Lärabar goes on sale for the first time

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Published on April 14, 2023 7:21:05 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMNLkl6op1E

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The bar was created by Lara Merriken, who the official story goes, was inspired to create a healthy and natural snack while hiking in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in 2000. Merriken wanted to create a food bar made of only fruits, nuts, and spices that would be both delicious and healthy.

After spending time experimenting with different recipes, Merriken launched Lärabar in 2003 with five original flavors: Cherry Pie, Apple Pie, Cashew Cookie, Banana Bread, and Chocolate Coconut Chew. These flavors were an immediate hit and the bars were praised for a flavor and consistency not normally associated with health bars available at the time.

By the end of 2003, the company had sold bars to the value of $400,000.

By 2005, Lärabar's sales skyrocketed to $7.1 million dollars and later gained a national cult following after being picked up by Whole Foods.

The brand was acquired in 2008 by General Mills for $55 million and though the market for fruit and nut bars has exploded it has reliably remained in the top 10 for sales in the US and in 2020 sold $250 million worth of bars.

Fun fact: Merriken wanted to call the bars Manabar but this might have caused trade mark issues and so she was convinced to name the bar after herself and eventually added the umlaut over the “a”, which is decorative. If you did try to pronounce I believe it would become “Leh-ruh-Bar”…but I stand under correction.

I used footage from the Larabar official story which, for some reason, is in song form:

https://youtu.be/Or2WU5b2aCo