To the Max!

The folks at Go Max Go have been very busy since the idea of vegan candy bars came to Scott Ostrander and Susan Francovig. In late 2007, the duo was frantically trying to put together a company and get their product out.

Following the overtly successful launch of the product in May 2009, the company’s wares are now sold in literally hundreds of stores around the country, with new businesses jumping on weekly.

“We had talked about [starting a company] over the years,” Francovig said. “Being vegan, there are certain products we felt could be done better. I missed candy bars, and Scott has experience in the natural foods industry so we decided to start a company.”

The company started on the premise that, as more and more vegan companies were emerging, there weren’t any vegan companies devoted to the production of vegan candy bars. The company set out to produce a candy bar that not only appeals to the vegan subculture, but could also lure in nonvegan customers through intelligent packaging.

“People have the wrong idea of vegan food, those who haven’t explored it,” Francovig said. “We wanted to show people that we are multilayered just like everyone else. We wanted the bars to have a retro and fun look to attract the nonvegan consumer.”

Vegan and nonvegans alike have been eating up Go Max Go candy bars by the tons in the company’s few short months of production. Retail giant Food Lion picked up the bar in 400 of its stores. Locally, it’s available at Food Fight, Food Front Co-op, Whole Foods locations, New Seasons and a slew of other retail outlets (including our own Portland State University Market).

“We’ve had a positive response from both vegans and nonvegans,” Francovig said. “Regardless of what you’re doing, vegans really seem to appreciate the effort.”

Go Max Go has also begun to show their appreciation by getting involved in several local and national charitable organizations, most notably Farm Sanctuary.

“We’re donating about 300 bars to Farm Sanctuary for a fundraiser they’re doing at the end of December,” Francovig said. “One focus of the company is to be really supportive of the animal rights community. It’s a nice thing to be able to donate bars. I’m really fond of…grassroots movements. We have been contacted by some companies and it’s great to be able to help them.”

From here Go Max Go looks to the future, tackling new flavors, agave infusion and gluten-free products, “In the near future we want to do gluten-free. That will have a lot to do with the decision of what we do next. There’s a whole world of candy bars that need to be vegan-ized.”

However, the deciding factor for Go Max Go candy bars really seems to be customer feedback.

“Most of the people that write us are either lactose intolerant or stumble upon [our bars] and try them,” Francovig said. “A good amount of the people that purchase our bars are vegan or thinking of becoming vegan, but the nicest compliments that we get come from nonvegans trying our bars and liking them more than their nonvegan predecessors.”

Knowing that their company’s vegan candy bar beat out the nonvegan competition must give a bit of justification to the work and helps increase and maintain morale for this dynamic duo.