Anywhere, Anytime, Anywho. The Amara Food bars are perfect for any type of activity- to lay back and chill, or to go for a run! Just grab a bar and do it! Made from the finest organic products, Amara Food founder, Bahar Green, made sure to make the most natural tasting bars.
Named after her daughter Amara, which means “bittersweet” in Italian, and “eternal beauty” in Arabic, Bahar started her brand in her own kitchen after studying to be a pastry chef in New York.
A Health Journey that Turned into a Successful Business
A few years after the birth of her daughter, Bahar embarked on a health journey, through her diet and through trying out bars in the market, admitting she disliked their taste. She says,“ I always experienced the same artificial, chemical taste with the old date paste.”
She initially shared her concoction with her family and friends, who in turn greatly encouraged her to make something out of her tasty bars.
It is not just a bar…
When asked why people should try her products, Bahar replied, “I wanted to create a snack option between meals, instead of starving ourselves during the day and having a big dinner, that’s not healthy. I wanted to have a healthy snack option for all of us”.
Made from organic ingredients, such as date paste, dried berries, nuts, and organic protein powder, Bahar started making white label products for a company in Amsterdam.
After a while, the demand for longer lasting products increased, and Bahar had to think of a way to make her natural bars have a longer shelf life. After a lack of success in finding private labels, she took matters into her own hands and invested in the packaging production, buying the machines and setting up the production process herself.
How It All Began
Bahar’s journey with ePac UK Silverstone began through a private label company in the UK, Fusion Foods, who recommended ePac to her.
What caught her eye with the ePac experience was how fast and reliable the service was. She says her communication with the team was nice and helpful, always responsive and ready to help out.
She appreciated how the team was quick to respond to her demands, despite how small her business was compared to other brands. Bahar said, “I appreciated how quickly the team replied to all my questions and how quick they were to fix issues we had along the way. Sam and Michelle have been great to work with, and I can definitely rely on them”.
The business owner has placed multiple orders with ePac, and she specifically asks for rollstock of 3 different SKU’s, and specifies that she picked digitally printed packaging because it is faster than anything else, and has a very low minimum order number.
The three SKU’s include the Vegan berry, Vegan Cocoa Hazelnut and Vegan Peanut Butter. More products are coming, including a granola flavor. She plans to continue working with ePac to create digitally printed stand up pouches.
High Barrier Packaging for Vegan Bars
Once she took the step to work with ePac, she collaborated with a branding agency in Amsterdam to create her vision for the packaging design. The process involved going over Bahar’s life and her philosophy. She mentioned how her travels, her time in New York and her Turkish origins went into the creation of the design.
After an extensive conversation, the result was something Bahar saw was perfect for her brand.
One of Bahar’s initial visions was to make the bars transparent by adding a window on the packaging, but there were issues with short shelf life.
Luckily, she said her current design looks similar to the bars themselves. Apart from that, the material structure ePac suggested for her products, a matte BOPP with a metalized layer- METBOPP, eliminated the short shelf life problems she was facing, a win-win for her!
Just like any other business, big or small, Amara foods found challenges during the Pandemic. Bahar mentions, “the pandemic was too slow, restaurants and cafés were closed, and clients were hesitant to pick up new products because they don’t specifically know what Amara is.”
The situation has been improving, with Bahar highlighting how she loves to push herself to her limits, and always looks for a challenge to improve. You can now find the Amara Food bars in EKOPLAZA, marqt, crisp.nl, treat-trunk, Veganmissions, Ankorstore, Orderchamp and Just Bite.
Your Organic Bar Private Label Partner
With word of mouth, Amara foods now does private labeling. She receives demand from companies to recreate and adjust their recipes in a healthy manner. They come to Bahar because she always chooses organic and is willing to help out. When asked where these companies do their packaging, Bahar said she always works with ePac, due to our reliability and responsiveness.
If you are looking for a partner to create great-tasting vegan protein bars, free-from any additives, look no further!
