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horleys protein a ripoff?


paintpronz

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Hey all.

I have looked into a few of Horleys products and most of them seem like they are over priced for what they are.

Even there so called budget protein is far to expensive for what it is, but in saying that,I haven't tried any of their products so I was wanting to know who has tried their products and what you thought?as they are a N.Z company I don't want to put the boot in if they do make some good products.

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I would say yes to Horley protein is a rip off like 33 servings for 90 dollars for 1.5kg  tub.The only horleys products that I like are there carbless bars,carb bits which are both very nice.BTW sweet profile pic and good team to support the Yankees

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Cheers rat,shame about red Sox winning today though:(. Yeah I have tried their carbless bars and not too bad, I just don't see how they survive as a company,I see them in supplement stores and online and walk straight past them,as I have checked their protein tubs out before and seem very expensive for what they are,considering they are a nz company which has low shipping costs u think this would save on costs, but when comparing to overseas supp companies they just don't compare! Unless someone can vouch for them?

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I have to be careful how I answer this. Obviously, Horleys are sponsoring a massive competition on the site at the moment (and they've been fantastic supporters of us since we started nearly 10 years ago - in fact, they were our first ever advertiser). Having said that, I don't want to give a patsy reply that makes everyone think, "Well, he would say that!"

So... Are Horleys the cheapest protein out there? No, they're not. And they don't try to be.

Does that make them a ripoff? I don't think so. They market themselves on the high quality of their products, the fact that they're NZ made (better food regulations, quality control standards, product testing, etc), and the fact that you can rely on them to be true to label. That may mean they have more costs associated with producing a product - I don't know. But it does mean they're not trying to outdo all the cheaper brands, and cutting corners to get the lowest price.

 

I guess it's like having two different painters. One gives you a cheap quote, and gets the job done but maybe rushes it a bit. The other is more expensive, but takes a lot more care. Which one is the rip-off? I don't think either is - it just comes down to which one suits what you're looking for.

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I attribute 80% of my noob gains to the bucket of Horleys Crossfire Protein that I bought when I first went to the gym.

 

I've tried their Crossfire, Awesome Mass, Ice whey and Huge products and they all mix well while tasting good. I don't think they're that expensive TBH. If I did buy supplements and protein, Horleys would be one of the brands considered. Would rather pay a bit extra than having to endure protein that tastes like ass.

 

I also like their packaging, for some reason I don't like buying products with plain packaging. "Something in such shiny box has to be magical!".

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In on thread full of politically correct responses!

It's quite expensive for what you get and in past I've honestly referred to their product line as a rip off but as mentioned they don't market themselves to compete with the cheapies they just focus on the quality and for anyone whose tried their products don't think you could fault them on that. 

Whether this higher quality is better for gains is a completely different matter and one I'm not qualified to answer merely as a broscientiest and not a real scientist.

Used their products in the past primarly a mass gainer called Awesome Mass but also some other whey which I forgot the name of. The stuff was tasty, mixed well (qualities which are very hit and miss in the american mass gainer market) and as Leeroid said their packaging is nice.. I didn't care much about the shiny box stuff but the little details like that scoop holder in their tubs and larger quantity gainers in nicely sealing buckets instead of cheapo plastic bag re-inforce their focus on quality.

Used to buy their stuff all the time way back when I was a newbie but it got real expensive as being the newbie I was I thought I needed like 300g of protein a day and almost completely relied on the stuff for most of my protein intake lol.. now down to 100g protein a day and just a scoop a day to help me hit my macros so might consider investing in a higher quality product lineup and see how that goes.

 

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Haha perfect reply pseu!as I own and operate a painting company we pride ourselves on quality standards and are quite often mid priced and not the cheapest,as the old saying goes,pay peanuts and get monkeys, we don't cut corners.

And like you say...its the same with protein,so a great example! I haven't thought of protein like that I guess,and I should! As there are so many cheaper brands it is hard sometimes to look at companies who price their products mid-high range and think...why would I pay that much? But you are paying for a high quality product(I have always wanted to try ON pro complex:p).

So what have you thought of their whey pseu?like ice whey?

