Meal bars of summer, as collected at the 2019 Fancy Food Show.
There were a LOT of bars on offer at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York… and most of them were sufficiently dense and nutrient-rich that they could be considered meal replacement bars, vs simply snack bars.
Most are high in protein (8-10 mg is typical) which means a few bars eaten throughout the day could satisfy your protein requirement while also providing ample amounts of carbs for energy. LivBar advertises its superfood components (including hemp seeds, quinoa, flaxseed and maca flour) and a compostable wrapper …. something good to know if you’re on a hike and a scrap of wrapper happens to get left behind. Ammo Bars have 150 mg caffeine per bar, about the same as in a large cup of coffee…. “healthy, natural energy that sustains.” Kize Bars feature their short list of ingredients (like Rx Bars, which they resemble in taste profile) and the fact 10% of profits are donated to charity. Wolo Wanderbars are themed to travel and deliver a whopping 15-16 g protein each.
The form factor of the above bars sets them apart from the crunchy snack bars of years past. Rather than a cylinder that lends itself to being loaded into your mouth, like candy, most are flat extruded patties that require a bit of patience in consumption. The patties might fall apart or stick to the wrapper, so mindful eating is important. I think the denseness is a big part of selling them as a whole-meal experience.
There were indeed some traditional bar shapes on hand. Fody bars are low in fodmaps found in processed foods that cause digestive distress in many people, a condition that is often mistaken for celiac disease. Bob’s Red Mill has jumped into snack bars in a big way, with bars based on whole grain oats (most of the stick bars have a base of dates). Purely Elizabeth, the grain-free granola company, provided the best-tasting bar we tried, containing reishi medicinal mushrooms and a dash of rosemary for flavor. A close runner-up for flavor is Hemp Yeah! bars from the Hemp Hearts people. They contain a nice amount of chocolate as well as hemp, and deliver 10 mg protein per bar.
Crickets!
I know of an executive who subsists on Kind bars when she visits remote countries because she can’t risk getting sick on local foods. That sounds monotonous, but the variety of these new products would soften the blow; she could eat a different flavor or brand at each meal and probably return home before running out of choices. And then she could chow down with Exo Cricket Protein Bars, made with cricket flour. They’re not bad. And we’re going to be eating bugs sooner or later (they already do it in Mexico, in the form of crunchy chapulines in tacos), so why not start now?
Where to buy? Above links are to the manufacturer pages where you can order the bars directly, often with a discount or free shipping or both. Almost none of them are on Amazon, but quite a few can be purchased through Thrive, a mail order source. Thrive is $60/year but you get a 30 day trial and free shipping on your first order, so load up on those bars.
