Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Humboldt Organic Chocolate Ice Cream


[New for 2016] For those of you brave enough to venture in to Walmart*, you may have spotted a new company in the freezer aisle in the last few months. It's Humboldt Creamery Ice Cream based out of California. They've teamed up with Walmart to offer a lineup of super premium organic ice cream products (press release). Packaged in 40 oz containers for under six bucks, there are five flavors to start with. Vanilla, Strawberry, Coffee, Mint Chip (review here) and...

Humboldt Chocolate Ice Cream

"deep, rich chocolate blended the old-fashioned way into creamy perfection".

Do you remember how main stream companies use to try to make dark chocolate ice cream? It wasn't a true dark chocolate, but it wasn't milk chocolate either anymore. Well, this ice cream reminds me of those days. In particular I am thinking of the Breyers version (or this one or their newer one) in particular, but Friendly's also did one and Turkey Hill has one though that one has chocolate bits in it. This isn't some super dense, high end ice cream, this is meant to be more main stream and budget friendly (relatively speaking, remember this is organic).

Photographing plain chocolate ice cream never goes well...

The other thing that really struck me as I worked my way through the bowl was how much I wish I had some fresh pretzel cones handy. This is a fine ice cream, but there's just not a ton of pop to it and a salty, crunchy pretzel cone would bring this one to life. Unfortunately I don't think my local Wegman's carries pretzel cones anymore so I might just have to mix in some pretzels of my own next time.

On Second Scoop: This is a fine product to compete with the other main stream competitors. My only real comment (or surprise) is their reliance on stabilizers. Yes they are organic, but they are still stabilizers. I get it, this isn't some high end product and they need to maintain a price point, but that doesn't mean I have to love the texture. I'm still going to fall back to Turkey Hill when I want simple, all natural flavors. I will try the other flavors as the summer goes along, but will you try it? Or have you? Let us know in the comments!

*Note: The press release seemed to imply exclusivity but these can also be found at Trader Joe's, often at a much lower price.

Verdict?  darker than expected
Buy Again?  maybe (will definitely try the other flavors)


35 comments:

  1. I'd love for you to review Warlmart's new Ice cream sandwiches. The Key Lime looks good but I'm afraid to buy a dud :)

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  2. That is a really dark color for chocolate ice cream! I have never heard of this company before, so it also amazes me how many ice cream companies are trying to be the best at making a product that should be a simple recipe of cream, sugar, and milk.

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  3. @aol: it's on the to-do list, but I'm not a fan of their nut cross-contamination. I wish the walmart by work would stock them.

    @stride: they are new to the ice cream game and a walmart exclusive. Definitely a dark offering, wish they had gone simpler on the recipe though.

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  4. Have you tried the new Breyers chocolate truffle ice cream? (Yes ice cream!) Darker than their regular chocolate. Looks similar to this one, curious how you think it compares. Has pieces in it though

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  5. If you want organic without any fillers or additives that generally leaves Straus. Which is my current go to and favorite. Only ingredients are organic cream, milk, eggs, and sugar. Along with the flavor of course
    Three Twins is a secondary option and they actually use Straus organic milk too, but Three Twins is slightly lower grade ice cream. Less fat, not at super premium levels.

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  6. @Anon: yup, tried it last year http://www.onsecondscoop.com/2015/03/breyers-chocolate-truffle-ice-cream.html it's got a similar idea to this one

    @D: no access to Straus around here, though I have heard of them. I am a fan of three twins and they are making more in roads on the east coast which is cool.

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  7. Finally. I have been wondering about this brand for months now.

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  8. Would you be willing to review any of the Hudsonville ice cream flavors, if you're able to find it locally? Much appreciated.

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  9. @Anon2: price tag had you hesitant to try it yourself? :)

    @Liz: I'd be happy too but they are out of Michigan and don't have distribution in Mass

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  10. The mint xhocolate chip was blah!

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  11. Went to Trader joes to get their house brand chocolate which is the best I have ever had and found this brand next to what I came to buy so I tried it instead. This is at least as good as most of the generic brands but no where near the Trader Joes brand. Much less expensive however.

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  12. I just bought Humboldt's vanilla ice cream at Trader Joe's. I usually get the Trader Joe's brand, but this was just put in stock and was organic, contained more, and was cheaper. Looks fancy, too. Last comment nails it on the head, though - it's no where near as good as the store brand. It has a foamy, melted and refrozen kind of texture. And I could hardly taste the vanilla. I don't see myself buying it again.

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  13. I just got the vanilla ice cream from Trader Joe's. Haven't tried it yet but was going online trying to figure out why it was so cheap - it's probably on promo, but it was only $2.99 at Trader Joe's! For comparison, generally Breyers (my favorite brand usually) is $5-6 at regular supermarkets and occasionally $3 if on sale.

