Tom's Look At The Visual Side Of Snacks And Candy - Nature's Path Chewy Strawberry Granola Bars

Hey all!

Time for another look at snack and candy packaging! This time, I want to show you how a company maxed out the box in which their granola bars for kids are sold. The outside of the box is attractively designed with colourful imagery to appeal to kids (and the parents doing the buying). Nature’s Path is a company that sells “Organic” goods like cereals as well as these granola bars. You’ll notice the “Envirokidz” logo as part of the Nature’s Path logo. Also, in the right side of the first photograph, under some bullet points extolling the benefits of the snack itself, it says “SAVE MACAWS”. This might explain the somewhat odd choice of the large image of the macaw on the left side of the package. I say ‘unusual’ since strawberries and macaws really don’t relate, apart from the colour association. One might expect a macaw to be used to promote a tropical fruit mix granola bar. That’s where the next batch of photos come in!

Almost the entire INSIDE of the box is used to present information about the companies efforts to help preserve the Amazon rainforest, home to the macaw.

Also, facts about the macaw are presented.

Finally, kids are given pointers on things to do and habits to pick up close to home to help the planet.

Not only is this a fun way of making kids and parents aware of and perhaps involved with an aspect of preserving the environment but the company actually utilized the inside of the box to present this information! Rather than a website link, which might be ignored (life is busy...) the designers put to use packaging real estate that would be blank and unnoticed. Bravo to the designers for a smart and informative package design!

Tom

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This Week In Candy

What the heck is "Green Cola"?  I've seen this can of cola on the shelf of my local grocery store for a few years now, but I've never had the nerve to buy it.  When I first noticed the design, I thought that it was an official Coca-Cola product, but on closer inspection I realized that it wasn't.  It sure looks official though.  I still couldn't figure out why it was called "Green". So after sampling it, do I know?  Not at all.  The cola is not green, the can doesn't seem more environmentally friendly, it's basically just a can of Coke 0.

About 3 weeks ago I announced a contest that would net the winner a huge box of retro candy from our friends at candycrate.com.  We asked people to write about their favorite candy memory, and we got some great answers.  But alas we could only have one winner, and it was a nice mix of nostalgia and sentiment.  Congratulations Holli, and thanks for telling us a little bit about your fond candy memories:

"Ahh retro candy...  My fondest memory is of Cadbury Astros.  Remember those?  Chocolate outside, crispy centered, multicolored balls?  It was a favorite treat on family nights. Once a month or so, we would bring our mattresses down to the living room, and my sister, mom, and I would eat junk food and watch movies. This was the only time we ever had Astros, so they were a coveted treat. We were never a very close family, but those nights were always fun. Even the cats would get in on it. One loved to steal a red Twizzlers and run off to eat it.  Apparently, you can now only get Astros in Africa. Sad times :("

CC

It's National Jelly Bean Day!!!

It's also Earth Day as well, so I'm torn.  Do I love the planet earth, or green jelly beans?  I guess I could like both at the same time, and in particular I'd love to have a green jelly bean that was the size of the earth.  So I guess I suggest taking a bag of jelly beans to your local wooded area, sit back, and enjoy watching the natural world go by.  But remember not to throw the empty jelly bean bag on the ground.

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Tuesday's Candy Links

Bad news for chocolate lovers, it appears some of the cocoa harvests might be lousy this year.

Three trends in chocolate bars from Mars, little bars, gigantic bars, and seasonally themed bars.

There's a new study that says if you leave the skins on your peanuts when you make peanut butter, it's better for you.

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Thursday's Candy Links

Lindt is giving away one million bags of chocolate truffles, you could score a bag and all it takes is a "Like".

I think I've written about Unreal candy in the past, but here's some more information on this new treat to look out for.  They've got some pretty big people backing them up too.

Unreal is trying to make a statement about what's in your candy bar, and now, so is Hershey's.

I hate candy articles that simply tell you that sugar (real or fake) is bad for, and says nothing about portion control or the fact that we actually need some sugar to survive.

