Navigating Growth and Crisis in a Family Brand

Bill and Leigh Keith had an extraordinary childhood, travelling the country in a school bus with their parents and ten siblings. Along the way, their dad fed them a homemade concoction of peanut butter, honey and supplements rolled into bite-sized snacks. When the family fell on hard times, the older siblings decided to sell their home and bet everything on turning their family recipe into a refrigerated energy bar. 

The family hand-rolled millions of bars and gave out samples at festivals and grocery stores in Northern California. They eventually got Perfect Bars into Whole Foods, Costco, and major retailers throughout the country, and in 2019, the company was acquired by Mondelēz International. 

This episode was researched and produced by Chris Maccini with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Edited by Neva Grant. Our engineers were Kwesi Lee and Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. 

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