Product Description What animal do you think of when you think of bananas? Bears? Weird, us too! After all, they did a great job making our Non-GMO project verified Banana Nut Granola with honey, banana chips, coconut, almonds and walnuts. We're just going to come out with it. Bears make the decisions around here. They pick out the ingredients, create new flavors and taste-test every batch of granola we make. Nothing goes out the door before it gets their bear stamp of approval. Now you may be thinking, why? Employing wild, unpredictable animals seems like a terrible business plan. Sure, we admit sometimes things can get a little awkward, like when the company picnic is BYOB (bring your own bees). But the truth is, the bears keep us honest. Their instincts always point them to the highest quality foods found in the wild. About the Brand Kelly Flatley and Brendan Synnott, who became friends at age 11 while attending Middlesex Middle School in Darien, CT, are the business partners behind Bear Naked all-natural breakfast foods. Kelly first developed Bear Naked’s original fruit-and-nut granola formula in July 2002 by baking whole ingredients in her parents’ kitchen and tweaking the recipe until it was perfect. She then labeled the concoction "Bear Naked" and started selling it at sidewalk sales and a couple of local markets. Her granola was plainly packaged in a clear plastic bag and hand-tied with a piece of hay. A month later, Brendan, on hiatus from his role as a talent manager for Saturday Night Live, started joining Kelly in the kitchen, the two cooking all through the night and selling their granola by day. In October 2002, Brendan and Kelly decided to move forward as business partners and Bear Naked was born. Over the next few months, the company really began to grow, and by the end of 2004, Bear Naked was distributing its products to more than 2,000 retailers in 25 states with 20 full-time employees. By August 2005, Bear Naked was the country's fastest-growing natural cereal brand, with the number one and number two selling granola products in the nation. The next month, Kelly, Brendan, and the entire Bear Naked team traveled to Washington, D.C., in their signature Bear Naked vans to launch a new line of breakfast products to retailers at the Natural Products Expo East. With an eye-catching display and abounding energy, the new Low-Sugar Cereals, All-Natural Oatmeal, and 100% Organic Hot Cereals debuted to rave reviews. Today, Bear Naked breakfast products can be found at retailers nationwide. And why the name "Bear Naked"? It simply reflects that the company's ingredients are all-natural and barely processed. In their words: "With our love for the outdoors and active lifestyles, our whole grain foods fuel our energy. When hiking we were thinking of names and thought 'hungry as a bear.' Thus "Bear Naked" was coined. Plus, it is very catchy.