Page 28 - Food & Drink Magazine July 2018

FUNCTIONAL FOODS
More than a snack bar
Brother and sister duo Adam and Sascha Jones have managed to convince a large part of Australia that their product is more than just ‘another protein bar’. Alison Leader reports.
ALTHOUGH it is marketed as an ‘in-between meals’ bar, Set the Bar’s flagship product was originally designed for diabetics. Company co-founder Adam Jones says there’s a massive market globally for healthy, low-GI foods that help diabetes sufferers, as well as those who are obese – and he and his sister Sascha wanted to tap into that.
“Obesity and diabetes, collectively referred to as the “diabesity” pandemic, are now considered to be the fastest growing chronic conditions worldwide,” he says.
As part of their mission, the team wanted its bars tested and certified as low-GI from day one.
The main challenge? The expense is extremely high, and formulations can’t be changed without needing to re-test all over again.
“We spent a lot of time in the first year improving the formulation and – importantly – the taste, so we could move forward with a product we were confident wouldn’t need changing before going through the certification process.”
A HIGH BAR
The Joneses position their product at the premium end of the healthy snack bars market
due to the quality of the vitamins, minerals, and probiotics used.
The bars contain 15 billion CFU of probiotics, over 10 per cent of the RDI
for 18 essential vitamins and minerals, are gluten-free, high in fibre and protein, and contain no artificial sugars.
Set the Bar is seeking to tap into two of the biggest emerging trends –
‘snackification’ and “premiumisation’.
“Yesterday’s snacks have been a big part of the problem, but today’s snacks can easily be part of the solution,” Jones says.
“Nutritional research and understanding is progressing
rapidly, and consumers are becoming better-informed and more willing to pay for quality products in the pursuit of a healthier life.
“While diversification may be great for an investment portfolio, or in terms of offering different flavour variants and nutritional delivery systems for consumers, we believe nutritional ‘compression’ or ‘unification’ is now something to strive for in FMCG food – products that provide as many complementary benefits as possible in a single, well- formulated snack or drink.”
ABOVE AND BEYOND
While the snack range, initially called enrGIsustain, was originally formulated for diabetes sufferers, it began to attract a much wider following.
“It’s widely known that following a low-GI diet can lower your risk of diabetes, curb inflammation, assist with weight loss; and it has a positive impact on your overall wellbeing,” Jones says.
“A healthy snack that helps balance blood sugars, improves fat oxidisation and promotes lean muscle mass, as well as containing prebiotics, probiotics, protein, fibre, vitamins and
28 | Food&Drink business | July 2018 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au
“ We may live in a digital age, but there’s still a lot of pavement-pounding and door-knocking involved in any startup, and plenty of rejection to get past...”
minerals, is good for people of all shapes and sizes.”
“We found a lot of athletes love them for a pre- or post-work out energy bar and to help them with weight management.
“Due to our nutritional content, the bars are classified as a formulated supplementary sports food, but they really fit a lot of markets – from performance athletes to busy mums and dads.”
While Set the Bar was
the health, wellness and food industries – both from a nutritional angle as well as examining consumer trends and discovering gaps in the market,” Sascha Jones says.
“Fortunately it’s an industry that has a lot of heart and optimism. Customers are well-informed and understand quality products, and even competitors respect one another as we’re all looking to help people live healthier lives.
founded in 2016, the flagship product – which is now called enerGi Bio Bars – was released last year.
“Our first year was a lot of hard work and involved learning a huge amount about