Age of DS: 5.2
Q1 What your overall impressions were of the products?
Packaging very consistent with other Cathedral City products, so instantly identifiable as being from them, which is a positive - a reasonable guarantee that this isn't just going to be more over-processed crap. All products a sensible size, so I can definitely see them being included in a packed lunch, and they're small enough to fit in a handbag for a quick snack when we're out and about.
Q2 What did you think about the formats available? eg Cheese and Toasties, Nibbles and Bricks
The cheese and toasties... DS loved making his own cheese on toast, and then insisted on us using one of the packs under the grill so it could be properly toasted with a bit of Worcester sauce. I was a bit because I appreciate this is not the intended use, but once the product leaves the shop there's no accounting for what will happen to it, so gave it a try. Worked absolutely fine, and a v happy DS. Nibbles and Bricks also good - I'd happily buy the nibbles for me as I'm something of a cheese addict and this rations it out nicely to protect the diet! Good range of formats to suit different needs.
Q3 When do you think you'd buy or use this product? Would you eat it youself or keep it for the children?
DS goes to after school club and has a packed tea every day in term time. Currently he gets mini-babybels in his packed tea, but he's said he prefers Chedds and that he'd like those instead come September, which counts for a lot with me. So I'd be buying them weekly in the Ocado shop - probably the Nibbles or Bricks, but occasionally the Cheese and Toasties as a treat, as he'd usually have a sandwich or some dolmas or samosas as the main part of his tea. I'd probably also buy the Nibbles and/or Bricks for me, but not the Cheese and Toasties - DH went for these in a big way (though he thought the cheese flavour drowned out rather by the toast) and they make barely a mouthful for him, which is not really cost-effective! Also fair to say that I have coeliac disease, which rules the toasties out for me, but put together a version with rice crackers and I'd be right there.
Q4 What did your children think about Chedds?
DS loved them - the flavour, the cute little mouse, the size of the portions were all good as far as he was concerned. He's already asking me to buy them regularly because they're yummier than his red cheeses (mini-babybel). I'd agree with that.
Q5 What did they think about the formats available? eg Cheese and Toasties, Nibbles and Bricks - which did they like the best? Which was the worst and why? How would they rate the taste of the product?
He likes all of them and found it hard to choose a favourite. When I asked him which of the three he'd most like to put in his packed tea, he decided on the Cheese and Toasties as that would be more filling, but this is very closely followed by the Nibbles as they're easy to share with his friends. The Bricks he likes, flavour-wise, as much as the others, but would be more for him to eat at home when he isn't in a situation of wanting to share good things with his friends. He rates the taste as 'really totally yummily yummy', which is high praise, believe me. The only foods that get a higher rating are sushi and home-made cakes and dinners.
Q6 What did your children think about the charater, facts and the jokes on the packets?
He thinks the mouse is cute, and the facts and what have you interesting when I pointed them out to him, but his main focus is on what's inside the packet and getting it out so he can eat it. In that sense he responds better to the packaging of Bear Yoyos, where there is a card inside the packet that he likes to read and keep, again with a fact on, but it gets noticed because it's separate from the food, rather than merely a wrapper. Ditto cheese strings, which have cards in the multipacks that can be collected.
Q7 Lastly do you think you'd be likely to buy Chedds again? Why? Why not?
Purely in terms of flavour and format, I would be fairly certain of buying them again, but the packaging does need some work. He found it hard work breaking into the wrapper around the toasties, as did DH when he had some, and completely failed to get the Bricks open unassisted. He was fine with the Nibbles, which from experience are the easiest of the three to open. Given he would mostly be eating the products away from home, I'd want to be sure he could actually get them open without spilling them all over the floor, and the only one that works 100% on that front is the Nibbles, so I'd stick to those for now.
If I had one final observation, it's on the flavour. It's nice to have a mild cheddar that actually has some flavour, as this one does, but I don't think it needs to be quite as mild as it is to appeal to children. There seems to be a temptation to make things mild and/or bland to make them appeal to children, when in fact children can handle stronger flavours quite happily. DS will happily eat full strength Cathedral City and pongy camembert, and our regular Saturday lunch would include things like a cheddar, some smoked mackerel, home-made coleslaw, potato salad in anchovy dressing, etc. He likes goat curry and chilli con carne, sushi and dim sum, even kedgeree for breakfast, but dislikes the stuff that, from a culinary perspective, has been dumbed down to 'suit' children's taste buds - like Dairylea, for example. I don't force him to eat any of the stuff I've mentioned. He's tried it, liked it and now spontaneously requests it.
So yes, I'll almost certainly be buying Chedds in the future, but would be even happier if there were at least some mature cheddar Nibbles in the range as well, because our whole family - DS, DH and I - would prefer those.