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If one was to follow the seven guide-
lines for healthy eating put forth by Mi-
chael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s
Dilemma,” RXBARs would fit right in. A
world renowned critic of U.S. agricultur-
al and food policies, Pollan’s manifesto
includes, “Don’t eat anything with more
than five ingredients, or ingredients
you can’t pronounce.”
It appears Peter Rahal and Jared
Smith of Chicago are on Pollan’s
frequency. So much so, their RXBAR
packaging excludes any fancy art-
work, catchy slogans or ingredients
requiring a degree in chemistry to
comprehend. The RXBAR speaks for
itself: three egg whites, six almonds,
four cashews, two dates and no B.S.
This brilliant marketing is a bold
stroke of simplicity not unlike the kind
that belies nature. How the company
got here was also quite organic.
Like so many garage start-up sto-
ries, Rahal and Smith started not far
from the garage but in Rahal’s parent’s
kitchen. As college athletes and later
wellness and fitness buffs with full-time
jobs, grabbing a protein bar on the go
was part of the natural order of things.
The problem was the protein bars and
the wellness parts of their lifestyle
somewhat contradicted each other.
That’s because protein bars made with
natural ingredients did not exist.
“There wasn’t a protein bar that
was made with real food and an
ingredients list you could compre-
hend. So we set out to make a whole,
real-food protein bar, a bar with no
bullshit basically and really high value
ingredients,” said Rahal.
Their first order of business, Rahal
remembers: “What
is the most natural
way to hold the
product together?
Typically, it is a car-
bohydrate of some
sort, so we started
with that.” They
eliminated binders
typically seen in the
industry such as
brown rice or tapioca syrups, glucose
or engineered Frankenfibers. Instead,
they chose dates, a natural binder high
with dietary fiber, antioxidants, potas-
sium and other essential nutrients.
Next up was vetting the protein.
After looking at the vegetable-based
proteins, dairy-based wheys and soy,
it was decided to go with egg whites.
What Rahal and Smith did not know at
the time, hardly anyone making bars
used egg whites because of the high
cost (or vegan constraints).
Again Rahal: “We didn’t formulate
the cost like a lot of other manufac-
tures do nowadays” he says. “We just
started with the highest-quality ingre-
dient and figured how to make the
best product possible.”
Besides the protein’s muscle build-
ing bioavailability, egg whites are a
well-known source of choline, essen-
tial for endurance athletes.
Finally for nuts, Rahal and Smith
were looking for flavor, antioxidants
and fats. They chose almonds and
cashews to satisfy those requirement,
plus all the other benefits almonds and
cashews are known to offer. For choco-
late, they choose 100 percent cacao,
with no added sweeteners or lecithin.
With the bar recipes done and the
selling in full swing, both Rahal and
Smith had time to sit and think about
their marketing. One selling point they
found themselves repeating to people
was their short, clean list of ingredi-
ents on the back of the packaging.
This value proposition, they reasoned,
is unique, and should be embraced.
With that, the ingredient list, in a
much larger font, was printed on the
front of the packaging.
In keeping with its health and well-
ness ethos, RXBAR opened a manufac-
turing plant close to its date sources in
Coachella Valley, Calif., and almonds in
the nearby Central Valley. Additionally,
both founders are committed to ensur-
ing the individual ingredients are the
best possible, starting with the growers
straight up to the packing houses. That
includes keeping soy, dairy, GMOs and
gluten out of these delicious protein bars.
As Rahal restates, “Our mission is
pretty simple. We’re in the bar business
so we focus on making the best product
possible and understand the way we
think about our products, going back to
the origin of why we created it. Staying
true to that really empowers people to
focus on the why we do what we do.”
Raising
the RXBAR
Transparency has never been so delicious
By
Ernest
Shiwanov
Inside
Outdoor
|
Spring
2016
24