Earlier this week, we visited Chalmers University of Technology to lecture PhD students about our journey with Fibr - From Idea to Factory. We started with a vision to find a smarter and tastier way to consume oat fiber. Today, we produce our own products in our factory in Edsbyn.
AN IDEA IS BORN
The idea for what would become Fibr was born as early as 2019 when I, Therese, was still an agronomy student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. After writing my thesis on oat fibers, more specifically the fibers called beta-glucans and how they affect gut flora, I couldn't shake the thought that it should be easier for people to eat more of them.
A JOURNEY IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
The very first idea was to develop a beta-glucan drink, which later changed to the energy bars we bake today. We initially worked with an external factory but quickly realized that it wasn't suitable for us. We wanted to develop, test, and improve the products ourselves all the way, and we could only do that if we did everything ourselves.
We received a microloan from Almi to purchase a small packaging machine and started baking bars at home in our small house outside Edsbyn. A lot has happened since then - but we'll tell you more about that another time.
1. Adam develops recipes at home in the kitchen. 2. Office work at the kitchen table. 3. Small-scale baking and family helps out. 4. A packaging machine moves into the house. 5. First packaged flavors of Fibr bars. 6. First store stocked with care.
A SHORT LOOK BACK
It was enjoyable to share our experiences and lessons learned along the way with the PhD students. The discussions covered everything from supply chain and product development to flavors, marketing, and expansion plans. It had been a long time since we were in an academic environment ourselves, and it was inspiring to exchange machines, recipes, and packaging for interesting discussions for a day.
SWEDEN'S FIBER EXPERT
Rikard possesses deep knowledge of fibers and conducts very exciting research to connect food with health and disease risk. Among other things, by looking for new connections between diet and measurable biomarkers.
We have compiled Rikard's best fiber tips in our Fiber School, which you can read here.
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