43
Raising the bar
Photo
Karen Brendlinger, an employee at Belmont Confections, checks 4LifeBars as they come down a conveyor belt.
Photo
George Tsudis, owner of Belmont Confections in Liberty, shows off his new creation, a gluten-free energy bar with 40 antioxidants that he says provides a 100 percent dose of daily fruits, vegetables and vitamins. The bar went on sale Tuesday at GNC stores.
Belmont Confections’ concoction combines chocolate, optimal nutrition
By REBECCA SLOAN
LIBERTY
Delicious and nutritious don’t always go together, but George Tsudis, owner of Belmont Confections, has developed a product that blends good taste and optimal nutrition between a decadent coating of dark chocolate.
4LifeBar is an energy bar with 40 antioxidants, healthy omega 3-6-9, 12 grams of protein and three probiotics. It’s also gluten-free, low-glycemic and provides a 100 percent dose of daily fruits, vegetables and vitamins.
When Tsudis talks about the bar, his face lights up with enthusiasm.
“It tastes great and has the healthiest ingredients you can find,” he said. “We’ve taken great care in choosing each ingredient. For example, we purchase organic, dried blueberries from a particular farm in Maine, and the dark chocolate we use is 72 percent cocoa, which makes it the creme de la creme of dark chocolate.”
Tsudis isn’t exaggerating about his product’s palate-pleasing capabilities.
The 4LifeBar tastes like a candy bar, and yet the list of ingredients reads more like the salad bar at an upscale health resort.
Broccoli sprout, raspberry, pomegranate, apple, concord grape, bilberry, rice bran, barley grass, wheat grass, acai berry, Royal jelly, bee pollen, green tea, almond butter, aloe-vera juice, parsley beet, grape-seed extract and even spinach, to list a few.
How can something with such an odd plethora of ingredients taste so darn yummy?
Tsudis said it’s a sweet secret.
“Basically the idea for this bar got started about a year ago when a well-known Cleveland doctor named James Krystosik approached me with a powder he had created with all of these ingredients,” Tsudis explained. “He wanted to market the powder, which he called ZinGo Lite SUPERFOOD powder. The problem was it tasted horrible. Dr. Krystosik had tried to formulate the powder into an energy bar, but even then the taste wasn’t very good.”
And so Tsudis, a second-generation candy maker, went to work.
“I’m a candy maker — that’s what I do,” Tsudis said. “I know how to formulate things to make them taste good.”
Tsudis has plenty of experience in making things taste sweet.
His father, Spiros, worked for nearly 30 years for D.L. Clark Candy Co., the former maker of the Clark Bar in Pittsburgh.
Spiros left Clark in 1985 to found Penhurst Chocolate Co., which makes candy under private labels for national distributors. Before establishing Belmont Confections, George served as vice president of Penhurst.
George’s brother, Pete, currently operates Tsudis Chocolate, which also is located in Pittsburgh.
For now, only Belmont Confections will produce the 4LifeBar. The bar hit the shelves of GNC stores Tuesday, and Tsudis hopes to expand selling locations to include popular grocery chains and pharmacies.
“The bar is going to be sold online, and we are looking for local retailers, gyms and wellness centers to stock and sell the bar,” he said. “Also, in the next few weeks we will have a program for people that want to be online reps using various social media.”
If production increases as planned, Tsudis said the bar has the potential to create an additional 15 to 20 factory jobs at Belmont Confections and five to 10 outside-sales representative positions.
In addition to the 4LifeBar, Belmont Confections makes a handful of protein bars on a contract basis, such as the 2:1 Protein Bar, which Tsudis said is one of the best-selling bars at GNC.
“Unlike the other products we make here, the 4LifeBar is our own, and we are really excited about that,” he added. “If you’re going to choose an energy bar, this is the one you should choose. It is extremely healthy and great-tasting and perfect for anyone on the go.”
The bar retails for about $2.49, and Tsudis hopes it will be an especially big hit in the Mahoning Valley.
“This is a local product and something we can be proud of,” he said.
Tsudis, 41, lives in Poland and has a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. He founded Belmont Confections three years ago at the former Delphi Packard Electric training facility at 4718 Belmont Ave.
For additional information about the bar, call 330-881-0652.