Today I have a foodie review for you. If you’re new around here, I love to share small, indie and new businesses that I discover. I do this with regular reviews, over on Instagram Stories and also through my weekly interview series, Behind the Biz.
A few weeks ago I shared a Behind the Biz interview with Luke, one of the co-founders of PACK’D Frozen Smoothies. Luke and Alex founded PACK’D back in 2014 to combat the sugary options available on the market and take the hassle out of making smoothies at home. I think they’ve done a fantastic job of creating a quality and easy-to-use product which tastes delicious. I also really love the branding of PACK’D, it’s so cheerful and fresh.
I’m delighted to have spotted the smoothie kits in my favourite local shops like Revital in Cambridge as well as bigger supermarkets like Tesco, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Amazon Fresh and more. It’s so fantastic to see new businesses doing well.
I enjoyed learning about the PACK’D business journey and if you’re keen to find out more then pop over and read my interview with Luke. Following on from this they asked if I’d like to give their smoothie kits a try and as you can imagine I jumped at the chance.
I don’t review everything I’m sent. I prefer to focus on sharing the things I think you should all know about. So, that’s why I’m here talking about the PACK’D Frozen Smoothies today. I really think you’re going to like them and they’re going to make any busy schedule a little easier.
There are 3 frozen smoothie kits available; Defence, Detox and Energy.
The first thing I must point out about these frozen smoothie kits is that they’re 100% natural, you won’t find anything artificial hiding away inside them. They’re also made of whole fruit and not purées. Each pack contains 2 pouches of fruit and veg and 2 sachets of superfoods (as you can see in the photo above).
So, there are a few things which I tend to alternate between when it comes to smoothies. I’ll mostly use water as a base for my smoothies but if I have coconut water on hand I’ll use that. We’re big fans of Cawston Press juices in my house so from time to time we’ll have one of them in the fridge. Finally if I’m in the mood for something a little creamier then I’ll go with almond milk but I tend to save those for when I’m making something with peanut butter in, I haven’t used any with the PACK’D smoothie kits.
The kits are very easy to use:
Open up 1 pouch of fruit and veg and add it into your blender.
Pour in your liquid of choice.
Add the sachet of superfoods.
Then blend.
Yes, it really is that quick and simple.
I found the addition of superfoods really interesting. I’ve always been interested in making use of different superfoods but if I’m honest I don’t know a lot about them. I use a couple from time to time but to have a little sachet with an appropriate and targeted mix is very useful.
The PACK’D Defence smoothie kit is aimed towards helping the function of your immune and nervous system and protecting sells from oxidative stress.
As always there are 2 pouches worth of smoothie mix inside each pack. The fruit and vegetable pouch consists of chopped pineapple, mango, papaya, banana, ginger and goji berries. Then there’s the superfood sachet which contains milled flaxseed, sunflower seed, pumpkin seed and baobab powder.
This smoothie was very tasty and had a fresh and tropical taste. I particularly enjoyed the good ginger kick it had to it, you can never have enough ginger IMO! I think this could easily be blended with water as it’s naturally sweet enough. I’ve been using coconut with this kit as I had some to hand and it worked really well. I also think pineapple juice would make a nice addition to the smoothie but be sure to check the sugar content first.
This beautifully green smoothie is the Detox one. The fruit and veg pouch contains chopped pineapple, apple, kale, ginger, spinach leaves and lemon zest. The superfood sachet contains spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass and barleygrass powder.
The benefits of this smoothie are to help protect cells from 0xidative stress, reduce tiredness and fatigue and to maintain healthy skin.
This is very much a green smoothie with the flavours of kale and spinach holding strong. However, it’s what I would expect from a green smoothie and I really enjoyed it. At first I thought the sachet of superfoods might add an usual taste to the smoothie due to the spirulina and chlorella but I was pleased to find that I really enjoyed the smoothie. I like to kick-start my day with a good dose of greens and a smoothie is the easiest way to do this.
I’ve repurchased this a few times now and tend to make the smoothie with coconut water or apple juice to add a little sweetness. If you’re not keen on green smoothies but want to use them as a way of eating more greens then give this try, just make sure you pick up some apple juice to blend it with.
You can add more liquid to make the smoothie last longer and to give it a thinner consistency.
Finally we have the Energy smoothie. The contents of this one are chopped strawberries, banana, blueberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and spinach leaves. The superfood sachet contains milled flaxseed, maca, cacao and guarana powder.
This smoothie kit aims to help reduce tiredness and fatigue, maintain healthy bones and support energy-yielding metabolism. I could do with one of these right now, I’ve been quite tired recently due to a poor sleeping routine.
This smoothie was lovely. As you can imagine, it has a strong taste of berries which I really enjoyed. It was naturally sweet and could easily be blended with just water. I used apple juice on this occasion because I had some that needed to be used up. It really doesn’t need any extra sweetness, it’s naturally sweet and delicious.
I’ve really enjoyed testing out the PACK’D smoothies and throughly enjoyed each one. I mostly had them for breakfast but used them once or twice when I was feeling low on energy in the afternoon. I was pleased to find them stocked at the small Tesco in Southwold and at Revital in Cambridge. I’ve already re-purchased the Detox and Defence kits and I have no reservations about buying the energy one again. They’re on offer in Ocado for £2.50 instead of £3.5o at the moment which I think is REALLY good. I prefer to stock on things like this when there’s a cheeky little offer on, they can stay in the fridge for ages which is really handy.
The kits are very useful if you’re going through a busy period but want to ensure you’re eating well. I like using them for a quick start to the day. I find that they all fill me up really well, especially the Detox one. Let me know if you give PACK’D Smoothies a try and don’t forget to read my interview with Luke.