Actually, Jordans launched their first breakfast cereal in 1972, to mixed acclaim as the trend at the time was favouring the processed sugar-coated oaty-puffs style of processed cereals...
So how have times changed for Jordans since then? Their first major advertising campaign in about 4 years debuted in the UK the day before Saint Patrick's Day this year, 2009. Jordans have employed the voice-over talents of Bill Oddie, a TV personality particularly associated with nature and conservation through his many years with programmes such as Spring Watch. For those who haven't seen the ad, here's a link http://tinyurl.com/c7oxle
The familiar, dulcet yet excited, tones of this one-time Goodie and former co-presenter of the popular Spring Watch series of nature programmes tell us that Jordans use "nature friendly oats from British farmers we know and trust". The ad goes on to reveal that Bill and David Jordan perfected the recipe for their
Country Crisp cluster after the 83rd try, and that each cluster is crafted and baked by eye. As painful as that sounds, the end result is actually a very tasty, crunchy cluster cereal that today graces the Cereal Aisle of most supermarkets with a selection from six variations: Real Strawberries, Real Raspberries, Four Nut Crunch, Flame Raisins, Honey Clusters and, last, most recently and certainly not least, Chocolate.
This review will cover the Strawberry variety, which retails for about £2.25 for 500g in a classy-looking white and red box.
What's Outside The Box?
At about 45p/100g, this cereal describes itself on the front of the packet as "Strawberry with a jumble of crunchy toasted British wholegrain clusters". The rear of the box, written in varying typefaces using pink on red, reads "These golden CLUSTERS of TOASTED BRITISH WHOLEGRAINS are blended with CRISPY RICE & chopped hazelnuts to give an irresistibly Crunchy Bite. A GENEROUS handful of silky smooth strawberries complement the VANILLA & COCONUT cereal clusters for a sweet finish." The lettering bounces about a bit, both in font size and capitalization.
The Jordans mission statement is also presented, outlining the prevailing ethos for the farms and farmers who provide the ingredients: "Our cereal farmers share a PASSION for... QUALITY INGREDIENTS GROWN WITH CARE", drawing attention once more to the fact that CONSERVATION GRADE(R) Farmers are paid "a premium to plant 10% of their land with NATURE-FRIENDLY habitats". The base of the box reads "THIS BOX IS MADE FROM AT LEAST 80% RECYCLED BOARD WITH THE REMAINING 20% FROM SUSTAINABLE FORESTS. PLEASE RECYCLE IT AFTER YOUR LAST BOWLFUL."
Ticking All The Boxes
With bowl in-hand, what delight lies within to tantalize our tastebuds? Has anything been left to chance?
Open the opaque bag inside the carton, and the overwhelming initial smell is a combination of vanilla and coconut, followed by the smell of strawberries. The top of the pack has several large pices of light, crispy freeze-dried strawberry, each at least as big as a Tic-Tac. The golden-coloured clusters range in size from the diameter of a 50p down to the crumbs at the end (ideal for putting aside and using as ice-cream topping, btw!).
The clusters rattle out into the bowl, a spread of sizes, along with many pieces of strawberry. A splash of ice-cold milk and we're off: There seems to be a preponderance of oat and barley flakes clustered around lighter rice-pops, nice and crunchy to start with. As you munch your way to the bottom of the bowl, the clusters absorb more milk and start to go soggy, and the milk itself starts to turn a wondrous shade of pink as a result of the strawberries. Sweet and tasty, to the last bite, and the presence of desiccated coconut is always there, both in taste and in texture. Tiny pieces of roasted hazelnut help lift the crunch a little towards the end of the bowl. The final scoops of milk, now bright pink, also have a slight shimmer due to the released rapeseed and palm oils.
Our household can devour its way through a packet of cereal in a few days. To preserve this packet sufficiently for me to review it, I presented this challenge to the 3-person panel of cereal experts, and devourers, in our house: "You can have a bowlful, provided you tell me how good you thought it was."
And now the opinions are laid out below, unedited and in no particular order.
9-year old son's opinion: "Nice, but the strawberrires are a bit too sweet but its really nice. Now to the box, overall looks tempting and I like the writing."
10-year old daughter's view: "Crispy and more than Delicious, just as tasty as it looks and sooo sooo sooo yummy. I would definitely get it again."
7-year old daughter's magnum opus: "The flakes are nice and sweet as I like it! I like the Country Crisp it tastes better than it looks. I don't like any other muesli, the others aren't as nice and sweet as this one. I really really love Country Crisp! Because I love it so much I can't explain but I can say it in my head but, then again I can't say it in my head. It's not too sweet, it's just right for me, even better than branflakes. Just the bad thing is that it isn't so much for five we only get two bowls each! And they are also mini bowls and don't forget Two so all together it's two mini bowls."
Overall
You can taste they care.
The nitty-gritty - for those who really need to know: Ingredients British Conservation Grade® Wholegrain Cereals (60%) (OatFlakes, Barley Flakes, Oat Flour), Raw Cane Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed Oil, Palm Oil), Rice Flour, Desiccated Coconut, Freeze Dried Strawberry Pieces (2.5%), Roasted Chopped Hazelnuts, Sea Salt, Natural Vanilla Flavouring.
NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURINGS, COLOURINGS, PRESERVATIVES OR GM INGREDIENTS.
Dietary Information: Suitable for Vegetarians; Contains Barley; Contains Oats; May Contain Wheat; May Contain Milk; Contains Hazlenuts; May Contain Rye; May Contain Sesame Seeds; Free From Genetically Modified Ingredients; Free From Artificial Colours; Free From Artificial Flavours; Free From Artificial Preservatives.
Nutrition per 100g: Energy 1829kJ/435kcal; Protein 7.7g; Carbohydrate 65.3g, of which sugars 24.0g; Fat 15.9g, of which Saturates 4.5g, Mono-unsaturates 7.0g, Polyunsaturates 3.8g; Fibre 6.3g, Sodium 0.17g, equivalent as salt 0.42g.
Nutrition per 50g serving, with 100ml semi-skimmed milk: 1115kJ, 265kcal; Protein 7.3g; Carbohydrate 37.2g, of which sugars 16.5g; Fat 9.7g, of which Saturates 3.4g, Mono-unsaturates 3.9g, Polyunsaturates 1.9g; Fibre 3.2g; Sodium 0.12g, equivalent as Salt 0.31g.
exceptional by (21%):
very helpful by (78%):
helpful by (1%):
