So I own a massage therapy clinic and work on a ton of pretty neat peeps. They decided to use bodywork to positively affect their physical lives, rather than pills or as is often the case, surgery. That alone makes them cool. Many of my clients have interesting professions and hobbies, and as cool as I think I am – most of them would kick my butt in the cool Olympics. They’ve helped me in business, relationships, and of course recommendations for everything from presents for my lady, to clothes and now food.

One of my clients, Devon, rocks the ultra-marathon circuit – literally. She wins her races all the time, in a sport dominated by women way older than her 26 years, which is super young for ultra-marathoners. She just won the DC50 (Washington DC/50 miles). Yes, 50 miles you lazy bastards. FIFTY. Put down the candy and get off your asses. Anyway, she writes a running blog and a food blog and ever since I told her about Candygurus she has been threatening to bring some candy in for me. She cooks and eats on the healthy side and has a gluten and wheat allergy so I wasn’t really expecting her threat to blow me away with taste – but my interest was piqued.

One day she walked in with a pretty nondescript bag of what looks like natural snacks…

There are pics of apples on the front. Is this even candy I thought? They looked like my kid’s dried fruit wafers. The product name is Go Naturally. Really? Can this possibly be good? Well she promised it would be and she’s basically bouncing off the walls with exuberance – which isn’t really anything new for her. You need a decent amount of energy to finish a 50-mile race and you pretty much need to be the Energizer Bunny (which I just saw live zipping down Central Park South in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with my 2 year old, my baby mama and my pops) to finish a 100 miler. And she wins these crazy races.

So I pop in a ‘Go Naturally’ snack before I start working on her (Devon) and the first thing I taste is – believe it or not – apples. Not sour apple candy flavor nor anything like any candy I have ever tasted. It’s like eating a whole f-ing apple in a small hard candy. Wow. Really great taste and super satisfying. As you can see in the pictures, there is no pretence behind these. They aren’t designed to look fancy, they are great for kids and adults – I, of course, have a foot in each of those two groups – so they are perfect for me. These aren’t cheap but kids will love them and they are definitely a healthy snack. So I loved it. Later that night I had another one. Two days later another. Really never more than two a day – and always great. Everyone I’ve given one to says the same thing: great. And then I realized that something was missing from this candy. Something that you find in almost every candy…. Crap. All the crap that’s in other candy that begs you to keep eating. The perfectly designed combination of sugar and salt etc… that literally controls my hand dipping for the twentieth time into the bag or box and prying my mouth open, yearning for another deposit. That shit ain’t in this candy and it’s not in all the Yummy Earth candy either. I applaud both of these fine organizations. More candy makers should be using quality ingredients and making candy healthier.

Thanks for the effort Hillside Candy. They seem to make 3 lines of candy – sugar added, sugar free and organic. Go naturally is their organic line and also boasts that they have the “best tasting organic candy available” and I can’t deny this. The line is 100% natural and organic. It contains no artificial flavor, no artificial color – or color of any type – no synthetic ingredients, No chemical preservatives and no trans fats. They are handmade and come in six flavors – pomegranate, Apple, Ginger, Honey, Honey Lemon, and Cherry, as well as an assorted bag. They also have a two year shelf life, so buy them in bulk. I don’t know what Devon paid for these but I saw them online for $3.03 a bag (24 count). They are probably about $4 in the store – Rainbow Grocery in San Fran. Again that ain’t cheap but I think they are worth every penny. You can get them in bulk – check here for vendors.

Finally – big thanks to Devon and Hillside Candy. And a big F you for all you candy makers out there that just don’t really care about making their products healthy, or at least healthier. Go Naturally proves that you can have great taste without the crap.