One Good Deed Leads to a Food Business

When Johnson & Wales grad Barbara Sarno watched a friend struggling with various weight-loss diets while eating non-nutritious foods, she dreamed about creating a healthy snack for her. After 32 formulas of chopping and mixing almonds, unsweetened coconut and raw honey together, she came up with Clean Energy Bars. The “original” bar also contained flaxseed, oats, sea salt and cacao nibs, its flavor appealing to Sarno and her friend; its ingredients are organic, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, with no rice syrup or processed protein powders.

She started selling in front of a Whole Foods market, and her bars were so popular she developed four more flavors: Hike & Bike, with low-sugar cranberries and pumpkin seeds; Chai, with a 10-spice blend including ginger and turmeric; Espresso Perfect with locally roasted espresso beans; and Vegan Clean, with dates and date syrup replacing the honey. Customer requests for a vegan bar led to the latter, and it’s now Sarno’s best-selling bar. “Nobody’s more surprised than I am at the success of my Vegan Clean Bar,” she says. “What prompted me to make the bars was both helping a friend and wanting to put out a product with integrity using local and real-food ingredients.” Watch for future flavors including Vegan Clean with Ginger.

For a list of stores or to order online, visit CleanEnergyBars.com. You’ll also find them on Saturdays in winter at the Farm Fresh RI Providence Farmers Market.