The Honestly Good Smoothie Company was founded by mother and son duo Vikesh and Neeta Kotecha after Vikesh experienced digestive trouble in 2015 and was advised to consume more fruit and vegetables. Falling in love with the energy smoothies brought him, Vikesh soon tired of chopping and preparing ingredients each morning. Mother Neeta stepped in with daily creations for her son and Vikesh realised how accustomed to the luxury he became, and left his job to start The Honestly Good Smoothie Company so others could experience this too.

Upon placing an order online, customers are treated to a wool-lined temperature controlled box to keep smoothie pouches fresh. The packaging is recyclable or compostable which is in line with Sundried's sustainable and responsible ethos. The company work with award-winning nutritionist Caroline Farrell and head chef Blake Bowden. Founder, Vikesh Kotecha, says “I wanted to do something simple that wasn’t being offered. Honestly good smoothies delivered to your door, no cheap fillers, and no nasty surprises.” Vikesh continues, “We have really exciting plans for the future with a new protein smoothie range launching for the New Year, tasting events across London and charitable donations from each customer purchase.”

The Honestly Good Smoothie subscription is £27.50 per week for 5 pouches making 10 smoothies. 

Berry Nice

Ingredients

• 100g banana
• 70g strawberry
• 50g raspberry
• 40g rhubarb
• 1tbsp hemp seeds
• 1tbsp chia seeds

I really liked this flavour, I had mine with almond milk rather than just dry. It was nutty and full of berries which tasted fresh and tangy. It was very substantial and could definitely replace a meal, although I wouldn't always recommend that. It's not too sweet which I liked and the main positive is the convenience of it.

The hassle and ensuing mess of making a smoothie can be a nightmare, especially if you're short on time or have kids, plus I've made quite a few horrible ones when just experimenting with ingredients from my cupboard! The fact that this recipe is not only well thought out but created and verified by both a professional chef and nutritionist means I can trust the ingredients and health benefits. Overall, I loved it and would definitely have it again. 

The Waldorf Cool

Ingredients

• 100g Granny Smith Apple
• 100g Cucumber
• 60g Curly Kale
• 20g Light Walnut Halves
• 2tbsp. flax seeds
• 1tbsp hemp seeds
• ½ tsp Kelp
• a pinch of pink Himalayan salt

The ingredients in this smoothie are pretty interesting (the kelp and Himalayan pink salt are pretty exotic to me) but they all looked super fresh on arrival which was impressive. I also made this one with almond milk but found that the consistency was a little too thick for my preference, I wonder if apple juice might have been better but then it would have potentially been too sweet. Again, the nuts gave a great flavour and texture and the apple and cucumber meant it was super fresh and zingy. 

Verdict

I think the concept of this brand is great, and people who have a lot of disposable income and not much time on their hands would benefit greatly. However, those with kids or just those who don't work 60-hour weeks and don't have the money to spend over £100 a month on smoothies might not need ready-prepared ingredients delivered to them, especially as you still have to blend it yourself and therefore wash up afterwards too.

For some people, the process of making a smoothie is the best part, however others would argue that having the ingredients already weighed out and ready to blitz is a life-saver. With this service, I think it really depends on your lifestyle and personal preferences but I can see why it would be great in the right circumstances. I also think it would be important for customers to receive the nutritional information of the smoothies along with their packages (calories, sugar, protein etc) as this is not currently provided.

We Are Tea is an award-winning, ethical, independent tea company selling bagged and loose leaf tea from West London. Darren Spence started We Are Tea when on holiday in Budapest with his partner Suzy. Suzy was feeling unwell and the couple decided to visit a tea shop. Miraculously, Suzy felt better after sampling the various teas on offer. We Are Tea has won 49 Great Taste Awards since opening in 2007 and their products are available online and in supermarkets across the UK.

We Are Tea now have 16 different flavours and we were lucky enough to be able to try their English Breakfast Black Tea, Cleanse Tea, and Moroccan Mint. 

The Teas

The English Breakfast Black Tea contains Assam and Darjeeling. Assam has many health benefits such as decreasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes, enhancement of the immune system, and for relieving tension and nerves. Whilst the Darjeeling in the tea helps with dental health, cancer, and obesity prevention.

