The Good: Does not taste bad, Adequate nutritional benefits
The Bad: Not terribly chocolate, Vastly overpriced
The Basics: Kellogg’s Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is good, but not worth the inflated price tag the boxes have in stores.
Not too long ago, my local grocery store had a new cereal that turned both my head and my wife’s head as we passed it. The cereal was Kellogg’s Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Chocolatey Almond cereal. The box turned my wife’s head because she loves sweet cereals (having never been allowed to have them as a child) and it turned my head because the box’s style made it seem like Kellogg’s was trying to create a premium product. The photographic quality and glossiness of the box made the cereal’s box look like it was a magazine advertisement. Both of us were shocked when the 11.5 oz. box on the “new product” shelf was more than $6. Neither of us could justify spending that kind of money on such a small box of cereal. However, yesterday, we found a box of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Chocolatey Almond cereal at the discount store in the same plaza for only $2.99 and we decided it was time for us to try it.
And the simple evaluation was that Kellogg’s Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal was not worth the wait. Instead, this cereal charges a premium price (presumably because Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is a separate entity – we don’t have any anywhere near where we’ve lives – and Kellogg’s needs to license the name) for a largely unremarkable product.
Basics
Kellogg’s Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is a fairly new corn cereal that seems designed to appeal to health-conscious people who actually want something that tastes delicious. On both fronts, this cereal underwhelms.
The standard box of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is 11.5 oz. That represents approximately six servings and that makes the boxes even more expensive than other, similar, cereals. The actual Chocolatey Almond cereal is loaded with glazed corn flakes of various sizes, slivers of almonds, and 1/2" by 1/2" squares of soft milk chocolate that are about 1/8” thick. The cereal is dominated by the corn flakes, with the two additives blended in at about a 1:10 ratio.
Ease Of Preparation
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is a breakfast cereal, so this is one of the low-impact breakfast options as far as preparation goes! Simply open the box of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal, pour out one cup (I’ve taken to using a measuring cup) and add 1/2 cup of milk to it. I have discovered, as part of getting healthy, that one of the biggest challenges one might have with breakfast cereal is actually eating the serving size recommended by the manufacturer. Given that I have been monitoring my intake for a couple of months now, I am now able to enjoy a single cup of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal in a sitting!
For the purposes of my reviews, and my regular consumption, I only use skim milk (fat free) milk when reviewing Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal.
Taste
Opening the box, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Chocolatey Almond cereal has a very subtle chocolate aroma to it. Out of the box, the smell of the cereal is able to effervesce more so it is not competing with the cardboard of the cereal box. When that happens, the cereal actually smells incredibly like a decent cup of cocoa.
On its own, the Chocolatey Almond cereal is sweet and grainy. The buttery flavor of the almonds blends with the sweet, melty chocolate to create a strong, sweet taste that is very different from other cereals. The buttery and chocolate flavors blends with the sugar glazed corn flakes of the cereal to make for a weaker chocolate cereal with an overall sweet, but grainy flavor to it.
With milk, the sweetness completely overwhelms the grainy flavor of the flakes. The generic sweet cereal only comes alive when the tongue encounters one of the blocks of chocolate within the cereal mix. The nuts in the mix keep the cereal crunchy and they serve to mute the overall sweetness of the cereal without truly enhancing the flavor. Instead, the cereal is less chocolatey overall than most “chocolate flavored” cereals and makes up for that deficit by having actual soft chocolate chunks in it that cut the sweetness with a formidable cocoa flavor. Even so, this is clearly intended to embody milk chocolate as opposed to dark chocolate and the weaker flavor makes it less impressive.
Dry, this cereal has a very dry aftertaste. With milk, the Chocolatey Almond flavor bears a buttery aftertaste that stays on the tongue for several minutes after the cereal is consumed.
Nutrition
Kellogg’s Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is fairly nutritious on its own and with skim milk! Made primarily of milled corn, sugar, and chocolate flavored pieces, there is nothing unpronounceable in Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal. Given that there is a separate listing of vitamins and minerals, I suspect that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is one of those cereals where the nutrients are then sprayed onto the cereal, making it important to drink the milk with this cereal in order to get all of the nutritional benefits out of it.
A single serving of Kellogg’s Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is 54 grams, 1 cup. In that serving, there are 220 calories, with a surprising forrty of those calories coming from fat. There are 2.5 grams of saturated fat in this cereal, but there is no cholesterol. With 190 mg of sodium and a gram of dietary fiber, this is not the worst dietary choice or meal for overall daily nutritional balance. With three grams of protein and 95 mg potassium, Chocolatey Almond has more nutritional benefits than the average sugary cereal. On its own, this cereal has 25% or more of the RDA seven vitamins and minerals.
Storage/Cleanup
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is a cereal, so as long as it is kept sealed in its box, it ought to remain fresh for quite some time. The box of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal we purchased yesterday had an expiration date of December 20, 2014. Obviously, when you are done pouring the cereal from the box, fold down the plastic inner wrap to help maintain the cereal’s freshness.
Cleaning up after Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory cereal is simple as well. Simply brush away crumbs left by it and you are done! It is that simple! This is a cereal that does discolor the milk added to it, though, so if the milk gets on your clothing consult a fabric guide to clean it out. However, the soft chocolate pieces can melt remarkably easily and the chocolate will stain.
Overall
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Chocolatey Almond cereal is overpriced and unimpressive and, unfortunately, it seems like Kellogg’s spent more money licensing the name to advertise the chocolate in the cereal than it did on researching and developing a quality cereal with a balanced flavor. Cereals offered by the major companies change pretty frequently and it will not surprise me when this one is dropped by Kellogg’s!
For other Kellogg’s cereals, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Krave Double Chocolate
Special K Fruit & Yogurt
Special K Multigrain Oats & Honey
3.5/10
For other food reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the food reviews I have written!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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