Pregnancy nutrition bar expanding beyond South Lake Tahoe

Active mothers-to-be. That’s the consumer that South Lake Tahoe-based BumpBar is seeking to reach in its first year of business — and so far, so good.

The brainchild of husband and wife duo Scott and Dr. Amanda Weavil, BumpBar’s lemon-ginger-flavored prenatal snack hit the shelves in select South Lake Tahoe and Reno stores this June.

In just six months, BumpBar sold out of its first batch of 1,000 bars.

Maybe it was Scott’s love of Clif Bars — his car’s center console is filled with them — but one day the idea for BumpBar popped into his head.

“I asked my wife, who is an OBGYN here in town, if there were nutrition bars for pregnant women. She said no, and we started brainstorming,” said Scott. “Here in Tahoe she’s got a bunch of active patients that like to stay active pretty far along into their pregnancy. There was a need for it.”

After 10 to 15 test batches in their kitchen, and with Amanda’s expertise in prenatal diet, they landed on a recipe.

“The things that were out there had artificial ingredients and/or were more dessert-type products, like cookies. We wanted to go in a different direction and do something with all-natural ingredients,” explained Scott, a former attorney turned full-time operator of BumpBar.

Through research and a little bit of trial and error, they created a healthful snack made up of what the Weavils refer to as “functional ingredients” tailored specifically to a pregnant woman’s needs.

“Lemon helps provide energy, and ginger is a natural remedy for nausea, so it helps combat morning sickness,” explained Scott.

“We used organic cashew butter, which has a lot of folic acid; and organic almonds, which contain folic acid and iron; and flax seed, which also has iron. The rest is basically oats, which also helps with energy.”

At just under 250 calories, the bar is non-GMO, gluten free, vegan and preservative free. It is not intended to replace daily prenatal vitamins, but rather to complement the prenatal nutritional routine.

BumpBar is awaiting the delivery of it second batch of bars, which will be for sale in South Lake Tahoe at Grass Roots Natural Foods and Tahoe Tot Spot. In Reno, the bars can be purchased at Nurturing Nest.

The next step is looking for retailers in San Francisco and the North Shore, said Scott.

“I commonly get the question, ‘Are there going to be more flavors of the bar?’ And there may be eventually, but I think our plan at this point before developing deeper in the flavors it to expand and bring out other products,” explained Scott.

A bar designed specifically for dietary needs before pregnancy — a fertility bar — and after pregnancy — a nursing bar — are product options the Weavils hope to offer in the future.

“We see ourselves eventually having a bar for each stage of the life cycle,” said Scott.

For more information on BumpBar — or to purchase the nutritional bars — visit www.getbumpbar.com.