Methodology
How we score greens powders and meal replacements
Every score category is defined before any product is scored. Price, quantity and quality are kept separate, because a 5.5 g greens scoop is not equivalent to a 90 g meal replacement serving.
We buy the product
Products are purchased at retail like any other customer. We do not accept samples, gifts, or sponsored placements.
We record the label
Serving size, ingredient list, per ingredient amounts where disclosed, and any blend totals go into a shared dataset.
We price the serving
We divide the listed price by the number of servings on the label, then compare it against the rest of the category.
We calculate, not describe
Each criterion is computed from the recorded fields alone. Written copy never feeds a score, so two products with the same facts always receive the same result.
We publish coverage with the number
Every product is scored across the full rubric, shown alongside the share of the rubric backed by verified data. A criterion we cannot verify from public evidence is held at a neutral baseline of 5 out of 10 and keeps its full weight, so it is never excluded from the calculation and never earns the credit a verified strength earns. Not publicly verified means Greens Powder Guide could not independently verify this criterion from publicly available evidence. It does not necessarily mean the brand does not meet the criterion, which is why the baseline sits mid scale rather than at zero.
The scoring rubric
Criteria with fixed weights totaling 100, applied identically to every product and calculated from the structured record rather than from editorial copy. Every criterion counts toward the score. One we cannot publicly verify is held at a neutral baseline of 5 out of 10 rather than removed, so evidence we could not find earns no credit and is not treated as a failure either.
- Ingredient quality 18%
- Built from verifiable label attributes: organic certification carries the most weight, followed by whole food sourcing, named ingredients rather than grouped blends, and the absence of artificial sweeteners, colors and flavors. A long ingredient list earns nothing on its own, and marketing language is never read. Only the attributes we have verified are averaged, so a product is never credited or penalized for a blank field.Fields read: organicClass, certifiedOrganic, ingredientSourcing, artificialAdditives, labelDisclosure.level
- Nutrient density 15%
- Nutritional substance inside the grams delivered, read from the published nutrition panel: protein, fiber, essential fats and low added sugar per 100 g of powder, with naturally occurring micronutrients credited ahead of isolated fortification. Measured as a density so it never repeats the quantity credit in serving grams. Meal replacement completeness is credited only where the verified panel supports it. No therapeutic or medicinal benefit is assumed.Fields read: nutrition, servingGrams
- Label transparency 14%
- How much of the formula the published label discloses, from full per ingredient amounts down to grouped blend totals.Fields read: labelDisclosure.level
- Value per gram 18%
- Listed price divided by the grams of powder in the container, so cost is measured against the amount of product you actually receive rather than against a label serving that could be a small scoop or a full meal.Fields read: pricing, servingGrams
- Product per dollar 5%
- Total grams in the container per dollar spent. The same measure as value per gram read from the buyer's side, showing how much product a fixed budget brings home.Fields read: pricing.listPrice, servingGrams, pricing.servings
- Serving grams delivered 5%
- Grams delivered in one label serving, scaled inside the product type so a greens scoop is never measured against a meal serving. Grams alone are not treated as nutrition: where a nutrition panel is verified, the grams score is adjusted by the measured nutrient density, so a large serving built on starch or sugar cannot outscore a smaller nutrient dense serving. This records quantity delivered, not cost, which value per gram handles separately.Fields read: servingGrams, category, nutrition
- Price per serving 5%
- Listed price divided by the labeled serving count. Held at a low weight because a labeled serving is not a standard unit across product types.Fields read: pricing.listPrice, pricing.servings
- Testing and certifications 10%
- Finished product third party testing published by an identifiable source. A manufacturer statement is not treated as an independent result.Fields read: finishedProductTesting
- Packaging protection 10%
- How well the container protects the powder from light, oxygen and moisture. Amber or dark glass, foil laminate, and high barrier mylar with oxygen or moisture control score highest. Aluminum, opaque plastic, or a plastic tub score in the middle. Clear plastic, vinyl, or other low barrier films score lowest. Recyclability is recorded but treated as secondary to preservation. Packaging that is not publicly verified is withheld from the score rather than assumed, and the same standard applies to every brand.Fields read: packaging.barrier
The limits of our work
- We do not operate a laboratory and we do not certify products.
- We do not verify manufacturer claims through chemical analysis.
- We do not make health, safety, or treatment claims.
- Scores are editorial opinions based on public information and our own tasting.
We buy what we review
Products are purchased at retail. We do not accept samples, sponsorships, or paid placements.
Scores are opinions, clearly labeled
Every score is an editorial judgment based on the published rubric. We do not present opinion as measurement.
Unverified means unverified
When we cannot cite a price, a serving count, or a facts panel, the field reads not publicly verified and the criterion is withheld from the score.