TRIED & TESTED: Nibble Protein Bites Review

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Nibble Protein Bites are an exciting nutrition startup founded by Erin Moroney,  coming out of London, England. 

Erin was a classic former-vegetarian, who was conscious of her lack of protein in her diet, and the effects were starting to take its toll. She was tired, nails were breaking, hair was falling out and blood sugar levels were quite low.

It was time for a change, particularly since we signed up for a marathon.  

Protein bars seemed like the way forward, but she was concerned about the level of sugar in the bars on the high street and was sick of dates, dates, and more dates.... So, she made her own!

After a few hundred test batches later she created a plum purée antioxidant-rich blend of toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds with crunchy protein crisps (not the packet variety! (TELL ME MORE ).

Her protein bites are super nutritious, with less sugar and more yummy flavours.

Perfect for healthy eating on the go, as she says.

Now Erin has branched into Protein Brownies (great for kids believe it or not), but that is another story.

Here at Kit Radar we have an Ambassador Program (anyone can join) that gives away one or two of our new brands every week in exchange for a review. This week both Liam Hackett and Michael Greene tried the Chocolate Chip and Sour Cherry Flavours.

If you would like to find out more about Nibble Protein Bites then here is a short example of their nutrition information for the chocolate chip version to give you an idea:

INGREDIENTS: DRIED PLUM PURÉE (19%) (dried plums, prune concentrate), PEA PROTEIN (16%), DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS (14%) (72% cocoa mass, sweetener: xylitol, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin), GLUTEN-FREE ROLLED OATS, COCONUT NECTAR, PROTEIN CRISPS (8%) (pea protein concentrate, rice flour, rice starch), TOASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS, TOASTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS, COCOA BUTTER, emulsifier: SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, RICE STARCH, SUNFLOWER OIL, humectant: VEGETABLE GLYCEROL, CHICORY FIBRE, SEA SALT, CINNAMON, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOURING, CARAMEL EXTRACT, thickener: CAROB BEAN GUM, antioxidant: ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C).

Now, onto the independent Nibble Protein Bite review..

 

SOUR CHERRY FLAVOUR REVIEW 

by Michael Greene

p>I received a packet of the Sour Cherry nibble protein bites for a review and have put some of my opinions down below. 

First of all I like the packaging, I only had this one flavour in hand but having checked online their packaging reflects the flavour of the snack (lemon is yellow, Mocha is dark brown etc.) and I like the simplicity of it. 

I was quite surprised by the number of ingredients in the bites but then it mostly seems quite natural stuff and the nutritional stats are pretty good! 

On opening the pack there was a smell that was quite Christmassy, quite strong of Cherry and Orange which was nice, but I found the shape of the nibbles a bit odd, I didn't expect them to be so uniform. There was a remark in the office that they looked a bit like pet treats... But I wouldn't go quite so far!

 

HOW DO THEY TASTE?

They definitely taste better than they look, and served well as a mid morning snack at my desk. I'm usually a sucker for all things chocolate so would maybe have preferred it if they were a bit sweeter but considering how little sugar they have in they were nice. I'd be interested to try the lemon or chocolate chip ones to see if they satisfied my sweet tooth a bit more. 

Given that they are gluten free, dairy free and vegan I was surprised by how nice they were, and I guess the true test is the fact I ate the whole pack! Having looked at them online though I do think they are relatively expensive for the amount you get in a pack so I'm not sure they would become my go to protein snack. 

OVERALL: 7/10.

Next Nibble Protein Bite review...

 

CHOCOLATE CHIP FLAVOUR REVIEW

by Liam Hackett

UNBOXING

The packaging was great, a clean wrapper with a simple design telling you exactly what was in the pack. Nothing fancy, nothing over the top or loud like you see on so many products aimed at runners nowadays. Easy to open with a resealable clasp ensures that the Nibble Bites stay as fresh as possible for as long as possible. Each pack came with 8 bites, about the size of a 10p coin and nearly 1cm in thickness. Checking the ingredients on the back they have only 10g of protein per pack which seems a little low.

HOW DO THEY TASTE?

I tested the bites out on 2 occasions, a 15-mile training run (at a gentle pace) and a fast-paced 10K. On both occasions I had them in a small pocket on my shorts in the packet, they were easy enough to carry and didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. The issues arose when I got a few miles in and started to flag, I had my energy gels and water but wanted to test out the Bites and give myself that all important protein. At first bite it was fine, a nice fresh bite, just as I had expected, but after a second or so I wasn’t as happy as I had first thought.

To get around the Bites being vegan they are made with a lot of dehydrated plum (17% to be exact), it seems to be this ingredient which I didn't like. The plum was too acidic. At first, I thought it might have been my liquid levels so I took a quick swig of water, rinsed my mouth and ran another mile. But no, that same taste of acidy plum. I couldn’t taste an ounce of dark chocolate at all in the 3 bites I tried. The texture was a little ‘bitty’, when Nibble have evidently mixed and baked their ingredients they didn’t add anything to ensure that their customers would have any moisture left in their mouth afterward as they drew it all out and made me feel a little dehydrated.  

During my 10K I offered a couple to my running partner and she had the same response, the second that she started chewing on a Bite she pulled the face I knew I had while on my training run. 

LAST THOUGHTS...

I fully appreciate what Nibble are trying to do with creating a vegan/vegetarian alternative protein snack for runners (being vegetarian myself), but the Chocolate Chip Protein Bites would not be my first choice when heading out for a run. The other flavours might be better, but I’m yet to try them.

To finish, this is not the vegetarian/vegan friendly protein snack for me, I prefer peanut butter and oat balls. 

 

Here at the office, 10 of us have tried Protein Bites. As educated reviewers we feel that people are so used to the sweet date taste of protein bites, that eating plums is a much different experience - not so sweet. 

If you are completely health conscious and want one a healthy protein bite snack then give Nibble Protein Bites a try. It may be a Marmite moment - some love it and won't go for anything else, some prefer the sweet date taste.

 

If you would like to give them a go then you can purchase them below:

 

 

If you are interested in the new Nibble Brownie Bites, then check them out below:

 

 

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