The Cleanse Tea has ingredients such as nettle, dandelion, liquorice, milk thistle, and lemon peel. The nettle in the tea strengthens your immune system and also promotes healthy hair and skin. Dandelion is rich in vitamins A, C, and K as well as being rich in minerals such as calcium, iron, and antioxidants. This means that dandelion has benefits such as liver cleansing, protection against skin infections, and reduction in blood pressure. The liquorice in the tea has anti-inflammatory and immune boosting properties. Milk thistle also has anti-inflammatory properties and is full of antioxidants. The last ingredient, lemon peel, contains high levels of calcium and vitamin C, which means it's great for maintaining and improving the strength of your bones

The final flavour we tried, Moroccan Mint tea, has peppermint as one of the main active ingredients. Peppermint helps prevent nausea, reduces fever, boosts the immune system and finally, relieves stress and bloating.

Verdict

All these flavours were delicious and have had nothing but 5-star reviews. This brand has a great ethos and their tea has so many health benefits and a great taste.

Buy online on the We Are Tea website

Review written by Matt Sladden

Pollen + Grace is a London-based clean eating food delivery service who make healthy lunches and delicious sweet treats. Founded by Stephanie Johnson, their ethos is to find the beauty in nature and apply that to their food. I met the team at Balance Festival earlier this year so I was very excited to try their delicious snacks!

Raw Beauty Bar

The Raw Beauty Bar features antioxidant-rich superfoods like acai and acerola superfruits. Acai berries have more antioxidants than any other berries and boast health benefits such as fighting disease and promoting healthy skin. The acerola fruit is a type of cherry and is rich in vitamins C and A as well as riboflavin and niacin which are often artificially added to foods because of their fantastic health benefits. 

The bar itself is very attractive and features a crumbed based made out of cashews, sesame seeds, tahini, and coconut. The base has a great sticky sweet texture and the bar itself is delicious. The berry top adds a lovely tang and there's a subtle crunch from the seeds. I love this little bar and knowing how many health benefits it has!

The Mojo Bar

The Mojo Bar was the treat that I was most looking forward to as I had tried a nibble at Balance Festival and was immediately hooked! This salted caramel fudge bar is totally vegan and is enriched with superfoods like maca and cornflower petals. Maca contains numerous minerals which promote a healthy immune system and it also contains 20 amino acids which aid protein synthesis and promote healthy muscle repair. 

This bar tastes absolutely incredible! I couldn't get enough! I previously went on a bit of a rant about products claiming to be 'salted caramel' flavour when they're not, but this bar has the absolutely perfect taste and is just delicious! Knowing that it's vegan means it is a guilt-free treat and is perfect for after a demanding cardio session when you need a sugar-hit to feel better.

Sweet Potato + Peanut Butter Flapjack

The sweet potato and peanut butter flapjack comes in a very generous 100g portion and boasts 10.4g of protein. This flapjack is also vegan (if you don't mind consuming honey) and contains lots of great ingredients. The bulk of the flapjack is made with sweet potato and also features organic peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, and pecans which add a beautiful depth of flavour.

The bar itself is super crunchy thanks to the seeds and it is really filling! It's not very sweet but in this case, that's a good thing, as sometimes flapjacks can be way too sugary and buttery. This has a really nice earthy feel to it from the sweet potato and it's almost like a savoury snack. 

Raw Cacao Protein Bar

This gooey vegan cacao bar is protein-packed thanks to pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, hemp protein, and chia seeds. All of these are fantastic super foods which boast numerous health benefits. As with the flapjack, this bar is quite hefty and definitely super filling! It tastes delicious and isn't too dense or chewy like most protein bars! It has such an authentic taste and texture, rather than some which feel like they've just been mass produced in a factory.

Verdict

I absolutely love this brand. I love the ethos and their raw treats are not only delicious but they're healthy too! The food delivery service is a great idea and hopefully they'll be able to expand further in the future! It's definitely a 10 from me for these goodies.

Easy Bean was founded Christina Baskerville who grew up on a farm and has always appreciated the health benefits of pulses (beans, lentils, and peas). After spending time working in tropical agriculture in Africa and Latin America, Christina realised how simple but delicious beans can be and that they deserve a higher 'culinary status'. She found that there are famous bean-based dishes in many countries, but not so much in the UK, so she set out to change that by producing delicious one-pot meals. Easy Bean's newest products are their chickpea crispbreads which I had the pleasure of trying.

