Happy Hoops (Cornflakes) Review

 

In a previous article I have been discussing the various Knock-Off versions of the popular Kelloggs Froot Loops Cornflakes. Most of them were called Fruit Rings and got differently distributed and marketed in different parts across the globe. I only experienced the German Fruit Rings version from REWE and was left quite disappointed. If you are interested in those, I will put a link in the article (https://gamereviewnation.blogspot.com/2023/05/fruit-rings-cornflakescereals-review.html).

By pure accident I have now been trying out a completely different Knock-Off version of Froot Loops, named Happy Hoops by EDEKA. The name does remind me of Fruit Hoops from Crownfield. The Kelloggs company is currently having a huge conflict with most of the bigger German supermarket companies, which lead to Kelloggs products becoming very scare in my country. I thought this would be the right moment to check out Happy Hoops. 

Happy Hoops are being represented by an animated unicorn, which does look quite similar to the mascot of Unicorn Froot Loops. Unicorn Froot Loops seem to be a different branding of Froot Loops, just with a Unicorn instead of the classic Toucan Sam. Otherwise, classic and Unicorn Froot Loops look and taste the same. The unicorn of Happy Hoops looks a bit lower effort, but it has more of a Comics look. I like the fact that it wears a necklace made of cereals. The eyes of the unicorn however do look weird, like it would be confused or slightly retarded. Overall however it is a decent design.

As with Fruit Rings, there are similar Knock-Off versions in a variety of countries. I for example discovered that Fruit Hoops from Crownfield are also being sold as Fruit Rings in some countries, while using an identical front cover. It looks like Crownfield wants to play both sides and get both Rings and Hoops fans alike. There are aside from Fruit Hoops/Fruit Rings for example also Fruity Hoops by Clover Valley, which have a bear with a classic tourist outfit on its box. Fruity Hoops by Chestnut Hill instead have a Monkey as a mascot. The Swedish Happy Hoops from Eldorado are so confident in the quality of their cereals they refuse to use a mascot, or maybe they just wanted to cut cost. Who knows. The most audacious copy whoever got to be Rainbow Hoops by ASDA, who look so dangerously close to Unicorn Froot Loops, Kelloggs could have probably considered a lawsuit. 

The first thing you are going to notice with Happy Hoops is the fact, that the cereals surprisingly look noticeably smaller than regular Froot Loops or the Fruit Rings versions. They are certainly not tiny, yet the difference in size is quite surprising. Otherwise, the Happy Hoops look pretty much identical to Froot Loops and Fruit Rings and apart from the size you would have a hard time to differentiate them just based on looks alone.

Thankfully Happy Hoops, in contrast to the Fruit Rings version I tasted, did a much better job at the most important part of any cereals: The taste. The flavour of Fruit Rings was so impactless, that they were nearly tasteless without Milk. With Milk, it got a little bit better, but the discrepancy to Froot Loops was massive. Happy Hoops thankfully have a much stronger flavour, that comes a lot closer to the original and especially with Milk the difference in quality is rather small. Nonetheless, there is still a little difference in quality experienceable, but that seems acceptable for Knock-Off cereals.

 

Result:

Happy Hoops are a nice surprise. After the Fruit Rings experiment I expected another disappointment. Happy Hoops however do taste quite well. The original admittedly does taste superior, but the difference is rather marginal. While the difference in price didn't come close to outweighing the difference in quality between Fruit Rings and Froot Loops, Happy Hoops are a very respectable alternative. I wouldn't call this must have cereals, but the cheaper price makes them a decent choice for breakfast. You should however also not expect anything more than a slightly inferior Froot Loops version.

 

6/10