BILL KEITH, founder, Perfect Bar: ‘Consumers associate refrigerated goods with freshness’
On the subject of creating new categories, it took a while to convince retail buyers that stocking protein bars in the refrigerator makes sense, but the strategy has paid off big time for Perfect Bar, in no small part due to the tenacity of founder Bill Keith.
Today his organic, gluten-free Perfect Bars – packed with whole food powders, organic nut butters, honey, and rice protein - are on sale in 4,000 stores from Sprouts and Whole Foods to Costco, Target, Safeway, 7-Eleven and CrossFit gyms.
Keith, who manufactures the bars in-house at a facility in San Diego and is now finalizing plans to move to a new 50,000sq ft facility, says consumers associate refrigerated goods with freshness: “They see our bars next to kombucha and functional beverages, and they see them differently than if they were just sitting in a sea of bars [in the regular, shelf-stable snack bar section]."
People will also pay more for a chilled bar, he says. "But it's still great value. If you buy a Perfect Bar – which has a lot of protein - and a smoothie, that’s a great meal for seven bucks.”
Click HERE to read our recent interview with Keith.
