Annie’s – Organic Berry Patch Bunny Fruit Snacks

Fruit snacks – what’s the first thing you think of when you hear that phrase? I’d guess that you think of those small pouches of colourful snacks you got as a kid. Or if you were not one of the fortunate kids to have the luxury of fruit snacks (trust me, those things gave you street cred), you would have that one friend who always had the fanciest ones. The emphasis here is on the kids. Fruit snacks are, perhaps rightfully so, associate with kids. Adults have their choice of whatever candy or sugary diabetes trap they want, but kids get fruit snacks. Like the sugar beginner pack. Thinking back on it, it’s kind of sleazy that companies were targeting kids for marketing their sugary concoctions. I mean, the fact that I still remember fruit snacks from my childhood so vividly is a testament to how gullible I was, and how dangerous letting companies do that is. But that’s neither here nor there.

The point I was trying to make is that today’s review is a fruit snack, and is typically something that is made for the purpose of child consumption. Being the kind of character that I am, that means very little to me. If it’s a snack, it’s fair game to me. It’s one small reason I wish I had a kid. That way I could buy these types of things and just say it’s for them, instead of being a grown adult at the checkout with boxes of fruit snacks. Normally shame would be enough to prevent me from buying something, but these were on sale so…I couldn’t help myself.

So a little more context – I’ve seen this company around before, doing things like an organic version of instant mac and cheese, cheese crackers akin to goldfish. I just assumed it was yet another one of those “health” companies that tries to do everything healthier, but doesn’t taste as good in the process. As I’ve discovered through my more recent experiences, that’s not always the case and sometimes there are pleasant surprises. As I’ve mentioned before, how “healthy” or “better” a snack is doesn’t typically play into my purchasing decision when it comes to snacks. I’m of the school of thought that the best alternative to a cleaner diet isn’t healthier candy, but the absence of it. Eating healthier like having actual fruits instead of fruit snacks is always the better option.

That being said, mental health is equally important, and some people simply cannot cut it with the complete absence of snacks, so it’s nice to have alternatives. The main selling point of these fruit snacks is that they are vegan, gelatin free, use no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and don’t use any corn syrup. And It’s all organic and non-GMO so there’s that. While I don’t doubt that this is possibly better than typical mass market snacks, I would be remiss to consider these “healthy”. A small pouch of 23 grams still has 11 grams of sugar, which while better than the competition is still nowhere near as healthy as something like an apple. But again, I’m here to test the merits of this as a tasty snack, not much else.

This particular variety is called berry patch. It’s a mix of cherry, raspberry and strawberry snacks. Based on my extensive berry flavoured experience, I am uniquely equipped to tackle this flavour variety. Really though, I’m just a sucker for berry mixes in general. Given the absence of gelatin, I’m not expecting these to be very chewy. Pectin is the best alternative, but in my experience it’s tough to find a maker that can replicate that chewiness that melted down animal bones has, in case you ever wondered what gelatin was made out of. I like to think I’m ever the optimist, so I’ll go in with an open, yet cautious mind.

I just want to take a moment and appreciate the shape of these little adorable bite sized rabbits. Part of the fruit snack experience is the fun shapes that they come in. In that aspect these win. They look like fun shapes I would have played with if I was still a kid. Not that I would now. Probably not. They come in three different colours, though to be quite honest I am having a hard time telling apart the strawberry and the raspberry. I assume the dark red one is cherry, as it usually is. I’m going to have to go by taste to determine which is which. Though not a deal breaker, it would irk me if I liked one flavour more than the other, and had to do roulette every time to figure it out. Maybe I’m just in the wrong lighting.

The cherry reminds me of those cherry cordials, except much, much less sweet. It has a very vibrant cherry flavour to it without being artificial like a cherry cough drop. I find cherry to be a hard flavour to nail down without tasting artificial, and I think this one does a good job. Raspberry is a very mild, sweet berry to it. Much like the typical raspberry flavour you would find in fruit snacks, these are the more mild of the bunch, and oddly enough this reminds me of vanilla. It’s like someone mixed a strawberry with vanilla flavouring. Not that I mind, just something I thought I’d point out. As for strawberry, well it’s like a strawberry juice. Is that actually a thing? Strawberry juice? It just tastes like the typical strawberry flavour, albeit a little less sweet and more floral, which I quite like. Out of these three, cherry would probably be my favourite though.

I should mention that for whatever reason, these have a strange taste to it when you first put it in y our mouth. It’s almost as if they have a coating to them. My guess is that it’s the wax used to keep the pieces fresh and unsticky. No one likes rabbits that clump together. It’s not a bad taste, just kind of odd and noticeable.

When it comes to texture, these fared better than I would have expected, given that it’s gelatin free and I love me some boiled animal bones. When you first pick one up it has a firm feel to it, like it might be gummy or bouncy. It’s not until you bite into it that you realize that it’s not chewy or gummy. It has maybe one good bite in it before it starts to kind of melt away, much like a fruit jelly. While these are similar to a stick fruit jelly, they aren’t sticky to the point of jujubes, which I really appreciate. Chewing these can prove a challenge as they get soft really fast, but they also seem to clump together pretty well so it doesn’t end up going rogue and getting stuck between your teeth. Because of that, I kind of prefer to suck one these like I would a hard candy. These have enough flavour to keep it going for a while, so I enjoyed them thoroughly either way.

I must admit I am pleasantly surprised. I also now understand why these seem to be so well-received overall. While still not exactly what I would opt for as a healthy snack like an actual fruit or some nuts, this is nice treat for kids who want some sugar and candy. These taste close enough to the less healthy things that I personally don’t mind shelling out extra money for it. The downside is they are a bit pricier, and addictive. Not the best combination, or so I’ve heard.