Vegessentials: Fresh kids on the go

I was recently asked if I would like to try out a new range of kids drinks from Vegessentials.
The drinks come in small 125ml plastic bottles which are just the right size for a refreshing “kids on the go” drink.

Vegesentials was founded by mother of three, Patience Arinaitwe-Mugadu, and her husband Dr Andrew Mugadu and the recipes for the new range have been lovingly created with the help of their children.

Intended to overcome the everyday struggle of encouraging children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, the tasty range adds new child -friendly flavours to the already popular Vegesentials collection, including Cool Cucumber & Pineapple, Groovy Beet & Strawberry Juice and Cheeky Carrot & Peach.

My children can be so fussy when it comes to vegetables. Ryan refuses to eat any at all and Jordanna is also starting to get a little fussy. Izebella is a little too young to understand what a vegetable is but even she has her fussy moments.
The drinks arrived in a nice little cooler bag.

There were plenty of bottle to go round of each of the 3 flavours.
The drinks are both smoothies and juice and made from pure fruit and vegetables with no nasty additives. I was really intrigued by the Cool Cucumber and pineapple smoothie. The green one. So I decided to try this one out myself.

When I first opened the bottle I could really smell the cucumber and so was a little unsure if even I would like it. The taste however is nothing like cucumber. It tastes of pineapple and also apple (which it contains). It was a strange but nice flavour, tasting sweet fruit but with the aroma of cucumber.

On reading the ingredients I found the drinks contain around 20% vegetables and the rest being fruit. Meaning the vegetables are pretty much hidden within the fruity tastes.
Jordanna opted to try the orange one which is Cheeky carrot and Peach it contains pineapple too and Jordanna seemed to enjoy it as the bottle was empty rather quickly.

I could not smell or taste any carrot in this one.
Finally the red one- Groovy Beet and Strawberry. I found this also contains pineapple and a small amount of cucumber. I could taste a slight hint of beetroot, but it wasn’t too over powering. It tasted more fruity like pineapple juice and quite refreshing too.

These drinks are a good way of getting essential fruits and vegetables into kids. The only draw back being that older children can read labels. Unfortunately Ryan examines in detail everything I give him and on reading the labels it was a big No no. The labels do come off so maybe an idea for a sneaky parent such as myself would be to take the label off before giving it them. I think Ryan would of drank these had he not read the label.
Jordanna can read labels too but is happy to drink these and enjoys all 3 flavours.
With Izebella I pour them into her cup and she seems to like them.
I also enjoy the flavours. They make a nice refreshing fruity drink.

My children do not have packed lunches at school. As these drinks are very healthy then they would be fine for packed lunches. Jordanna enjoys them at breakfast and after school.
The 125ml bottles are available at Whole foods and a list of other stockists can be found at the Vegessentials website