Cheddar Crunch

The cheddar crunch crispbreads boast fantastic nutritional values, with nearly 15g of protein per 100g. The biscuits are a great thickness and texture, they are not so thin that they just break apart and they are not too crumbly. They are delicious on their own, but Easy Bean also have plenty of topping ideas available on their website. These crispbreads are incredibly moreish and before long I found I had eaten the entire packet! They'd make great party foods topped with different spreads and vegetables, and it's good to know there are no nasty surprises or artificial ingredients in them. 

Seaweed & Sesame

I was dubious about the seaweed flavour before I tried it as I don't have a great track record with this flavour! However, these crispbreads are absolutely delicious, and like the cheddar flavour they're great to eat even just on their own. The flavour of the seaweed creeps through in a subtle way without being overpowering, but it's definitely there. Seaweed has some great health benefits, including a rich supply of minerals such as calcium and iron, and it is also rich in protein and folic acid. The crispbreads are so moreish, but thankfully they are a guilt-free treat as the ingredients are all natural. 

Verdict

I love that Easy Bean shares Sundried's ethos of caring for the planet and sustainability. I think it's great that Christina has set out to promote the benefits of beans as they are quite an underrated ingredient in the UK. This unique concept is sure to be successful, and Easy Bean's flavoursome and interesting recipes mean that they stand out from the crowd in the frankly saturated health food market. These crispbreads are delicious and make the perfect snack, so it's a 10 from me!

Metcalfe's Skinny was founded in 2009 by Julian Metcalfe at a time when the nation was beginning to wake up to the need for lighter, healthier snacks. They were the first company to sell sweet & salted popcorn together as a flavour combination, which is now one of the most popular on the market. They now offer a wide range of light snacks including rice cakes and popcorn thins and at the beginning of 2016 announced their business partnership with Kettle Foods. Ashley Hicks, Managing Director of Kettle Chips UK, described Metcalfe's Skinny as "an incredibly innovative, dynamic, fast-growing, premium brand appealing to ‘foodie’ consumers looking for lighter great tasting snacks.” They launched their newest flavour, salted caramel, a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to get a chance to taste test.

Flavour

Salted Caramel is still a very trendy flavour, with everything from brownies to protein bites being available in this flavour. I was pretty excited to try a popcorn variation, especially as the flavours of salt and caramel are pretty classic in the popcorn world so surely it was bound to work!

The flavour is a little artificial-tasting and I wouldn't particularly describe it as 'salted caramel'. There are certainly hints of caramel, but the spark of salt was lacking a little. However, all that being said, salted caramel is a very difficult flavour to get right if you are not literally pouring the real thing onto something fresh, like a brownie, so to that end I would commend Metcalfe's on a good effort. I have tried other 'salted caramel' flavour products in the past which, upon reading the ingredients, don't even contain salt or caramel or anything resembling the two!

Not taking into account what the flavour is or is not supposed to be, the actual popcorn tastes great and is incredibly moreish! I love that it's now possible to buy popcorn in flavours other than just sweet and salt and that it is becoming more of a popular snack, following in the footsteps of crisps. I wonder how long it'll be before we have cheese and onion popcorn!

Nutrition

The ingredients in this product are largely natural which is a big plus for me. There is added sugar and a fair few dairy derivatives, but the nutrition could be worse. With only 114 calories per 25g bag, it certainly is a light snack. Popcorn itself is fantastically healthy and boasts numerous health benefits, so by making it more accessible and widely available Metcalfe's are definitely promoting a more healthy lifestyle to the general public.

Verdict

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I first tried this product, as I have a long and complicated love/hate relationship with products that claim to be salted caramel flavour. I do think that sometimes it's just a marketing ploy, but in this case, it pays off. There is indeed salt and caramel in the flavouring, but it's not an authentic taste. This popcorn is hugely moreish and I managed to polish it off with no complaints! Popcorn is a light, healthy snack no matter what, so by adding light flavourings it appeals to more people who may end up choosing this snack over a heavier, more oil- and fat-laden snack like crisps. I'm a big fan of the Metcalfe's skinny brand, especially as I compared their ingredients and nutrition information to other popcorn brands and they are miles ahead. It's a 7 from me for their salted caramel popcorn.