Home > Categories > Food > Cereal/Muesli products > GoNatural Macadamia and Apricot bar review
A delicious combination of Australian macadamia nuts and tangy apricot.
• Gluten Free
• Low Sodium
• High in Fibre
• No Artificial Colours or Flavours
Product reviews...
In recent years, thanks to the rising prices of basically everything and the apparent increase in the use of cheaper, less healthy ingredients in the more popular, affordable bars, I have started to make my own muesli snacks. One of my favourite ingredients is Apricot, mainly because it helps absorb any excess liquid from honey and other ingredients, thus helping to bind it together. Oh, and it tastes amazing in combination with coconut - another favoured ingredient. Because of that bias, this was a bar I was very much looking forward to trying.
I am sorry to report that it let me down. There was far less apricot that I thought there would be. The wrapper claims 17% but after unwrapping it I was hard pressed to find 6 small pieces of apricot in the entire bar. Ther wrapper also claims 25% Macadamia nuts, yet I would swear the amount in this bar was closer to 50%... so I am not too sure what the percentages relate to; weight, volume, or price!
Putting aside my disappointment on the apricot front, I was pleased to detect a strong flavour of coconut and honey, both of which enhanced the overall flavour enough that I still enjoyed the bar even without the eagerly-anticipated flavour. The bar was filling without being overly so, and was a good portion. Slightly larger than the regular muesli bars, this still managed to fit well in my travel snack box - which used to be my eldest son's old school lunchbox.
Overall, I wish I could score this far better, but without the apricots I just couldn't bring myself to score it any better than this. Still, I put it down to the vagaries of bulk production - short of blending it all into an unappealing pulp, there are no methods that will ensure a totally even distribution, so the amounts on the wrappers are only an average really. I was just unlucky enough to get the bar with more Macs and less Apricots I guess. Such is life, and I still think this bar was tasty. The price will be the only stumbling block for most people, but you need to keep in mind that quality costs, and healthy food even more so - with that in mind the price isn't too bad, but I think it could or should be a little lower to make a better splash in the NZ marketplace.
I LOVE apricots, really love the flavour. And macadamias always taste nice. I was curious as to how the crunch from the nuts and the chewiness of the apricot would go together, and it did not disappoint.
I found that the flavour mixture was really good. Neither flavour was too strong, and it seemed to be mixed nice and evenly. I LOVED the addition of the coconut and found it to be the perfect addition to the bar.
My three year old wasn't interested in trying this bar, simply because she could actually see the apricot for a change. My four year old gave it a try and whilst he said that it was yum, he turned down the offer of more.
As with the others in this range, it is refreshing to find a bar that tastes so damn good, and is actually good for you. A nice little buzz from eating it too.
This will be on my treat list.
This was a great bar to eat. I loved the texture of the Apricot, Macadmias and also a whole bunch of coconut which isn't at first obvious.
From looking at the outside, I was expecting it to be a very full on Apricot flavour, but this wasn't the case for me. All the flavours worked very well, and there was a nice flavour of coconut coming through also.
This is a type of bar that wouldn't fill you up, which is a good thing as it allows you to have this as a way to stop the hunger before your next main meal comes along.
Price wise, I'm not sure if I would shell out $2.50 for one bar, when I probably could get something way more substantial with that.
A great bar though, and a lot better then most of the competition out there, with bits you can actually see, and work out what they are, go and try one.
When it comes to snack bars, one of my favourite ingredients/flavours is apricots. I love the fruit; fresh or dried, im happy! So i was really looking forward to the GoNatural Macadamia and Apricot bar.
I admit that was expecting the macadamis to over power the apricots, not because of a stronger flavour but because there was more macadamias in the bar than fruit. However they seemed to mix well. The apricot flavour did manage to stand out when you had a mouthful with a good amount of apricot in it. For me personally (because I love apricots) though, I would have been slightly happier if there were a few more apricots in the mix.
Apparently there is also coconut in this one, but I admit to only tasting the macadamis, honey and apricot. The coconut snuck under the radar for me personally.
I did not share any of this bar, even though I initially intended to, in order to get a child's opinion, but when it came to the crunch, and there is crunch (macadamia crunch) there was no sharing to be had.
It is nice to have a bar, that tastes as fresh as you would expect it did on the day it was made, no stale soft nuts to be found, all the fresh crunchiness that should be there...still there!
And it does not stop there either, the nutrition and health value in the GoNatural bars is top notch. All the healthy goodness you could want. The perfect snack for anyone with intolerances or really wanting the best for themselves i terms of healthy nutritious snacks. Well done GoNatural :)
We recently went to the snow and I packed the GoNatural Macadamia and Apricot bar as a snack for the day. I'm sure glad I did as well. This little bar provided me with a healthy, yummy snack and instant energy hit. For this reason, I'd recommend the GoNatural range of bars as a tasty scroggin alternative.
I liked that the pack was so convenient. It was easy enough to get into, though I made a precut to the plastic for easy opening. I liked that the pack had clear bits so I could see what I was pulling out of the snack bag. It made it stand out against the kids' bars we had as well. No way was I sharing this bar.
Its the perfect mix of coconut, macadamia nuts that scrunch so nicely and honey. However, the apricot I found to be too hard and sour. It detracted from the overall bar. I would have preferred craisins, or a softer dry fruit. But it was still a very tasty bar.
The price is still quite high for what is essentially a novelty bar, but I would probably buy this again. Despite the apricot, this was one of my favourite bars.
The Go Natural macadamia and apricot bars were not what I expected. I loved the taste, but it wasn't the nuts or fruit that was the main taste for me, it was the coconut. They reminded me of honey rice bubble crackles.
Although the packaging promotes that it is high in fibre there are lots of other nutritional benefits that appeal to me more. I have several friends and family with food intolerances, so the fact it is gluten and dairy free as well as containing no cholesterol is a real find for me. I will be suggesting this bar to them and possibly including it with their Christmas present.
It is also great that it contains all natural ingredients and nothing artificial. It is proudly Australian made with both Australian and imported ingredients. To me this means that they were made somewhere the staff were treated fairly and food safety was important.
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