Product Name: UNREAL candy
Product Information: Unreal started with a question from a kid: “WHY DOES THE JUNK FOOD WE LOVE HAVE TO BE SO BAD FOR US?”
It took a question from a 13 year old.
A few years ago, Michael and his 13 year old son Nicky got into an argument over Halloween candy. Nicky came home with his bag of loot, went to bed, and woke up the next morning to find that his dad had confiscated most of it. It played out the way these fights normally do, with the candy gone and Nicky going to his room.
Later, Nicky did some research online (to prove to his dad that candy isn’t so bad). He discovered that his dad was right (for once).
It’s not that Nicky thought candy was healthy. It’s that he didn’t know how bad it really was. What Nicky learned was that the worst parts of candy (like hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives) aren’t there to make it taste good. They’re there to make it cheaper to produce.
Nicky had a hunch that without the junk, candy could taste better. With the help of his older brother Kris, and his dad, they set out to prove it.
Proving candy can be unjunked™
Nicky started calling chefs and professors, hoping to find one to take up the challenge. Not a single person believed it could be done. Finally, Kris’ research led Nicky to a well known professor of food sciences at the University of Bristol, in the UK. That professor recommended Adam, a top chef in Spain. Adam was so inspired by the mission of changing junk food that he immediately brought together top scientists and chefs all across Europe to recreate America’s biggest selling candies, without the junk. Along the way Nicky and Adam developed UNREAL™’s mantra: “Unjunk™!” Corn syrup? Out. Partially hydrogenated oils? Out. GMOs? Out. Artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives? Out. Reduced sugar by over 40% per serving on average? Check. They also decided key ingredients needed to be responsibly sourced, supporting farming communities and preventing destruction of the rain forests. All ingredients needed to be non GMO. Dairy needed to come from pasture raised cows with no antibiotics or added hormones. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do for people and the planet. They had to figure out how to keep it fresh on shelves without artificial preservatives. To get the taste just right, they literally tested hundreds of recipes to generate just five different candies. Along the way they had to work out how to produce the candy at a cost that would allow them to sell it at the same price as the old candy. This was critical. It’s one thing to sell an expensive bar at a fancy health food store. It’s another to give everyone a new option that costs the same at the checkout of your grocer or convenience store.
The question became a mission.
Unreal™was born
We’ve just unjunked America’s favorite candy and true to Nicky’s dream, we think it tastes better without the corn syrup, the artificial ingredients, and the partially hydrogenated oils. Not to mention less sugar. We even added more cacao, real caramel (not corn syrup dyed to look like caramel), more peanuts, protein, and fiber. All this is the product of the UNREAL™ culture. We’re building an eclectic mix of people from different walks and experiences. A Kashi guy. One from Google. An interior decorator. A P&G’er. A guitarist from Glaceau. A guy from Mars. An actual Oompa Loompa. A dog named Lola. You’d never find these people together in any other company in the world. But it works. Why? Because we’re drawn together by a common mission. To challenge what we’ve come to accept in our food and its effect on our health. To change the way junk food is made here in America and around the world. To unjunk the world™.
My Thoughts: I was able to try some UNREAL candy when I was visiting CVS Headquarters in Woonsocket RI back in June. I loved it! I also was able to meet the chef responsible for making UNREAL and he cooked some food for us. Let’s just say the food was interesting, but I preferred the candy which was at the end.
It didn’t taste like anything was missing to me and I’ve purchased it several times since then. You can buy it at CVS and a few other stores and if you haven’t tried it, I highly suggest you do! If you are going to eat candy then why not eat one that is a better choice for you, right?
(1) Koupon Karen reader will win a basket of UNREAL candy from CVS!
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Disclosure: I received the same prize as the winner for review. My opinions are 100% mine.
