Recently, one of my co-workers turned me onto a new all natural energy bar made in Vermont. I am always intrigued to try new products and even more when it’s something that’s local. The initial batch I tried was especially made for my co-worker and had chocolate instead of dried cranberries. I knew after the first bite I was hooked. These things are good, like crazy good. I think in less than 30 seconds I inhaled the bar just after coming in from a half marathon training run. It hit the spot! What is this new company, well it’s named Gorilla Bars.
 

Gorilla Bars are a really new company based just outside of Burlington, Vermont. I have long been a fan of Clif Bars and ProBar so when given the opportunity to try a new company it had high standards to live up to. But I always jump at the chance to try something local and I knew Nick my co-worker wouldn’t steer me wrong. They very much remind me of one of my sponsors, Mocean Mate, a small Vermont based energy tea company. I love finding new products that are natural, local and most importantly, so damn good!
 

The bars have only eight, yes eight, ingredients. Those are: Vermont Raw Honey, whole peanuts, 7 whole grain flakes, died cranberries, brown puff rice, light brown sugar, and a teeny bit of Vermont’s own Cabot butter. It’s so simple and I can read everything on the label, always a plus in my mind. Today, I got my sample from them and I can say I like the died cranberries as much if not more than the chocolate ones. I had a particularly busy day at work which forced me to miss lunch, luckily the bars were right next to me, one gave me energy to get through much of the afternoon. You can taste the honey and for a fan of raw honey this is a dream food. As well raw honey has many benefits, Raw Honey Nutrional Facts. All their honey comes from here in Vermont from Champlain Valley Apiaries. Yes again I am pulling the local factor but after the year we have had in Vermont, it’s important for us to support this small businesses who were hit hard when Hurricane Irene, turned my town and many others in islands. But back to the bars! They are pretty nutrient rich so you get a big bang for your buck with nutrition intake. This is definitely going to be a staple item at my upcoming endurance races.
 

Each one of the bars is hand made and hand wrapped. Mike the owner takes a lot of care and pride in his product and it shows when you open the wrapper. As he describes his operations, “one and a half man show” he gets friends to help along the way. Your next question is great well how much are these, currently you can order them by the dozen online and they will run you about $2.00 a bar. They are not the cheapest, but can you really put a price on quality. The best part is shipping is only .99 cents and it’s shipped priority mail. I got my bars a day after they were shipped.
 

So why Gorilla Bars, well as Mike told me, Gorilla’s are very community oriented and he and his company follow that same model. They look to help support those in sport and as well support those in his community. Currently his product is sold in one of the high schools outside of Burlington as an alternative to the sugary candy bars. They also donate 1% of profit to the International Gorilla Conservation Programme. They are also involved with a number of other community projects, their website better describes each one.
 

I am psyched to be onboard with Gorilla Bars and look forward to eating them at my next race (World’s Toughest Mudder 24 hours long) and really put them to the ultimate test! For now I could eat them all day long!