BEAR Alphabites Feedback Thread - £150 John Lewis voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This thread is for the Mumsnetters who have been trying BEAR Alphabites.

Here’s what BEAR say: “Grrreetings, we’re BEAR and we like things as nature intended. We started out 5 years ago making pure fruit ‘yoyos’ for kids, with no added sugar, concentrates or any other nonsense. The more time we spent talking to parents over the years, the more we realised that breakfast was also a real challenge for families- the sugary, salty cereals on offer made us growl, so we set off foraging to find a much better alternative.

Made from just 6 ingredients- five multigrains and our super new ingredient coconut blossom nectar - our crunchy cereal letters contain no refined sugar, salt or any other nonsense. From the flowers of the coconut tree, coconut blossom nectar is a naturally sweet sap that makes our cereal letters delicious and crunchy, and also provides over half of your daily calcium needs (one bowl of Alphabites with 125ml of semi skimmed milk provides over half of an adult’s daily calcium needs, with half of this coming from the nectar alone). It also has a much lower GI than sugar (35 vs 70 for refined sugar), preventing the usual crazy sugar highs and grizzly crashes that come from too much refined sugar. ”

Below are a few questions for you to answer about eating BEAR Alphabites at breakfast time – feel free to add any other thoughts you may have though, we’d love to hear them.

• Do you find breakfast with your DCs to be a challenge, or not? If you do, could you tell us a bit more about why?
• What do your DCs usually eat at breakfast? Are you worried about the refined sugar and salt that most breakfast cereals contain, or not?
• What did your DCs think of Bear Alphabites (taste, packaging, concept)? What did they like or dislike about them?
• Would you buy Bear Alphabites for your DCs in the future? (available in 375g box, RRP £2.69)?
• Would you recommend Bear Alphabites to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

If you have any photos of your DCs trying BEAR Alphabites, please add them to this thread. Thanks for taking part:

All testers who leave their feedback on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £150 John Lewis voucher and a hamper of delicious BEAR goodies.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

We have now thoroughly tested these - two boxes bought every week after the testers arrived! They are popular

I give breakfast to my own kids and the childminded ones: we have 6-10 children coming to breakfast on any given day.

I am very careful about the sugar contained in breakfast cereals and we don't have sugar or any other sweetener except honey for porridge. Cereals are available for choice, and so is fruit and toast, and a cooked breakfast in the colder months.

So, what did we think of this one?
The cocoa version is definitely the more popular and is our most requested cereal. Most of them said the nectar version was very sweet and avoided it for that reason, although it had its fans. I did notice that, even though it was sweet, it didn't make the sweet-toothed children hyper like other cereals have done.

The alphabet design appealed to all ages: younger children picked out individual letters and older ones spelled out words. The letters hold their shapes well, too. The youngest just got on with eating

The packaging was largely ignored: sorry! We have one little boy who was attracted to the pirate one and read it all thoroughly. I drew their attention to the Yoga one and got a tableful of blank looks. Well, I thought it was OK... maybe not as eye-catching as some, but the cereals we usually have aren't the sickly sweet kiddy-attracting type anyway.
One of our 2 year olds was quite fixated with the Bear and asked for him specifically every morning.

I would recommend them, especially the cocoa version. Very popular, and I'm glad to see a healthier cereal marketed for kids.

I'm not part of this test, but rec'd a free sample via ocado. They are a hit here - they are sweet, but in a nice way. We have now replaced the cheerios with this brand for the kids. We now have toast, porridge and Alphabites.

My DS likes the packaging, but ignores the letters - he is 5.5, so maybe a younger audience would find them interesting. The one marketing tool that has interested DS is the Alphabet letter magnets that come with innocent smoothies, the artwork on them are pretty cool and even I don't mind them on the fridge.

Okay, I'm a bit late but there is a reason, DS is keen on anything new, and will loose interest and may or may.not return to it later.

He loved the letters and will faff around with them for ages given the opportunity. However after the first few days he just doesn't eat them.

He didn't seem to notice the packaging, but has enjoyed the free magnetic letters.

Breakfast is not a challenge, he takes it or leaves it. Usually the latter.
I try and stay away from the sugary rubbish, we eat a lot of porridge and toast with marmite.
Occasionally we have unbranded rice pops or similar.
He loved the letters and will still faff around with them at breakfast time given the opportunity. However apart from the first few days he just doesn't eat them.

