PROBAR
FRUITION BARS
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight: 170 lb (77 kg)
E-mail
address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western West Virginia, U.S.A.
|
Backpacking Background:
I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including backpacking,
day-hiking, car camping, and canoeing. Most of my excursions
are confined to weekends, although I try to fit in at least one
longer backpacking trip each year, and have started section
hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT), accruing a little over 300 mi
(483 km) so far. My style varies with the activity, but since
becoming a lightweight backpacker, I've noticed I tend to pack
somewhat minimally even on trips where I have more space.
Still, I don't like to sacrifice warmth, comfort, or safety.
|
Initial Report - October 14, 2009
|
|
Product Information:
Manufacturer: PROBAR,
LLC
Year of manufacture: 2009
Advertised
net weight: 1.7 oz (48 g)
Measured weight in wrapper: 48 g to 54 g (1.69 oz to 1.90
oz)
Measured weight of a wrapper: 2 g (0.07 oz)
Flavors: Peach, Strawberry, Blueberry, Cran-Raspberry
MSRP: $2.49 US per bar/$27.48 US per 12 bar case
Website: www.theprobar.com
|
|
|
Product
Description:
Fruition is PROBAR's fruit based "snack bar". The bars are
certified organic, and are 100% Vegan. PROBAR touts two servings
of fruit in each bar. Each bar has relatively similar nutrition -
160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of
fiber, 20 milligrams of sodium, and 3 grams of protein. The bars
vary slightly in sugars, with peach and blueberry each having 21 grams
and cran-raspberry and strawberry having 22 grams. They
have from 4-6% of the daily recommended allowance of iron, and from
2-4% of the recommended allowance of calcium. No other
significant amounts of vitamins or minerals are listed.
The primary ingredient of each variety is organic date paste, followed
by rolled oats and brown rice syrup. Each bar also lists cashews,
both white & black chia seeds, natural flavor, ascorbic acid,
citric acid, and Arabic gum. Each flavor also lists the
appropriate type of fruit.
 Preliminary
Impressions:
The fruition bar packaging gives a great first impression before the
bars are even opened. Both cases and bar wrappers are decorated
with appealing prints of fruit, flowers, and green leaves. Eye
candy aside, the important thing about a food bar is taste and
nutrition. With all the fruit, the bars seem nutritious, and
although having a good bit of sugar, the sugar is from natural sources
such as dates and brown rice syrup. Calcium and iron are often
harder to get on the trail than at home, so the inclusion of these
minerals is welcome.
The bars look good too - the separate bits of oats, fruit, and seeds
can be seen. They have a slightly sticky feel and are soft and
easy to break into smaller pieces. I first tried the strawberry
flavor, and thought I was in heaven! The bars have a pleasant
texture to chew, although slightly sticky - sort of similar to a soft
oatmeal cookie or Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie. They are a little on
the sweet side, so they have a candy-bar type appeal in that
aspect. I also tried the peach flavor, which tasted slightly
sweeter to me than the strawberry, however it has a tad less
sugar. Both flavors had a very recognizable fruit flavor, and the
dates were also very discernible.
Although PROBAR calls these "snack bars", they are larger than the
typical 'snack size' candy bar, and the calorie count is similar to or
only slightly less than many other energy bars I have eaten.
PROBAR's other lines of bars are more generous in both size and
calories, so in comparison, I guess "snack bar" is appropriate even
though the fruition bars are fairly generous in size and calories.
Summary:
The PROBAR fruition bar is an appealing source of energy for the trail
- easy to chew, tasty, and about the right calorie count for a burst of
energy while hiking. In addition to the appeal of organic,
natural ingredients, the bars are beautifully packaged.
Final Report - March 9, 2010
Field
Locations and Conditions:
 I have consumed the PROBAR fruition bars in a variety of
activities, which include hiking, a backpacking overnight, and
shoveling lots and lots of snow/ice.
Day hikes included an October hike of approximately 4 miles (6.5 km) in
the Charles Fork Lake area
in central West Virginia, with temperatures running around 70 F (21
C); a 4 mi (6.5 km) December hike in the Kanawha State Forest with
temperatures in the 40 F (5 C) range and a few patches of snow on the
ground; two 3-4 mi (5-6.5 km) hikes on a forest service road in the
Monongahela National Forest with temperatures in the 20 F (-7 C) range;
5 hikes on a local nature trail, with temperatures ranging from 25-70 F
(-4 to 21 C); and 5 times shoveling snow or chipping ice in my
driveway, in temperatures from 20-40 F (-7 to 5 C).
I ate 2 bars on an overnight backpacking trip in southeastern West
Virginia. Temperatures dropped from around 40 F (5 F) in the
evening to around 20 F (-7 C) in the early morning.
Use and conclusions:
The fruition bars were very convenient to grab and pack in my day packs
and top lid of my backpack. The light colored wrappers made the
bars very easy to find inside the dark interior of the packs. The
bars were also convenient to eat on trail or while resting in
camp. They were even easy to eat while I continued to shovel
snow. The packaging opened easily, and the shape of the bar
and texture of the wrapper made it pretty easy to grasp in my
hand that supported the shaft of the snow shovel and manage to take a
bite now and then to replenish my energy.
The organic date paste that is the primary ingredient of each bar has a
very predominate taste. The fruit flavoring ingredients are for
the most part only slightly noticeable, although I find it more
predominate in the blueberry flavor, which tastes almost like a
blueberry muffin.
The oats and seeds give the bars a slightly chewy flavor.
Combined with the texture and flavor of the date paste, they remind of
the center of a Fig Newton cookie, both in texture and sweetness.
If I wasn't very hungry or tired, but just wanted a small snack, the
taste could be a little overwhelmingly sweet and I found myself
nibbling the bar in tiny bites. Conversely, if I needed a big
energy boost (say after chipping ice for a couple of hours), I could
take large bites (finishing the bar in 4-5 bites) and the sweetness
wasn't quite so overwhelming. I liked the texture much better
than the more typical candy bar-like energy bar. I often find a
number of energy bars a little on the dry side, and the date paste
makes the fruition bars nice and moist, but not sticky.
A single bar would provide a modest boost in my energy levels, which
worked well for shorter hikes or sitting around camp, but if I was
working hard (shoveling snow, chipping ice) or had not eaten a good
meal within 3-4 hours of hiking, I found I needed a second bar about 30
minutes after the first to provide sufficient energy for sustained
activities.
Summary:
The PROBAR fruition bars are an energizing snack that is convenient to
pack and carry. The light colored packaging is highly visible
inside a dark pack, and is easy to open. The bars have a pleasant
moist texture, but a sweet taste that can be a little overwhelming if I
don't need a big energy boost, so I think they are best suited to
either high energy or sustained activities. While I probably
would
not order them alone due to the added cost of shipping that would
greatly increase the cost of the bars, knowing they are made from
primarily organic materials is a plus, and I expect to purchase more of
these bars if I find them in stores or when ordering other items online.
Likes:
Organic ingredients
Pleasant, moist texture
Dislikes:
Too sweet at times
Need two bars for higher energy activities
This concludes the test series.
Thanks to PROBAR and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity
to
test the Fruition Bar.
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
|
