Archive for the ‘Snacks’ Category
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
A few months back, Consumer Obsession featured this review comparing Dunkin’ Donuts to Krispy Kreme. Our opinion was that, while it was hard to deny that Krispy Kreme’s fresh, hot donuts were and are very good, once cooled, they became very average, even sub-par. The donuts at Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, were consistently very good in taste and texture.
But, an unfortunate change has taken place at many newer Dunkin’ Donuts franchises: The donuts are not being actually made on site; they are being brought into the stores frozen and then baked on site. Dunkin’ Donuts has stated that is a more efficient way to make and sell their donuts. It keeps the shelves stocked and cuts down on waste. While all of that may very well be true, this change has had a seriously negative effect on their product.
In our region, a new Dunkin’ Donuts opened in the past year. There was an obvious difference right from the first bite. The donuts, which had always been relatively light, now seemed heavier and less fresh. The glazed, which had always been very good, now tasted like sugar-coated cardboard. Repeated visits offered the same results, to the point that we simply stopped going. We weren’t alone. Many other long-time Dunkin’ Donuts devotees would tell me the same thing: These are not the same donuts that we loved.
The brass at Dunkin’ Donuts claims that these donuts and the new methods were taste-tested and that consumers could not tell the difference. Consumer Obsession finds this difficult to believe, as the difference is major – major enough that the donut we formerly gave high praise to, is now nearly in-edible.
Tags: consumer obsession, dunkin' donuts, frozen, krispy kreme, new method
Posted in Fast Food and Restaurants, Snacks | 2 Comments »
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
Awhile back, Consumer Obsession published its picks for best supermarket chocolate chip cookie and we actually felt there was a very clear winner, the Pepperidge Farm standard Nantucket, though its variations were also very good. While the soft-baked choices were good, we didn’t feel as though they were as good. Unfortunately, in Consumer Reports current testing of mass-market chocolate chip cookies, they decided to only include the soft-baked version. Now, in our eyes, the standard version would have been a game changer.
Consumer Reports gives the esteemed CR Best Buy and very good rating to a cookie that we actually didn’t rate all that highly, Keebler’s Chips Deluxe Original. To us, Keebler’s chocolate chip cookies truly taste like mass-market products. This is not to say they’re poor, but they’re nothing special, and they were easily trumped by our Pepperidge Farm winner.
To those of you who have tried these cookies, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Tags: best chocolate chip cookie, chips deluxe original, chocolate chip cookie, consumer obsession, consumer reports, Grocery Items, keebler, mass market, nantucket, pepperidge farm, Snacks, soft-baked, supermarket, taste test
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Since Consumer Obsession posted the results of our jelly bean taste test a few weeks ago, we’ve gotten many emails concerning the whereabouts of the Smuckers Puckers jelly beans. Unfortunately, your guess is as good as ours.
The retail landscape around the Consumer Obsession headquarters near Pittsburgh, PA has been barren when it comes to the Smuckers Puckers. There are still candy websites listing this product, but whether they are truly in stock is anyone’s guess. For some reason, they don’t seem to have produced our top-rated jelly bean this year.
If anyone happens to find a stock of Smuckers Puckers, please let us know, so we can pass it along.
Update:Consumer Obsession reader, Paul, has been kind enough to let us know that Brachs answered his inquiry, informing him that due to slow sales, Smuckers Puckers have been discontinued.
This is a shame. Smuckers Puckers not only won our taste test, the volume of email we received concerning their availability would seem to show a loyal customer base.
Tags: availability, brach's, consumer obsession, discontinued, jelly beans, slow sales, smuckers puckers
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | 15 Comments »
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
It’s amazing how companies that seemed to have it all together can completely lose their way. Last year, Starbucks began trimming stores, staff, and product lines. And now, with McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts getting their share of the coffee sales, Starbucks is sounding desperate.
Historically, when companies begin to expand like wildfire and getting into product areas outside of their expertise, trouble follows. When Starbucks announced they were getting into the already dying CD business, it was a sign that the people at corporate had gone awry. While no figures have been released, it’s a good bet that book and CD sales didn’t do much to boost the bottom line.
