I didn't plan for this to be a "new product week" on the blog, but Trader Joe's has had another spurt of releasing interesting new stuff, and I'm trying to keep up with it.
Trader Joe's has a long list of product that are quite obviously copycat versions of other well-known national-brand items. Sometimes TJ's improves on the original--see, e.g., the cherry-pomegranate toaster pastries, a.k.a. Trader Joe's Pop Tarts. Sometimes they fail miserably--see, e.g., Joe-Joe's cookies, a.k.a. Trader Joe's Oreos.
The latest item in this tradition is Fig Bites, which, if honesty were the foremost consideration, would be called Trader Joe's Fig Newtons. (Yes, I'm aware that Nabisco has officially renamed Fig Newtons. I refuse to grant legitimacy to such sacrilege.)
If you want to see how these compare visually to Fig Newtons, there's a nice side-by-side photo in this review.
How do they taste compared to the original? Not as good. I wouldn't call them a dismal failure, but they are a disappointment. The problem is simple and obvious: they badly overshot on the cake-to-filling ratio. Instead of the pleasing balance of the two given by the original, with these I get the sense of cake, cake, cake, little big of figgy fruitiness, cake, cake, cake. You can see it in that previously linked photo, and the taste experience accords with that. It's all wrong.
Will I buy it again?
No. In fact, I've eaten one quarter of the package, and I think the rest are going back to the store for a refund.
This review is from 2015 and "now" in 2019 I think the opposite is true. Trader Joe's Fig Bars are more figs than cake, and are delicious! Fig Newtons are good, but these are fruity, chewy gems. A+
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