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Yeah as case in point: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ag9uT-E4EIL7dFZPZnR0WVZybGtFWnRKNzdKNm9XOVE&toomany=true#gid=0

The Myofusion scandal a year or so ago,the label claims and what's actually in the product is a worrying thing,especially when I Assume most regular gym goers spend approx $800-1000 a year on protejn, we should all be concerned we are getting what the label says

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You can tell the quality by trying it imo. Basically in my opinion:

Myofusion: expensive, tastes artificial as fk, ingredients list long as. Not the worst out there though but not great for the price in my opinion (though the box is shiny).
Optimum nutrition: can tell its good quality from the texture/flavour and mixability of the stuff. Just generally all round good. But yu do pay a lot for it. Can get natty one which is the best imo as its just whey and cocoa powder though a better option would probably to buy a big bag of fonterra whey and mix in some cocoa powder....
Horleys: fairly good, Not exactly premium but pretty good, taste is okay. Not the worst quality but not best quality either.
Balance: basically the same as horleys.
Metapro/metaphysics: tastes tasty as but clearly has heaps of stuff you probably don't want in your stomach that makes it that tasty, but damn it is tasty. 
Superquad: cheap as but clearly heaps of thickeners and other crap in there. tastes kinda bad. but passable and good for price.

Probably others ive tried, but basically what i'm trying to say is if you try it you'll know? Protein is protein it's not really a waste of money because you're gettting protein from all of them, just keep trying a few different ones and when you've decided on your fave then stick with that.... Maybe even buy smaller tubs of a few? 

 

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Some great comments here,

My take on this is that we tend to always associate low cost as high value which is misleading.This thinking is almost endemic in NZ in my opinion.

A low cost is ONE of the things that contributes to a high value, fhowever for supplements other factors that contribute to a high value can be things like:

Accuracy of ingredients - as Pseudo mentioned NZ has a stricter code when it comes to ensuring what is on the label is what is in the product, so products like Horleys and Balance etc will potentially be alot closer or even better in precentages than many imported brands as these many foreign imports dont have to match these criteria.There was a US doco made years ago that shows how easily anyone can make their own "Propriatery Blenc" and not have to list the actual perecentages of the ingredients - especially the expensive ones in pre workouts etc

Sweetner Type:For many, keeping artificial sweetners to a minimum is important so having a product that is naturally sweetened can be important

Taste: Very subjective but contributes greatly to the individual value of the supplement

Digestibility: Doe s the powder make you bloated/gassy or does it digest well

Mixability: Does the powder mix easily in water or milk

Protein per serve: Do you get a hi serving of protein per serve/dollar spent. For example if I used a really cheap powder that had a great protein serve per dollar spent yet this powder still made me feel bloated/gassy then I personally would look at a different powder even if it was more expensive.

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Horleys ICE is oneof the purest WPI powders you can get 90% of the serve is protein - and its been tested to label. 

You can tell the quality by trying it imo. Basically in my opinion:


Horleys: fairly good, Not exactly premium but pretty good, taste is okay. Not the worst quality but not best quality either.

So how do you define premium?  What measure is it that based on your observation makes it not premium. 

Horleys have a reputation for not buying into ALL of the products that you see online from the big US brands.  They only back products that are proven by science and accepted by most clinically qualified experts as suitable for athletes.

A 91% serve is pretty much up there as pure ... show me another powder with a better tested rating in NZ. 

BSc is another "considered by most" premium brand.  The new clinical hydroxyburn formula has 1.8g carb but tastes like no other powder on the market.  In water it even tastes almost creamy when mixed in a shaker.  Yes you pay mor e- but yes the product is also tested fully for release because they back so many sports teams in the NRL, Rugby, etc etc ... the cost of testing and ensuring these products are safe for "athletes" so that they are not at risk of being accused of taking a banned substance ... as Horleys do too .. is part of the price. 

A pro athlete once asked me the following question which changed the way I look at protein powders and cost "For the sake of $10 - $20 ... is that enough to compromise using the best product available on the market - if infact you want to be the best on the stage?"

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Yeah 1.3kg ice whey approx $100 36 serves, 36g serve and 32.7 protein

I tried to compare this to other isolates.

Dymatize iso 100 $120 5lb 81 serves, 28g scoop and 24g protein

ON hydrowhey 3.5lb $115 40 serves, 39g serve and 30g protein

Gaspari isofusion $110 3lb 44 serves, 31g serves and 25g protein

Nar Labs hydrolyzed isolate $120 5lb 76 serves, 30g serve and 27g protein

Personally IMHO I would rather pay for dymatize iso, more than double the servings for $20 more bucks, and your paying for an internationally recognized brand, but I am surprised,I thought horleys was going to be a lot more expensive when compared to other isolates, its actually not that bad

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Horleys ICE is oneof the purest WPI powders you can get 90% of the serve is protein - and its been tested to label. 

You can tell the quality by trying it imo. Basically in my opinion:

Horleys: fairly good, Not exactly premium but pretty good, taste is okay. Not the worst quality but not best quality either.

