New Products Hits & Misses for 02/03/2010

Ratings Criteria

With over 50,000 products in the average supermarket, people don't have the time, or the money, to test every product on the shelves and with 15,000 new products every year consumers need to know what's out there!

So Phil does the testing and the tasting for you and gives the product a rating out of 100 so you know what you can expect when you try something new!

SupermarketGuru does not sell the foods we review, nor receive any compensation from the manufacturers for reviewing or rating them.

Phil taste-tests and judges each product based on the following 8 criteria:

(30 points) Taste: The most important attribute of any food
(20 points) Value: Is it worth it?
(15 points) Health: Based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?
(15 points) Ingredients: What's in it, how natural is it?
(5 points) Preparation: When applicable, how accurate or good are the directions *
(5 points) Appearance: Is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description
(5 points) Packaging: Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as resealability, added freshness, better storage, etc.
(5 Points) Sustainability: Is the packaging biodegradable, is it wasteful, is the company endeavoring to offset their carbon footprint?

* products that do not have any preparation will have the full value of these points included in their total score

N.O. Brew New Orleans Style Iced Coffee Traditional Flavor

84

When most people make iced coffee they forget to make it extra strong so that the ice cubes will not dilute the coffee flavor (here's a hint - just pour coffee in your ice cube trays and use those!) N.O. Brew New Orleans Style Iced Coffee makes it easier. This is coffee concentrate – you add 2 parts water or milk to 1 part coffee. It is clearly more expensive than if you made it yourself, but there is no question it is a lot easier. The coffee itself is smooth, however I really do not taste the chicory and once again here is another coffee product that does not identify what type of beans are used, where the coffee comes from, or the caffeine content. Retails for $4.99.

Orleans Beverage Company
504 263 5950
http://www.nobrew.com

Scoring Breakdown:

The Allens Veg-All Steam Supreme Broccoli Florets, Cauliflower, Whole Baby Carrots

91

This product is a HIT! As you know I love the new microwave steam packaging and The Allens Steam Supreme is no exception. One pound of broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots steamed perfectly in just 6 minutes. And remember that unlike conventional steaming, steaming in the microwave in this package, not only retains more flavor, but also more nutrients. It is more expensive than if you just bought the vegetables separately, cleaned them, boiled water and cleaned up the pot, but hey, who has time for all that? And do you really want to anyway? And this way there is no waste. Retails for $2.70.

Allens, Inc
800 234 2553
http://www.allens.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Earth Café Raw Vegan Cheesecake Rockin’ Raspberry

90

This product is a HIT! There is nothing like NY style cheesecake – it is rich, it is creamy and typically loaded with sugar and fat. Earth Café’s Rockin’ Raspberry is dairy free, wheat free, gluten free, cholesterol free and vegan. This is much lighter and frankly much tastier than the cheesecake you are probably used to. Your taste buds will be happy! When the first ingredient is raspberries I am impressed. Instead of using wheat flour they use soaked walnuts and instead of using sugar or high fructose corn syrup they use agave nectar. You will never buy frozen cheesecake again. Retails for $5.39 - $5.99.

Earth Café
949 583 0080
http://www.earthcafetogo.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Uncle Fitz White Sauce

84

What is a white sauce? Well, I am not quite sure, but Uncle Fitz, who comes from Jamaica, has come up with a recipe that is slightly tangy, slightly spicy and unlike many other sauces, very low in sodium. Using a soybean oil base, this sauce, according to Uncle Fitz, is great on meats, poultry, seafood and even salad. But remember, before you pour it on, that one tablespoon is 12g of fat. There is no added sugar, it uses Splenda instead. Retails for $4.99 - $5.99.

Uncle Fitz Sauces, Inc
866 556 0210
http://www.unclefitz.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Bai Antioxidant Infusions Jamaica Blue Berry

88

This product is a HIT! Here is another Jamaican-inspired product – Bai Antioxidant Infusions are made with a combination of coffee fruit and white tea extracts. Coffee fruit is the covering from the coffee plant that surrounds the bean. It has 125 times the amount of antioxidants as a blueberry. This flavor, Jamaica Blue Berry has a nice clean taste; although the taste does linger a little. It is sweetened with evaporated cane juice, but ever-so slightly, and contains blueberry, blackberry and strawberry concentrates. Retails for $1.99.

Bai Brands
877 425 2197
http://www.drinkbai.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Thank You

We hope you enjoyed this edition of

New Product
Hits and Misses

If you would like Phil to consider your new product for review, please send 4 samples of each flavor you to submit for review, with the suggested retail price and other product information. We regret that we can not review all products submitted. Please send to:

New Product Review
SupermarketGuru.com
3015 Main Street, Suite 320
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Product reviews are conducted by randomly selecting one flavor of a product and taking into consideration the information available on the package itself as it would appear in the retail environment. Information contained in advertisements or on websites is not taken into account for evaluation or ratings.

Email danielle@supermarketguru.com with any questions and whenever possible please be environmentally friendly when packaging your products.