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This Week In Candy

I could really go for a slice of cake right now.  I have to be honest, I've never really made a cake before in my life that didn't come out of a box.  That's not to say I've never baked, in fact I think I've become a pretty good baker, I even enjoy making bread.  I've made a banana bread in the past, and that's kind of cake like, but it didn't have layers, or chocolate, so maybe it's not really cake.  Not sure why I started This Week In Candy with my talk about cake, I guess I just want to eat some.

The summer seems to be wrapping up nicely, and after a really hot time it appears that the Midwestern United States is starting to get a little rain, but it's probably too late.  Food prices are going to go up, a lot, and that means that candy prices will too.  Just because the Midwest doesn't grow sugar cane or cocoa, doesn't mean that price won't escalate.

Finally, I guess I should start thinking about Halloween this year.  I need to pick out a Halloween candy to review, and I'm always looking for stories you might have about your favorite candy related Halloween experiences.  I know it seems early, but this holiday always seems to sneak up on me.

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Thursday's Candy Links

Quick recall notice from the folks at Red Vines, if you've recently bought a one pound bag of black licorice recently, you'll want to read this.

So you're all familiar with the drough happening right now in the US, right?  Well here's how candy came to the rescue.

Have you been keeping up with all of the Mars Curiosity stuff lately.  Have you noticed the peanuts?

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Wednesday's Candy Links

So what's the big deal about climate change, well it's started to affect cocoa crops.

Here's the good news about cocoa, if you're an older person you should probably eat more of it.

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This Week In Candy

Candy News - The heat is pretty much all of the news this week.  All over the world new heat records are being set, so what does that have to do with candy?  Well first of all with high heat records, ice cream is really the business to be in right now.  I imagine that Ben and Jerry's, Haagen Dazs, and Baskin Robins will have a pretty good year.  But I also want to point out that there are a few candy companies in the world trying to work greener, and trying to keep the world a little cooler for future generation.  I wonder if any ice cream companies would go green to help stop global warming?

What's Happening At Candy Critic - All this weeks we're going to feature an American food... well a food that Europeans feel is American.  Last week I went shopping at our local Lidl grocery store where they had an American themed sale.  I picked up a few things and I'll show you what I got.  Also, next week we're going to have a British Candy Review-a-Thon, to celebrate the opening ceremonies for the Olympic games in London.

Rant - The other night I was questioned about my ability to be a Candy Critic.  It was taken into question as to whether or not I had the proper training or skill set to do this job.  I've never been to culinary school, although I have taken a food science class in university.  I've never worked in a place that makes candy, distributes candy, and other than a brief stint in a comic shop that sold some candy as well, the retail end is fairly out of my experience range.  So, what then makes me qualified to review candy?  I'm not sure, the two things I can point out are my ability to write, take pictures, and present my feelings on the subject.  I also have a passion, a passion that goes well beyond many others (at least I imagine).  I don't just think about candy as a sweet fix, I love the look, the history, and the process of manufacturing candy.  I love how it's sold, I love how it's used in media, and I even love the controversy.

CC

Thursday's Candy Links

What if they could make the wrapper for your food, from the by-product from your food... that's awesome.

Learn a little something about "candy scientist" Michele Fram, she has a pretty impressive job.

I think I've mentioned these "World's largest gummy bears" before, but just in case you missed it.

Two pieces of relocation news, first of all Farley's & Sathers Candy Co is closing a bunch of it's factories including a location in Chattanooga, secondly Madame Chocolat is moving out of Beverly Hills.

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Wednesday's Candy Links

All I have to say is "Giant Chocolate Cthulhu".

I love scavenger hunts, I love candy, so the Peeps scavenger hunt sounds fantastic.

Miss Muffet & Co, a candy company in the UK, has started to package their treats in completely compostable packaging.

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This Week In Candy

Candy News - This week seems like a fairly slow week in the world of candy news.  I guess that's a good and bad thing.  We like a busy week in candy news because it makes it easy to fill up my daily links.  However a busy week can also mean a million e-mails clogging up our inbox.

