Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > LARABARs 2006 > Matt Mauceri > Initial Report

Humm Foods Larabars Initial Report

Biography
Name: Matt Mauceri
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7 (170cm)
Weight: 146 (66kg)
Email address: dirtyhippieboy(at)yahoo(dot)com
City, State, Country: Las Vegas NV, USA
Date: 12/15/05

Backpacking Background: I’ve been backpacking now for eleven years. I’m usually a quick escape artist who often has a pack waiting in the car for the minute I’m done work and will have a day or two off. I try to keep my pack weight to a minimum, and I’ve upgraded parts of my gear list, but I’m not yet an ultra light guy, just someone who is working to get there.

Product Information
Manufacturer: Humm Foods Inc.
Year Manufactured: 2005
Manufacturer’s Website: http://www.larabar.com/
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $1.69 for individual bars. Cases (16 bars) may be bought directly through Humm Foods for $27.00.
Actual Length 3.25 in (8.26 cm)
Actual Width 1.25 in (3.17 cm)
Actual Height 0.5 in (1.27 cm)

Weights and Calories

 I received my Larabars via Fed-Ex on December 7th, 2005. The assorted flavors came packed in a Pecan Pie case box and were packed inside another box to protect it during shipping. 

Product Description
The following information was obtained from the Larabar website.
LÄRABAR is a delicious blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices — energy in its purest form. Made from 100% whole, raw food, each flavor contains no more than 2 to 6 ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended.
LÄRABAR is RIGHT All of the vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, good carbohydrates and healthy fats are derived exclusively from the whole, raw food used to make LÄRABAR. 
LÄRABAR is REAL. Sweet with no added sweeteners. Sustaining with no added fillers, supplements or flavorings. LÄRABAR is what your body needs-real, whole food loaded with nature's own minerals and vitamins. 
LÄRABAR is RAW. Never cooked. Never processed. The essential enzymes, which are necessary for the digestion and utilization of nutrients, remain completely intact in their most natural, powerful state. A diet abundant in raw, unprocessed foods is important for health and longevity.
For LÄRABAR, Humm Foods sources the best possible ingredients: Uncooked, Unprocessed, No Added Sugars, Non-Irradiated, Non-GMO, Preservative-Free, Sulfite-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Corn-Free, Vegan, Kosher.

Initial Impressions 
My experience with energy bars has led me to the impression that energy bars need a lot of complicated ingredients in order to be able to pack energy into such a small package. The one bar I did eat this week impressed me with its flavor and certainly sustained me through the hike I was taking. The flavor I tried was Cherry Pie, and its ingredients were simple and I recognized every one of them. It was made up just of dates, almonds, and unsweetened cherries. I found the bar to be soft and easy to chew. The bar was slightly sticky to the touch, but left no sticky residue on my fingers after I was done eating it. At just about 200 calories the bar gave me the energy I needed without weighing me down and filling me up to much. The Larabar packaging was simple and recognizable, as seen in the picture enclosed in this report.

Test Plan
I plan on using the bar for as many different types of activities as I can before using them up. I hope to use them on some peak bagging day hikes and mountain biking trips in Red Rock Canyon National Recreation area. I am planning overnight backpacking trips into Death Valley National Park and Grand Canyon National Park in the next two or three months. I hope to use these bars to sustain me on these hikes between breakfast and dinner. I plan to evaluate how the bars hold up to being packed or carried in pockets on these trips, and how they perform in different weather conditions. For example will the Larabars freeze easily in cold weather becoming harder to eat? I also will report on the flavor varieties I have been sent to test, noting if there is one that I find most enjoyable, or if there is one that should be sent back to the kitchen. I’ll also be looking at the product availability, seeing if local sporting goods and food stores are carrying Larabars and what variety in flavors is being stocked.

Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > LARABARs 2006 > Matt Mauceri > Initial Report