NEW! Coco Pops Granola (Tesco)

Q: What's the laziest way to create a new product? 
A: Create a variation of an already successful line and copy your competitor of course!

Last year saw the release of Nestle's Shreddies Max Protein Granola, followed by a few fleeting boxes of Cheerios and Curiously Cinnamon Granola* in January. Kellogg's have obviously been keeping their eyes peeled, as they have recently followed suit and brought out a peanut butter granola (Crunchy Nut Clusters) as well as this new Coco Pops Granola. I'm not complaining really, I love cereal, adore oats and always welcome new choices. I did however wait for the bag to come on offer (currently £2 in Tesco).

"A combination of chocolatey-flavoured granola with wheat shapes and wholegrain oats! A source of B vitamins and iron which helps to release energy throughout the day. Made with no artificial colours!"

I'm not sure why that last sentence warrants an exclamation mark. Perhaps it's surprising. What they have failed to market is that the new granola contains almost half the sugar content per 100g than that of traditional cocoa pops (16g vs. 30g). Of course the serving size and calorie content is higher though.

I hope you don't mind me mentioning that I'm not a fan of the new bag design. Whilst it saves on excess packaging, the bag won't stand up properly, irritating my need for orderly cupboards.

Fortunes turned when I opened the resealable (that's one bonus) bag. Inside was a sight for any chocoholic's sore eyes. Every morsel was covered in chocolate! The bag contained a good mix of (relatively small) oaty chunks and Cocoa Pops' puffs, Moons and Stars.

It's a shame that the new granola didn't pass my milk soaking test. By the time I'd stopped faffing about taking photos the shapes were soggy and the granola had started to disintegrate. There wasn't really enough oats to call it a granola either really  seeing as they only make up 30% of the ingredients. On the plus side the flavour was good though, and the milk turned chocolatey! Have you ever had Graze's Cocoa & Vanilla flapjacks? Well the oat chunks reminded me of them -which I hope you'll agree is no bad thing.

All in all it's a good product from Kellogg's. It might not me the most inventive cereal, nor is it the best granola I've ever tasted, but I'll enjoy the bag, and will probably buy Coco Pops Granola again - but only when it's on offer.

7/10

*if anyone's spotted either recently please let me know, they seem to have disappeared.

NEW! Coco Pops Choco Bakes (Sainsbury's)

I spied these new chocolatey cake bars on shelves a few weeks ago but something stopped me from buying them. It wasn't even the normal premium price that often coincides with a product launch that deterred me, after all they seem to have cropped up here, there and everywhere for around £1 a box. I think it was more to do with the fact that I couldn't get my head around the idea of a low-calorie, low-fat chocolate cake slice tasting less than disappointing. I love my chocolate (as I'm sure you're all more than aware by now!) and I can't be dealing with low-calorie fake versions of the stuff -especially when it comes to cake. Still, when I spotted a box reduced to 70p in Sainsbury's because of its slightly battered state, my natural inquisition won out -and I figured I'd palm them off on my less fussy fiance if they weren't to my tastes. Joking! Well, maybe. ;) 

"Wheat bakes with chocolate chips."

Not the most appetising description in the world, and I must admit I was slightly disappointed when I shook one out of the box. They were tiny! Still, for 112kcal per bake, what else could I expect?

Things started to look up when I unwrapped the bar, and uncovered a treat that looked more brownie-esque than 'wheat bake'. A welcome dark colour and chocolatey aroma also made my heart leap slightly, perhaps they wouldn't be so bad after all! 

Well, blow me down. The Coco Pops bar was moist and chewy with enough cocoa to give a true chocolatey kick. Kellogg's earned extra brownie points from the abundance of chocolate chips -which I wasn't even expecting in the first place. 

My hat is off and tail is firmly between my legs. I shouldn't have doubted Kellogg's -after all I think their Nutri Grain Breakfast Bakes (previously Elevenses) are pretty damn good- but I actually think the Coco Pops Choco Bakes are even better.  

These make for a wonderful mid-morning/afternoon pick me up or a joyous lunchbox treat (FYI they contain a respectable 6.6g of sugar too -less than a chocolate Barny at 8.8g). I'm already looking forward to my next one, which will no doubt be served up warm with a couple of generous scoops of raspberry ripple ice cream -scrummy.

9/10

New Coco Pops Multi-Grain Biscuits

Today I tried the new Coco Pops Multi-Grain biscuits, which I purchased from Asda for £1. The bag contains 5 mini bags of multigrain biscuits at 104 cals per bag. 

Each bag contained about 12 multi-grain biscuits, which I guess are meant to be a "healthy" biscuit snack choice. I love coco pops and so was disappointed at the lack of chocolatey flavour. They tasted rather too much like cardboard for my liking, and more like munching on dry cereal than munching on biscuits. 

Sorry Kellogg's, I'll be sticking to my Cadbury mini dinosaurs when reaching for a mini biscuit bag treat in future. 

5/10