What's Happening At Candy Critic - This year we at Candy Critic have gotten into the Lent spirit a little.  It's kind of a new thing for us, but it's proven to be fun and interesting. It's interesting to hear about how many different cultures celebrate Lent, and even more interesting to see how people choose to follow these rules.

Rant - One of the things I don't mention too often on this site is the importance of the environment when it relates to candy.  I read article after article all about how the environment effects the growth of sugar, cocoa, and many other ingredients in candy.  I also read about how these growers also effect the environment around them.  While I've never boycotted a candy company because of their environmental stance, I do like to give positive credit to companies that work positive environmental changes into their companies.

Monday's Candy Links

Don't eat that!.. Jaggery candy recalled in California and Washington.

Kraft signed a deal to make some of their treats in an ice cream form, I'm looking forward to the Toblerone ice cream treat.

NPR's Diane Rehm has a great episode of here show on the subject of "Environmental Outlook: Saving Chocolate".

Can't buy astronaut ice cream in your neck of the woods?  Don't worry the folks at Craft Zine have you covered.

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Friday's Candy Links

I still don't like the idea of food trends, but I really like reading lists about great food ideas.

Why is science cool?  "Maine soda-and-candy-powered car travels 239 feet." That's why.

Here's a pretty amazing collection of Geeky Gingerbread houses.

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Thursday's Candy Links

Chocolate, it's not just for candy, you can cook with it too.

Global warming might equal a huge chocolate shortage, from now on I walk everywhere.

An education about the difference between chocolate as candy and chocolate as a food, from a chocolate snob.

While you're worrying about the chocolate shortage, here's a little more information about the current peanut shortage.

Just My Show, a great podcast about all things retro has an interview with Ross Born, CEO of Just Born.  Did you know that some say they invented ice cream Jimmies?

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Illegal Honey

In the last few months I’ve come across many articles on the subject of “illegal honey”.  Many of these articles talk about what a problem this has been, and that the problem seems to focused on honey from China, but very few give great detail about what “illegal honey” really means.  I decided to do a little checking around and I contacted the honey experts at Honibe.  I talked to John Rowe from Honibe on this subject and he cleared up a lot.

He focused on three key impacts that illegal honey is having on the honey industry, environmental, trade, and health.  I have to admit that I was rather sceptical about this talk of illegal honey, and I imagined that it might be a ploy by honey producers to try and stop the trade of cheaper honeys into the market.  While this is an issue, the real problem comes down to why this honey is cheaper.

John told me that there are really two problems with these cheaper honeys (often coming from China). Some of these honeys contain a “blend of honey with corn syrup”.  While this is not dangerous, unless you have an allergy to corn, it is dishonest.  The bigger concern comes from the use of antibiotics in these illegal honeys.  Many of the honeys coming out of China use antibiotics that are banned in Canada and the US and have been found to be very unhealthy.

Both Canada and the US have been working hard at fighting this kind of honey from entering their borders.  After discovering that Chinese honey was a problem a huge tariff was implemented in order to make honey harder to export. Regular inspections of honey imported into the US and Canada make sure it doesn’t slip through the cracks.  This tariff or basically a ban on importing Chinese honey hasn’t been easy.  As soon as the tariffs went up for Chinese honey, suddenly some other countries would have a boom in the amount of honey available to export.  It was/is thought that these countries would bring in Chinese honey, re-label it as their own, and send it to Canada and the US.  It’s become such a problem that John tells me “people have gone to jail for this” and the department of homeland security is now involved.

I asked John about his opinions of small producers of honey (the kind you might find at a county fair) and if home hives are a problem to the honey business.  John explains that “everybody should have a hive”.  To John, honey is not just about business, it’s also about taking care of the world.  He has no problem with low priced honey; he has a problem with dishonest honey and unhealthy honey.  In fact, he explained to me how important honey and honey manufacturing is to the world. 90% or all pollination comes from bees, so the environmental impact of the loss of bees is gigantic.

