What Barebells Functional Foods does

Barebells Functional Foods is a Sweden-based, privately held functional-foods company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Stockholm. It develops and sells high-protein consumer products — including protein bars, milkshakes, and ice cream bars — formulated to deliver 20 grams of protein per serving with no added sugar and a clean-label ingredient profile. Its core technology is nutritional formulation rather than software: proprietary protein-bar recipes (e.g., a 20g-protein, no-added-sugar base) extended into differentiated flavor systems such as the Banana Bread bar (real banana, peanuts, cocoa nibs, milk-chocolate coating) and the Mint Chocolate Crisp bar.

The company sells primarily through retail and convenience-store channels, distributing both within its home European market and increasingly in the United States, where it has launched products into retail snack-bar aisles in 2026. Barebells targets three consumer personas: primary health-conscious consumers seeking convenient high-protein nutrition; primary fitness enthusiasts using protein supplementation; and secondary general snacking consumers seeking everyday alternatives to traditional candy. Its go-to-market is consumer-direct via physical retail rather than owned e-commerce, with marketing executed largely through food-industry publications and earned media coverage of product launches.

Barebells is identified among approximately a dozen leading global players in the protein bar category alongside Quest Nutrition, Clif Bar, RXBAR, Premier Protein, KIND Bar, Grenade, and Optimum Nutrition, and operates in a market projected to grow from USD 7.84 billion in 2025 to USD 14.66 billion by 2034 at a 7.20% CAGR. Revenue, ownership, funding, partnerships, and detailed financial data are not disclosed in the available sources.

Name

Barebells Functional Foods

Website

https://barebells.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Barebells Functional Foods is a Swedish private company that makes high-protein functional snacks — including protein bars, milkshakes, and ice cream bars — delivering 20g of protein with no added sugar to health-conscious, fitness-oriented, and everyday snacking consumers across European and US retail channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Functional Protein Snacks

NAICS

Snack Food Manufacturing (31191)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Health/Protein Snack Bars Manufacturing (AFAKAIAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sports & Performance Nutrition Foods Manufacturing (Protein Foods, Energy Gels/Bars) (AFAKAJAE), Functional Foods & Supplement Formats (Gummies, Chews, Powders, Shots) (CRADAGAI)

Keywords

• Protein bars
• Functional foods
• High-protein snacks
• Protein milkshakes
• Protein ice cream

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Protein Bar Sales: Barebells generates revenue through the sale of protein-focused snack bars, including breakfast-inspired and functional protein products sold through retail and convenience channels.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Barebells Functional Foods develops, manufactures, and sells high-protein functional snack products—primarily protein bars such as Banana Bread and Mint Chocolate Crisp, alongside protein milkshakes and ice cream bars. Each bar delivers 20 grams of protein with no added sugar under a clean-label formulation, positioned as convenient on-the-go nutrition for health-conscious consumers and fitness enthusiasts.

Product overview

Barebells Functional Foods is a Swedish protein-focused company specializing in high-protein snack bars. The company offers a portfolio of protein bars positioned as functional fitness nutrition, featuring 20 grams of protein per bar with no added sugar. Recent product launches include the Banana Bread protein bar and Mint Chocolate Crisp protein bar, both targeting health-conscious consumers in the US market.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Barebells Banana Bread Protein Bar High-protein snack bar featuring real banana, peanuts, and cocoa nibs, finished with milk chocolate coating. Delivers 20 grams of protein with no added sugar, designed to bring homemade banana bread comfort to a convenient on-the-go format for health-conscious consumers.
• Barebells Mint Chocolate Crisp Protein Bar High-protein snack bar with mint chocolate flavor and crisp texture, introduced to the US market. Contains 20 grams of protein with no added sugar, targeted at health-conscious consumers seeking functional nutrition.
• Protein Milkshakes High-protein milkshake products in the Barebells functional foods lineup, extending the brand's high-protein, no-added-sugar nutrition proposition into a beverage format for health-conscious consumers.
• Protein Ice Cream Bars High-protein ice cream bar products in the Barebells functional foods lineup, extending the brand's high-protein nutrition proposition into a frozen dessert format for health-conscious consumers.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Built Brands (Built Bar / Puff): Built Brands is a US-based protein bar and puff brand emphasizing high-protein, low-sugar, clean-label formulations — a near-direct positioning competitor to Barebells. Both compete for the same health-conscious, on-the-go consumer in the US retail channel.
• Quest Nutrition: Quest is the dominant US protein bar brand and is explicitly named alongside Barebells as a leading player in the global protein bar market. Both target health-conscious, fitness-oriented consumers with high-protein, low-sugar formulations sold through mass retail and convenience channels.
• RXBAR: RXBAR is a clean-label protein bar brand owned by Kellanova, named alongside Barebells as a leading global protein bar player. Both emphasize simple, transparent ingredient lists and target the same health-conscious snacking consumer with high-protein bar formats.
• Clif Bar & Company: Clif Bar is a leading energy and protein bar brand (owned by Mondelez) explicitly cited as a peer leading the global protein bar market. Both compete in nutritional bar formats with broad retail distribution and lifestyle-oriented brand positioning.
• Grenade (Grenade Carb Killa): Grenade is a UK-based protein bar and functional confectionery brand named alongside Barebells in the leading global protein bar cohort. Both compete in the high-protein, low-sugar bar category with strong flavor innovation and a crossover from fitness to mainstream snacking consumer.
• ONE Bar (ONE Brands / Helen of Troy): ONE Bar is a US protein bar brand specializing in high-protein, low-sugar formulations in the same 20g-protein range as Barebells. Direct competition for the same shelf space in convenience and grocery, targeting similar fitness and health-conscious consumers.

Broad incumbents

• Premier Protein: Premier Protein (owned by BellRing Brands) is a mass-market protein nutrition brand named alongside Barebells as a leading protein bar market player. Both target high-protein consumers, though Premier has a broader shakes and bars portfolio and much wider US distribution scale.
• KIND Snacks: KIND (Mars Inc.) is a leading better-for-you snack bar brand named alongside Barebells as a leading protein bar market player. KIND has overlapping whole-grain, protein-inclusive bar SKUs and broader snack-bar distribution, though its positioning is broader (snacking) rather than purely performance nutrition.
• Optimum Nutrition: Optimum Nutrition is a leading global sports nutrition brand (owned by Glanbia) named alongside Barebells as a leading protein bar market player. Both serve fitness-oriented consumers with protein-forward products, though Optimum's core business is powders and supplements.

Regional players

• Oatly: Oatly is a Swedish plant-based food brand that successfully crossed the Atlantic from Stockholm to US scale via retail partnerships and brand-led growth. While in plant-based dairy rather than bars, Oatly serves as a directly analogous Swedish-headquartered functional food brand crossing into the US market with a similar brand-narrative-driven premium strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/barebells-functional-foods

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barebells Functional Foods