Clif Bar
Emeryville energy bar maker founded in 1992, now part of Mondelez.
Gary Erickson famously refused a $120 million sale in 2000 and kept Clif independent for two more decades before selling to Mondelez in 2022. The bar itself came out of a long bike ride and the conviction that he could make a better one.
At Expo West
Bars are the most crowded aisle at Expo West. Established brands are there to defend shelf space against a hundred startups making the same argument they once did.