Tester boxes arrived last week! DS (2.1) was very interested in the monster themed box!

• Do you find breakfast with your DCs to be a challenge, or not? If you do, could you tell us a bit more about why?

Toddler age DS isn't keen to sit down and concentrate on eating these days, just wants to play!

• What do your DCs usually eat at breakfast? Are you worried about the refined sugar and salt that most breakfast cereals contain, or not?

I don't buy overly processed/sugary cereals, just plain ones (mainly because DH would scoff them!), DS usually has Weetabix, fruit filled mini Weetabix or wheat puffs - usually a small bowl, dry! Or else he has toast with marmite or peanut butter, He also always has some fresh fruit (i try to avoid dried fruit as its bad for teeth). Ocasioanally a pastry or brioche or hot cross bun.

• What did your DCs think of Bear Alphabites (taste, packaging, concept)? What did they like or dislike about them?

DS pointed out the 'Bear!'. He liked the plain ones better than the chocolate ones (unusual, as he is a chocolate fiend!). We often let him choose what he has - and he often points out 'That One!' to the alphabites. He doesn't often have a whole bowl of cereal with milk, but prefers to have a small bowl of dry cereal to eat. It also makes a great on-the-go snack! He is a bit too little to appreciate the shapes yet.

When I tried it I did think it tasted a bit too sweet (but i don't generally eat cereal) but glad that it is not refined so I am happy for DS to eat them regularly.

• Would you buy Bear Alphabites for your DCs in the future? (available in 375g box, RRP £2.69)?

Yes, we always have a few boxes of cereal on the go and this will definitely be a regular. I'd be more inclined to wait till it was on special offer before re-buying (but that's just me, not a reflection on value, as we always have so much cereal in the house!)

• Would you recommend Bear Alphabites to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes I would. Amongst friends with similar age children it seems that not many parents are very aware of the high sugar content in most cereals.

I'm not part of your testing thing but we did just buy some.

• Do you find breakfast with your DCs to be a challenge, or not? If you do, could you tell us a bit more about why?

Not at all - Dc's eat anything and everything.

• What do your DCs usually eat at breakfast? Are you worried about the refined sugar and salt that most breakfast cereals contain, or not?

we usually have Shreddies, Branflakes, Cheerios or criossants. We do try to have the ones lower in sugar, usually the own brand cereals. The rest of the time we eat fairly healthily, honest!

• What did your DCs think of Bear Alphabites (taste, packaging, concept)? What did they like or dislike about them?

They like them so far. They are fascinated with making rude words like "bum". We bought this cereal because DS noticed the bear on the front and he was in charge of scanning on that day

• Would you buy Bear Alphabites for your DCs in the future? (available in 375g box, RRP £2.69)?

Yes if they were the same price as the other, major cereals, probably more likely to if they were on offer

• Would you recommend Bear Alphabites to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

yes - they are just as good as the other cereals, more fun, probably

I wasnt a tester but recently bought some of these for my son and he adores them. Very happy to not add any sugar to them as well!

When does the draw take place on this

Thanks for letting me test

• Do you find breakfast with your DCs to be a challenge, or not? If you do, could you tell us a bit more about why?

Yes, my dd doesn't like eating first thing but ds is easily pleased with most cereals

• What do your DCs usually eat at breakfast? Are you worried about the refined sugar and salt that most breakfast cereals contain, or not?

weetabix minis or porridge which I feel are both quite healthy and free of additives

• What did your DCs think of Bear Alphabites (taste, packaging, concept)? What did they like or dislike about them?

They enjoyed them, both flavours similarly

• Would you buy Bear Alphabites for your DCs in the future? (available in 375g box, RRP £2.69)?

Yes they are in my opinion pricey but the kids enjoyed and they are healthy

• Would you recommend Bear Alphabites to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

yes as they are fun, tasty but healthy

I just wanted to add that after a period of not eating these recently my daughter has been happily tucking in again and feeding them to her dolls. She still loves the different letters.

has anyone won the voucher please? . I like closure! Thank you.

Thanks for your feedback, and sorry for the delay - the prize winner is Hurr1cane :)