Growers and Grocers

Organic “fun snax” have come a long way since the soy-nut-and-dried-papaya gorp of my youth. We now can send our kids off to school with a FruitaBü Organic Smoooshed Fruit Flat in their lunch bag, content in the knowledge that (a) it’s organic, (b) it’s half a serving of real fruit, and (c) they’ll probably actually eat it.

The Smoooshed Grape flavor my kids sampled has all of two ingredients: organic apple puree concentrate and organic grape puree concentrate (in that order). It looks like a wide, flat piece of dark purplish fruit leather, weighing in at 0.4 ounces (12 g), and contains 40 calories. Other flavors available in the Smoooshed Fruit Flats include apricot, apple, strawberry, and raspberry.

The makers of Smoooshed Fruit Flats, the Stretch Island Fruit Company, originated in 1976. According to its Web site, their values – “optimism, social conscience, simplicity, and health” – are pretty much in sync with their product. The Smoooshed Fruit Flat is simple, healthy, socially consciencious (organic), and I was optimistic that my kids would not be trading it for a Devil Dog the second their lunch bag touched down on the cafeteria table.  

So what does it actually taste like?

First, I asked the kids. Both of them, independently, gave me the same answer: “Grapes.” Opening the package myself, I gave it a sniff. Grape juice. The color is brownish purple, as you would expect dried fruit without coloring to look. (This product is miles away from those alarmingly violent green and blue “fruit” snacks next to it on the shelf.) And the taste is quite nice, not overwhelmingly grape with a capital G, but more of a subtle grape, balanced with apple. Not too sweet, pleasingly tart, and not nearly as sticky as some fruit leathers I’ve sampled.

All in all, thumbs-up for Organic Smoooshed Fruit Flats from FruitaBü.

Image from Amazon.com.