bikeseattle.org

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I found out about Simbree at the Cascade bike expo. I liked the Simbree bites so much that I thought I’d see if I could get a tour of their facility and see if I could give you all an inside view of how these yummy treats are made.

After a few exchanges with the founder, we setup a time for me to stop by and check it out.

I was able to get a complete tour of the Simbree facility. From where the ingredients are stored, how they get mixed, where they get cooked, and where they get packaged for delivery. They’ve got a full setup, all contained in about 1200 square feet.

I was fortunate enough to spend about 45 minutes chatting and seeing how things work, and here it is. A first in what I hope to be many local company profiles (that are in some way related to cycling). In this case, energy while riding.

The result was Simbree energy bars, born of miles of experience and 20 years of making granola at home using the most wholesome ingredients. Right from the start, these tasty treats were tucked into packs and pockets as fast as we could make them.

Today, we still make Simbree bars in Seattle, mixing organic grains and whole nuts and seeds naturally rich in essential fatty acids for optimal health (you’ll find no trans fats in our products).
–Simbree website

In 2002 Simbree was started in a small commercial kitchen in Kent (under the name ‘Meatless In Seattle’) by present owner Sally Virgin a retired molecular biologist and Joe Kadushin, an avid cyclist. Within a year production was moved to larger kitchen in West Seattle and then finally the Simbree kitchen was established in May 2005 in South Seattle.

For various reasons, the ‘Meatless in Seattle’ name had to be given up and thanks to Terry Heckler, who named Starbucks, Cinnabon, Loudeye and New Balance, Simbree was born.

Simbree currently employs three full-time people who help in each step of the way including mixing, rolling, cooking, and packaging.

Larger distribution is taken care of by Crown Pacific Fine Foods and Little Rae’s Bakery. They have accounts with Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Metropolitan Market, and local coffee shops and grocers. You can also shop on their online store. The founder continues to make small deliveries locally.

Simbree originally started with Granola, making handmade batches on an as needed basis for the first couple of years. After getting numerous requests for a bar, they took their existing Granola recipe and created the Simbree bars. The bites were a natural progression, using the leftover bits from cutting the bars.

Today, you can get the Granola in three flavors: Grain and Nut, Cherry Berry, Maple Walnut). The bites and bars come in Oat Almond Pistach, Maple Walnut, and Chewy Coconut Cashew.

All Simbree products contain NON GMO expeller pressed canola oil and soy and contain nuts, except for the Cherry Berry Granola. They’ve kept the original recipe, the only change being instead of mixing the batches by hand, they now have an industrial mixer to do that work. Interestingly enough, they purchase their pistachios at Trader Joe’s.

So how are these bites made anyway? Things start off by dumping a large amount of peanut butter into a mixer, and letting the butter and oils remix together (same for the cashew butter in the ‘Chewy Cashew Coconut’ bites). While the butter is getting re-mixed, there is a big pot of wild blackberry honey that is being warmed, eventually going in with the nut butter.

From there the rest of the ingredients are added and mixed together. They are then flattened, cut and packaged, where they wait to be eaten by you and me.

As for the future of Simbree, they’re focusing on growing out their existing product line and expanding their distribution channels.

They have really experienced a huge growth in the past two years, so they are acclimating appropriately and moving forward from there.

They do have a few requests for new products, and they have a couple of ideas in the works. We’ll just have to wait and see.