A vegetarian and mostly-raw foods devotee, Caleb Simpson has come a long way from a childhood spent hiding his vegetables in a vase on the table, to be thrown away as soon as his mother wasn’t looking. “For a really long time I wasn't a healthy eater, but I got into rock climbing and cycling, which led me to switch to a vegetarian diet, high in raw foods. It truly refined my taste buds and my health.” His "bearded bro” (brother-in-law, if you want to be technical about it) Chris is just as active, and they share a love of the outdoors and health food.
Chris and Caleb, needing healthy fuel for their super active lives, had been making raw, organic bars for a long time, but nothing quite as mind-blowingly delicious as what they came up with when they decided to start a business. “We knew if we were going to start Bearded Brothers, our bars were going to have to be awesome. We thought about our favorite flavors, and what foods had great nutritional benefits and began experimenting." They presented eight initial flavors to friends at a taste test and launched the company with the four faves. (Considering how intensely good these four are, we’d like to taste the rejects, too!)
A year and a half later, the guys are still hands-on, though they do a have a few people helping out in their Austin, Texas kitchen. “We mix the dough in a giant food processor, press it into molds, and roll it flat with a pastry roller (hello onset carpal tunnel).” It’s been a struggle to grow the business and stay as involved in the physical production as they are.
The bars themselves and all the positive reactions have made all the hard work worthwhile. “Chris and I are both passionate about health, so for us to be able to bring a product like this to market and share it with the masses is an amazing feeling.