hi! Protein Review- Breaking Down Cricket-Infused Shakes

There are plenty of Hi! Human improvement reviews on the brands website, but today I wanted to give you a breakdown of my personal experience with the cricket-protein-infused brand.

Blue vanilla hi! human improvement protein powder with review summary infographic - tan background

In today’s human Improvement protein review, we’re going to cover a few things.

First, we’ll talk about how I found this brand, and I’ll ramble on a little bit about my thoughts on the company from a branding and product perspective.

The next thing we’ll do is get into the nitty-gritty of the product itself, starting with flavor.

I have tried both flavors of the Hi! Protein powder, and I’ll let you know which tastes the best, and how this protein stacks up against some of the other, well, hundreds of proteins powders that I’ve reviewed.

The next thing we’ll do is go over the nutritional facts, and ingredients of Human Improvement protein.

You will probably want to pay extra close attention to that section, because this is anything but your standard protein.

There are some really unique, and, well, weird ingredients in here that you should know about.

The final thing we’ll talk about is the hi! protein packaging, and aesthetics.

You guys know looks are important- and so we’ll give them a good thorough breakdown on that front.

At the end, we’ll summarize and assign a final review score.

Sound good?

Great, let’s dive in!

How I Found Human Improvement

I fist found this brand on Tik-Tok from one of the girls that I follow who is actually a surfer.

She and I follow each other because we both love to surf (I have always been a surfer since you basically have to, growing up in Santa Barbara).

But yeah she is from Hawaii and lives in Orange County now, so it was only a matter of time before her and I finally got together IRL and did a surf day.

We had sort of a rough session because the waves were super peak-y and not that easy to get onto…

But we had a great time, and afterwards we were putting our gear away, and she pulled out a packet of this protein powder.

I was like ‘this is crazy’ because I obviously have my blog, and she was so impressed with all the reviews that I’ve done…

And she said that the Hi! Protein was actually getting alot of exposure on Tik Tok lately, so she decided to try it.

She mixed a satchel of it (she had the vanilla) into her water bottle and gave me a sip to try…

Now, that brings me to the flavor.

Hi Flavor Review – Chocolate Wins Again

So I did try just a small sip of this protein powder at the beach, but when I got home I immediately grabbed both flavors of the Hi protein powder off of their website because I wanted to try both flavors.

It was pretty cool that they offer the two flavors together in one variety pack so that you can have both.

Most brands don’t have that, so that is definitely a plus for Hi protein.

Vanilla Flavor

So I did try just a sip of the vanilla at the beach, and it was pretty good.

It didn’t blow me away or anything, but I was like, yeah I can get down with this for sure.

When I mixed it up my way at home, I was still impressed with the flavor.

It is sweet, and while it might not have the same robust-ness as some of the other protein powders that I have tried, it is actually really good.

It’s sweet, but not over-powering.

It has a really nice balance, and I also found it to be a great fit when mixed into smoothies and with other ingredients.

Chocolate Flavor

I ended up trying the chocolate flavor with my husband one night after he came home from a workout and asked if I had anything new and fun for him to try.

Why yes, yes of course I did!

I made him the chocolate flavor the way that he usually likes his protein shakes, which is in the blender with ice, milk, and protein powder.

He’s a pretty straightforward protein shake drinker.

Once I tasted that shake, I knew instantly what the best flavor of Hi protein powder was though.

This flavor was rich, and more of a milk chocolate than the dark chocolate.

It was sweet, salty, and tasted much more like a dairy, than non-dairy protein.

What’s the Best Flavor of Hi! Protein?

The best flavor of hi! protein is the chocolate – it has a more bold flavor, and even a better texture than the vanilla in almost every taste-test that we did.

Keep in mind that with both the chocolate and vanilla flavors of Human Improvement protein, you do kind of have to keep mixing or shaking your shake, because the product does settle a little bit more quickly than some others that I’ve tried.

The brand says that it’s because they do not formulate their product with any gums are artificial fillers, which makes sense.

Which, speaking of specs, I guess we should launch into that part of the review now…

What’s in Hi Protein Powder?

So, this is where the review is going to get a little weird.

