Dan-D-Pak Goji Omega Boost Oat Meal - Product Review

Last week, I went to a trade show where a bevvy of companies vied for a spot on independent grocer's shelves by bribing them with product samples. I was there as an independent product reviewer (aka mercenary) and writer. I met some of the Dan-D-Pak representatives, but they weren't exactly shoving new products in my hands. Pout. I wanted to try a bunch of new products. But they just weren't handing them over.

I did, however, manage to get a sample of Dan-D-Pak's Goji Omega Boost Oat Meal. I brought it home and waited to spring this on my family.

My son was the lucky recipient of this product for review. He had insisted on bringing it to school to have in his lunch. After two days of arguing, I finally relented. The small package hardly looked like it would do much to feed anything more than one person, that's for sure.

My son poured the contents of the package into a bowl with some hot water and stirred for a few minutes. Soon, he had a bowl of hot oatmeal. Think Quaker Instant Oatmeal. Except with Goji berries, blueberries, and flax seed.

The texture, he said, was smooth and easy to eat. Think wallpaper paste. The flavour, he said, was very bland. It had no natural sweetness at all. Which he felt it really needed, if only a little.

Overall, he appreciated the simplicity of preparation (boil water, pour product into bowl, pour water over top, stir and eat). However, he was not so keen on the flavour.

The real question still remains - how much Dan-D-Pak was hoping they could sell this product for. Goji berries are expensive (even in bulk, I know) so it can't be a cheap item. I tried to look up their product online. But there's no information. Which means it's either discontinued (ack!) or a new product that they're just launching. The package didn't offer any nutritional information so I was unable to find out caloric values, as well as the breakdown of fats, sugars and the ilk.

The next question: whether we would buy it. Probably not. But we don't really tend to purchase instant oat meal cereals. But you might like it.