If you’re like me, you must be a pretty awesome,  you’ll find the ever saturated nutritional snack isle more a source of confusion than convenience. It literally feels like there’s a new brand on the shelf every week, and for me anyway, it’s getting to the point where I’ve begun to just think ‘oh forget it’.

So for that reason, I am taking it upon myself, in the name of ‘the outdoor and adventure’ community, to snack like I have never snacked before and review a product plucked from the nutritional snack isle each week. I will be marking each (out of 7 summits) on taste & texture, cost, and bang-for-your-buck (nutrition).

So without further ado – first up I have the Almond & Cashew Raw Paleo Bar – from The Primal Pantry.

 

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TASTE & TEXTURE: 

(6/7) Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ 
Spot on. (that was easy)…but honestly the blend of flavours is great – and due to the ‘basic’ nature of the ingredients there’s really not much else to unpack on this point. I did find the bar a touch on the small side, but larger 45g bars are also available.
Something that often bugs the hell out of me is getting bits stuck in my teeth, especially if I’m on the side of a mountain without a tooth pick, or possibly with a tooth pick, but with huge gloves on! I’m pleased to report a zero, on the ‘stuck in the teeth’ scale, and I gave it a really good chew too.

 

COST:

(6/7) Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ 
When The Primal Pantry Founder; Suzie Walker, is quoted on the Primal Pantry website saying “We should stop asking why real food is so expensive and instead question why processed food is so cheap”  you might expect to be digging deep into your pockets. But with an average cost per bar of 62p well…that’s cheaper than a Kit-Kat.
I’m sure the cost will vary, but I managed to get that on offer in a supermarket; even at the normal list price it works out at 75p per bar.

 

 

 

BANG-FOR-YOUR-BUCK:

(4/7)  Δ Δ Δ Δ
Despite tasting superb, and being really relatively cheap, I was found wanting after just a short time, perhaps the larger bar would do the trick, but I can’t help but think I would be a little disappointed after one of these out on the trail. I could easily scoff the whole packet in one, paleofest, sitting.

Typical Values	Typical Values per 100g	Per Bar
Energy (kJ/kcal)	1909/458	573/138
Fat	27.0g	8.0g
(of which saturates)	3.4g	1.0g
Carbohydrate	39.2g	11.8g
(of which sugars)	35.7g	10.7g
Fibre	4.8g	1.5g
Protein	12.1g	3.6g
Salt	0.02g	0.01g

 

FINAL WORD:

(5/7) Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ 
Certainly a decent enough snack bar, would it make it into my hiking backpack? In honesty no. But I see this more as a straight-swap bar for those impulse snacks (I mentioned a Kit-Kat earlier, and my god am I a sucker for a Kit-Kat) well I’ve found my new go-to bar for those ‘at the counter’ impulse buys.