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  14. I absolutely LOVE Humboldt's Organic Ice Cream. Breyer's, Blue Bunny, etc. USED to be my favourites, but, now, Humboldt's is. My fave is Vanilla, then Strawberry, then Chocolate. Never had any others. BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, perhaps living in a small town, most people are not into "healthier alternatives" and stick to the tried-and-true status quo, and we have not sold the Humboldt's well at our local Walmart Supercenter #1329 and they had to either clearance some are give them to the Food Pantries. It's frustrating to me 'cause I know how delicious and HIGH-QUALITY Humboldt's is and that also comes from their taking care, very well, of their livestock (cows) and not torturing them, as some other product producers do. GOD Bless Humboldt's and hope and pray they thrive for doing all they can to put out a GOOD PRODUCT inspite of any skeptics out there!

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  15. Don't care for hunboldt anymore. They used to have the best vanilla ice cream, sold at Costco in 2 Gallon quantities. But now they've added straight up shit into their products. Can't get excited about these companies anymore.

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  16. My family loves Humboldt ice cream - it's become our new favorite! Fresh, not too heavy, not overly sweet, not a "frozen dairy dessert"... We've tried and like all five flavors, but chocolate and coffee are our go to favorites. Can't wait for more flavors to come!

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  17. Hi everyone, it appears that the Walmart-Humboldt relationship is over, so I am curious as to where you are seeing this flavor now? Their website shows pints now instead of containers and they've add salted caramel and C&C (and coffee chip) as flavors. I always found it odd how Walmart was charging two bucks more a container than Trader Joe's was.

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    1. Do you know why it's over? That really makes me mad when I get to liking something organic then Walmart quits having it. They don't have raw nuts any more either. I'm ready to say goodbye to Walmart.

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  18. I LOVED Humboldt's ice cream and that I could buy it at my local Walmart super store. I have been so sad that they have not been carrying it for at least the last month. They could not keep it on the shelf so I am highly disappointed that I can no longer get it I was absolutely in love with the chocolate. It was chocolatey and had lots of flavor. The vanilla was also wonderful. The ice cream is nice and creamy and I want it back.

    Walmart - PLEASE bring this product back!!!

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  19. @Unknown: they've moved to pints that are more widely available, I stumbled upon them a few weeks ago at a Big Y in Connecticut. I've been meaning to check Trader Joe's to see if they still have them as well.

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  20. I just purchased the sea salt caramel in pint form from ShopRite for 1.99

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  21. Humboldt ice cream is now a Costco exclusive product.

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  22. there website says that their "convential" vanilla ice cream is a costco exclusive, doesn't mean all of it is. People (including myself) have seen their organic pints in multiple stores. (things may always change in the future)

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  23. Just saw in the sale circular at C-Town in NYC. $3/pint

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  24. Got it at Trader Joe's for only $1.99. The other pint I bought was 3.99. The Humboldt made me feel better about what I paid for the other because it was now about $6 for both, which is more reasonable. I'm sure the Humboldt was the better of the two.

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  25. I just had the pleasure of trying the Humboldt chocolate ice cream. I ate an entire pint to the face like a gd caveman and let me say this: it's my new go to. They'll be flying off the shelves this summer in brutally hot Vegas and guess what? It will be this fat boy buying em!!!

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  26. glad you enjoyed it!

    ...but flying might be an overestimation. I've seen walmarts devoid of ice cream yet these pints are still on the shelf since people still don't recognize the name. We'll see if their pint game lasts longer than their big container game.

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  27. I had never heard of Humboldt. When I saw it was organic, I gave the Cookies and Cream a try. I loved it! I'll be looking for this brand at Trader Joe's and other stores mentioned above.

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  28. I got very used to the Humboldt vanilla ice cream from Costco. But two or three months ago it disappeared from Costco's freezer. When I asked about it, Costco staff said the price for vanilla used in the ice cream had risen so dramatically that it caused the price Costco pays to go up so much that Costco could no longer offer its customers "value". I'm wondering if the brand is available at other stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area?

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  29. That costco container was a special budget version just for Costco. You can find humboldt pints at other locations though. How do you feel about going to Walmart to find them? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Humboldt-Creamery-Organic-Vanilla-Ice-Cream-1-pt/978616477

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  30. Thank you. I will give it a try.

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  31. I bought Humboldts vanilla at Costco last week.

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  32. Humboldt's is gone from Costco. Tried to huy today. All gone. Not returning.

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  33. Apparently it's impossible to find Humboldt's ice cream anywhere now unless you live in northern CA. I'm so sad about that - I even went on their website to check if I could get it in any store near me and the closest is like 30 miles away.

    I wonder what happened to have them end relationships with basically all their bigger distributors like TJ's and Walmart/Costco. Honestly I would've at least expected them to do well at TJ's because of the organic label...

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