Fruttare. Ever since I got these fruit bars, I’ve been pronouncing it like it rhymes with “Atari”, but I really have no idea. Frut-arrr? Frut-are-aye? Fru-tar-eh?
Turns out it’s the last one, which I find disappointing, because I’d already written a poem about fruit bars and obsolete video games. The world will never witness my genius.
I found this out from a commercial, in which a group of young, attractive people head out for a trip to a deserted cabin. The door falls to pieces when one of the guys turns the doorknob, revealing a dirty, disgusting, abandoned interior. You’d think somebody would have had the foresight to check the place out before they left.
That’s okay though, because they have Fruttare bars! They all go cavorting in the nearby lake without a care in the world. Not seen: all the unprotected sex that leads to the part where they’re murdered by an axe-wielding maniac.
That’s okay though, because they have Fruttare bars!
According to their website, Fruttare frozen fruit bars have existed in 15 countries outside the United States since 2011, when they debuted in Pakistan. When I think fruit bars, Pakistan is not exactly my first pick as a point of origin, but hey.
All the Fruttare Ice Bar boxes have the same general design: a chalkboard surrounded by a wooden frame with just a hint of leaves and sky poking out above. It’s a simple but effective format – just looking at the boxes, I felt like I was on a white, sandy beach, reading a handwritten sign standing just outside a bamboo snack bar.
Okay, I didn’t really feel that way, but I got where they were going with it, and found it soothing. And I got to learn a little Spanish in the process!
Fruttare Fruit Ice Bars come in four flavors, and I’m going to look at all four today, so let’s get this fruit train rolling. Toot toot.
Fruttare Orange Ice Bar
Having never experienced a Fruttare product before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. For some reason, my mouth was leaning towards Orange, even though my taste buds are generally geared more towards Strawberry. I guess I figured Orange would be a neutral testing ground.
I was pleased to find that the texture of Fruttare Orange Ice Bar was more “smooshy”, for lack of a better term, like a Dole Fruit Bar, and less frozen solid like a Popsicle. It was easy to bite into, but also didn’t start melting down my hand within the first five seconds of unwrapping it, which was a good combination.
Calling them Ice Bars is a bit of a misnomer – when I think ice bar, I think something like an Otter Pop. Fruttare Ice Bars are much more of a Fruit Bar. I am genuinely not fond of artificial orange flavoring, and I was pleased to find that Fruttare’s Orange Bars tasted like…well, oranges.
Along with the smooshy texture and authentic orange flavor, there was just a hint of pulpiness to the bar that only added to the authenticity. In fact, orange pulp is listed as one of the ingredients.
I was completely pleased with Fruttare Orange Ice Bars and considered this a sign of good things to come.
Naranja is Spanish for orange – both the fruit and the flavor. Just like in English! I already knew that one from high school.
Fruttare Lime Ice Bar
Lime was the flavor I was most looking forward to, and after my experience with Orange, my anticipation was only heightened. I’ll try to save my Lime Rant for another time, but to sum it up, I hate that green apple has replaced lime as the green go-to flavor.
Not in Fruttare’s world, though. On that white sandy beach with the clear blue ocean, you can get a lime for your Corona, a lime to go with your shot of tequila, and a Lime Ice Bar to cool you down.
Fruttare doesn’t even mess with food coloring – there’s no neon green here. It’s just pure lime, all the time.
The Lime bar had pretty much the same consistency as the Orange bar – easy to bite into, but firm enough that it wasn’t falling off the stick.
I would also vote Lime as the #1 Fruttare Ice Bar flavor to refresh you on a hot summer day. The lime taste was distinct and there was a great balance of citrusy tartness and real-sugar sweetness. There was just a hint of bitterness as an aftertaste, which sounds off-putting, but it somehow worked to make the Lime bar even better. I attribute this to the small amount of lemon pulp in the bar.
I was afraid my high expectations for the Fruttare Lime Ice Bar would lead to disappointment, but the frozen treat was just as good as I’d hoped it would be.
Limón is Spanish for lime. Since I’ve eaten about a dozen “con limón” snack items, I am well familiar with the term.
