Coming in last isn't an insult when the competition is this tight. This one leads with a deep, dark cocoa base, then the coconut comes through in the chew, soft flakes running through the oats that lean it towards a Bounty rather than anything fruity. The cocoa and coconut trade places with each bite, and whether it lands for you comes down to how much you want that coconut note in the mix. Rich, chewy, and unmistakably chocolatey underneath.
The purist's pick, stripped back to the format that started it all. No topping to hide behind, just wholesome oats and soya protein crispies bound in rice syrup, with a dense, slow chew and a gentle, honeyed sweetness that never tips over into sugary. It tastes clean and cereal-like, the sort of thing that sits well mid-morning without weighing you down. Understated, but there's a reason the classic never goes away.
The one that catches people off guard. Against a lineup of chocolate and caramel, Smooth Lemon cuts through with a bright, citrus tang layered over the oat base, sharp and zesty up top with the mellow, chewy flapjack underneath to balance it. It's light where the others are rich, and that contrast is exactly why it's become a firm favourite for anyone wanting a break from chocolate. Refreshing in a way a protein snack has no business being.
Just outside the podium, and only barely. The caramel topping is smooth and buttery, sweet enough to feel like a proper treat, then the salt cuts in right at the end to stop it turning sickly. That back-and-forth between sweet and salty is what keeps you reaching for the next bite, and it sits over the oat base beautifully. A flavour that would top plenty of other lineups, held off the podium only by how strong the top three are.
Bronze, and it rides a wave that shows no sign of slowing. Biscoff has gone from an airline biscuit to a full-blown flavour obsession, turning up in cheesecakes, lattes and just about every dessert going, and Trek's version captures exactly what people fell for: that warm, caramelised, gently spiced biscuit taste, all cinnamon-tinged sweetness and toasty depth over the familiar chewy oats. It's rich, moreish, and tastes far more like a treat than a protein snack has any right to. One important note: unlike the rest of the range, the Biscoff topping contains wheat, so this is the one flavour that isn't gluten free. Worth knowing if that matters to you.
Silver goes to Cocoa Oat, the flavour most people picture when they think of a protein flapjack. A dark chocolate flavour topping sits over the classic oat base, rich and cocoa-forward without tipping into sickly, the bitterness of the dark chocolate balancing the natural sweetness of the flapjack underneath. The texture is pure Trek, dense and properly chewy, with the soya crispies adding the faintest bit of bite. Chocolatey, dependable, and impossible to get bored of.
The champion, and by a clear margin. Creamy white chocolate meets the sharp, slightly tart hit of freeze-dried raspberries, and the two play off each other perfectly, sweet and indulgent one second, bright and fruity the next. The raspberry pieces give little bursts of sharpness through the chew, cutting the richness of the white chocolate so it never feels heavy. It's the kind of flavour combination you'd expect on a dessert menu, and it tastes every bit as good as it sounds. If you only try one Trek flapjack, make it this one.
