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New Food Product Hits & Misses | 8 Oct 2008

New Product Hits & Misses
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
To see more New Product Hits & Misses visit: http://www.supermarketguru.com
This product is a HIT! Last year, we ate over 3.5 billion dollars of yogurt just here in the U.S., and many food pundits predict that that is just the beginning of the yogurt boom. We are starting to see more innovative yogurt products on the supermarket shelves. Vege Yo is one of those and is focusing on the flavors of vegetables! The butternut squash flavor tastes great and has a good balance between the flavor of the vegetable and the yogurt itself. I applaud that this company actually lists the active live cultures in fact this is one great product my only complaint being the consistency of the yogurt itself which is a little too thin. Another great thing about this product is the fact that even though its not a low fat product it only contains 3 g of fat. One last note to the company redesign the package this great product is hiding itself behind a bland, unappealing façade! Retails for about $1.50. aMaMa Ltd, Romulus, NY 315 585 6220

http://www.amama.com

Merken? Otherwise known as the Goats Horn, which is a flavor combination of smoky (similar to chipotle) and hot chili pepper. I love infused olive oils – when theyre done right The idea of this extra virgin olive oil is great. This product has a nice, aroma coming from the spice. However, I have two big issues with this product the first is that in order to properly disperse the spices you need a whole lotta shaking and the second is that the olive flavor actually drowns the flavor of the spice. Retails for around $10. Zocalo Gourmet, Seattle, WA 562 556 1671

http://www.zocalogourmet.com

This product is a HIT! Who doesnt love popcorn and lets not forget that popcorn is a whole grain, so its also good for you. Over the years, some strange popcorn flavors have appeared on the supermarket shelves, only to disappear just as quickly. Lets face it they were awful Orville Redenbacher has got it right this time and this lime flavored, mildly salted popcorn is fabulous. My only complaint about this product is the use of palm oil and the 15 g total fat per serving , which includes 7 g of saturated fat, ok, my only TWO complaints about this product! Retails for $2.69 for 10 bags. ConAgra Foods, Inc., Omaha, NE 800 243 0303

http://www.orville.com

Surprisingly enough, the taste of this Broccoli and Cheese Sauce from Green Giant is delicious and surprisingly lower in fat than you might think, at just 4.5 grams for the whole bag. The recipe for the sauce includes a variety of cheeses and oils to make sure it stays fluid instead of congealing. Although the bag cooks the product perfectly in the microwave, it is a cumbersome and messy package unlike a lot of the steamer products out there. Retails for $2.39. General Mills Sales, Inc., Minneapolis, MN 800 754 3381

http://www.greengiant.com

This product is a HIT! I grew up in an Italian town in New Jersey where the local hang-out was Jackies Lemon Ice – so Im prejudiced I like light-tasting, flavorful desserts. Hola Fruta Margarita is exactly that (but no Tequila here). Even though its a milk-based product its much closer to a sorbet than a gelato. The thing to note here is that this product appears to have a strong Spanish heritage, but it is actually made in Cleveland. Retails for $3.99. Pierres Ice Cream Company, Cleveland, OH
216 432 1144
http://www.holafruta.com

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