What I got from this conversation is the passion that many of these honey producers and users have.  Although there is money involved, there are bigger problems that illegal honey creates such as health and the environment issues.  Paying a little more for a quality honey isn’t just about supporting an industry, it’s also about making sure you’re food is healthy and so is the world.

I also found a great link on the subject of home honey hives, well worth reading.

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Rev 7 Gum, I Learn Something About Sticky

About 2 months ago I started hearing rumours of a gum technology that would change the candy world.  This new gum was not bragging about a new flavour, or new colour, or even longer lasting flavour, this gum was instead bragging about keeping the world a cleaner place.  The concept was simple, why not make a gum that can biodegrade and be cleaned off of any material.

It’s not often that a particular novelty of a candy intrigues me so much as this one did.  I was lucky enough to get in contact with the folks making this gum, called Rev 7.  I spoke to Jonathan Briggs the product manager at Rev 7 and he had lots to say about this chewing gum revolution:

Professor Terrence Cosgrove from Bristol University created this new gum technology.  He was challenged by his wife, who noticed all of the black spots on the street, to create a gum that doesn’t make such a mess.  He examined the technology of “gum” and studied why things stick on a scientific level.  He managed to create the base of what is Rev 7, a gum that cleans up easily from almost any surface.

Jonathan went on to explain that the gum was tested by many independent sources.  They would use sections of sidewalk and compare the gum with other gums by pressing it down and seeing how it holds up to weather conditions.  In this particular case the losing gum, the one that didn’t stick as well, would be the winner.  This new type of gum base (found in Rev 7) came off the sidewalk 75% of the time in normal weather conditions. They also did a test in Florida at very hot and very dry conditions; the gum came off 100% of the time while competitors only came off 5% of the time.  This may not seem that important in the grand scheme of the world, but the thing you have to consider is that the UK alone spends 150 million pounds (that’s more than 245 million US dollars) a year on gum removal.

But sidewalks are just part of the problem, clothing and hair can be the worst place to find gum.  I personally have had many bad experiences in this area in particular a few years ago when I sat on a park bench and my bag and pants where covered.  Jonathan told me that they tested the gum on clothing as well as hair.  They bought samples of many different fabrics and found that the gum was removable all of the time with soap and water.  The most challenging test was wool because it could sink into the fabric yet the gum was removed with a little soap, water and some care.  Most importantly in all of their tests the gum did not damage the fabric at all.  They even had a few employees offer to test it on their hair.  In all cases the gum came out with shampoo and water, no need for oils or peanut butter.

The stickiness of gum is something that has never really been address in the candy world.  Solving this problem is a great way to improve the environment and also makes me feel a little better about sitting on park benches in the future.

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Rev 7 Gum

A few months ago I posted a few links about a new kind of gum that apparently bio-degrades quickly to help eliminate those unsightly black spots all over the sidewalk.  Apparently this gum is also easy to pick up off the street, since it doesn't stick, as well.  Even more importantly this gum is finally hitting the market, and it's called Rev7.

Click here to read more about Rev7 gum.

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Degradable Gum

It appears that a chemical company has developed a degradable gum.  What does this mean to you?  Well it could go two ways.  You could end up with a gum that if spat out on the street (you should never do this) it will dissolve faster and leave little to no mess.  It could also lead to gum that disappears as you chew it, this could be a good or a bad thing.  Best of all it will completely eliminate the old wives tale of gum sitting in your stomach for 10 years.

Click here to read a really science heavy article about it.

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Good Conscience or Good Business

Below is an interesting article about Fair Trade chocolate and the business behind it.  The folks that certify Fair Trade products are trying to promote the idea that putting the label on your food is not just about doing the right thing as it is good business as well.  They say it's good business because the people of the world are better educated today and they feel that "Fair Trade" certification will actually sell more candy and food than not having the certification.

Click here to read more.

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