Simply Nature Organic Superberry and Supermango Superfood Smoothie Pops
After a summer of indulging in treats while on vacation, I’m ready to get back on a healthier eating track. I’m being careful about what kinds of goodies I buy from the Aldi Find food aisle, which is often stocked with foods that are ultra-processed and/or high in calories, fat, sodium, and added sugars.
I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find some good-for-you smoothie pops in the Aldi Find freezer case this past week. These frozen pops come in Superberry and Supermango flavors, and they include gut-health-promoting probiotics. They’re sweetened only with natural fruit/veggie sugars, and with a bit of lucuma powder, which is an alternative to table sugar that comes from the fruit of the South American Pouteria lucuma tree.
These look like a spot-on imitation of Blendtopia Superfood Smoothie Pops. The ingredients are identical, right down to the lucuma powder and the specific probiotic they contain. Blendtopia products are sold at my local Whole Foods stores, although these specific pops are not listed online as being available at my local stores. I did find Blendtopia pops on the website for Giant Food, a grocer along the upper east coast.
Simply Nature Organic Superberry Superfood Smoothie Pops and Simply Nature Organic Supermango Superfood Smoothie Pops are Aldi Finds. That means they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone unless Aldi decides to bring them back later. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that are not in stock at your local store.
The Simply Nature smoothie pops cost $4.99 for a 10.5-ounce package at the time of publication. That’s about 48 cents per ounce. With six 1.75-ounce smoothie pops per package, that comes out to about 83 cents per pop.
I found name-brand Blendtopia pops selling at Giant Food for $7.69 at the time of publication for a 10.5-ounce box with six pops. That’s about 73 cents per ounce, or about $1.28 per pop. That makes the Aldi ones the better deal by quite a bit.
These Aldi pops are USDA Organic and are certified organic by Quality Assurance International. They are gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and vegan — in other words, they’re free of many common allergens. They contain probiotics, and they’re also verified non-GMO.
Ingredients for the Superberry flavor include organic apple puree, organic banana puree, organic strawberry puree, organic apple juice concentrate, organic acai puree, organic cauliflower puree, organic lucuma powder, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic milled chia flour, organic beet juice concentrate, bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (probiotic), and organic natural flavor.
Ingredients for the Supermango flavor include organic mango puree, organic apple puree, organic banana puree, organic pineapple juice, organic apple juice concentrate, organic sweet potato puree, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic lucuma powder, organic turmeric, organic milled chia flour, organic natural flavor, and bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (probiotic).
One pop in either flavor has 45 calories, no fat or sodium, 10 grams of total carbohydrates (4% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 7 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars (2% DV), and 1 gram of protein.
One pop is a pretty satisfying serving amount. It’s an average-sized freezer pop. However, the nutrition panel surprisingly states that three pops make up one serving. Three pops will net you 130 calories, 30 grams of total carbs, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 22 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of added sugars.
The package recommends keeping these tubes frozen until ready to eat, and then thawing them for 3-4 minutes before eating. We ate ours right out of the freezer, though, and they were fine. One thing of note: we had a hard time opening most of these without resorting to using kitchen scissors. They are notched at the top so that in theory you should be able to just rip the top off, but in reality they are hard to tear open.
Our taste testers liked both flavors. The mango variety has a smooth, almost creamy texture and a somewhat tart, almost citrus-like flavor. The berry variety has an icier texture and is pleasantly sweet but not overly sweet. These were the perfect dessert to enjoy on a late summer evening. If these are still in stock the next time I go to Aldi, I’ll be sure to pick up a few more boxes. They’re really good!
The Verdict:
Simply Nature Organic Superberry Superfood Smoothie Pops and Simply Nature Organic Supermango Superfood Smoothie Pops look identical to name-brand Blendtopia Smoothie Pops. Blendtopia is a brand sold at Whole Foods, among other grocers.
These are allergy friendly, vegan, and contain a probiotic boost. We love how these are low in sugar and sweetened mostly with fruits and veggies. These are a great frozen treat you don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying.
