L eats- Cow & Gate Friends range

Introducing veggies to children can be tricky! But now thanks to Cow & Gate's newest range Friends, parents can breathe a sigh of relief. 

Babies are often more receptive to the sweet tastes of fruit rather than bitter tasting vegetables. But, the earlier and more frequently babies are exposed to a variety of vegetable flavours during weaning, the more likely they will learn to accept them.

Friends begins with the starter pack, including four single vegetable varieties allowing parents to introduce a variety of distinct vegetable tastes in the early stages of weaning:

 

Cauliflower

A surprisingly good flavoured pouch.. good taste and L was uncertain to begin with but the flavour seemed to grow on her. A major cauliflower taste to it (obviously), but a quite surprising pure taste to it.. definitely a second best behind the broccoli pouch.

Pea

Now I am not a big fan of peas (I am sure a lot of you can relate to that) and I do not think L is either.. she clearly did not like the flavour as a lot of it did not end up in her tummy, but instead on her hands, bib and clothes. However as with all of my flavour reviews, this is a personal preference and your baby maybe love the flavour.. in simple terms, after a quick taste the answer was 'not for me or L'.

Carrot

I personally have never been a big fan of boiled carrots and therefore did not expect too much from the flavour (other than the overpowering flavour of carrot). But the flavour was ok (carroty – if that is even a word).. but other than my thoughts on the vegetable, the puree was rather watery and did not lack the kind of consistency you get from a carrot or even a carrot soup, perhaps a more thicker puree would be better.

Broccoli

A lovely puree in general, L loved it and seemed to enjoy the flavour. It was a little bit watery but similar to all the puree's, I tried it and really did enjoy it. Nice broccoli taste and does exactly what it says on the pouch, no complains about this flavour. One of the best flavours so far..

As baby begins to enjoy and recognise the single vegetable tastes, the Friends range expands to vegetable varieties with flavour combinations including cheese, pasta and chicken. 

Cauliflower, potato and cheese

                                      
This puree had a good consistency and L was able to eat it. It took her a little while to get used to the puree. I have tasted it myself (as I am self confessed baby puree lover) and I must say I couldn't taste much apart from the cauliflower.

Broccoli, potato and chicken

                                      
Now I will not lie, I was particularly looking forward to this flavour as L has not had a taste of meat yet, so the chicken aspect I was interested in. L took to it quite well, the ingredients were purified well without any massive chunks, which helped as L seems to be gagging on large pieces at the moment. As with a previous pouch I couldn't taste chicken or potato as the broccoli was way too overpowering.

Carrot, potato and beef

This pouch wasn't L's favourite due to it having a carroty taste, but I hope we will improve it at some point.

Positive points regarding general appearance:

• All of purees are purified which means them easier for L to eat
• The Cow & Gate branding stands out and the vegetable character idea is excellent, especially the phone app interaction. The packaging is also very good with an easy to squeeze re-sealable pouch and a cap to cover for later
• There are a good variety of flavours, and made with no added salt, sugar, additives or preservatives
• Size of purees are good. I received two sizes, small sachets for starter feeds and larger for developed eaters

Negatives:

• It would be more ideal if you could refrigerate for more than 24 hours
• Not available yet from major supermarkets

Flavours:

Available in Starter Pack (My First Spoon) inclusive of all flavours, RRP £2.79 at Ocado:

o Carrot

o Broccoli

o Peas

o Cauliflower

Single pouches available for 'discover' stage, single pouch RRP £0.95 available at Ocado:

o Carrot, beef, potato

o Broccoli, chicken, potato

o Peas, sweetcorn, potato

o Cauliflower, cheese, potato

Single pouches available for 'explorer' stage, single pouch RRP £1.29 available at Ocado:

o Carrot, beef, tomato, pasta

o Broccoli, chicken, rice

o Peas, fish, potato

o Cauliflower, pasta, cheese

Single pouches available for 'friends forever' stage, single pouch RRP £1.79 available at Ocado:

o Carrot, lentil, ham

o Broccoli, cheese, pasta

o Peas, potato, sole fish

o Cauliflower, potato, beef

Now for the very cool bit, meet the vegetable characters (as mentioned above):

                        

Claire Carrot, Chris Cauliflower, Bella Broccoli and Peter Pea

Disclaimer: I was sent the above items for the purpose of this review. All thought and opinions are my own.