MadeGood Granola Minis from Costco Review

A delicious snack for both kids and adults! Even ones with allergies!

Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. I purchased this product with my own money and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these reviews to help my fellow shoppers.

I’m always looking for new healthy snacks to bring to work, so when I saw the MadeGood Granola Minis from Riverside Natural Foods Ltd. the last time I was at Costco, I was excited to try them. I think it might have been the attractive packaging that caught my eye initially, but I’m glad I picked these up because they’re one of the better snack products I’ve come across at Costco.

Taste

Both kinds of MadeGood Granola Minis are soft, chewy and flavorful. They can be easily broken up and spread on top of yogurt, which I’ve enjoyed doing occasionally (although they’re great by themselves). I liked that neither flavor is overly sweet, as I find that some types of granola bars taste very sugary. These Granola Minis taste natural without tasting too healthy, if that makes sense (put another way, they taste better than the nutritional information suggests they should!). Personally, I prefer the Chocolate Chip Granola Minis due to my love for chocolate, but I liked the Mixed Berry Granola Minis too. The mixed berries in the Mixed Berry Granola Minis are cranberries, raspberries and currants; I found the currant flavor stood out to me. I think kids would enjoy the taste of both kinds of Granola Minis!

Cost

These definitely aren’t cheap, and my main complaint about the product is that price seems a bit high. I paid $12.39 Canadian for a package of 20 MadeGood Granola Mini packets (10 packets of each flavor) from Costco. Each packet contains about seven or eight of the soft, chewy granola balls. I think the relatively high cost of these is attributable to the significant packaging needed for the single serving packets and also the generally high-quality, carefully selected ingredients (not to mention what sounds like a carefully-managed production facility). With that being said, I have seen small boxes of the MadeGood Granola Minis that contain only four packets at my local grocery store for $3.00 Canadian (and this was on sale), so they are a better deal at Costco! You just have to worry about your kid deciding they no longer like granola after you purchase the bag of 20! I wouldn’t let this worry you too much though. I have a feeling someone in your house will be very happy to finish off the bag!

Convenience

The MadeGood Granola Minis are super convenient to keep in your desk drawer, car or purse and to pack in lunches. If portion control is a concern, that’s taken care of by the single serving packets. As stated before, they seem to be marketed as being a very allergy-sensitive (and school safe) product, so there shouldn’t be any problems bringing them to your workplace or sending them to school with your son or daughter. They aren’t messy or difficult to eat, so they work great as a snack for in the car or while you’re out and about. The packaging seems to keep the Granola Minis soft and chewy, and the expiry date was almost a year from the date I purchased them on, so I could see keeping a few packets in the car or in a bag or something.

Nutrition

MadeGood Granola Minis are organic, gluten free, Non-GMO and peanut free. The package emphasizes the fact that they’re a “school safe” product because they’re free from peanuts and tree nuts and also lists a number of other common allergens that aren’t in the Granola Minis or the facility that they’re made in (specifically dairy products, eggs, soy, sesame, wheat, gluten, fish and shellfish). Thus, it seems like this is a product that the vast majority of people should be able enjoy. The Granola Minis are also quite nutritious; they even have vegetables in them! The package states that they contain “nutrients found in one serving of vegetables”. That seems like a bit of a strange and ambiguous claim, but I don’t see any downside to it. Moving on to the numbers, each Mixed Berry Granola Minis packet (which contains 24 grams of Granola Minis) contains 90 calories, three grams of fat, one gram of protein, six grams of sugar and two grams of fibre. Each Chocolate Chip Granola Minis packet (which also contains 24 grams of Granola Minis) contains 100 calories and four grams of fat with the same amount of sugar, fibre and protein as the Mixed Berry packet. In my opinion, the sugar content isn’t outrageous and the quantities of calories and fat aren’t bad for a snack. The packages list cane sugar and agave nectar as the sweeteners, and the other ingredients listed generally seem to be normal and unsurprising. However, one thing that really surprised me is all of the vegetables that are listed – spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets and even shitake mushrooms! Don’t worry, you definitely can’t taste the mushrooms or other vegetables though.

MadeGood Granola Minis from Riverside Natural Foods Ltd. are a reasonably healthy snack option with two flavors that taste great, so much so that they managed to tame my sweet tooth when I was craving something less than healthy. My husband recently took some with him when he was out of town for work and said they were tasty enough to serve as desert. These are one of my favorite Costco finds and make a perfect snack at work when I’m feeling hungry. I wish they were cheaper, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them again.

Taste: 9/10

Cost: 7/10

Convenience: 10/10

Nutrition: 8.5/10

What’s your favorite go-to snack to have at work or school?