Bar retrospective

The history of the bar begins with the chocolate bar. Admittedly, before that there was already the door bar, but it is not only unhealthy, but actually inedible. Chocolate has existed in Europe since the 16th century: in 1529, with the return of Conquistador Cortez, chocolate came to the Old World and spread as an exquisite drink among the nobles and later among the middle class. But it was not until the middle of the 19th century that entrepreneurs such as Joseph Fry and John Cadbury in England and Henri Nestlé on the continent attempted to market solid chocolate, i.e. cocoa mixed with other ingredients such as sugar and milk powder, in the form of bars. At the end of the 19th century, some manufacturers began to add other ingredients to the bars. The bar market became more diverse and the bar slowly began to become more independent of chocolate, the substance that initially made it so special.

During the early seventies of the 20th century, the USA and Europe were looking for alternatives to all the essential elements of the traditional lifestyle: different models of relationships and education, a different way of doing business and a different diet (and, yes, different hairstyles). In Germany in 1974 Walter Lang founded the natural food company “Allos” on a self-supporting farm and began pressing fruit slices from honey and dried fruits. In the mid-seventies Muesli (which had been known for a long time) experienced a flight of fancy, and it did not take long until an American company presented the first muesli bars to the public. In 1982 the company of Michael Lubs, another organic pioneer, also launched a fruit slice with ingredients from controlled organic cultivation (variety: apricot almond). In 1984 Corny successfully tested the American cereal bar idea in Germany. In the following decades, muesli bars based on oat flakes developed into a common household product, while fruit-and-nut bars were rarely available.

This changed in the 2000s and 2010s: the awareness for good food increased. Today, organic and vegan diets have become mainstream. More and more people are interested in raw food nutrition and other alternative nutrition models. Companies like us began experimenting with various whole-food ingredients, such as nuts, dried fruits or seeds in organic or raw food quality. In 2006 Tereza Havrlandová founded the raw food company lifefood in the Czech Republic, which distributes the "lifebar". The organic bar manufacturer Raw Bite was founded in Denmark in 2008. In 2010 foodloose entered the scene: during her semester abroad in Berkeley, our founder Katharina wondered what it would be like if the nut and fruit blends she had put together herself in an organic supermarket could be bought as already mixed bars. Back in Germany, the theoretical considerations turned into practical seriousness and the first bars were baked. In 2012 and 2013 we got two more competitors: RooBar was founded in Bulgaria and Hafervoll in Cologne.

Compared to the dark chocolate bars of the 19th century, the world of bars today is more diverse, tastier and healthier. We don't know what changes will take place during the development of our products over the next 150 years. What we do know is that if we have a good idea, we won't keep it to ourselves. Like the SMU:DI range, our Green Smoothies in raw food quality, which had been on sale from 2015 until 2018 or the fruit hearts and bread spread which are available since October 2018.