Want advanced access to my weekly Chewsday Reviews?

Every Tuesday morning receive the latest Chewsday Review delivered directly to your inbox.

Mayver’s Cacao Super Spread | Chewsday Review

Things have changed since the days of ‘crunchy versus smooth’, as the market seems to have gone nuts with peanut butter alternatives. Today’s Chewsday Review tackles Mayver’s new Cacao Super Spread to see how it stacks up against traditional options.

Ingredients

Peanuts, almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, dates, cacao powder (2.7%), chia seeds, sesame seeds, natural vanilla flavour.
Cacao is a less processed version of cocoa, making it slightly richer in certain nutrients like fibre and magnesium (this isn’t a huge selling point though!)
Dates have been used here as a natural sweetener due to their high sugar content. Dates sometimes get stuck in kids’ teeth and risk contributing to cavities, yet the way they are blended here means it shouldn’t be an issue.

Positives

The sugar is well within healthy guidelines at 9.6g/100g, particularly considering the small portion size (just 1.9g/tbsp), and is similar to other nut spreads. It also comes only from dates, and not from other added sugar. Nutella on the other hand has six times the amount of sugar all from refined sugar.
The sodium content is very low, at just 10mg/100g compared to the 576mg/100g in Bega’s Smooth Peanut Butter.
The variety of nuts included increases the quality of fats, with essential omega 3’s (for brain health) coming from chia seeds
The addition of brazil nuts also provides a nutrient called selenium that is important for immune health.
The spread has a delicious chocolatey taste, making it an easier way to get a serve of nuts into your child’s diet.

Negatives

This spread is actually slightly higher in sugars than other nut butters, likely due to the addition of the dates. However, it remains within the guidelines if consumed in recommended servings, and is still a better option than other chocolate spread alternatives (I’m looking at you Nutella…)
Although very similar, it also contains slightly less fibre than leading competitors, but a 1tbsp serve still provides 10% of kids’ daily fibre requirements.
It is certainly a more expensive nut spread option at $6.50 per jar. That’s over 50% more expensive than Bega’s Smooth Peanut Butter.

Marketing

‘Just pure choconutty goodness’: Mayver’s is certainly keeping it simple without the added salt or refined sugar.
‘Healthy, good oils, stir me up’: The oil that separates and sits at the top of the jar comes naturally from the nuts- it just needs to be stirred back in. As mentioned above, the wide variety of nuts included offers a good mix of healthy fats – score!
‘Australian made’: I love to see more Aussie companies gaining an edge in the market, and always good to support local.

Alternatives

If you can wear the extra cost, this is a great nut spread option to change things up, as it is nutritionally similar to leading competitors but with that chocolatey appeal that kids love. It also offers additional healthy fats and minerals.
But remember, there is nothing wrong with our good old friend peanut butter. It, too, offers a serve from the lean meat and alternative foods group, and is more affordable than this ‘super spread’.