As a born bargain hunter, I regularly visit the Dollar Tree about six blocks from my apartment. I tend to focus my shopping on basic household products, but occasionally, I grab a 2-liter pop, a cheap bag of chips, or a few canned items.
I have always been satisfied with the quality and taste of these dollar-store food products, so I thought I'd conduct a Taste Off with one product I sometimes enjoy: Soft Baked Breakfast Bars!
Ah yes, soft-baked breakfast bars, those fantastic fruit or jelly-filled patisseries with their soft, crumbly crust. They are loaded with nutrients and are a good source of fiber.
They can be consumed for a delicious breakfast or any time treat. They are a beloved American snack that almost everyone knows, loves, and grew up eating.
I decided to test the famous Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars vs. the Dollar Tree version: SunBest Fruit and Grain Bars. I chose the blueberry flavor because I like blueberries, and it was the box closest to my cart.
The $4.99 package purchased at Jewel is 10.4 ounces and contains 8 bars, with each 1.3oz bar serving containing:
approximately $0.62 per bar
130 calories
0.5g saturated fat
120mg of sodium
13g total sugars
no high fructose corn syrup!
The bars are chewy with a nice crumbly texture on the outside. The filling is reasonably generous, with a blueberry taste in each bite. However, the blueberry flavor itself could taste more fresh. It has a jellied quality that doesn't truly scream "healthy" or come close to satisfying any of my sweet cravings.
Overall, it isn't unpleasant, but it's a bit dry, and it doesn't hide the fact that it's meant to serve one's dietary needs rather than one's taste needs. Which is, of course, fine and to be expected.
Next, purchased from Dollar Tree: SunBest Fruit & Grain Bars bargain brand in a similar-looking box designed to remind one of the more popular brands.
The $1.25 package is 5.2 ounces and contains 4 bars, clocking in at the following for each 1.3oz bar serving:
approximately $0.31 per bar
140 calories
0.5g saturated fat
70mg of sodium
11g total sugars
no high fructose corn syrup!
The SunBest bars are softer, a teeny bit larger, and thicker than the more expensive brand, which was surprising. They are also even more dry and crumbly than the big name-brand and have even less blueberry filling. Seriously, there is hardly any filling in these bars, and what filling there is, like Kellogg's product, seems processed and not very fresh or fruitlike.
Overall, the Nutri-Grain bars are a more pleasant eating experience than the SunBest bars, but they are both relatively bland and possess that dreaded "they are good for you" taste, which can be much better disguised in both products.
As for price, the SunBest package includes half the number of bars as the Nutri-Grain box. However, each Sunbest bar is a far better bargain than its counterpart at almost half the price.
The nutrition numbers on the Dollar Tree purchase are better. Like the name-brand product, it contains NO high fructose corn syrup, which is good, but it's not enough for the little guy to overcome the big guy when it comes to taste. Nutri-Grain beats SunBest.
See you at the magnificent Dollar Tree store soon!
I'll conduct even more of these taste tests, so let me know what you'd like me to cover! Email me at nick@nickdigilio.com or leave a voicemail at (773) 417-6948 with your suggestions.
Thanks for reading, and please SUBSCRIBE to my weekly NEWSLETTER!
And consider joining me on Patreon as a paid subscriber to help keep this thing going.
Thanks again!