New Product Friday: Honest to Goodness Himalayan Salted Caramel Plant Based Creamer
New Product Friday: Honest to Goodness Himalayan Salted Caramel Plant Based Creamer
Gone are the days when consumers only reached for International Delight or Coffeemate to flavor their coffee. As consumers become more aware of the “sketchy” ingredients in those creamers, they are looking to brands that support simpler, cleaner, plant-based ingredients all while supplying the innovative flavor profiles that the original creamers pioneered. Honest to Goodness was created with simple, sustainably sourced ingredients (according to their website). Let’s take a look at the ingredients in their newest Himalayan Sea Salt Caramel plant-based creamer.
Almondmilk (Filtered Water, Almonds)—Almond milk is one of the most popular plant-based creamer/milk sources. Almonds are typically grown in Central California and are a good source of Vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant that fights against free radical production. They are also extremely water intensive to grow, making their sustainability claim questionable.
Organic Cane Sugar—Be aware of products that contain sugar as a second ingredient! Even though this is organic and not as highly processed as table sugar, it still is sugar.
Coconut Oil—A plant-based oil. The fat from the coconut is extracted and removed to create coconut oil. Coconut oil contains very little plant antioxidants and is high in medium chain triglycerides (a healthy fat) as well as other saturated fats (unhealthy fats).
Fava Bean Protein—Fava bean protein is nutritionally similar to pea protein. Unlike pea protein, it is relatively neutral in taste and texture. Here it is added to help make the product thicker and creamier.
Himalayan Salt—Added to provide flavor to the product.
Baking Soda—Added make sure that the product is tastes consistent throughout its shelf life.
Gellan Gum— Gellan gum is naturally produced on lily pads. Commercially, it is fermentation by-product of a bacteria. It is added to make sure that nothing separates out from the beverage.
Natural Flavor—This includes natural caramel flavors. Flavor components that are produced when caramel is made are extracted and made into a caramel flavor. “Natural flavor” can also include other flavor chemicals from natural (plant, spice, fruit, vegetable) sources.
Final Evaluation
Ingredient Quality: A. This product is Certified Vegan, Non-GMO Project Verified, Gluten-Free, and from a Certified B Corp Organization.
Ingredient Clarity: B+. There is no functional reason why fava bean protein should be included. Its only benefit is to provide thickness/creaminess to the product; something that other ingredients could easily do.
Functional Benefit: B-. Although almonds are a great source of plant antioxidants and Vitamin E, they are also a very water intensive crop to grow. Although they have less of a carbon footprint than meat production, almonds can be considered one of the least sustainable nut crops to grow. Coconut oil is high in medium chain triglycerides (MCT), but research has shown that while MCT can help burn fat, coconut oil does not have the same effects. Additionally, coconut oil is high in saturated fats. The American Heart Association warns against consuming saturated fats and encourages substituting with unsaturated fats instead. Unfortunately for coconut oil, most of the hype is around the benefits of MCT. There is very little research suggesting the health benefits of just coconut oil. Additionally, this product contains fava bean protein. Although the protein is healthy and sustainable, there is no protein claim to this product which means that the protein is not providing any functional benefit.
Nutritional Value: B-. At 3 grams of added sugar per serving, it is on par with most other sweetened (dairy and non-dairy) creamers. However, 3 grams of added sugar per serving is still high, especially considering that most people are trying to limit or cut back on any added sugar.
Overall Score: B-. The main plant-based claim of this product is the almond milk. Almond milk is high in Vitamin E and other antioxidants and has a natural sweetness to it. The addition of coconut oil makes this product seem clean, but, unfortunately, coconut oil does not have many benefits to it, especially in a creamer. The addition of fava bean protein contributes nothing to the product functionally as the standard serving size does not claim any protein. Nutritionally, this product is comparable to Almondbreeze Almond Milk creamers as it has just as much added sugars. At twice the price as Almondbreeze Almond Milk creamers (16 ounces of product is about the same price as Almondbreeze’s 32 ounces of product), the flavor would need to significantly better to justify the purchase.
Would you buy this product? Why or why not?