The IQ Bar, America’s first “brain + body” nutrition bar that was launched in 2018 through a viral crowdfunding campaign, is hitting shelves at 1,000 Kroger grocery stores across the U.S.
IQ Bar’s Chocolate Sea Salt, Peanut Butter Chip and Almond Butter Chip flavors are being distributed to hundreds of Kroger-branded stores, in addition to the majority of Fred Meyer, Mariano’s, Roundy’s and Smith’s sub-brand locations.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Kroger—America’s leading grocery retailer—just over a year since fulfilling our first crowdfunding order,” says Will Nitze, founder and CEO of IQ Bar in Boston. “Not only does this expansion round out an incredible year of growth for IQ Bar, but it also demonstrates Kroger’s commitment to offering customers better-for-you, functional foods.”
Nitze started the business after resolving his chronic bouts of mental fatigue through a high-fat, low carb diet. IQ Bars are made with clean, natural ingredients. Each contains six brain nutrients, 10-11g plant protein, 4g net carbs, and less than 1-1g sugar and is compliant with keto, vegan and kosher diets. The company says IQ Bars are one of very few ketogenic-compliant bars that incorporate real fruit and no sugar alcohols. In lieu of typical keto-friendly sweeteners like erythritol and sucralose, IQ Bar uses allulose, a naturally occurring, non-GMO compound the FDA just recently recognized as a non-sugar given its glycemic index of zero.
With the expansion into Kroger, IQ Bars are sold in more than 6,000 retailers across every major metropolitan area in the U.S. In addition to Kroger, the “brain + body” bars are offered in thousands of CVS pharmacies, several smaller grocery chains and thousands of fitness and café locations.
