Anyone else love the healthy snacks section at Target? Last time I was there I found these things called Archer Farms fruit bars. They looked interesting on the box, and there was no added sugar, so I grabbed a few flavors to try.

The price wasn’t too bad, considering the cost of small granola bars these days. What was interesting was that the Tropical flavor was about $2 per box, while the others (pomegranate, strawberry, citrus) were over $3 per box. Luckily I found most of the flavors on sale for about $2.50.

It’s odd though, because the ingredients are virtually identical. The only real difference is the flavoring.

You’ll see what I mean…

Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Ingredients for the pomegranate flavor:

Apples, Natural pomegranate flavor, Fruit juice concentrates (pomegranate, blueberry, and lemon), Elderberry juice, Ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

That’s basically the same for each one. The bar is based on ground up apples, then it has some flavoring and fruit juice added. They taste pretty good, although it would have been nice to get some real pomegranate chunks in there.

So why the large price difference? Does a small amount of pomegranate flavoring really cost that much more than the tropical flavoring? That I don’t know.

Nutrition Facts:

140 calories
total fat 0.5g
sodium 30mg
potassium 230mg
total carb 32g
fiber 3g
sugar 23g

Not bad. These are very high in carbs, especially sugar, for being such a small bar. But at least there is no added sugar. The 3g fiber (from the apples I bet) is pretty cool as well.

Based on the high carbs and low fat content, these are probably great for use while cycling. They seem comparable to things like PowerBar Gel Blasts and Clif Shot Bloks. They go down easily, too.

I wouldn’t binge on them when sedentary though, due to a likely sugar rush.

Taste Test

Overall, these bars taste like a big, thick fruit roll-up with a dose of Lara Bar. In other words, delicious!

It really is a lot like the fruit roll-up, but not as sugary and artificial. And that makes sense since it’s really just some sort of apple puree formed into a bar, with some natural flavor added.

Tropical -A good tropical flavor. I couldn’t pinpoint any pineapple, coconut, or mango flavors, but overall it gave me that “tropical” feel, and I enjoyed it.

Strawberry – A good strawberry flavor. It’s very sweet but still somewhat realistic. I would say this is my favorite one!

Pomegranate – The most bland flavor I tried. I know that pomegranate juice isn’t all that sweet, but I definitely prefer the sweetness of the tropical and strawberry flavors over this one. The flavor could have at least been stronger, even if it would be tart.

Yeah, after a few bars, I noticed more of a pomegranate flavor in there, but it just didn’t seem as strong as I’d like. POM Wonderful is very strong, so I guess that’s what I was hoping for here.

Citrus – ?

My final verdict is…

These fruit bars make for a tasty snack that isn’t really unhealthy. They are high in sugar, but you’re better off curbing your sweet tooth with these than with artificial candy! They’re also a relatively inexpensive energy bar/gel replacement.

I don’t plan to eat these often, but they wouldn’t hurt as the occasional snack.

Official website: www.Target.com/ArcherFarms

If you’ve never been to a Target store, you have probably been missing out on food from Archer Farms (a Target house brand.) Archer Farms is a line of food products that includes such items as energy drinks and trail mix.

Not just any trail mix though – this is more of a premium trail mix, composed of higher-end ingredients than the typical raisin and peanut combo.

I got two 13oz bags on sale for $2.50 each (regularly $2.99.) That is an amazing deal considering this stuff is on par with Bear Naked Trail Mix which retails for about $3.00 per 5oz bag!

Yep, Archer Farms trail mix is like 60% cheaper than Bear Naked!

Continue reading to see how it tastes…

Trail Mix Taste Test

Here is what I thought of the two flavors of Archer Farms trail mix:

Fruit & Berry

This is “Fruit & Berry trail mix” with cranberries, dark & golden raisins, pineapple, papaya, cherries & blueberries.

This mix was pretty good and I absolutely loved the cherries. They were strong and sweet.

It was a little light on the pineapple and papaya, unfortunately, and the pieces that were there were way too small. Luckily the raisins were good, because there were a lot of them!

But who wants an expensive bag of raisins?

Raisin Nut

This “Raisin Nut trail mix” was filled with golden raisins, dark raisins, pepitas, cranberries, almonds, cashews, filberts & pistachios.

Again, there were tons of good raisins, but this time there was a better variety. The cashews were great and I thought the pepitas were awesome! (The pepitas were like some sort of green pumpkin seeds, and tasted somewhat like sunflower seeds, but they were unique.)

I liked this one more than Fruit & Berry since it had more of the good ingredients, and contained fewer dried cranberries, which I just don’t care for in trail mix.

Nutrition Facts

Here are the nutrition facts for Raisin Nut:

Serving size 3 Tbsp
Calories 130
Fat 5g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 0mg
Total Carbohydrate 17g
Fiber 2g
Sugars 12g
Protein 3g

Overall, the trail mix scores pretty good on the health scale. It contains all natural, whole ingredients, and there is no sodium.

The only downside is that trail mix is so easy to eat. I can easily eat half a bag of this stuff and then feel too lethargic to make it out onto the trail!

My final verdict is…

If you don’t need trail mix, you don’t really need to add this to your diet. (Being so calorie dense and easy to eat, you might overindulge like I did.)

But if you need trail mix (for a big hike or for a long ride,) this stuff is pretty good. It’s a lot cheaper than the Bear Naked trail mixes and nearly as good, so it’s worth trying.

Official website: Target.com/archerfarms