One of the perks of my work here at Safer Eating is getting to test a mountain of amazing free-from food. And here’s something that has put a smile on my gob – Happy Snacks.
These guys have shaken up the snack market with their roasted fava peas and chickpeas in wondrous flavours. If I was a crisp, I’d be worried.
I met the lovely Jeff Neilson from the Happy Snack Company at the Allergy and Free From Show North last year and was really impressed with his motivation and drive. He sent me away with lots of things for me and the kids to try. And, celebrate, they are actually a tasty, healthy snack that is safe for us to eat. And something we want to eat! I also got this amazing package through the post to review and got to try out the new salt and vinegar flavour. Yeay!
Me and the kids have coeliac disease and two of us have lactose intolerance so we’re a real family of tricky eaters. Happily, Happy Snacks contain none of the top 14 allergens. Did you read that? NONE. How amazing is that? Not only can you eat them when you cannot have gluten or lactose, they are also totally safe for anyone who has a nut allergy… or a milk, sesame, soya, lupin, sulphite, mustard, celery, fish, shellfish, seafood or egg allergy. Phew. They are also vegan friendly. That’s pretty outstanding.
The Happy Snack Company UK officially launched in January and has gone from strength to strength. It started in Australia and all the products are currently being imported. They have scooped lots of well-deserved awards in both Oz and New Zealand as you can see…
They have also been nominated for best new snack in Sainsbury’s, so watch this space. We’ve got our fingers crossed for them.
The Happy Snack Company describes their products as ‘tasty and nutritious on-the-go snacks for the whole family’. And they are a smart, healthy choice for lunch boxes. They are naturally high in plant-based protein and fibre, but low in sugar and saturated fat. So you can feel quite smug packing the kids off to school. Unlike a lot of free-from snacks out there – and let’s face it, there isn’t a lot – they are a healthy option. They are even contributing to the NHS’s Change4life programme in 2019.
(The company says parents should take care with children under three due to the potential choking risk – they are little crunchy balls of goodness that need chewing).
I love the branding too – fun and bright for kids, still colourful and attractive for adults. These products scream ‘pick me’ from the shelf and it is very obvious that they can contribute to a healthy diet.
Roasted fava beans – red bell pepper and chilli
This flavour is my favourite. I like a bit of spice in my life and these bring it. They are really tasty and moreish and have a good kick to them. The flavours are fantastically strong and remind me of the spicy red pepper and tomato soup I make. The packaging is more subtle for the larger packets, where adults are the target market, but it still stands out and looks cool.
Roasted chickpeas – lightly salted
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These are a great snack and I feel they fill me up more than the fava beans. The chickpeas are really crunchy and almost pop when you bite into them. The addition of garlic brings a little something extra.
Roasted fava beans and kids roasted fava beans – lightly salted
These remind me so much of salted peanuts. Crunchy little beans with just the right amount of salt, and, again, a subtle garlic taste. It’s really handy having the ‘easy tear’ bits on all the packaging as the kids can rip into them and it prevents the, “Mummy, can you open this! Mummy can you open this! MUMMMEEEEEE!” whilst navigating busy roads.
Kids roasted fava beans – pizza flavour
The second best flavour for me. I love something that isn’t boring and plain as it is still pretty tough to find flavoured snacks when you are both gluten and dairy free. These taste decidedly, well, pizza-ry. The oregano and tomato really jumped out. My three-year-old absolutely loves them. ‘Yummy!’ was her in-depth contribution to this review.
Salt and vinegar
This is a brand new flavour – and a very tasty one. The vinegar is pretty strong, which gets my approval. Salt and vinegar snacks often contain barley, which is a no-no for coeliacs. This product, however, has nothing of the sort near it – it is made with balsamic vinegar. So don’t worry. Be happy, even.
Another bonus with these snacks is they don’t leave your hands feeling greasy or covered in salt, like a lot of crisps and nuts do. So you can chomp them on the go and don’t need to find a sink to wash your hands.
Another very big plus is that if someone drops them all over the place, you don’t need to live in fear of friends with severe nut allergies visiting. The picture below is the handy work of my three-year-old, but my butter-fingered husband also has a terrible habit of dropping peanuts around the house. Luckily, he also loves these fava bean and chickpea snacks.
The Happy Snack Company’s products are terrific new snacks and the only proper substitute for nuts I have found. They come in a range of sizes – 15g packs for kids, 25g for adults and 200g packs so you can stick them in a bowl at parties too.
You can guarantee that I will always have a pack of Happy Snack beans in my bag somewhere so I can scoff them when the hunger pangs kick in (generally about 9.05am on work days) or so I have a guilt-free free-from snack for my kids.
And I will finish with some fantastic news for you… the full range can be found on Amazon, most of them have free delivery if you have Amazon Prime and they are also offering £5 off any purchase of their 25g range. Result!