Phil Lempert's SupermarketGuru
 

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

479 Degrees
Popcorn
Ginger Sesame Caramel

[Image of: Popcorn]
81
If you are one of those caramel popcorn aficionados this might be for you. Crispy air popped popcorn with a coating of agave nectar, brown syrup, butter and toasted sesame oil is then infused with black sesame seeds that you can see right on the popped kernels and ginger. It's very sweet, 1 cup is 13 grams of sugars and tastes very good. However, the ginger flavor is not very strong and there is just a slight sesame taste.
$3.99 / 4 oz

479 Popcorn
888 479 9866
http://www.479popcorn.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Activate
Antioxidant
Blueberry Pomegranate

[Image of: Antioxidant]
82
Someone is always looking for what's next in water and here's a clever, but yet not original concept. Store ingredients in the cap and then when you're ready to consume, just twist the cap and it releases the ingredients. We've seen similar things in the caps of yogurts and milks, meds and even ice cream, but this is the first I've seen in water. So what's in the cap? Natural flavors, stevia, fruit juices, green and white tea, aloe vera to name just a few. 1 bottle contains 96 mg of polyphenols as well as other antioxidants. The blueberry/ pomegranate flavor is light enough not to be offensive. The company says this packaging keeps the ingredients and vitamins fresher than if they just added them during the bottling process.
$2.49 / 16.9 fl oz

Rising Beverage Co
877 420 1850
http://www.activatedrinks.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Wholesome Sweeteners
Organic Stevia
Packets

[Image of: Organic Stevia]
85
This product is a HIT! As I'm sure you know by now stevia is one of the hottest sweeteners; it is from the stevia plant and has zero calories. 1 packet is extremely sweet and my recommendation would be to start out using just a tiny bit and adjust to taste. The stevia extract is blended with agave inulin. I like stevia, but with a product this sweet it just reinforces America's sweet tooth. Isn't it time we just enjoy and accept the way our foods and beverages taste instead of making them overly sweet?
$4.29 / 35 individual packets

Wholesome Sweeteners Inc
800 680 1896
http://www.organicstevia.biz

Scoring Breakdown:

ThinkThin
Crunch Bar
Blueberry & Mixed Nuts

[Image of: Crunch Bar]
88
This product is a HIT! If you like protein bars and you like peanuts, almonds and cashews you're going to love thinkThin. This recipe of nuts and blueberries and currants is very tasty and what I especially like is the large pieces of nuts in the ingredients. 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber and just 6 grams of sugars, which is about half the sugars in other bars. Make no mistake about it, this is a delicious and satisfying snack. However each bar is 180 calories and 11 grams of fat.
$1.89 / 1.41 oz

thinkThin
866 98THINK
http://www.thinkproducts.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Tiger Teeth Pepper
Fiery Habanero
Hot Sauce

[Image of: Fiery Habanero]
94
This product is a HIT! If you like a seriously hot, hot sauce and don't mind every taste bud in your mouth being on fire ...and then enjoy the same sensation all the way down your tongue and throat, you have got to buy this sauce. Just fresh habanero peppers, a little vinegar and salt in the recipe. The look is similar to a freshly made salsa, but don't be fooled. Just a tiny bit will go a long way. This product should come with a warning label, but I say that fondly because the taste and the heat are extraordinary.
$8.50 / 8 fl oz

Tiger Teeth Pepper
917 538 9754
http://www.tigerteethpepper.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
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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.