Take a look at this ingredient list, and let me know if you see the same thing that I do:

Hi! Human Improvement Protein Ingredients

Organic cricket powder
Organic pumpkin protein powder
Organic brown rice powder
Organic fermented yellow pea protein powder
Natural vanilla flavor
Psyllium husk powder
Dairy free coconut
Organic flaxseed
Pink Himalayan sea salt
Organic stevia
Monk fruit extract
MCT powder

Um, yeah, you saw it right away.

At the top, meaning it’s the most common ingredient in this shake.

Cricket protein…

There’s Cricket Protein in Here…

Yeah I don’t know how I feel eating, or rather drinking, crickets, but, that’s exactly what is happening with each sip of Hi protein powder.

Now look.

I am a modern woman.

I eat some weird stuff, not the least of which is whatever they put in the meat at Del Taco (my guiltiest pleasure, by far)…

But I really don’t know how I feel about crickets in my protein powder.

I guess if they are good enough for lions and other wild animals they are good enough for me?

But like, on some level, EW.

I’m not sure if I can really make Hi! my go-to protein powder since cricket is the main ingredient, but, I guess it is what it is.

Now cricket aside, there are some really quality ingredients in here.

Quality Non-Cricket Ingredients

The fermented yellow pea protein is a really nice ingredient, which most of the top vegan protein powders don’t even use yet, so I appreciate the innovation here.

The flax seed and coconut are also really thoughtful ingredients for Hi to include in this protein powder.

Overall, I will give them a B- on ingredients.

I think the cricket kind of freaks me out a tiny bit, but like, I can get over it. Sort of.

Moving into the nutritionals….

Hi Human Improvement Nutrition Facts

Calories 140
Total Fat 4g
Saturated Fat 1.5g
Cholesterol 25mg
Sodium 280mg
Total Carbohydrate 6g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 21g

NOTES:

So, I really like the amount of protein per serving at 21 grams. That’s a good amount for energy and muscle recovery, which makes it great after surfing or working out.

The Sodium is in check, as are the sugars, and really the macros look pretty great on Human Improvement protein.

Overall I really like the nutritional on this product, and will give it an A on the nutrition side.

Let’s talk packing for a minute.

Hi Protein Packaging is Wonderful

Similar to the Innermost Lean protein, this protein is packaged in a stand-up pouch style, to save money on cost and reduce plastic usage.

Regarding the overall design, and brand aesthetic, I must admit that hi had me from the start.

I’m sort of a big fan of bright shades of blue, so when I saw the pouches of the Hi protein, I low-key got really excited.

The bright, almost neon blue is like the Tiffany blue on steroids (by the way did you see that Nike is releasing a shoe with Tiffany??)

And I really like how big and bold the ‘hi!’ logo and branding is on the container.

It is super recognizable, and builds up a lot of brand equity.

Oh, another thing that I like, is that the chocolate packaging is not just another brown container, but it has a really vibrant orange look.

I sort of expect anything with an orange look to be like, chocolate peanut butter, or something, but regardless it’s still cool that Human Improvement went with something unique here.

Overall I have to give them an A on packaging, because it’s really unique and nice-looking on my counter.

hi! protein is Expensive AF

So we really should talk about cost before we wrap up this review.

For a 15 serving bag, you are going to be on the hook for $50, which shakes out to over $3 per serving of protein.

That is absolutely on the high side, and so my one main complaint is just that, darn, this product is borderline inaccessible for some people right now.

I mean, we are in a recession and with inflation, I get that this product probably just costs a ton of money to produce, but we basically can’t even afford it right now, which is a shame.

Maybe they will relax their costs a little bit, so that hopefully more people can try it.

So where does this all leave us?

Let’s summarize our thoughts on hi! protein powder:

hi! Protein Review Summary

Hi! Protein is a new up-and-coming brand that sells two flavors of non-dairy protein powder
I found hi! through a surf-friend who swears by their product, and let me try some
The best flavor of hi! protein is the chocolate flavor, which has a bolder flavor and texture than the vanilla
This product is made with cricket protein, pea protein, and other superfoods like coconut, amino acids, MCTs and flax seed for fiber
The cricket aspect is a little bit scary at first, but honestly you can’t taste it
The worst part about this product is the cost – at $3.33 per serving, it’s one of the most expensive protein powders I’ve ever tried

Overall, I’m giving hi! protein a 9/10 because even though it is pricey, and takes some getting used to, it is a really well thought-out product in every way.

Flavor Score: B
Ingredients: B+
Packaging: A
Value: B-
Overall Score: B