re also available in “snack packs” which have less than 100 calories (and I’m guessing are a little under an ounce). Are they candy? No, they’re too fortified. Are they something you might be able to sell your kids on instead of candy? Possibly ... it’s more likely you’ll be able to get your kids to eat these as a healthier snack than just chips or perhaps a finicky kid who won’t eat fruit might sample them. (There’s no significant fiber in there though.) As snacks go, I still think that the Florida’s Naturals Sour Fruit Strings do the best job of feeling like “no compromise” on taste, but if your kids like these and think they’re candy, then by all means, let them indulge in this instead of something worse. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:41 am |
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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I hate how they put those hydrogenated oils in the coatings. *sigh* Turns me away everytime.
Gah, I hate hate hate fake milk and fake yogurt coatings. They seem to be making their way into all of my cereal bars. It’s a shame, too, because I love candies with real fruit.
Don’t they have something called YoGoes already?
Not sure if that’s how it’s spelled, but the commercials are pretty interesting (:
I was a guest at All Candy Expo and sampled these. I thought they were “Out Of This World” delicious and can’t for them to show up in my local stores. I’m already obsessed!
Sera - I know they’ve revamped how they use the hydrogenated oils (so that they have little to no trans fats) but still, I’d like to see some nice high-quality cocoa butter versions myself.
Ace - they do make a plain fruit snack without the fake yogurt coating. Of course it doesn’t have all the calcium and stuff in it.
Emily - I saw the YoGos at Target over the weekend, maybe I’ll pick some up after these are all gone.
Amy - I haven’t seen them in stores yet, I was hoping they’d make it by back-to-school.
These fruit ‘candies’ are terrific in terms of taste and satiaty. The individual snack bags which can be purchased at Costo now, are just the right portion for a sweet snack. I have only seen and tried the blueberry and strawberry and I am dying to try the cherry and raspberry. I have not seen those on the market. My friend also found the 4.2 oz. size at 7-11. Even if you do tend to overdo, these can’t do nearly the damage other candies can. I disagree with the description of the yogurt coating, I thought it was quite smooth and tasted like vanilla yogurt. According to the package it is made with live and active cultures unfortunatly shelf stabilized by partially hydrogenated palm kernal oil. Still, very tasty and good for you.
I bought a bag in our candy machine at work and I am now hooked on these Welch’s Fruit and Yogurt Snacks. I can’t find them anywhere. I have went to Walmart, Safeway, Shopko and other convenience stores. Where can I buy them besides online? Our machine at work is out.
You can find them at some 7-11’s, but not all. If I find one that does, I buy several packages at a time! I can only find Blueberry and Strawberry though. Good luck.
Cybele…I just came across this review of our Welch’s Fruit n Yogurt Snacks and am extremely disappointed and frankly, upset. The samples you took from our booth at ALL CANDY EXPO were not eating samples (even the 1.9 oz. bags were digital mock-ups) and the product inside, was not anything even similar to the actual product on the market. Our product does not crack and.or chip and are carefully panned by experts at our factory and pass numerous QA barriers before ever going out the door. Only three versions are on the market (not five…again, you removed mock-ups from our booth) and they are made with pure fruit ingredients and then lightly bathed in our proprietary yogurt covering which contains a heaping quantity of probiotic Live and Active Cultures. The product is totally shelf stable, 100% delicious, and a truly “smart choice” snack for anyone wishing to “indulge” while maintaining a balanced and measured diet. In fact they are so revolutionary and unique, that we have Patents Pending in the U.S. Patent Office on both our fruit centers and yogurt covering. Plain and simple, there is nothing else on the market even remotely similar.
As an NCA Board Member (and former Expo Chairman) I appreciate your coming to ALL CANDY EXPO and covering the industry.
But in the future, please confirm that the samples you are taking are not just for display, and/or come see me and I will be totally delighted to send you fresh samples of ANY of our many exceptional products for your review, sampling and/or to include in your blog, and you will get “the real stuff” which will reesult in a fair and accurate review of our products (which your review of our Fruit N Yogurt Snacks is not even close to being) and best of all, will not even have to lug those back from Chicago. You can reach me any time on my cell at 609-271-0601. You are also invited at any time you might like, to tour our unrivaled 17 acre state of the art manufacturing plant in Somerset, NJ for a private “behind the scenes” tour, and to sample our SUN-MAID Milk Chocolate Raisins, WELCH’S Fruit Snacks, WELCH’S Fruit n Yogurt Snacks, FISHER Milk Chocolate Peanuts, SOUR JACKS, TUXEDOS Milk Chocolate Almonds, and many other fine products as they are coming off the production line.
Best regards,
The Promotion In Motion Companies, Inc.
