3 Bars You Should Be Eating (According To A Real-Food Bar Maker)

Jess Cerra, founder of real-food bar company JoJé, appreciates other brands like hers in the industry, both for the camaraderie and for the products they make.

“I want to eat different things sometimes,” she admits. Here are three of her favorites…

Ally’s Bar

This sweet potato bar with dates, quinoa, nuts, berries and chocolate comes from pro cyclist Ally Stacher. Cerra says, “We talked a lot about kitchen, wrapping, shelf life…comparing notes. She also was passing her bars around the peloton and cyclists love them! So we kind of got moving in the same way.” allysbar.com

Enduro Bites

These energy bars, without added fillers and sugars, come in four flavors: fig and dark chocolate; dark chocolate espresso; lemon cranberry; and cinnamon blueberry. Cerra says, “They are another small company, real-food product, doing something different. The owner, Brian [Maslach], was very helpful with information about finding a co-packer (kitchen) and shelf life of these products.” endurobites.com

Skratch Labs Cookie Mix

This is a larger company that makes hydration and chews, but they recently came out with a mix that you can turn into chocolate chip cookies or another variation with your own add-ins. “I wasn’t influenced by Skratch, per se,” Cerra says. “But I promote the idea of using a cookie mix, because it’s just basic real food/fuel that athletes should eat.” skratchlabs.com