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I have a confession: when it comes to cooking with all-natural foods, I’m not terribly picky. As long as I don’t perceive a food to have pesticides sprayed all over it, I’m pretty content to eat it. And, without much rhyme or reason, if a product comes in a can or a box, I usually feel no need to buy its (usually more expensive) all-natural alternative. However, I recently came across a product line that could change my mind: Naturally Nora® desserts, a line of all-natural boxed cake mixes. Naturally Nora® products have so many standout features I almost couldn’t not make the switch. However, a few issues could hold me back (and other consumers, I imagine): hype, price, and taste. What is the cost-benefit analysis here, and what is its relevance to the larger all-natural food market?
First, a few words about the Naturally Nora® line. According to the Naturally Nora® website, all Nora products are made with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, and no hydrogenated oils or Trans fats. The products’ ingredient lists are strikingly short. For example, the Naturally Nora® Sunny Yellow cake mix has just eight ingredients – approximately half the ingredients in several comparable Pillsbury® and Duncan Hines® yellow cake mixes. Naturally Nora® products also come in “environmentally-friendly” packaging, the website says.
Sounds good… but is the all-natural movement mostly hype? Remember the whole “is it worth it” debate about organic foods? An NPR discussion on the topic caught my attention. It highlights a few considerations when making sustainable food choices: the differences between organically, sustainably, locally, and conventionally grown food. Each of these has some benefits for consumers, while some have more environmental benefits than others. Ultimately, sustainably and locally grown foods may have a greater benefit for consumers (by supporting local food markets), and they probably do not have the carbon footprint of foods transported to retailers nationwide. From what I could tell, Naturally Nora® products are not marketed as being organic, and they are probably not locally grown. Information about the products’ production and distribution techniques is not included on the website.
As for price, Amazon.com lists a six-pack of Naturally Nora® yellow cake mix (19.1-ounce boxes) at $22.15 ($3.69 a box). The equivalent amount of Pillsbury® yellow cake mix would cost approximately $13.76 ($2.29 a box). And taste? Naturally Nora® product reviews are nothing short of glowing, although the only surefire answer is, well, in the mix.
If I had to give a long-and-short-of-it answer to my own question about what Naturally Nora® products say about the larger all-natural dessert market, my answer would come in all shades of gray. On one hand, I’d say consumers concerned about health and environment would be more likely to choose an all-natural product over a more artificial one. On the other hand, I’m not sure lack of toxins, and packaging in environmentally materials, are enough to make a product fit the bigger “sustainability” bill. I’d probably end up giving kudos to Naturally Nora® for creating a healthier cake mix option with a nod to environmentalism, but I’d also advise the company to make the details of its operations a bit clearer. A lot of companies have healthy or green features, but as the sustainability movement grows, the truly top notch companies will have to set the bar higher.
What do you think?
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