I took a slight chance for this week's topic. As I've mentioned previously, traditionally I haven't been much of a fan of bananas. At least fresh ones, out of the peel. Their taste is okay, but not great. Also, it seems that I have a mild allergy to them, as after eating them my throat is a tiny bit sore, and sometimes some mild stomach discomfort occurs. (Oddly, cooking or other preparations seem to solve this. I enjoy cooked plantains (which are a subtype of bananas), and plantain chips/crisps.) But, I tried two varieties of banana snacks from the Barnana brand--their original, plain banana bites, and the banana bites dipped in peanut butter. Since peanut butter is my second favorite food, I clearly was hedging my bets with this latter choice.
The Barnana company was birthed in 2012 by a man named Caue Suplicy, although a Nik Ingersoll is listed as a co-founder. Suplicy was born in Brazil, and grew up enjoying the dried banana pieces that his father created using a device made from an old window pane. Suplicy also found that dried banana chunks made for convenient and tasty food while competing in triathlons. (Triathlons are a particularly grueling sport, usually consisting of swimming, biking, and running large distances back to back to back.) At some point Suplicy had relocated to Los Angeles, California, and decided to go into business producing these same dried bananas, and later dried plantain snacks as well. The company has flourished since, and is currently sold in such huge stores as Whole Foods, Costco, and Target, among others. The major philosophy of the company (besides, presumably, making a good amount of money) is environmental sustainability. The bananas and plantains used for Barnana's products are "upcycled," meaning they're from fruit that was going to be thrown away and wasted due to being overly ripe, scuffed up, and/or not in aesthetically pleasing shapes. Instead these imperfect bananas and plantains are dried, processed, and sold. The Barnana business is also reportedly fairer to the farmers in Central and South America which grow their fruit, in that they pay them 30% over market prices. So, all in all, Barnana appears to be have its heart in the right place when it comes to minimizing environmental problems and not exploiting its workforce. Alternate products include chips (crisps), nuggets, and scoops made from plantains, banana bites dipped in peanut butter cups and chocolate, and dried bites made from mango goldenberries and coconut. Pink salt and lime are common condiments used on their banana and plantain products, too. Not shockingly, given the company's other reported values, their wares are proudly touted as being free of GMOs. Some, but not all of their products are Paleo diet-appropriate, and some are also vegan and Kosher. For allergy sufferers, though, some of the Barnana items are made in facilities that also process things like peanuts, tree nuts, etc., so to be safe they should check each individual product before consuming.
Barnana original banana bites: These kind of looked like chunks of brown bread. The pieces weren't quite uniform--some were less than an inch (about 2.5 cm.) long, and some were a little bigger. They were chewy, and alright tasting. Not great, but they kind of grew on me. They also didn't give me a sore throat or any stomach issues, so that was a plus.
Barnana banana bites, dipped in peanut butter: Same size and shape as the previous ones. But, there was one crucial difference--each piece was covered in a shiny brown coating, which reminded me a little of chocolate-covered raisins. These were chewy underneath the coating. The taste was better, because of course peanut butter makes pretty much everything better. So overall a pretty good snack. I would consider buying this kind again. These had more calories than the originals, and had some fat in them, so they're not as healthy, clearly. But the tradeoff for this is a significantly improved flavor.
Just to cap this off, if you're curious about the name of the brand and company, Suplicy changed it to "bar"nana reflecting his belief that bananas are one of nature's energy bars. The employment website LinkedIn had some more personal information about Caue Suplicy, too--maybe too much? It reveals where Suplicy went to college, and how many languages he speaks. Alas, this last bit isn't anything interestingly obscure, such as he's fluent in Esperanto, or even Klingon.
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