Kate Schade is the Founder of Kate’s Real Food. Originally from upstate New York, Kate moved out to Jackson almost 30 years ago. She started off as many locals do, playing during the day and waiting tables in the evening. A summer position at Cosmic Apple Gardens instilled a passion for organic farming and changed her perspective on food. Kate used this knowledge and inspiration to create and perfect the recipe for the original Tram Bar. 

In this episode, Kate shares her journey out to Jackson and her pursuit to live a life full of adventure. She goes into why she began making whole-food, energy bars and how she grew a local fan base. Stephan and Kate then discuss how her business grew from personally wrapping bars in plastic wrap or in slabs to having a facility that creates over 50 million bars a year. 

To find out where you can purchase Kate’s bars, visit KatesRealFood.com 

If you get a Kate’s Real Food bar on your next Delta flight be sure to tag us and Kate on Instagram! 

Follow Kate’s Real Food on Instagram @katesrealfood

This week’s episode is sponsored in part by Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling, announcing the new commercial Curb to Compost Program for restaurants and other commercial food waste generators. More at TetonCountyWY.gov or at @RoadToZeroWaste.JH on Instagram 

Support also comes from The Jackson Hole Marketplace. Find Kate’s Real Food bars here! The deli at Jackson Hole Marketplace offers ready-made soups, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and hot lunch specials. More at JHMarketplace.com 

Want to be a guest on The Jackson Hole Connection? Email us at connect@thejacksonholeconnection.com. Marketing and editing support by Michael Moeri (michaelmoeri.com,@thatsamoeri).

You are tuned in to the Jackson hole, connection, sharing, fascinating stories of people connected to Jackson hole.

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Folks.

I enjoy reading and learning from others.

And I usually find that in books or listening to podcasts, and this guides me to share a quote before we begin this episode, today's quote is remember, teamwork begins by building trust.

And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for in vulnerability that comes from Patrick Lencioni.

If you haven't read any of his books, get out there, find one.

I bet you can find them at your local library or downloading them.

However you like to listen to audible books.

And today's episode is 193, and I have the opportunity today to speak with Kate Schade.

Who's the founder of Kate's Real Food..

And in our community, they're better known as Kate's bars or the Tram bar.

Kate started her company by wanting to make something healthy, nutritious, which was packed with a ton of fuel for the active lifestyle that she was leading starting off making the bars for friends and handing them out in the tram line.

Uh, hence the name, the tram bar, the bars kind of became a burden to make.

So Kate started asking people to pay for the bars.

And so she grew from making them in her kitchen and wrapping them in plastic wrap to now making over 50 million bars a year.

So, wow.

That's wild to think.

And this is today one of the many 20 years in the making overnight success story.

Everybody thinks that people become successful overnight because they see success, but they don't know the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into it.

So today folks, Kate shares with us, her journey and the passion that she has to grow a local business, from the roots organically to a business that's known all around the country.

Kate, thank you for joining me here today at the Jackson Hole Connection.

It's wonderful to have time to connect with you and, , learn more about your journey,

Sure thing I'm excited to be here.

Let's start off with, Kate.

With you sharing, how did you arrive in this valley?

So where did you grow up and when did you arrive in this beautiful place?

I grew up in upstate New York, central upstate New York, about a half hour east of Rochester, a small town.

So from there.

I knew nothing of the west.

but my brother was about four years older than me.

and he had come out to Jackson hole.

So after I graduated or actually no, before I graduated from college, uh, I went to the university of New Hampshire after my junior year, I came out to visit Pete actually in Victor, Idaho.

and I stayed with him for the summer.

Loved it.

I was just super excited.

I'd never been out west.

and I had a place to stay with my brother coming out here.

and that was my first summer in the Tetons.

My first huge hike.

From the Victor side of the Tetons, over to the Jackson side.

And I just fell in love with the place.

So after, after I graduated from UNH, I think within a week I packed my car with a friend of mine and we moved up.

That was fast.

Yep.

And you said your first summer you hiked, you did a through height from one side to the other.

That's

impressive.

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, it was impressive.

you know, and I, yeah, I never, I think I was like super sore.