Now, with the U.S. economy in the tank and people buying less and less “luxury” drinks, Starbucks is claiming that they, too, can provide value. They are introducing breakfast meals priced at under $4.oo, as well as loyalty promotions for discounted beverages. The question will be whether Starbucks can make any of that fly in today’s cash-strapped marketplace. Their image as a higher-end coffee retailer is firmly entrenched in the marketplace and in many consumer’s minds. While the spokespeople for Starbucks may be screaming that more than half of all drinks sold cost less than $3.00, for most people, perception is reality.
Starbucks needs to concentrate on its core business. The question for now is, is it too late.
Tags: CD, coffee, consumer obsession, core business, dunkin' donuts, mcdonald's, plight, starbucks, starbucks coffee, value
Posted in Beverages, Fast Food and Restaurants, Snacks | 2 Comments »
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Supermarkets sold more than 2.5 billion dollars worth of frozen pizza last year. While the frozen pizza industry had been somewhat flat in the early part of the decade, the last couple of years have seen sales rise again.
It would make sense that, given the current economic climate, frozen pizza sales will continue to strengthen. Even though some of the “gourmet” lines go above the $5.00 mark, cheap deals can be had in supermarkets across the country on your Red Baron, Totino’s, Tony’s, and other value line frozen pizzas.
The list below contains the best selling frozen pizza brands:
- Digiorno
- Red Baron
- Tombstone
- Freschetta
- Private Label
- Totino’s Pizza Party
- Califonia Pizza Kitchen
- Tony’s
- Stouffer’s
- Jack’s
Consumer Obsession will have a frozen pizza taste test in the coming weeks. We welcome your comments as to which frozen pizza is your favorite.
Tags: best selling frozen pizza, best-selling, california pizza kitchen, consumer obsession, digiorno, freschetta, frozen pizza, gourmet, jack's, pizza, pizza industry, private label, red baron, stouffer's, supermarket, taste test, tombstone, tony's, totino's pizza party, value line
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
With the popularity of cereal bars in today’s marketplace, Consumer Obsession decided it was time to look at a few of the brands that stood out from the pack. Somewhat diet-conscious Americans have taken to cereal bars in a big way and, because of that, competition in the marketplace is fierce. Who can come up with the most engaging flavors that actually taste like they are supposed to, while keeping the healthful side in check? Well, that’s the rub. We found a few that did the job as admirably as we’ve seen.
When taking a look at these bars, the three things to consider are taste, texture, and the nutritional value. The following bars do ok in the nutritional and taste sense, but vary in texture, and texture can be an important element to some.
Let’s take a look a few of the brands and varieties:
- Fiber One- If you’re looking for high fiber content, you’ve come to the right place. The two varieties we tested: Oats and Chocolate and the Oats and Apple Streusel Bars each had 9g of fiber per bar. Due to having so much fiber, the bars were filling – maybe too filling for some. Texture and taste were fine. The bars were moist and, as far as cereal bars go, fairly flavorful.
- Kashi – The Honey Almond Flax bar and Peanut Butter bar we tasted were very good. The Honey Almond Flax bar had 4g of fiber and good levels of proteins and 300mg of Omega-3. While good, the bar is thick and a little dry. It is not as instantly gratifying as the Fiber One or Nature Valley bars we tasted, but better and healthier than other competitors. The Peanut Butter bar was slightly friendlier tasting with 4g of fiber, good protein levels, but no Omega-3s.
- Nature Valley’s Sweet and Salty Nut Granola Bars – If nuts are your thing, it’s hard to beat these choices. Both the Peanut and Almond varieties were very good. The texture of these bars is much closer to a nut candy bar. They were very crispy with a very different texture than the other brands we compared. This is probably the cereal/granola bar for those who don’t really like cereal/granola bars. Having said that, there is a trade-off. These bars only have 2g of fiber, which may not satisfy those looking for that specific health benefit. Both varieties tasted very good.
All of the bars above had between 10-15 grams of sugar, which isn’t obscene in most cases, unless you’re going to be doubling up.
Tags: almond, bar, bars, cereal bar, cereal bars, consumer obsession, favorite, fiber one, granola bar, granola bars, honey almond flax, kashi, marketplace, nature valley, nutrition, oats and apple streusel, oats and chocolate, peanut, peanut butter, taste test, texture
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | 2 Comments »
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
Jelly Beans are dangerous. These processed little jelly-sugar globs are made purely to inhale, with only the most intently-disciplined able to resist over-indulgence. So, here we are. Winter is nearly beginning to fade and many of us are looking toward spring. Oh, and you may rejoice , as the Easter candy has now hit the shelves of your favorite supermarket or discount retailer.
