The Gluten Free Bar
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EmailAnother Making It In Michigan Success Story: The Gluten Free Bar
Celiac disease runs in the Rader family. When Marshall Rader was constantly traveling for work, he never knew where his next safe meal was going to be. He ended up always carrying a selection of gluten-free bars with him, but the problem he discovered were the bars on the market either used terrible ingredients and tasted okay, or used simple ingredients but tasted bad. He brought up the opportunity to his brother Elliott that there was an opportunity to create a gluten-free bar that tasted great, used simple high-quality ingredients, and had plenty of protein. After some serious research and sampling all the bars they could find, the idea for The Gluten Free Bar was born. In 2010, the Raders found a gluten-free pastry chef, who still does all their product development, and rented space at a gluten-free bakery to start creating their bars. As they have grown and expanded the product lines, they have stayed true to the mission of giving gluten intolerant people something that they look forward to eating – although their bars are enjoyed by a much wider audience now.
The Gluten Free Bar product line is made at the Rader’s own Safe Quality Food (SQF) and gluten-free certified facility by a diverse, local work force of 35 in Grand Rapids.
The Gluten Free Bar is currently sold in about 10,000 stores in the US, Canada, and even some select stores in Europe. The products can be found everywhere from local coffee shops, to neighborhood health food stores and to major retailers including Target. The product line is also available at www.thegfb.com and on Amazon.
Marshall and Elliott continue to expand their product lines and contribute to the local economy. As a certified B Corporation, they are committed to a triple bottom line – people, planet and profits – and are focused on leaving the planet and their community better off than the way they found it.
“The MSU Product Center has been a huge asset for us during our growth,” states Co-owner Marshall Elliott. “We’ve made some great contacts and met new customers at the Making It In Michigan show, and the Product Center team has connected us with some excellent resources in the industry and consulted with us as we pursued our food safety certification. It truly is an excellent program committed to helping small business in Michigan.”
“Marshall and Elliott are strategic in developing new concepts and products to meet customer needs. Their reliable workforce, quality control programs, and production capacity enables The Gluten Free Bar to grow and expand markets.”
Joanne Davidhizar, Innovation Counselor, MSU Product Center Food • Ag • Bio
