When I get sent products to review I always love it when there’s a particularly good backstory as to how a product has come about. I want to know that there is a reason for a product, that there was a point to its conception, and these dairy free coconut pots from Little Bandits have just that story.
The idea came about because Jess, the founder of Little Bandits, was finding it increasingly difficult to find delicious and healthy food for her son who has multiple food allergies. And so, like the super mum that she so clearly is, she decided to take matters into her own hands and hey presto Little Bandits dairy free coconut pots were born… well I’m sure it wasn’t as easy as all that, but you get the idea!
What Are Little Bandits Dairy Free Coconut Pots?
Available in three different flavours: Banana, Strawberry, and Apple & Pear, Little Bandits are basically dairy free yogurts made from coconut cream, fruit and a few other bits and bobs to ensure they are free from the top 14 allergens that kids can react to. Now, let me make it absolutely crystal clear that neither of my two suffer from any form of food allergy so I can’t and won’t even begin to comment on that side of things. Having no experience of this area myself it would be hugely wrong for me to come on here and preach about it, but what I will just say is that if you are a parent of a child with food allergies it must be a huge deal to come across a product that ticks all the boxes and that you also know your child will eat and enjoy.
In fact Little Bandits is the first free-from brand specifically aimed at children and this is clearly demonstrated in the eye catching packaging. Let’s face it, we know kids are attracted to bright colours, fun characters and food that looks exciting and I think this is where they’ve been quite clever, because even though the exterior packaging is perhaps geared towards younger children, the yogurts themselves are in plain white pots with a simple foil lid and therefore appeals to slightly older children as well. Now you might be wondering why that’s such a big deal, but as a parent of a 10 and 12 year old I know for a fact that they have reached the age where they would 100% turn their noses up at having anything even remotely ‘babyish’ (their words, not mine 😉 ) put in their lunchboxes. A plain pot however, is perfect.
What Did My Kids Make Of Little Bandits Dairy Free Coconut Pots?
So while we’re on the subject of my kids, let’s find out what they made of the Little Bandits pots? OK well I only managed to convince my daughter to try them, my 12 year old son is a bit yogurt averse, although I did manage to sneak one into a smoothie and he didn’t bat an eyelid – mum skills!
If your kids are used to heavily flavoured, sweetened yogurts then I’ll be honest they may at first turn their noses up at these, as the taste will be different to what they’re used to, in much the same way that natural yogurt tastes different. But it is worth persevering, if not for allergy reasons, but for sugar content. The average kids yogurt contains a whopping 10g of sugar (that’s about 2 sugar cubes worth) and considering that according to the NHS children between the ages of 4-6 should only consume a maximum of 19g of sugar (5 sugar cubes) a day, it doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that a couple of yogurts a day and they’ve already gone over their quota. Is there any wonder we have such a problem with sugar in this country!?!?
Little Bandits on the other hand has under 4g of sugar per pot, that’s less than half the amount of a standard yogurt. The thing is will my daughter notice this…?
We were sent some banana and strawberry flavoured Little Bandits to try out and the verdict from my daughter was pretty much as expected. She tentatively dipped her tongue into the yogurt on the spoon and then pulled a bit of a face. To be fair she is a bit of a fusspot when it comes to food, however when questioned she said they were OK and that she preferred the banana one to the strawberry one. Honestly this is high praise coming from her!
Obviously I taste tested them too and yes they do taste different to your bog standard yogurt, both of them have that distinct almost bitter taste that comes from coconut based products – it’s certainly an acquired taste and one you need to get used to in order to enjoy. That being said, I really liked them. They were super creamy and smooth with a very subtle fruit taste that lingered at the end and developed with each mouthful. The texture I would say is between that of a yogurt and a fromage frais, so no bits to put kids off – kids can be a bit fussy with lumps can’t they!?!
A mixed review I grant you, but as I mentioned before my kids don’t have food allergies and so this isn’t a concern for me personally. But for kids who do have a food allergy or who may be vegan then these are an absolutely fantastic alternative to yogurts. Little Bandits have launched into ASDA stores (priced at £1.65 for a pack of 2 pots) and are proving popular with parents of children with allergies, specifically those with cow’s milk allergy.
I think it’s incredibly important we have alternative and free from products and if you think of the variety we have on offer these days compared to just a few years ago it is fantastic progress. While this product might not be 100% suited to our household, I’m sure it will be a lunchbox saviour for many.
*products gifted for review
