January 5, 2009
Ratings Criteria

With over 50,000 products in the average supermarket, people don't have the time, or the money, to test every product on the shelves and with 15,000 new products every year consumers need to know what's out there!

So Phil does the testing and the tasting for you and gives the product a rating out of 100 so you know what you can expect when you try something new!

SupermarketGuru does not sell the foods we review, nor receive any compensation from the manufacturers for reviewing or rating them.

Phil taste-tests and judges each product based on the following 8 criteria:

  1. (30 points) Taste: The most important attribute of any food
  2. (20 points) Value: Is it worth it?
  3. (15 points) Health: Based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?
  4. (15 points) Ingredients: What's in it, how natural is it?
  5. (5 points) Preparation: When applicable, how accurate or good are the directions *
  6. (5 points) Appearance: Is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description
  7. (5 points) Packaging: Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as resealability, added freshness, better storage, etc.
  8. (5 Points) Sustainability: Is the packaging biodegradable, is it wasteful, is the company endeavoring to offset their carbon footprint?
* products that do not have any preparation will have the full value of these points included in their total score
Video Archive:   
Kettle Cuisine Organic Mushroom and Potato Soup
Taste Value Health Ingredients Preparation Sustainability Appearance Packaging Total
27 17 13 15 5 2 5 5 89 (Hit!)
This product is a HIT! I love soup and I love the convenience of microwavable soups – Kettle Cuisine has long been one of my favorites, they have been supplying some of those “fancy” restaurants for years - and their new organic, gluten free and vegetarian line is impressive. This mushroom soup is not typical; it is much lighter in consistency and less mushroom-y than you might expect, and that is because the base is potato. Frankly, I prefer more of a mushroom flavor, but at just 140 calories and gluten free and vegetarian - this is terrific! Retails for $4.59.

Kettle Cuisine, Inc., Chelsea, MA
877 302 7687
http://www.kettlecuisine.com

Crazy Water, Numbers 2,3 and 4
Taste Value Health Ingredients Preparation Sustainability Appearance Packaging Total
20 17 5 15 5 1 5 5 73
The bottled water phenomenon started in Europe, not to be cool or hip; it was the natural mineral content that was contained in underground springs and other water sources that made bottled water desirable – it was all about good health. So get ready for Crazy Water, (although, when you think about it – isn’t there enough confusion in the bottled water aisle already?) Crazy Water has a line of 4 different waters: no minerals, low minerals, medium minerals and high minerals and although they do list the famous Texan source for each water – you know, the ones that have become famous for their purported healing properties; they do not actually list the mineral content on the bottle – whatsupp? They do on their website, but that’s not enough! Maybe it’s a game…what’s in well #1, #2, #3 or number 4. Pick your health! Retails for $1.50 - $2.15.

Famous Mineral Water Company Pavilion, Mineral Wells, TX
940 325 8870
http://www.famouswater.com

Pucci Pizza Snacks Classic Flavor
Taste Value Health Ingredients Preparation Sustainability Appearance Packaging Total
29 19 14 13 5 0 5 5 90 (Hit!)
This product is a HIT! Does it taste like pizza? Yes! Does it have a great crunch? Yes! Should you buy this? Yes! Pucci has done a great job on this snack - my only complaint is that this bag only contains 1 3/4 oz… Not salty, no aftertaste, just lots of great flavor – which just makes me wonder – why can’t other snacks be this good? You are going to love it. Retails for $0.99.

Medora Snacks, LLC, Rockville Center, NY
877 633 6721
http://www.medorasnacks.com

Sunkist Naturals Glorious Greens
Taste Value Health Ingredients Preparation Sustainability Appearance Packaging Total
26 16 13 14 5 1 5 5 85 (Hit!)
This product is a HIT! I do not like smoothies – I don’t even like the name – smoothie, who EVER thought THAT one up anyway? What I do like are products that are rich in antioxidants, health benefits and flavor. Glorious Greens from Sunkist is one of those products… However, if you are used to getting one of the supergreen blends from any of the other juice companies, you are probably used to a much more vegetable-y flavor; and you should know that the first ingredient in this one is apple juice. They list all the vitamin and mineral content which is great, but still; one bottle is almost 60 grams of carbs. Retails for $2.79 – 2.99.

Maverick Brands, LLC, Palo Alto, CA
000 000 0000
http://www.sunkistnaturals.com

Patchwork Chicken Liver Pate
Taste Value Health Ingredients Preparation Sustainability Appearance Packaging Total
30 14 12 15 5 2 5 5 88 (Hit!)
This product is a HIT! Having grown up in New York, ‘chopped liver’ was a mainstay food – it’s also what you would call someone that was kaput – but back to this product. Patchwork has done my New York heritage proud! Even though they’ve added tequila and cranberry, which is a good addition; their recipe and ingredients make this one of the best ‘chopped livers’, oh excuse me, I meant to say, ‘chicken liver pates’ – ever! While I would not even begin to question this great Welsh recipe from Margaret Carter, I’m not quite so sure about the package design – hmmm…maybe kaput? And for everyone watching their waistline – remember, pate is a high fat product – but this one IS worth it! Retails for $8.99.

Global Gourmet, North Wales, UK
203 252 7299
http://www.patchwork-pate.com