March 17, 2010
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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:

  1. (30 points) Taste: The most important attribute of any food
  2. (20 points) Value: Is it worth it?
  3. (15 points) Health: Based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?
  4. (15 points) Ingredients: What's in it, how natural is it?
  5. (5 points) Preparation: When applicable, how accurate or good are the directions *
  6. (5 points) Appearance: Is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description
  7. (5 points) Packaging: Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as resealability, added freshness, better storage, etc.
  8. (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

Savory Choice Chicken Liquid Broth Concentrate Reduced Sodium

[Image of: Chicken Broth]
84
You’ll probably remember your mom using bouillon cubes; those little compacted squares wrapped in silver foil that she would drop into boiling water and proceed to bang with the edge of a spoon to break them up into the water. Savory Choice wants to change all that with their new Liquid Broth Concentrate. I tasted the Reduced Sodium Chicken Flavor and found the aroma and the taste excellent. Gluten free and no MSG, 1 cup contains just 360mg of sodium and 1g of fat. Retails for $2.49 / 4 pack.

Savory Creations International
866 4 SAVORY
http://www.savorychoice.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Columbia Gorge Organic Meyer Ginger Lemonade

[Image of: Soft Beverage]
90
This product is a HIT! I love lemonade and I was curious when I saw Columbia Gorge’s Meyer Ginger Lemonade. Now, I have had Meyer lemons and I have had ginger, but never had the thought of combining them. This product is great tasting – there’s no question that it is thirst quenching and satisfying. However it is expensive for a product that contains 21% juice. 1 bottle will set you back 220 calories and 58g of carbs. Although it will also give you 154mg of potassium and it is sweetened with agave syrup instead of sugar. Retails for $3.29.

Stewart Bros, Inc
541 354 1066
http://www.cogojuice.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Santa Barbara Bay Greek Yogurt Dip Zesty Ranch Flavor

[Image of: Dip]
83
A couple of weeks ago I brought a couple of girl-scout troops on a supermarket tour. We spent most of the time in the produce department and I loved the fact that all of them told me how much they loved salad and veggies – however, I was dismayed that they all said their favorite dressing was full fat ranch dressing. So here is an alternative for both kids and adults - Santa Barbara Bay All Natural Greek Yogurt Dip. It has only 60 calories, 5g of fat (which is less than half the norm for ranch dressing) and just 180mg of sodium. On top of that there are 5 live cultures – the taste is great and this proves that you do not have to compromise your health or taste. Retails for $4.99.

Santa Barbara Bay Foods
805 688 5248
http://www.santabarbarabay.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Beanitos Pinto Bean and Flax Chips

[Image of: Chips]
90
This product is a HIT! Could this be the perfect chip? Beanitos are made from pinto beans, whole brown flax seeds and whole grain rice. Just 1oz or about 10 chips has 1200mg of omega 3s - that is twice as much as cooked salmon. Gluten-free, corn-free and a complete protein, this chip is perfect for dipping or just eating out of the bag. What is exceptional, besides the taste, is how on the back of the package they explain in detail, (but simply), the benefits for each of their claims. Retails for $3.99.

Bean Brand Foods
512 609 8017
http://www.beanitos.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Annie’s Naturals Mango Vinaigrette

[Image of: Salad Dressing]
84
Have you ever has a fat-free mango vinaigrette? Probably not, and while I applaud Annie’s Naturals adventurous flavor journey, I have to say that this one just does not make it. The heavy mango flavor does mask the lack of fat which is great and if you like mango you will love this dressing. But if you are not a huge fan of the world’s most popular fruit, pass it on by. It is gluten-free, contains no artificial colors or preservatives and uses cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I might try this to marinate chicken or fish, but as a salad dressing it is just way too fruity. Retails for $3.39.

Annie’s Naturals
800 288 1089
http://www.annies.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.