The Perfect Bar. Bar. None. Launched by the Keith family from Mission Beach, Perfect Bar is unlike any other nutritional supplement food bar on the market. Touted as “real food that requires refrigeration,” Perfect Bar is simply delicious. Best. Taste. Ever. Healthy nut butter fats (peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews) and seeds are packed with organic superfoods, vitamins, minerals and organic honey in a myriad of flavors. The non-GMO, project verified, certified gluten-free, kosher, whole food protein is void of emulsifiers, whey, soy lecithin, hydrogenated oils and artificial preservatives and sweeteners. Organic honey binds ingredients while refrigeration keeps the bar fresh for up to six months. Co-founder and CEO Bill Keith claims to have “put the nut in nutritious,” while never compromising “taste for health, no matter how busy life gets.”
\nThe legacy of Perfect Bar began with Bud Keith, Bill\u2019s father, a health food pioneer before health food was clich\u00e9. Dad, a self-taught naturopath, worked with Jack La Lane, formulating nutritional products and supplements while traveling \u2013 with the family homeschooled and living in a motorhome \u2013 to universities to lecture on nutrition. Bud introduced his first protein powder in the \u201970s and owned and operated Healthouse, the first gym and juice bar located in Mission Beach. Bill describes the elder as one of the founding fathers of the health and wellness industry.
\nBud manipulated mega health and super foods into protein powders, supplements and “food on the go” to keep the family well-fed. Bar recipes included super foods like kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach and lemons, and supplements mixed with freshly-ground organic peanut butter, organic honey and whole food proteins.
\n“Dad\u2019s concoctions were made of nutrients, proteins, vitamins and minerals made from concentrated mega food sources versus chemicals and synthetic derivates,” said Keith. “Through trial and error, Dad tinkered until we took one bite and declared, \u2018It\u2019s perfect!\u2019 and the Perfect Bar recipe was born. We sold our bars the way other kids sold lemonade, rolling them in small batches and selling them to anyone who\u2019d buy them.” When the patriarch fell victim to skin cancer, Bill, the oldest of 13 siblings, gathered the family now living in Northern California to find ways to sustain the family\u2019s financial responsibilities. While tossing ideas around, one constant remained, “turning Dad\u2019s refrigerated protein bar recipe into a business.”
\nThe family purchased a packaging machine and moved to Sacramento. Mom and Dad returned to Mission Beach where Bud wished to spend the remainder of his life. As with most businesses, the first year was “tough.” “We had a great product but I had little traction securing appointments,” said Keith. With one month of finances left, Keith met the Berkley Whole Foods Grocery team leader at a Harmony Festival who “made it her mission to put me in that single store,” for 30 days. Determined, Keith slept in his car and showered in the gym while driving between Berkley and Sacramento where family members were rolling and packaging bars.
\nSales exceeded expectations. Ten more stores were added. The family moved the operation to Mission Beach \u2013 to be closer to Mom and Dad \u2013 leveraging sales through “natural brands like Whole Foods and Sprouts.” Keith expanded regionally from Colorado before expanding nationally in 2009. By now, the Keith\u2019s had been hand-rolling bars \u2013 with rolling pins \u2013 for almost seven years. Refusing to give in to automation \u2013 extruding machines of dry bars \u2013 that would shortcut quality, they opted for semi-automation by tweaking cheesecake making equipment. Trademark and rebranding the bar\u2019s packaging to “clearly” articulate their “off the beaten path” story worked in tandem with the acquisition of an investment company and a string of “talented folks” to fill the “executive suites.” Four years later, sales landed Perfect Bar to the No. 3 best-selling national food brand bar. Food scientists continue to “create flavor extensions” from the family\u2019s original seven flavors. Successful sales dictate successful flavors. “Flavors need to make dollars and cents,” said Keith. “While Dad taught us the how of nutrition, you just can\u2019t take a scientific approach, it has to taste good.”
\nThe Keith\u2019s recently launched, Perfect Snacks, Perfect Bites and Perfect Kids because “happy kids start with happy bellies.”
\nThe family has no intention of slowing down. “We\u2019re invigorated by emails that say our bars helped patients get through chemotherapy because of how easy it is to eat (soft, cookie-dough texture) and digest,” said Keith. “We\u2019ve even had doctors write prescriptions for Perfect Bar.” Keith describes his family\u2019s success as emblematic of the “American dream.”
\n“Thank God for America and the ability to do what we\u2019ve done,” he concluded. “Dad has since passed, but his spirit lives on in our bars. The Perfect Bar story is a story of triumph over tragedy.” Perfect Bar
\nFind your Perfect Bar locally at Sprouts, Vons, Ralphs, Gelson\u2019s, Target, CVS, and 7-Eleven stores throughout the area. For more information, visit Perfectbar.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Perfect Bar. Bar. None. Launched by the Keith family from Mission Beach, Perfect Bar is unlike any other nutritional supplement food bar on the market. Touted as “real food that requires refrigeration,” Perfect Bar is simply delicious. Best. Taste. Ever. Healthy nut butter fats (peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews) and seeds are packed with organic […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":260339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Mission Bay family \u2018puts the nut in nutritious\u2019 with healthy Perfect Bar","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}