Real Food Bar

An Austin, TX plant-based protein bar rescues surplus produce

Company: Real Food Bar

Introduced: June 2020

Distribution: National

Suggested Retail Price: $2.99/bar, $34.99 (box of 12)

Product Snapshot: Real Food Bar, an Austin, TX-based snack brand, rescues nutritious vegetables from surplus produce and upcycles them into delicious plant-based protein bars.

The food waste in our supply chain is staggering; over $300B and more than 3B tons each year in North America alone. Couple this with growing food insecurity, kids attending school hungry, and the enormous environmental burden decaying food causes our landfills, food waste becomes a significant problem but also an upcycling opportunity.

Anna and Sean Sullivan, the makers behind Real Food Bars are based in Austin, TX. Vegetable-packed cookies and desserts of her mother and grandmother inspired Anna to include vegetable powders in the bars. Growing up in a family of 7 with a 100-year farming tradition, Anna learned that not only did food have to go further, it also had to taste good. An ethos of frugality, quality nutrition, and taste are worked into each bar. A healthy, innovative, and sustainable food bar make snacking feel virtuous—“All taste, no waste.”

Real Food Bar is not your average protein bar. The simple spirit of real food ingredients that allow you to go further on less is built into every aspect of the product from the supply chain tracing of the high quality ingredients to the environmental impact of those foods. The founders also recognize both the health and environmental benefits of pursuing a plant-based diet.

Compared to the competition, Real Food Bars have half the natural sugar as the leading nutrition bar in the U.S., twice the fiber, and half of the net carbs. The founders are [3] meticulous about the science of each recipe by using efficient and natural ingredients. The bars are not just healthy, but also rank better on taste – each bar bursts full of flavor with a chewy, yet crunchy texture in choices like peanut butter, cherry cashew and chocolate sea salt. Real Food Bars rank 4.5 out of 5 stars on 100 customer reviews on their website.

Real Food Bar partnered with a supplier utilizing machine learning to divert edible surplus produce into whole plant powders, a unique technology that locks in the highest nutritional value from air drying. While the current product line upcycles kale, cauliflower and sweet potato, they plan to improve their environmental impact by upcycling the majority of the bars, expand into compostable packaging, and other plant-forward product lines.

The new bars will be available for sale on their website initially and in select retail locations summer 2020. Real Food Bars retail for $2.99 per bar or $34.99 for a box of 12. They also have subscription options online at www.realfoodbar.com. Real Food Bar can be found on social media @RealFoodBar. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or hashtag #RealFoodBar.

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