I went to buy my (almost) daily UBC granola bar today.
Since I first discovered them, I’ve been hooked. I have my own list of kiosks/cafe’s where they are sold. I have often relied on them to get me through the afternoon, and definitely the bike ride home. I’ve taken them to meetings, cut them up and passed them around, and literally saved those meetings.
A nice women at one my kiosks befriended me, knows me by name, and sometimes even saved one for me. I’ve often bought more than one and passed them around the office, and have made believers of a number of my co-workers. They were probably the best granola bar I’ve ever eaten.
The bar was a wonder to behold: thick, dense, sweet, minimal chocolate (good), lots of nuts, oatmeal and dates. You could probably fill your backpack with them and hike the West Coast Trail. And I’m not the only one who was hooked.
And now they’re gone.
When I approached my local kiosk, hoping against hope that they still had some in stock (my friend has moved on), I saw a stack of the *new* UBC Granola Bars. They were three quarters the size (same price), crumbly, broken in the middle, and from the stack remaining, it appeared the weren’t selling well. The women behind the counter told me that they were a newer healthier version, but seemed a bit sheepish.
I purchased one, and with trepidation unwrapped it, and was deeply disappointed. It fell into three pieces, then broke again when I picked it up. I was left with a wrapper full of crumbs. The taste was ok, a bit dry and had some sort of smokey flavour to it. It was nothing to write home about.
That will probably be my last one.
I’m not sure why the UBC Granola Bar was targeted for health update. The other options in my local kiosks haven’t changed: date squares, croissants, cinnamon buns. They are by far worse, health wise, than the old UBC Granola Bar. And now, I’ll be driven to other options; after the old UBC Granola Bar, I can never go back to just granola bars.