It’s really pretty hard to find a bad jelly bean. Sure, we all have our preferred flavors and such, but jelly beans are inherently good. Consumer Obsession thought it was the perfect time to throw out our opinions as to what jelly bean brands have the edge when it comes to taste. Here are some of the brands we tasted and how they were ranked:
- Smuckers Puckers Sour Fruit Jelly Beans and Smuckers Jelly Beans – Now these are jelly beans. Both of these ranked at the top in the Consumer Obsession taste test. The edge went to the Sour Fruit variety, but both were top-notch. Fruity, chewy, tart and..well..sublime.
- Brach’s Jelly Beans: Assorted varieties – Brach’s makes several varieties of jelly beans and, for the most part, they were all very good. The sours and the traditionals were a close second to the Smuckers. They also make the All Black Jelly Bird Eggs for those of you inclined to like something like that.
- Starburst Jelly Beans – Original Flavors - Very good. A tad smaller, but very flavorful.
- Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans – Not being a huge fan of the candy, I wondered how these would taste. While not a hideous jelly bean (remember, there are no really bad jelly beans), they didn’t truly compare to the Smuckers or Brach’s.
- Jelly Belly’s – The most controversial of the jelly bean brands. Some love the variety of tastes and some find particular varieties to be so distasteful that they can’t get past it. Therefore, they won’t go for further Jelly Bellys. The reality is, some of the flavors are very good. If you don’t mind the occasional popcorn flavor making you want to immediately reject its vile nature, you can enjoy some of the other offerings.
- Others, such as the Jolly Rancher, Sweet tarts, and Life Savers were all pretty good. They were flavorful and fairly satisfying, but did not quite equal the nirvana of the Smuckers.
Tags: bird eggs, brach's, consumer obsession, jelly bean taste test, jelly beans, jelly belly, jolly rancher, life savers, smuckers, smuckers puckers sour fruit, sour, sour fruit, starburst, sweet tarts, taste test
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
I think it’s fairly safe to say that most supermarket chocolate chip cookie brands do not live up their fresh bakery equivalents. Yet, many people buy the Chips Ahoy, Soft Batch, and Famous Amos brands that populate the snack aisles. Of course, the choice is made mainly for convenience and price.
In comparing the grocery brands, Famous Amos and Pepperidge Farm easily stood out as the top two. The Keebler Soft Batch cookies were ok once microwaved, but we’re judging straight out of the package here. Of the top two, the Pepperidge Farm cookies were the winner.
Years ago, I remember Pepperidge Farm having a chocolate chip cookie in their standard smaller size, which were very good. That same recipe seems in effect for these larger speciality cookies.
The cookie that got the biggest kudos from Consumer Obsession was the Chocolate Chunk with dark chocolate and pecans. The texture of the cookie was crunchy without being dull. The dark chocolate chunks and pecans were plentiful enough to be tasted and enjoyed. Aside from that, there is something to the Pepperidge Farm recipe that, quite simply, tastes very good. Where as most would choose the bakery chocolate chip cookie, the Pepperidge Farm cookie stood on its own as a desirable treat.
The Pepperidge Farm cookies come in packs of eight. At many supermarkets, the cost is around $3.00 per pack. The packs can be found at Targets and Wal-Marts for around $2.50.
Tags: bakery, best chocolate chip cookie, chips ahoy, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip cookie taste test, chocolate chunk, consumer obsession, dark chocolate and pecans, famous amos, grocery, keebler, pepperidge farm, soft batch, supermarket, target, wal-mart
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Friday, February 20th, 2009
As promised, Consumer Obsession put some of the bigger supermarket brands of ice cream to the test. It will probably come as no surprise that the two best supermarket ice cream brands we tasted were Ben & Jerry’s and Hagen Daaz. They taste like higher quality ice cream and have the higher cost to go along with it. In a recent popularity pole, Ben & Jerry’s was rated #1 and Hagen Daaz #2 by a close margin. What’s interesting about this is that the two brands actually have significant differences in overall “feel,” with Ben & Jerry’s being the creamier of the two. In the taste department, we found Ben & Jerry’s to be the better of the two, but still rated Hagen Daaz highly.
The next two were Breyer’s and Edy’s. The tested flavors were the flavors, straight up, and not the churned or any other specialty ice cream. The Breyer’s won this by a hair. Both brands were very good grocery ice creams. The Breyer’s won by a slight margin for creaminess, but both tasted very good.