So how do you define premium?  What measure is it that based on your observation makes it not premium. 

BSc is another "considered by most" premium brand.  The new clinical hydroxyburn formula has 1.8g carb but tastes like no other powder on the market.  In water it even tastes almost creamy when mixed in a shaker.  

To me a premium product is one where you're like holy f*ck this is awesome. mixability, taste, digestability etcetc. Horleys - I wouldn't kick it out of bed but just not 5 star product on all those measures. 

Sounds like you're rating bsc like that. I haven't tried bsc though but would do /10. 

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The 'locally made vs local costs' thing makes sense but what about these local whey products you see on TM where 1kg is on average, $30. There are at least three of them there. 

I was actually going to start a new thread about them to see what you guys thought about them and how they stacked up, sure some are unflavoured and others are 80% pure etc, but that's not too much of a drama when you are getting amonths supply of Whey for that cheap is it? 

I saw them and passed them over but remembered what was said local production. Sure they would probably be lacking in flavour, thickeners etc etc but I dont drink the stuff to treat myself and am even thinking of going unflavoured for the sake of less ingredients I don't need.

My own personal stance on Horleys is a good one. I often buy their standard 340g 100% Whey to top up the last of my whey when I'm strapped for funds. Not mad at it at all does the trick.

Good price vs overpriced is relative to value, and that will tend to come down to the individual, as seen here.

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All the NZ brands just use the same fonterra whey then pile all the artificial sweetners/extras in they want. Theres no difference in the whey between them. i've been considering getting the 10kg bag of whey from fonterra (saw a post on here about it a while back). and then just adding my own cocoa powder/stevia. 

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Yeah 1.3kg ice whey approx $100 36 serves, 36g serve and 32.7 protein

I tried to compare this to other isolates.

Dymatize iso 100 $120 5lb 81 serves, 28g scoop and 24g protein

ON hydrowhey 3.5lb $115 40 serves, 39g serve and 30g protein

Gaspari isofusion $110 3lb 44 serves, 31g serves and 25g protein

Nar Labs hydrolyzed isolate $120 5lb 76 serves, 30g serve and 27g protein

Personally IMHO I would rather pay for dymatize iso, more than double the servings for $20 more bucks, and your paying for an internationally recognized brand, but I am surprised,I thought horleys was going to be a lot more expensive when compared to other isolates, its actually not that bad

Dymatize is shit.

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All the NZ brands just use the same fonterra whey then pile all the artificial sweetners/extras in they want. Theres no difference in the whey between them. i've been considering getting the 10kg bag of whey from fonterra (saw a post on here about it a while back). and then just adding my own cocoa powder/stevia. 

Exactly it's all the same.

The fact of the matter is the type of protein you use isn't going to dictate the results you get or the way you perform. It's such a minor detail in the whole scheme if things I don't know why people make such a fuss. I just use the nutrawhey. Cheap, tastes ok, quality stuff... Not the best but not the worst. I would never attribute any gains or results to a type of protein powder. 

Btw professional athlete use whatever they get for free, in the nrl I'd be surprised if they consumed more than 14 protein shakes a week. Bsc doesn't seem to be helping the warriors lol.

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Horleys ICE is oneof the purest WPI powders you can get 90% of the serve is protein - and its been tested to label. 

You can tell the quality by trying it imo. Basically in my opinion:

Horleys: fairly good, Not exactly premium but pretty good, taste is okay. Not the worst quality but not best quality either.

So how do you define premium?  What measure is it that based on your observation makes it not premium. 

BSc is another "considered by most" premium brand.  The new clinical hydroxyburn formula has 1.8g carb but tastes like no other powder on the market.  In water it even tastes almost creamy when mixed in a shaker.  

To me a premium product is one where you're like holy f*ck this is awesome. mixability, taste, digestability etcetc. Horleys - I wouldn't kick it out of bed but just not 5 star product on all those measures. 

Sounds like you're rating bsc like that. I haven't tried bsc though but would do /10. 

Try a tub of BSc Hydroxyburn Clinical Chocolate ... just a small one so you dont feel cheated if you think its whack lol.  You will be surprised how well it mixes in water.  I just use a generic shaker with the spring ball and about 200ml water .. its fluffy like milk and sweet with only 1.8g carbs (under a ram sugar).  I use this when staying lean and add Nitrovol twice a day in the off season.  Not quite as nice but its the NVol Vanilla is the only vanilla shake I can pallet.  Tastes great with oats or egg whites too.

 

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