The fresh faces behind Valhalla-based Balance Bar Co. are resurrecting one of America”™s oldest energy bar companies with new packaging and the introduction of three new flavors.
In a sea of competitors à la Power, Luna and Clif, Balance”™s management team says good, old-fashioned science sets them apart.
The 40-30-30 nutrition model, which means high protein and a low glycemic index, was developed in 1992 by Dr. Barry Sears and two sports enthusiasts.
“Even though sales declined quite a bit (during the Kraft years) because it was an orphan brand, Balance Bar is still no. 2 nationally in terms of brand awareness,” said Michele Abo, chief operating officer, who most recently was president of Stella D”™oro. “We”™re starting from a place where we”™re still no. 4 in market share nationally, and it”™s a good base to start with.”
Brynwood Partners, a private equity firm in Greenwich, Conn., acquired Balance Bar from Kraft Foods for an undisclosed amount in November 2009. In a statement announcing the deal, Brynwood”™s Henk Hartong III, senior managing partner, said the energy bar had “great name recognition with consumers and retailers.”
Brynwood brought on Michael Sands, CEO of Tuckahoe”™s Lesser Evil Brand Snack Co., to serve as CEO of Balance Bar.
Sands had been part of the Snapple turnaround team and was instrumental in new product development for “Snapple Apple” and Ben & Jerry”™s “Half Baked” ice cream flavor.
Kraft had acquired the Balance Bar Co. in 2000 for $268 million.
Sales skyrocketed at the end of the ”˜90s in what Sands called an “explosion of West Coast bar companies.”
“Through the ”˜90s, there were a lot of sports tie-ins ”“ Balance Bar was the official bar of the Los Angeles Lakers ”“ so there was very much a sporting and outdoor component that tied in as well,” Abo said.
In 2008, Nestle”™s PowerBar topped sales in energy bars, according to Nutrition Business Journal, with sales estimated at $196 million; Balance Bar”™s sales were $127 million in 2008.
The company”™s sales peaked in 2003 at $141 million, based on NBJ research.
“It”™s been a small company that went into a big corporation and now, we”™ve gone back to the original roots,” Sands said. “We”™ve gone back and hired some of the original Balance people ”¦ We keep going back to, ”˜What was the magic?”™ Whether it was a different consumer back then or not, there are bits of that DNA that are relevant. We just have to make it more relevant and adapt to today”™s consumer.”
Vendors cross all retail channels.
“We”™re well-entrenched in grocery, Target, Wal-Mart and we”™re back in GNC and Walgreen”™s,” Abo said. “We”™ve been getting tremendous receptivity in the convenience channel because historically over the last few years, if you went into a convenience store, you”™d see two different things. You”™d see the cereal or granola bar, which was marketed toward women and the high, high calorie super protein bars that unless you were a weightlifter, you wouldn”™t need all the protein.”
The brand awareness is there, Sands said, but the new consumer wants and expects to be updated and contacted via social media networks.
“You have to make it fresh, but also keep it familiar,” he said.
Sands and Abo are confident the backing from Brynwood will mean better numbers for Balance.
“A lot of firms will come in and buy up an investment and sell it at some point, but Brynwood is unique in that they keep it in the family,” Abo said. “People who are proven performers ”“ they like to reward them by going from one investment to the next.”
Abo was recruited by Brynwood in 2007 to run Stella D”™Oro after working as director of sales for Frito-Lay and vice president of sales for Entenmann”™s.
Abo witnessed the closure of the Bronx Stella D”™Oro factory known for its wafting almond and anise aroma after a worker union dispute, which resulted in the factory shutdown in October 2009. Stella D”™Oro was sold to snack-maker Lance Inc. of Charlotte, N.C.
“After they went down, the question was, ”˜How do you get some people jobs?”™” Sands said. “And we were able to get a bunch of people jobs (after Brynwood”™s acquisition of Balance Bar).”
As for the product”™s viability?
“Everybody needs energy, everybody needs nutrition and nobody”™s got enough time,” Sands added.
