foodsources
Colleen Dyck( far left) finishes a muddy adventure with the staff of GORP clean energy bars. entrepreneurial adventures
by Christopher Hunter
A Winnipeg farmer ventures into the energy bar industry
Nearly a decade ago, Colleen Dyck, founder of GORP clean energy bar, dove from an airplane. She tugged the release cable and the parachute came out tangled, so hoisted herself up the rope, while toppling against air currents, and untwisted them before plummeting to the earth. Dyck is an adventurer. She hang glides, competes in triathlons, and paddles through white-water rapids.
In the midst of this rip-roaring lifestyle, she needed fuel, something fast and nutritious, but found that supplements made of saturated fat and low-quality protein dominated the market. So, she decided to make her own energy bar, and set out to find the perfect ingredients.
Having worked on a farm during college, Dyck relied on her knowledge of agriculture to select each component. Through research, she discovered that organic, vegan, and imported sources have advantages and disadvantages.“ I use ingredients from different sectors, organic, local, and commercial,” she said.
The honey binding the bar comes from her family’ s land, while the brown rice powder, chosen because it doesn’ t cause bloating like other proteins, is procured from Axiom Foods in Los Angeles.
Launching a startup company always involves overcoming hurdles. Dyck’ s began in 2006 when her farmhouse burned down and she moved, with her husband and four children, to her mother’ s home in Niverville, Manitoba. This proved to be a blessing in disguise.
At the time, she had a long term goal of building a commercial kitchen, a basecamp for her energy bar enterprise.
Now that her family needed a new home, she had a good excuse to make one.
Dyck, in true entrepreneurial spirit, acted
Photography: Staff photo courtesy of Colleen Dyck; Vantage Print Shop( Gorp Energy bar)
10 ciao! / feb / mar / two thousand fourteen