Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Canadian Dried Cranberry Snacks

      I found these randomly in the grocery store a while ago.  When I saw they were cranberry based, I was intrigued, since I like this fruit.  When I discovered that these products were Canadian in origin, that clinched it.  These were the raspberry flavored sour dried cranberries, and the watermelon flavored sour dried cranberries, both from the Patience brand.

     Patience is a brand of the Fruit d'Or company.  This company's roots go back to 2000, when three families, including the Le Moines, started to organically farm cranberries in the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes area in Quebec, Canada.  Reportedly, they were one of the first organic cranberry farmers at this time.  Later, in 2015, this collective began the Patience brand, which consisted of cranberries, and to a lesser extent blueberries, in quite a few of their forms.  Most are dried, but some are organically grown, while others are traditionally grown, and some have sugar added, while others don't, and others have non-sugar sweeteners added.  Additionally, some are sour versions of these fruits.  For the record, the co-founders name I could locate were Martin Le Moine (who is the current company president) and Sylvain Dufour (who is the current VP of business development).  Aside from the Patience brand, Fruit D'Or also markets other cranberry and blueberry products, such as juice concentrates, and also nutraceuticals, meaning supplements and cosmetic/personal care products, again which are either based on cranberries or blueberries.

Patience sour cranberries, raspberry flavored:  These looked like typical dried cranberries, or tiny, red, wrinkled cranberries.  They had a cranberry-like odor, not shockingly. And a chewy texture.  The taste was very tart, but in a good way.  I could detect the raspberry additives.  Overall I liked these quite a bit.  I enjoy cranberries, and cranberry-flavored products in general, and these dried ones, with a raspberry flavor added, were also tasty.  I would strongly recommend these, unless you really hate cranberries.

Patience sour cranberries, watermelon flavored:  These looked and smelled like the previous kind, and had an identical texture.  The taste was similar as well.  Maybe slightly less tart.  I don't usually like watermelon, or watermelon-flavored products, but this one was still good.  Not as good as the raspberry ones, but still better than average.  I'm guessing the fact that they're sour certainly helped.  I would recommend these, too.

     As so often happens when I sample a new product, I'm amused by the company's obsession with one, or a limited few, food types.  In this case, cranberries and blueberries.  I wonder if the Fruit D'Or company is offended by the scene in "The Departed" when characters make certain sex-based assumptions about those who enjoy cranberry juice.  I'm guessing, probably.