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A Portland maker of protein bars, which began with “a bag of dough” in a UMaine dorm room, has been acquired by a Connecticut-based snack food company.
R.E.D.D. Inc. sold to LesserEvil Healthy Brands LLC, of Danbury, Conn., for an undisclosed price, according to a news release last week.
The buyer will begin manufacturing R.E.D.D. products at LesserEvil’s Danbury, Conn., facility this summer. The company also plans to make “subtle updates to the current R.E.D.D. line’s taste, ingredients, texture and packaging,” according to the release.
The release said R.E.D.D. staff will be “incorporated into the LesserEvil family,” but a spokeswoman declined to provide detail or say how many employees would be part of the transition.
R.E.D.D.’s founder, Alden Blease, will join the LesserEvil team.
Blease began his business in 2010 while a student at the University of Maine. At first, he concocted a gooey mix of raw, high-nutrition ingredients from a local health food store.
“It really was a bag of dough,” he later told Mainebiz. Blease named the dough "Rawgasm" and sold it to classmates. Eventually, he left school to commercialize Rawgasm.
But he ditched the dough.
“I realized I should go from a bag to a bar,” he said. With the new, easier-to-handle form of the product, he contracted with Bath-based Gagne Foods, which makes biscuits and other baked goods. He also struck a distribution deal with Pine State Trading Co. But Pine State told him to change the product's name.
In 2014, the bars and the business became known as R.E.D.D., short for Research Enhanced Design and Development. (The product acronym has since been tweaked to stand for “Radiant Energy Deliciously Delivered.”)
As demand increased, Blease moved production and distribution to California. In 2016, R.E.D.D. raised $1 million in private investment, followed by $1.5 million the following year.
At that time, R.E.D.D. had three staff and five contract employees, and about 20 “brand ambassadors” who helped with marketing. The company was turning out 150,000 bars a month.
Much of R.E.D.D.'s growth has been on the West Coast. But the bars — now in five flavors — are also found at Maine retailers including Hannaford supermarkets, L.L.Bean Inc. and Coffee By Design shops.
The worldwide market for protein bars was valued at $4.66 billion in 2019 and was projected to reach $7.03 billion by 2027, consultant Fortune Business Insights wrote in August 2020.
The purchase of R.E.D.D. represents LesserEvil's entry into that market and the company's first acquisition.
“Given LesserEvil’s focus on functional snacking, the bar category is the next natural progression for the brand,” said CEO Charles Coristine. "R.E.D.D.'s proven track record for making delicious, functional bars and its strong retailer relationships, coupled with LesserEvil’s expertise in operations and expanded production capabilities, will allow us to combine our resources in a way that enables us to grow faster and smarter together.”
Dan Nordstrom, R.E.D.D. board chair and lead investor in the first financing round, said, “We’re excited to work together with LesserEvil to create plant-powered, gut-friendly energy bars that meet the better-for-you standards that both of our brands are known for.
“LesserEvil has been a leader in natural snacking for years, and with the brand’s excellent operations and strong relationships in the space, we knew it would be the perfect home for R.E.D.D.”
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