Kind Blueberry Almond Breakfast Bar

They are decent, but I prefer a Clif Bar for the taste and durability. They make good granola though!

I've eaten at least 20 of these bars over the years, so I felt like it would be a good idea to review them. This is a pretty simple granola bar that has above average nutrition value per oz, so-so taste (in my opinion), and is competitively priced.

Taste:Not great, not terrible; sort of like dried blueberries

This bar tasted OK, and I've eaten many of them. I'd rather have a Clif Bar, Honey Stinger Waffle, or fruit bar though. I would say that this tastes better than a Larabar or RXbar. I'm generally not a huge fan of dried blueberries, so maybe others would like it more. To me, dried blueberries (and raisins) are better in small amounts, such as sprinkled on oatmeal. Speaking of oatmeal, these bars taste much better if you crumble them into granola and add them to oatmeal. (Or wait for it to spontaneously crumble to granola... see below) Oatmeal is my main backpacking breakfast, so I've done this a few times. If Kind sold granola made from this stuff I might buy it...

Energy: It fills me up as much as a typical bar

I'd say that this fills me up as much as I'd expect it to. When I'm hungry and don't have time to eat real food, this holds off hunger until I have time to cook. I most commonly use bars like these to top off my energy levels on the trail, and these work well for that.

Claims: Compared to Clif Crunchy peanut butter, one competing product I've eaten extensively, it has:

• slightly more calories per oz (good)
• 1.5 times more fat (good)
• half as much saturated fat (good because sat. fats are unhealthy)
• 1/10 as much sodium (this could be good or bad, depending on the situation)
• equal fiber per oz
• half as much added sugar (good)
• half as much protein (bad)

So it is better than this Clif Bar in Calories, fat, sat. fats, and sugar, and only loses in protein levels. And when you consider that this bar is 4% cheaper per oz at MSRP, it seems like a favorable comparison.

The Clif Bar does win out on other claims, with about half organic ingredients and 100% non-GMOs, but this bar is 100% whole grain and Kosher certified (but not Halal if that makes a difference for you).

I didn't bother comparing it to a Honey Stinger or fruit bar since those are pretty much just calories and carbs.

Packaging: Pretty standard for an energy bar.

The packaging, plastic and adhesive, is pretty similar to every other bar that I've eaten, and performs fine. It's waterproof and doesn't fall apart in a backpack. As I don't have a precise scale, I can't tell the weight, but it feels reasonable.

Best For: Those who like oats, blueberries, and almonds, or those  who want more texture than a Clif bar.

While I don't love the taste of these, I can see how others might like the taste more. Also, these have much better texture than a Clif bar, which is essentially a blob of unrecognizable food. I think that I will keep buying Clif bars instead of these, but at $1 for a single bar, there's no reason not to try both and see which you prefer. As a bar, these work for almost any outdoor sport (except maybe running), and as a general snack. Unfortunately, it crumbles fairly quickly in a pack, so eat quickly or pack gently. (Honey stingers do this too, but Clif Bars and Trader Joes fruit bars don't.)

Background

clif, kind, Honey Stinger waffle, Nature's Path, etc.