Perk!er range of gluten-free porridge and chocolate treats (review)

Do you have a coeliac in the family or a friend who is on gluten-free diet, and do you find it difficult to accommodate different diets when preparing meals? Are you going gluten free yourself? Have you discovered Perk!er range of porridge and chocolate treats? As a brand, Perk!er is a relatively new kid on the block (it was established in 2012 by Ann Perkins and her partner Steve Turner). As Ann says, when she went GF in 2009, she realised just how less choice in food there was available, and that a lot of GF food was inferior in quality. I think in the last few years there is a noticeable change in the market with more brands appearing and offering high quality gluten free products.

Perk!er range has a selection of porridge, cereal flakes and chocolate treats. The brand comes with a great motto: "We're a small company who know what it's like to live gluten free"

Their porridge comes in three flavours: Apple, Cinnamon & Raisin, Golden Syrup and Fruity Berry.

Apple, Cinnamon & Raisin porridge pot (233kcal per 65g pot) is made of gluten free oats, skimmed milk powder, raisins, dried apples, cinnamon. It also contains xylitol (natural sweetener).
One tub of dry porridge mix makes quite a substantial portion.
It has a rather grown-up taste, I did feel like adding a bit of honey or syrup but resisted, as I wanted to taste all the flavours of the porridge itself. It is quite dark in colour in comparison to my usual porridges, perhaps thanks to cinnamon. It reminded me of an apple pie. A satisfying morning meal.

Golden Syrup porridge from Perk!er (230kcal per 60g pot) is a combination of gluten free oats, skimmed milk powder, sugar and natural flavouring. In comparison to the standard porridge, it is more dense in texture and less silky. It is still smooth, just different, if you're used to the "normal" porridge. I liked the taste, it was not overly sweet, like some golden syrup porridges are. As the other porridges in the range, it kept me sated until lunchtime easily.

Perk!er Golden Syrup porridge

Perk!er Fruity Berry porridge has raisins, cranberries and natural strawberry flavouring among other ingredients. You get a good ratio of berries to gluten free oats. Perfect for warming you up on a chilly morning.

Perk!er Fruity Berry porrdige

I love the fact that all Perk!er porridges are high in fibre and are made of all natural ingredients.
The designs of all pots and packages are stylish and cheerful and stand out on the shelf.

Now, what about the chocolate treats? I have tried two varieties: Rocky Road and Tiffin.

With Rocky Road you get crunchy biscuit & soft marshmallows enveloped in milk chocolate
I managed to try only a small piece, as my little man ate it (the parcel arrived when he was at home, and of course, he wanted to help to test). From what I tried, it was lovely, though I would have preferred chunkier bits of marshmallows and biscuits to make it "rockier".

Perk!er Rocky Road

My little tester

We aslo got two varieties of Tiffin - a bigger bar and a tub with smaller pieces. I liked theidea of the sharing tub, and the pieces are just the right size for guilt-free snacking. Have a bite and discover bits of crunchy honeycomb, chocolate biscuit and raisins, all covered with melted milk chocolate.
I am not a big fan of tiffin to start with, so I'm probably not the best expert on the taste. It was lovely with coffee, but on its own I found it a bit dry and lustreless. It is quite fragile, so there were lots of crumbs at the bottom of the pot, and the chocolate has lost its glossy looks in transit. I even went to Waitrose to inspect the tubs of tiffins they have to see what they actually should look like, and they were full of crumbs at the bottom as well (I did get some odd looks as I was lifting the tubs one by one and raising them higher to see the bottoms).

Perk!er's range of products is wider than the selection I tested, they also have breads and flakes for breakfast. I was very pleased to discover this brand of gluten-free products, and hope they will expand their range to include more treats and porridges.

Perk!er Tiffin

For more information, visit Perkierfoods on Facebook and Twitter (@perkierfoods)

Disclosure: I received a selection of Perk!er products for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.