Review: Vigilant Eats Gluten Free Oatmeal

Sometimes I get products in the mail to review and I am in love with their packaging. I know I know, don’t judge a book by its cover – but as a former advertising nerd, I know what I like when I see it. Vigilant Eats is one of those companies where the packaging and marketing draws me in. The packaging is so sexy and even their logo and website make me happy on the inside.

PS Thanks for the complimentary sample guys! I appreciate it.

So, you might be thinking “oh yeah, just another gluten-free oatmeal” but this is a little different. This is more of a cereal than an oatmeal. This uses COLD water instead of hot (because there’s hemp milk inside already. That automatically makes it a lot easier to take these on the go for travel where you don’t have to beg Starbucks for some hot water – just use a drinking fountain! Also, the package contains a spoon – a little foldable plastic spoon – so you don’t have to go searching for utensils in a hotel room or out camping. Smart packaging – I’m into it!

Here are the ingredients:

• Gluten-free oats and oat flour
• Goji berries
• Cacao nibs
• Hemp flour
• Coconut palm sugar
• Yacon powder
• Maple powder
• Cinnamon

Things I like about this product:

• It’s organic.
• It’s vegan.
• It’s NON-GMO certified
• It’s incredibly convenient for my on-the-go lifestyle.
• It’s tasty. It’s not overly sweet because they don’t add any artificial shenanigans. It tastes natural, not fake. And who doesn’t like cacao, cinnamon, and maple powder.
• Free shipping in their online store.

Things I didn’t like about this:

• Gogi berries are kind of weird. Now, on their Facebook page you can see that they have THREE OTHER VARIETIES! All of these I’d rather have over gogi berries. I feel like I’m going to get a nasty letter by the Gogi Berry Association, but c’mon – who wouldn’t rather have Espresso Maca Mulberry, Maca Double Chocolate, or Coconut Maple Vanilla? I know I would.
• Having to buy them online. Since there’s no physical retailers I can find them at, I have to purchase them online. Not like we’re not used to doing that as gluten-free people, but I love being able to run up to the store when I’m out.
• Price! If you do the math ($50.40 divided by 12 packs in an order), it comes out to about $4 a serving. For me, that’s a little pricey for oatmeal, especially since you can get something like Bakery on Main for $5.99 a box plus shipping. But, the price online does include shipping – which can be a lot for online ordering. And, we all know as consumers that convenience costs us money to save time and energy.

Overall, I’m going to give Vigilant Eats 3.5 wheat stalks because I think I’d prefer the other flavors over this one. However, they totally swooned me with convenience and look of packaging.

[ratings wheat=”3.5″]