Up Close & Personal with Bobo's Oat Bars

On Wednesday, September 28, I was lucky enough to be invited to tour the Bobo's Oat Bar offices and factory along with 8 other food and lifestyle bloggers! If you've read my previous post about Bobo's, you know how much I love this company, but my level of respect grew immensely when I learned more about the heart behind their products and their commitment to being homemade.

The company started back in 2003, when a mom (Beryl Stafford, Founder) and her daughter made homemade oat bars, and the treats received rave reviews from their friends and family! Throughout the past 14 years, the company has grown and changed, added employees, and placed their products in stores all over the country! We got an inside look at their humble beginnings and a sneak peak into the making of the bars. The factory is housed inside the same building as their offices, and they turn out over 30,000 bars in a single day shift, according to their production manager! Every batch is made to order, and it was so fascinating to watch a big-scale production in a compact facility.

After touring the space, we got the opportunity to make our own oat bars! The proprietary Bobo's recipe is comprised of just a few simple ingredients, and they allowed us to add a ton of different additives into our own creations. I made bars with dried fruit, chocolate chips, different nut butters, and even a pumpkin one, which I think should become a real flavor! Sprouts Farmers Market sponsored the entire event and catered lunch for us after we worked up an appetite from smelling the delicious baking throughout the morning. All in all, it was such a neat experience to see a new side of a company that I love and try my hand at a few Bobo creations!

(Scroll below to see a few more pictures)