Why We Love Seattle-Based Sano Bars

One of my biggest problems with nutrition bars is how quickly I tire of my supposed favorite flavor. We had it good, Clif Bar Chocolate Mint, remember? Nevertheless, when I find a good one – a really good one – I feel I must share.

Sano Bar was created by Mercer Island’s Lisa Nordstrom and her three daughters. They are a gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, kosher and soy-free line of whole ingredient energy bars that launched in August 2015 with Whole Foods. Now, less than a year later you can find them in some of the city’s most respected grocery stores, coffee shops, mercantiles, and workout studios, including Juice & Glow (Bellevue), Beecher’s (Pike Place) and Leschi Market (Leschi). I saw them for the first time at Bassline Fitness in Kirkland, which won our 2015 Seattle Magazine Reader’s Choice for best fitness studio. It was after a Mashup class and I was eager to stuff something in my face. The Chocolate Chip Sano Bar, a protein bar, hit the spot.

The Sano line is made with natural, whole food ingredients – amaranth, chia seeds, dark chocolate, honey, flax and pea protein – and features two vegan varieties, Coconut Cashew and Blueberry Almond. What’s more, the company is trying to be the Toms of the nutrition bar world: with the purchase of every bar, Sano gives back to local charities that support the fight against hunger and promote health. Their ultimate goal is to give back 50 percent of profits to local charities, such as Food Lifeline, a nonprofit that distributes more than 88,000 nutritious meals to hungry, low-income people everyday.