When we opened the box of Buddy Fruits for our first family taste test, my little Maggie’s eyes grew wide with wonder. “Dat for me?” she questioned, amazed at the array of “fruit squeezie” love. Although Maggie is an adventurous eater, there were many months where most of her fruit was consumed from a pouch. She has grown to love most actual fruit in her 2.75 years of life, but she still holds a special fondness for her beloved “squeezies.” Buddy Fruits go beyond the traditional pureed fruit selections and offer up innovative blends including, mango/passion/banana, blackberry/blackcurrant superfruit, and raspberry/coconut milk.
Not only are there palate pleasing flavors a plenty, but Buddy Fruits pledges to use no genetic modifications, no preservatives, no gluten, no colorings and no artificial flavorings. That’s music to this mama’s ears! Maggie was literally a kid in a candy shop, eyes half closed, as she tried several flavors of the blended fruit mixes. Each one was a hit with her!
Not wanting to be left out, my “almost five” year old decided she wanted to try one as well. Sophia selected one with a coconut base and after checking out the packaging, stated, “these don’t look like baby squeezies, mom!” Upon hearing this revelation my 6 year old son was intrigued and chose traditional apple cinnamon. The result? Silence. Any parent knows that silence is golden, especially when it comes to food. Each of my children quickly slurped their squeezies dry and ventured into the box to investigate.
Buddy Fruits also sent us a glorious array of all natural fruit snacks, in varieties such as pomegranate, banana and orange. I once tried to make all-natural fruit snacks in my own kitchen and apparently the memory of this disaster was too fresh in my six year old’s mind because he refused to try them. The girls each enthusiastically chose a packet. Sophia, the older sister, tried one and declared it “too squishy.” My littlest thought they looked like candy and she gobbled them down.
Seeing her sister’s enthusiasm for the fruit snacks prompted Sophia to give them another go but again, she “didn’t care” for the “squishyness” and asked for another squeezie instead, which once more, she emptied with gusto.
Our final verdict: The fruit snacks were only popular with my youngest child and since Maggie has been eating actual fruit these days, I probably will only buy them sporadically.
Although fresh fruit is always this mama’s first choice, “squeezies” have their place in our pantry as well. The packaging of the squeezies makes them appealing to an older crowd of elementary aged children and the various flavors are rock stars in the world of pureed fruit. The coconut base, especially, proved to be a winner all around. I feel great about the ingredients in Buddy Fruits and so this brand has a new permanent home in our lunchboxes.
Are you feeling lucky? Buddy Fruits is giving away 1 Sample Box filled with Fruit Pouches & Fruit Snacks for one lucky BVTMB reader! Enter the giveaway below.
*Burlington VT Moms Blog received compensation for this post, but the opinions expressed are entirely our own.
Tricia, could your girls be any cuter?!
Rebecca,
My daughter likes fruits and veggies, but I’ve heard that these are GREAT for those kiddos that do not…definitely worth a try!!
Wow-I definitely need to try these out in my house. My Two kids have become so picky and getting them to eat anything that has some form of nutrition is getting tougher by the minute…I swear, some days they would rather starve than eat any type of veggie/fruit.