Fruttare Strawberry Ice Bar
It was obvious upon first glance that Strawberry was a little different than Orange or Lime – you could see real strawberry pieces throughout the bar. This is not uncommon for a strawberry fruit bar, but it was a welcome sign nonetheless. I like strawberry fruit bars, and I like them with real strawberry fruit chunks.
What’s interesting about Fruttare Strawberry, as opposed to the previous two flavors, was the texture. It was distinctly creamy – definitely not something you’d expect out of an “Ice Bar”.
It was even more malleable than Orange and Lime – almost too much so. While I loved the creamy strawberry flavor punctuated by perfectly-sized frozen strawberry pieces, it did go kind of melty on me. Lucky for it, it was so delicious that I was able to finish it right before it wound up on my shirt.
Again, it was interesting to experience the textural differences between Strawberry and the Orange and Lime Ice Bars. And again, the ingredients list may hold a clue as to why – one of the major ingredients was strawberry puree, which may attribute to both the creaminess and the softer composition.
I’d give points off Fruttare Strawberry Ice Bars for being a little too soft, but with its just-right strawberry chunks and great taste, I doubt the bar would last long enough to start melting all over your hand. Or keyboard.
In Spanish, strawberry is called fresa. That one’s new to me! I learned something from a box of Ice Bars!
Fruttare Mango Ice Bar
Here we come to our last and most tropical flavor – Mango Ice Bars.
I was in for a surprise once again when I unwrapped a Mango bar – it was shaped quite differently than the other Ice Bars. Comparing the boxes, this was no strange accident – as you can clearly see, Fruttare did this on purpose. Why? I have no clue.
The texture was another difference. It was somewhere in between the semi-firmness of Orange and Lime and the creaminess of Strawberry. I’d call it “smooth and firm”. It took every ounce of restraint not to follow that up with “That’s what she said.” Of course, now I just said it, so…
Anyways, the Mango Ice Bar continued the Fruttare tradition of tasting authentically like the fruit it was supposed to taste like. In this case, however, I felt like it was almost too authentic. The mango was so strong that it was almost cloying to my taste buds.
It’s odd to say that I wish Fruttare had toned down the flavor of the very fruit it used to make their Ice Bar, but that’s how I felt. Perhaps it’s a personal preference – I’ve always found that the tropical fruits are most enjoyable in smaller doses. I think maybe it’s that mangoes are already very sweet, and the added sugar might have been overkill.
I certainly can’t say Fruttare missed the mark on mango, because, once again, the flavor was spot-on, and mangoes were one of the main ingredients. Even the texture was similar to the fruit; I’m going to use the words “firm” and “smooth” again. And cringe, because I have the mind of a 15-year-old boy.
By the way, “mango” is mango in Spanish. Boriiiiiiiing.
Overall, it was hard to find any low points in Fruttare’s Ice Bars. They use simple, authentic ingredients, are a fat-free, low-calorie snack, and each bar provides at least 15 percent of your daily recommendation of vitamin C, depending on the flavor. After eating all these bars, I feel like my immune system could take on an army of snotty toddlers. Additionally, I could make a pretty sweet popsicle stick house.
Disclosure: The author received free Fruttare samples from the folks at Unilever.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar – Orange – 70 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 35% vitamin C. Lime – 70 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 25% vitamin C. Strawberry 60 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 25% vitamin C. Mango – 60 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 11 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein, 4% vitamin A, and 15% vitamin C.)
Item: Fruttare Ice Bars (Orange, Lime, Strawberry and Mango)
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 6 bars per box
Purchased at: Received sample from Fruttare
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Orange)
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Lime)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Strawberry)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Mango)
Pros: Authentic fruit ingredients. Learning how to pronounce “Fruttare”. Nonfat and low-calorie frozen treat. Box design makes me feel like I’m on a tropical beach. While each bar had a different texture, they were appropriate for their respective flavors.
Cons: Should be called “Fruit Bars” instead of “Ice Bars”. Axe-wielding maniacs. Strawberry bar was a little too soft. Snotty toddlers. Mango bar was too mango. Realizing I have a very poor grasp on popsicle stick architecture.