After that is Hagen and Blue Bunny. Hagen is predominently in the Northeast and Blue Bunny is in most places due to being a Wal-Mart stalwart. Both of these brands performed decently and certain flavors did better than others. We’ll call it a dead heat.
If you love ice cream and can spare the extra change, Ben & Jerry’s or Hagen Daaz is the way to go. There was a bit of fear when Ben & Jerry’s was purchased by the Unilever group, but so far, the brand had retained its taste and texture.
Tags: ben and jerry's, blue bunny, breyer's, consumer obsession, creaminess, edy's, hagen, hagen daaz, ice cream, ice cream taste test, supermarket, taste test, wal-mart
Posted in Grocery Items, Snacks | No Comments »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
Since all, but the most disciplined, are slaves to occasional ice cream indulgence, Consumer Obsession figured it was time to tackle the difficult task of tasting what’s out there and seeing what really stood out. Everyone has their favorite flavors: chocolate, vanilla, butter pecan, as well as the post-modern standards such as, moose tracks and cake batter. We decided to try to determine the best chocolate. Plain and simple.
This test will be divided into two parts: grocery store ice creams and free standing ice cream parlor ice creams. We know that Ben and Jerry’s and Hagen Daas has both, but for this test, we’re lumping them in with the grocery category. Please keep in mind that Consumer Obsession is based in the northeast, so this will skew toward chains in our region. If you reside in a different region of our country and share our obsessions, please feel free to contact us about doing a comparison in your area.
Part 1 – Free Standing Ice Creams
- Baskin-Robbins – This is bound to be a controversial choice, but darn it, it’s the right one. Baskin-Robbins (or now just BR in some places) has gone through somewhat of an identity crisis over the past decade or so. They don’t quite seem to know who they are or what they should be serving along with the traditional ice cream. In the old days, their 31 flavors was a big advertising point, simply because there weren’t many ice cream shoppes that could match it. They still sometimes bring back some of those classic flavors (daiquiri ice! yum), but, more often than not, something like moose tracks will be in its place. The positive thing is that they haven’t messed with the classics and the chocolate is still that dark, rich great-tasting concoction. It’s always consistent and always good.
- Kaleidoscoops – It would make sense that this relative newcomer be our number 2, as their ice cream taste exactly like Baskin-Robbins. This company was formed in 1999 by some former Baskin-Robbins franchisees after having their franchises terminated by Baskin-Robbins. I really don’t know the story on how or where their ice cream is purchased, but it is nearly identical.
- Handel’s – Handel’s is a midwest and northeastern chain that makes very, very good ice cream. A few years ago, in a USA Today article, Handel’s was named one of the top-10 ice cream stands in the US, and I have to agree. The chocolate, while lighter than the Baskin-Robbins chocolate, is very flavorful. Recommendation: Try the chocolate malt.
- Rita’s Italian Ice – This is really more of a custard, so maybe it isn’t quite fair, we’re listing it anyway. Rita’s chocolate custard is extremely rich, flavorful and extremely tasty.
- Marble Slab – It almost doesn’t seem fair to include this chain or Cold Stone Creamery, but we will. Part of the popularity here is, of course, the mix-ins and the mixing and some of the results are very good (the sweet cream and fresh strawberries was extremelygood). The chocolate was good, not very distinguishable, but good.
- Cold Stone Creamery – see above
- Bruster’s – Bruster’s has quite a following in the eastern half of the country, but we didn’t quite get it. The chocolate was rather bland and anemic. I would actually take a scoop of Breyers over this.
- Dairy Queen & Tasty Freeze – Lumped together because they’re virtually the same. There weren’t a lot of variables found in this soft ice cream. It’s consistently the same and maybe does better in shakes and malts.
Please feel free to offer up your choices and suggestions. Consumer Obsession is always looking for a good scoop of chocolate ice cream.
Coming soon: Part 2 – Grocery Ice Cream
Tags: baskin-robbins, best chocolate ice cream, best ice cream, br, bruster's, butter pecan, cake batter, chocolate, cold stone creamery, consumer obsession, custard, daiquiri ice, dairy queen, free-standing, handel's, ice cream stands, kaleidoscoops, marble slab, moose tracks, parlors, rita's italian ice, tasty freeze, vanilla
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