Literally, BAR U EAT started in the home kitchen.Not satisfied with the selection of granola and protein bars at the local store in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Sam Nelson decided to make his own.
He started making snack bars for family and friends, who eventually convinced him to sell the products.He teamed up with his lifelong friend Jason Friday to create BAR U EAT.Today, the company manufactures and sells a variety of snack bars and snacks, described as sweet and savory, made with all-natural, organic ingredients and packaged in plant-based 100% compostable packaging.
“Everything we do is completely handmade, we stir, mix, roll, cut and hand-pack everything,” said Friday.
The popularity of the product continues to grow.Their first-year products were sold in 40 stores in 12 states.It expanded to 140 stores in 22 states last year.
“What has limited us so far is our manufacturing capacity,” it said on Friday.”The demand is definitely there. People love the product, and if they try it once, they’ll always come back to buy more.”
BAR U EAT is using a $250,000 loan to purchase manufacturing equipment and additional working capital.The loan was provided through Southwest Colorado’s District 9 Economic Development District, which manages the statewide Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) with partners Colorado Enterprise Fund and BSide Capital.RLF is capitalized from an $8 million EDA investment.
The equipment, a bar forming machine and a flow packer, will run at 100 bars per minute, much faster than their current process of making everything by hand, it said on Friday.He expects the manufacturing facility to increase the business’ annual output from 120,000 to 6 million a year, and hopes the products will be available in 1,000 retailers by the end of 2022.
“This loan allows us to grow at a much faster rate than ever before. It will allow us to hire people and contribute to the local economy. We will be able to put people in high-paying jobs above the median income, we plan to Provide benefits,” said Friday.
BAR U EAT will hire 10 employees this year and will expand a 5,600-square-foot production facility and distribution location in Routt County, a coal community in northern Colorado.
Post time: Apr-02-2022