Have you looked at the energy bar sections of grocery stores lately? Despite progress toward craft, sustainability, and transparency in many areas of the food industry, these stretches of shelf space have lagged. Even with (or because of?) all the venture capital launching new “natural” bar brands every month, the energy bar category is stuck in the reductive “food is fuel” malaise of edible vitamins, macro-nutrient chemical checklists, and agency-branded candy. In other words, most bars exist in a marketing matrix very good at selling trends bent on aspirational ideals. These are the same forces that commodify self-care basics such as nutrition, hydration, exercise, and mindfulness.
HANDMADE WITH REAL INGREDIENTS YOU CAN TRUST
Even though we brush up against that world on shelves all the time, we try our best not to play that game. We keep things simple and work with real, minimally processed ingredients from producers who share our dedication to authentic quality and sustainability. The Big Spoon Roasters ethos is that food should be good for people and the planet, and that “good” also, and always, means delicious.
We make our delicious, handcrafted nut butter bars from scratch with our fresh-roasted nut butter as the number one ingredient. Equally tasty and nutritious with the crunch of house-baked granola and a touch of sweetness from raw Organic honey, these are the bars you’d probably make at home if you only had time. That’s how we started making bars, anyway.
HOMEMADE GOODNESS
For years, our Co-Founder Megan made nut butter-based energy bars for sustenance while triathlon training because she couldn’t find anything on the market that provided the energy she needed, was easy to digest, and tasted good. She also made them - often by request - for friends who were breastfeeding and in need of convenient, wholesome nourishment.
When Mark started making nut butters, it was only natural that Megan started using Big Spoon Roasters nut butters as a base for her bars, which also featured granola, dried fruit, and honey. Megan’s bars had already developed a cult following among friends and family, but when she and Mark introduced them to the broader community at Big Spoon’s first farmers markets, the few dozen bars she’d spent hours making would always sell out within minutes.
It was easy to understand why, if we do say so ourselves. Compared to the bars on the market at that time, with long lists of hard-to-pronounce, processed ingredients, and uninspiring flavor, Big Spoon’s offered the incredible win-win of being much more nutritious while also being incredibly delicious. In fact, it got to the point where a small group of customers would show up at the start of each market and buy our whole stock each week!
Staying true our roots, we still make our bars by hand while maintaining strict ingredient standards, in-house production, and uncompromising quality. Our bars are proof that just because a snack is convenient, it doesn’t have to sacrifice, integrity, flavor, or freshness.
