Ten years ago, Ms. Bise started making her own nutrition bars at home, using pure, mostly organic ingredients like soy-nut butters, nuts, granolas and dried fruits. Her son began making his own when he was around 18, and the two would swap recipes. Friends had asked them to customize the bars to individual tastes, and Mr. Flynn and Ms. Bise complied, sealing their creations in wax paper.
One night two years ago, they decided to start a business making bars to order for a wider market. Mr. Flynn was weeks from graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in business administration.
Because neither mother nor son had experience in food service, Mr. Flynn took a job at a juice bar to see how the business worked. Then he wrote a computer program that allowed online customers to choose the base ingredients for their bars, as well as fruit, protein and vitamin infusions. They could even name the bar whatever they liked. The You Bar (youbars.com) was born. [...]
“Learning to eat healthy and eat six meals a day is difficult for most people,” he said. “Supplements like nutrition bars have become a necessity because it’s quick and easy. But the wrong kind of bar can be counterproductive. Most of the ones available are just candy bars infused with protein — reverse liposuction.”
Now, I am not going to look up all the energy bars to compare the ingredients. I do sometimes eat Clif Bars. Clif bars have more carbs and calories in a similar size bar. The youbars have ingredients that are less refined. That would make Micheal Pollan* happy.
But given the price of youbars 12 for $40 plus $7.99 shipping and handling, I think I will get 48 Clif Bars from Amazon. Or you could see what Tom's wife charges for her hiking cookies.
*1. Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food: By concentrating on pre-modern foods, you avoid overprocessed products. Another way of putting it: Don't eat anything incapable of rotting.
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