OTEAnytime Bars - Vegan Energy Bars for Cycling - Cycling Nutrition Bars - Nut Free Snacks for Running - Vegan Flapjack Bars - Box of 16 x 62g (Coconut Chocolate Chip)

I've eaten & sold many energy type bars over the years, most of them taste like the sweepings from a rabbit hutch with a cardboard coating. But I was really, really surprised at these "Anytime" bars from OTE Sport.Usually when something has "Free from" this that & the other as well as "Vegan" slapped on it you pretty much assume its going to be horrible. [I've nothing against vegans, its just that a lot of manufacturers tend not to be clever enough to make the food tasty.] So I was pleasantly surprised when after opening the box that was plastered with "Free from; Nuts, Gluten, Artificial sweeteners, Colours, Flavourings or Preservatives" that there were 16, moist, soft, really tasty bars in there that I really enjoyed eating.Taste profile was nice soft oats, which seemed to be held together with dates which kept it moist & sweet. A slight hit of golden syrup, vanilla then a mild & fresh coconutty flavour kicked in but didn't overpower. The chocolate chips were sprinkled throughout the bar but as I'd eaten it while it was cold that flavour didn't kick in 'till the chips had melted. I really enjoyed it & wanted another, but I thought I'd be good. If one things could be changed I'd like a slightly more bitter chocolate chip, but that's possibly just me, I like bitter chocolate.At 62 grams each you can happily eat one without struggling to finish it. Each bar is 255 kcal, 10.8 g fat, 35.1 g carbs, 2.5 g protein. So while maybe not for the dieters they provide you with a boost of what you need to keep you going. Plus as its mainly oats its slow release. I found if I ate one for breakfast I was fine 'till mid afternoon.The bars are compact & wont fall to pieces in your bag or pocket, so great on the go. Also with them being moist & sticky from the dates they don't fall to dust if they have been in your bag for a while.Once I get near the end of this box I'll be looking to try more from their range, I had a look at their website & it seems they do about nine flavours in this range of bars so there's a few others I'd like to try.They work out to £1.40 per bar which seems quite good for a bar these days, especially one that you look forward to eating rather than just cramming it down as fuel. I also noticed that there was at least a year on the Best Before Date which is good if its likely to take you a while to get through a box. [Though I'm having to stop myself from having one as a tasty treat!

Bought a box of 16 but only supplied with 14 bars.

I ordered this pack of 16 x 62g Apple and Cinnamon oat flapjack bars. They are pretty good for there intended use.I had a 4km run yesterday by the beach and tired one of these and they are surprisingly yummy and quite filling for such a small bar.The OTE bar is very sweet, but not quite sickly sweet due to the diffrent types of brown sugar adn golden sirip they use. This Sports oriantated bar comes with around 20g of sugar, this is not somthing you want to be having while not doing sports but it adds a lot of nutrition for log runs or other high endurance sports.Vegan, Nut free & No dairyFor myself too many sports bars try and add whey protein to them to make then high protein, as a person who is lactose intolerant this bar is great. Supper happy with the ingredients:Gluten Free Oats (30%), Golden Syrup, Vegetable Oils, Diced Apple, Dried Diced Banana (Banana, Rice Flour), Sultanas (Sunflower Oil), Sunflower Seeds, Brown Sugar, Ground Cinnamon 0.1%, Natural Flavourings

I enjoyed these snack bars. They taste delicious, the texture is moist, and they're quite filling. The only reason I've given them four stars rather than five is this: the ingredients are not organic. If they had been, I'd have awarded the product a five-star rating. I have one other criticism of the bars - a small criticism that isn't worth docking a star for. They contain glucose syrup and also refined white sugar, both of which are unnecessary. The main ingredient by volume is dates, which are sweet and have a relatively high glycaemic index, meaning their fruit sugars convert to energy quickly. I'm guessing the manufacturer included glucose syrup and refined sugar in the recipe in order to increase the glycaemic index, which also increases the speed with which the bars deliver energy. The bars are, after all, marketed as sports energy snacks. Immediately before or after intense exercise, or during it, is the only time when it's beneficial to consume high-glycaemic-index foods or drinks, as these are the times when all their simple sugars are converted to glucose and used as energy (or in the post-exercise case, converted to glycogen and stored in muscles to replace the glycogen lost during activity). For people who train hard, then, these snack bars are ideal. For those who have a sedentary lifestyle and are looking for a healthy snack, look elsewhere - ideally something all organic that has a low glycaemic index and contains no added sugars or sweeteners of any kind.

I am amazed at how tasty these bars are. I often shy away from performance bars as they can be unappetising and overly crunchy. These though as amazing, the texture is soft and moist, nice rolled oats with dates, coconut and yummy chocolate chips. Instead of butter that normally holds flapjacks together the dates and golden syrup offer a lovely moistness and bind the oats perfectly, so they don’t break up. Each bite is delicious, the bar is like a meal, both my partner and I find them very satisfying and filling. We eat one before going for our weekend hike and can walk for hours before stopping to eat our packed lunch, instead of feeling hungry as soon as we get out the car lol. Each one has 255 calories but the energy they give me means I soon walk those calories off. They are suitable for vegans and are also gluten free. They work out at £1.86 per bar, great for such quality and taste.