At first I was happy about the change from Active to Big Bag - both because of the changed macronutrient ratio and because of the larger package volume. But now that I’ve had my first few meals, I’m not that impressed anymore. The texture of the new recipe is very grainy and coarse. The stuff is coating my mouth and throat and I have to wash it down with water afterwards (the previous recipe was much more drinkable). But what’s worse is the big, solid pieces of… whatever that is. It looks like it could be coarsely ground oats. They do not dissolve and are pretty firm. They are so big that I feel like I have to chew them. Please consider doing something about this, as Plenny Shake Active used to be the only brand of complete meal powder that met my macronutrient ratio needs, tasted and felt good and was affordable. For me personally, you have now removed the “taste and feel” bit, and I’d hate to return to going without actually healthy convenience food.
The big bag’s have perfect texture for me. I know extremely well what “big, solid pieces” mean as I have tried Huel. Huel is not drinkable right after mixing it as it has big bits in it that don’t mix and you have to chew it. Huel needs a blender to be drinkable.
I have never encountered anything remotely similar with the new Active but something is indeed coating my mouth but I haven’t seen that as a problem, it is food after all.
Haven’t experienced this either. Been smooth. Make sure to add more water if necessary
Hi @chaoscommander! Thanks for posting, good point you’re bringing up. We had a shipment of flaxseed that was not as smooth as we’re used to, which is the reason some shakes can contain pieces of ungrounded flaxseed. In the future we’ll be working with a super fine flaxseed product again, so it should’t happen again
As for the coarseness and general structure of the shake, it can help to leave a prepared shake in the fridge for a an hour or two. It gives all the ingredients time to really soak up the water and dissolve, after which you can just give it a good shake ,maybe add some extra water if it’s become too thick for ya, and enjoy it.
As for the overall taste of the new Active formula, I can imagine you feel it’s less tasty when you’re used to the regular Plenny Shakes. There are a few reasons why the Active version could be perceived a little less tasty compared to the regular Plenny Shake. The one with the most impact is that we removed maltodextrin entirely from the Active formula.
Maltodextrin is a carbohydrate source that has a smooth texture and pretty sweet taste. Removing this automatically changes the texture and taste of the overall shake. By doing this we have changed the macro split to have more protein, fats and fiber. We’ve added more soy protein isolate, flaxseed and inulin (fiber source) which also affect the taste (but less). While the Active is designed to fulfil the same purpose as the regular Plenny Shake, they cater to different people with different needs.
Please keep in mind that we’ve only recently launched the new Active, and are always trying to improve the formula. Behind the scenes we are already working on new formula iterations, flavourings etc.
Also,something that’s worked really well for myself is adding honey, which I feel works really well for a bit of more sweetness. Especially with the Chai flavor, this is one of my favorite combinations. You can also try using a different liquid than water, like oat milk or my favorite: rice milk.
Hope this helps!
I’m almost through my fourth bag from the second shipment and the coarse pieces are still annoying me. Will the next shipment still contain the lower quality flaxseed batch? Because I’d rather not eat another month’s worth of that.
Hi @chaoscommander, if you could let me know which products you are referring to and give me the production date as well, I can check for you
As stated in the thread title, I’m referring to both Big Bag variants banana and vanilla. The manufacture date of my latest bag is 26.06.2019.
@Tim? My subscription is about to ship.
Thanks for that! The new stuff should have the better ingredients, but if you receive them and feel there still not satisfactory you can always return them to us. Free of charge
Keep me posted!
Hi. There are less hard linseed pieces now - which is much better. But still coarsely ground stuff of some kind that needs chewing, and the occasional hard piece that can’t really be chewed and doesn’t go away with soaking for a longer period of time. Compared to the super soft texture of the old Sport recipe this is a major quality loss, and apparently a persistent one. I’m afraid I’ll have to try other brands.
It does make me wonder… Am I the only one to notice this?
Hm, so sorry to hear that! Haven’t heard any complaints about this lately, perhaps other forum users can comment on this?
I’m currently eating the big bags chai and I don’t have any issues with this either. If you find it too troublesome please email me at love@jimmyjoy.com with a picture of the problem if you can and we’ll work out a solution
I don’t need to chew anything and I shake it for about 10 seconds before I start drinking it.
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I’m pretty busy all the time. Thought I might as well post the picture here. You can see the coarse pieces partly settled at the bottom of the shaker (a portion is also floating around but it gets worse the closer you get to the bottom while drinking).
Thanks for the reply @chaoscommander. Which production date are you currently consuming?
2019-12-30 (Active Banana). I have another unopened bag of Active Vanilla, dated 2019-12-04.
Thanks for the reply Chaoscommander. Could you please email me at love@jimmyjoy.com so we can sort this out more easily? I’ll had your purchase information available etc. so we can work out something more easily
Thanks for the details, hope to hear from you soon
After exchanging some e-mail with Tim, I decided to give it another go (also because going out to shop for food daily currently is a little inconvenient due to well-known reasons) and am now happy to report that the problem no longer exists in recently produced powder. One happy regular customer restored.
Awh, thanks so much for getting back to this to set the record straight <3