Michael G. Rosenberg, President & CEO
I’ve got a bag of these right next to me—frankly, I’m not too impressed. I’m a fan of many things that aren’t sweet, but these have a sort of sour, acidic aftertaste that I find unattractive. The yogurt coating isn’t too bad, though I’m madly amused by the ‘CEO’ review above that claims that ‘Our product does not crack and.or chip’. If I pull one out of its bag right now, it is both cracked and chipped.
In the end, I think I’m going to end up throwing these away.
Just an update, I did respond to Mr. Rosenberg & take him up on the offer of fresh samples for re-review.
It’s been two weeks and I haven’t heard back nor gotten anything in the mail.
I’ve also been on the lookout for the product at stores, but haven’t seen it.
I just wanted too say thank you for your support of Midland School Adult services
I love the fruit n yogurt snacks they are wonderful but the only place I have found them
in my area is in our snack machine & they are
expensive to purchase that way. I would love
to have them available in the stores to purchase
are they anywhere in the Wichita, Kansas area.
I love the Welch’s fruit n yogurt but am unable to purchase outside of the vending machine. Can they be ordered on-line?
Just an update, since it’s been nearly a year. I did get an email from Promotion in Motion in August 2009 about new samples for review. We agreed that I’d pick them up at NACS, a convenience store convention in Las Vegas in October 2009. When I arrived at the booth, I was told that they were reformulating the product and it would be available in January and that they’d send them along then.
January has come and gone and I haven’t gotten any new product to evaluate. I am unable to find them in stores in my area or on the internet.
We Have the Strawberry ones in the Best Buy store that i work at. When craving a sweet snake i tend to go for these instead of the other sugars in the candy Isle. I find them quite good. the chew is soft and does not stick to your teeth. the yogurt coting is got a subtle creamy flavor to it that dosn’t overpower the fruit chew at all.
the coating in consistancy is about wht you would get if you diped something into hot wax. it does not tast like wx but that was the best way to discribe the texture. it will crack if you are rough on the candies but even peeling the coating off is not eaisy so risk of it just falling of is slim to non.
I would very much like to see some of the others flavors on the market.
These things are fantastic - I can only get the strawberry at my grocery store, but would love to get my hands on a variety pack; they are the perfect addition to a sack lunch.
cant find in any store
I can only find blueberry and strawberry in stores, and prefer blueberry.
Peach sounds awesome, though. I wish they were more popular.
Not a huge foodie here, but I know what I like in terms of candy, and I like this stuff. The first taste is odd. I can’t pin it down, but something does taste a bit weird. That all disappears as soon as you bite down on these things. I’ve only had the strawberry, and likely only ever will (out of all the flavors available, only strawberry tends to satisfy me for fruit snacks).
After one or two of these, the slightly unusual initial taste disappears and you’re left with what tastes like a strawberry milkshake. The coating is smooth and soft (not brittle and “snappy” like I expected”, so even if you bite down into one, it doesn’t all fall apart. The interior tastes and feels like any other quality fruit snack, soft and smooth, unlike most gummies. Again, the taste is the surprisingly great part, but all around, the smooth, soft texture, the not-too-overblown coloring, and the fresh feeling of these really makes me want more.
I will agree that they have a surprising sour/bitter aftertaste from the fruit juice used, but that’s mainly because I expected less of that from the yogurt “shell”. Welch’s has kinda surprised me with a very unexpected taste here, and I’m definitely going to have to get more.
I will say: DO NOT BUY THESE if you’re trying to lose weight. I scarfed 4 servings pretty quickly without realizing. Once you’ve had one or two, the somewhat odd first taste disappears and you want to keep eating more.
No cracks or crumbles in my bag, though I did have a group of about 8 of the beans stuck together in the bag. They come apart seamlessly (no shell sticking to another bean when you pull them apart), and they look pretty high quality.
Picked these up in a local gas station, but they seem to be spreading a bit. They’re worth trying, at least once.
These candies are AMAZiNG!! My bf and I can’t get enough! Only thing is I can’t find them :( I got the last few boxes at Walmart and I was told they were discontinuing them. Where else can I purchase them?
i love the strawberry yogurt fruit snacks!!!! totally hooked!!!! the only thing is a friend brought them to my house and she doesnt remember where she got them. i have looked everywhere and nobody has them. sure wish they were easier to find!
I live in Brooklyn and it’s unfair that I cannot find these wonderful snacks in my local grocery store. If I may make a suggestion, Welch’s should consider putting ALL of their flavors yougurt covered. If not I can live with the flavors already sold, but for the love of God please bring them back to Brooklyn stores!!!!!
I just had a taste of the strawberry from a friends bag. Wow! I can see these becoming addictive. They are good. In my area we can get the strawberry and blueberry at CVS, Family Dollar and Dollar General. I will definitely be getting some to stash in my desk.
Boxes of the 80 calorie Strawberry and Blueberry mini packs are available from Walmart.com. Unfortunately it says the Cherry are only available in Walmart stores.
I wish Welch’s would reconsider and come out with the Raspberry and Peach as well.
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