Review: Nature's Path Organic Envirokidz Peanut Choco Crispy Rice Bars

I've seen Nature's Path products in my local Kroger stores for quite some time, but I've always stayed away from them because quite frankly, they cost more than I'd typically like to spend.  Part of that is that you are paying a premium for something that is supposedly super healthy, organic, gluten free, etc., but since I'm not particularly fanatical about being healthy, I stay away.  That said, occasionally one of these kinds of products will pop up on closeout and that's what happened in the case of this box of Nature's Path Organic Envirokidz Peanut Choco Crispy Rice Bars that I was able to pick up at Kroger for $1.99.  Ordinarily, these bars would be in the $4.00 plus range, but I guess today was my lucky day.  Each of the six bars in the box was 1.0 ounces and came in with 120 calories and two grams of protein.  It's also gluten free, wheat free, organic, etc.

So, the first two things that I noticed when I saw this was there was a giant animal on the front and that that animal kind of ruined the suspense of what these bars would look like.  Upon further review of the wrapped bars in the box, I learned this was a lemur and as you can sort of see in the picture above, the wrapper has some very special lemur facts on it (Lemurs are one of the few animals where females are dominant and are the leader!).  I also learned that Nature's Path donates 1% of sales to charity, so that's cool.  Anyway, being that these bars are technically for kids, I guess it's nice that these bars are not only quenching their hunger but also educating them.  As for the bar itself, it was pretty boring.  It was a crispy rice mix bound together with peanut butter that was then topped with a chocolate drizzle.  There were about a handful of peanut halves scattered throughout, but in general, it was light and airy, which comes as no surprise since this is primarily crispy rice.  In terms of smell, it sort of smelled like peanut butter, but it was a weird kind of smell.  I guess I classify it as weird because I'm used to smelling overly manufactured and processed peanut butters, which I'm guessing this is not.

Biting into this, the consistency was that of a Rice Krispie treat in that it was soft and chewy with an occasional pop from the limited amount of peanut halves that were scattered sporadically throughout.  Outside of that, it did have tastes of nutty peanut (actual nuts and butter) and chocolate, but neither of them were particularly strong or sweet.  In fact, they tasted like a lot of organic products taste...bland.  Neither flavor was particularly discernible and neither flavor was particularly sweet.  This was basically just an amalgamation of peanuts, peanut butter, chocolate and crispy rice ground together as an energy, but not flavor, source.

Buy It or Fly By It?  I know this is designed for kids, so maybe I shouldn't be commenting on it, but I give this a FLY BY IT rating.  It's way too bland for adults and I think it's too bland for kids too.  The price and lack of flavor make this prohibitive, despite the fact that these are supposedly healthier than Quaker Chewy bars, etc.  In all honestly, I wish these bars came with a lemur, but I'd like to give the rest of these to the lemur to finish because he'd just be happy to have the food, as opposed to me (or a kid) being bored by something so bland.

FLY BY IT!!