One of our top selling protein bars is the RXBAR, a whole food, delicious energy munchie that lists the ingredients on the front of its packaging in big letters so no one is disappointed or surprised what’s actually in the bar.
For example, the core of the chocolate and sea salt bar, consists of:
3 Egg Whites
6 Almonds
4 Cashews
2 Dates
And of course, No B.S.
Even though the universal letters for prescription are in the product’s name, the company says it doesn’t claim to be a prescription for anything, but it does promise good, clean ingredients.
The RXBAR recipe is based around egg whites, (which are a ready source of protein easily absorbed in the body,) dates for sweetness and nuts for crunch. Simple, no frills, no fillers, no dairy, no soy and gluten free.
Rather typical of new health food products, the RXBAR was started by two men Peter Rahal (right) and Jared Smith who have been best friends since pre-school days. Both were into sports and cross fitness, both looking for something to do together, both more or less “broke,” and both searching for the perfect nutrition bar that would sustain them through their workouts.
So, down into “mother’s basement” they went experimenting on their own with hundreds of recipes until they hit on just the right one. Marketing was easy: they hit the road selling door-to-door in their neighborhoods and to the fitness crowd one work-out gym, one community at a time.
Soon, they were up to their ears in egg whites and knew it was time to move up from the basement into a rented kitchen. The bars started to take off. The two friends quit their day jobs, ponied up $5K of their own money and were determined to make their grand experiment work.
On their website, they recount “humility, grit and hustle, plus a diet of protein bars, coffee and ibuprofen” got them through the experimental stage. Soon they were hiring staff, finding permanent quarters and getting real serious, real fast about service and delivery.
Oh, there were plenty of road blocks along the way, but the two friends vowed to soldier on no matter what and wait for the sweet smell of success.
GreenAcres Market is a fan. We stock almost all of the flavors and our customers love them. They especially like the fact that they can read the ingredients on the front of the packaging in large letters, because anyone who has ever visited a health food store knows customers read labels religiously.
That’s not the end to their story. Rahal and Smith sold their company to Kellogg, the Michigan-based cereal giant, for $600M after just five years of operation .
The acquisition didn’t stop Rahal from continuing on. Only 31 years old and independently wealthy, he chose to steer RXBAR from inside the Kellogg organization. “My office,” said recently, “is right there on the floor with the rest of the team.”
Customers will find the RXBAR on sale this month for $1.79, as advertised in the GA monthly newsletter.