Clif Bars New Organic Food Pouches

Clif Bar is launching a new range of nutrition, high-performance products: the Athlete Series.

They are different from anything we've seen before; they are "real" food in gel form. The have two kinds: sweet and savory. I've been told that they are "gels with chewiness."

So why wouldn't you just eat real food?

For starters, the higher water content makes them easier to digest. Soft food is much easier to eat while you are doing an activity and the small, resealable pouches make them easy to carry and save for later. They are all USDA certified organic, gluten free and vegan.

The two savory flavors are margherita pizza and sweet potatoes with sea salt. The main differences between the sweet and savory flavors (besides the taste) are that the savory flavors have more protein and fat (from sunflower seed butter and olive oil) – things you need for a longer workout, while the sweet flavors have more carbs and sodium for shorter workouts. The sweet flavors have a moderate glycemic index so burn fuel slower than a gel.

Our taste tester Louie said that the Pizza Margherita, "tastes almost exactly like you would expect, it has a soft congealed texture with the hint of pizza and nutty after taste. It looks like a lighter tomato paste." The pizza gets its flavor from quinoa flakes and yeast flakes.

The Sweet Potatoes with Sea Salt will remind many runners of the boiled potatoes rolled in salt available at some aid stations during runs. Louie says it "tastes like blended almonds and the texture is more runny than the pizza."

The two sweet flavors are more like smoothies and come in banana/mango/coconut and banana/beet/ginger. So far our Holabird tasters prefer the sweet flavors to the savory. According to them, the banana/mango/coconut is reminiscent of a Pina Colada. Louie says, "the banana flavor is most dominant but there are shreds of coconut. It looks like vanilla pudding."

At the end of the day, Louie liked the banana/beet/ginger best of all: "The initial taste is raspberry with a hint of ginger and banana in the aftertaste."

Clif Bars new organic food pouches are now available: Clif Organic Energy Food Savory Flavors and Clif Organic Energy Food Sweet Flavors.

What do you think? Are you interested in trying Pizza Margherita in a pouch?