VIDEO: 'The bar category is very functional… but what consumers find from Bobo’s is a comfort food'

By Elaine Watson

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Bobo's Fancy Food Show

As the bar category becomes increasingly ‘engineered’ and functional, with brands touting keto or paleo credentials, high protein, high fat, low carb, collagen, and adaptogens, the success of Bobo’s – an oat bar that above all, just tastes really good – shows there is still space for something consumers could actually make at home, says VP Marketing Henry Hughes.

Speaking to FoodNavigator-USA at the Specialty Food Association’s Winter Fancy Food Show​, VP marketing Henry Hughes said sales grew by about 50% in 2018 vs 2017 as Bobo's​continued to expand its distribution and launch new products, including new toaster pastries made with oats and ancient grains.

Consumers – said Hughes - like the fact Bobo's products (made with organic whole grain oats) are made in house in the firm’s bakery in Colorado using ingredients (with the possible exception of xanthan gum) that most people might have in their kitchens (rolled oats, coconut oil, sugar etc) and don’t seem engineered to meet a particular set of dietary expectations.  

We talk to a lot of consumers and what we hear is that the bar category generally is very functional… but what they really find from Bobo’s is a comfort food. And it’s not just for a specific day part or occasion, people eat them for breakfast or after the gym or on a long bike ride.”

He added: “We grew about 50% last year, we’re nationally distributed, we just picked up Kroger nationally; Publix, Wegmans, Safeway, have been great partners as well as HEB and Sprouts and Whole Foods, and we continue to see mass pick up across conventional, natural, as well as alternative channels such as airports.”

Bobos toaster pastries
Upmarket pop tarts? The latest innovation from Bobo's is the toast'r pastry, which is made with organic rolled oats, garbanzo bean flour millet, and buckwheat groats. The chocolate almond butter SKU contains 7g protein, 6g fiber and 13g sugar
Bobos bites new
The new 'Stuff'd' bites contain a peanut butter & jelly or an apple pie filling
BOBO-ingredients
The original bars are made with organic whole grain rolled oats, brown rice syrup, organic coconut oil, organic cane sugar, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, salt, and vitamin E

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