Because I'd never experienced anything.

I mean, it was 20 some odd miles.

I think we, we started in Fox Creek because that's where we lived.

and the other side, and there was hardly any snow.

It was actually at the beginning of June.

And you know, that's kind of rare up in the mountains to hardly have any snow.

And in the middle of June, it's a really dry summer, really great first experience.

I had a lot of really great first experiences out in the mountains.

growing up back east, we just did, you know, it was more of, I grew up, you know, doing sports and, my parents would take us cross country skiing.

We'd go on little camping trips, either in cabins or tents or a little cabin by a lake.

And I started downhill skiing, you know, on the east coast ice.

so that was kinda my growing up experience in the outdoors.

the west was a completely different animal coming out here, but if you learn a little bit about it, there's something mysterious in.

Great.

And you want to go experience it.

So true.

Yeah.

So what year was that?

That you graduated and packed up your car and moved out here?

1993.

Oh, wait, no, sorry.

Yeah.

93 graduated in college.

Congratulations.

That's a long time ago.

Yeah.

And did you land in the Jackson side or the Victor side?

You still with your brother?

Yeah.

I first landed on the Victor side.

and.

Well, no, I landed on the Victor side, my brother at first summer when I moved back, after we graduated from college, my friend, my girlfriend and I, we moved to Jackson.

we lived in basically a little trailer home that's not there anymore.

and, We just had some, you know, service industry jobs.

So I think when I first came out the first summer, I was a housekeeper in Teton village cleaning house at vacation rentals.

the next summer I kind of did the same thing with did some reservations, became reservations, like assistant manager hated the office.

Couldn't do that anymore.

Started waiting tables at night and played during the day.

So that was my gig.

I thought it was the best thing going.

Um, wait tables, get to see, get a free dinner.

we get up in the morning, you know, go hiking or biking or climbing or kayaking or whatever the big mountains have to offer and then go to work at night.

Then I started needing a little bit more money.

So I got a part-time day job, Wilson back country sports, you know, with the bikes.

And, so that was really great too, because I was in the, you know, the outdoor scene getting some good deals on bike parts or skis, et cetera.

and then I also started working, in the summers.

Part-time at a cosmic apple gardens.

That's shortly after I moved over to Victor.

So I lived in Jackson for a while.

And then yeah, early two thousands.

Yeah.

I made the leap to the other side.

And what were you doing in the winter time?

waiting tables as well.

Just keeping some of these part-time full-time jobs

waiting tables, and then part-time Wilson back country sports, summertime.

The cosmic apple.

I stopped working at Wilson, in order to farm some more.

And I really fell in love with the farming and the organic farming I aspect and biodynamic farming of the cosmic apple gardens.

And that's when I started making my bar.

Well, I started making my bars, yeah, right around the time I started working at cosmic apple, but they were completely different.

then I just kept on taking things from my cupboards.

And just kept mixing them up and see what tasted good.

See what came out.

Good.

And, eventually came up with a tram bar recipe and I said, this one, is it?

I said, this is it.

I gotta write it down so I can keep making it at the same time and time again.

And I started doing

that.

And when do you think you gave making your first bar a shot?

Oh, it's a good question.

I would say it was,

I'm trying to think of the first I know the first place I made them.

Oh, I've never really thought of this before.

First place I made them was like a little A-frame at the base of Teton pass, where I had some friends that were living.

I think it's still there, right below the affordable housing and, I would make them there and give them.

all the guys that live there, that was probably like 19 95, 94, 95.

That was the first version.

you know, I remember also when I used to wrap them up in saran wrap and put a little gear sticker on them to seal them.

and then, sister Smith, remember sisters.

no, it was an old local band that Justin Smith was.

And Kyle, anyway.

John Penn Savage was in the band.

but they would play the mangy moose sometimes.

And I remember, you know, there's like the pre ski parties and I made what was called the tram bar jar, which was a big gallon jar with like the, you know, one of those banana pepper, big glass jars with a lid on it and put tram bar jar are on there and made a bunch of bars and stuff.

In the jar and those were given away as a prize on stage, before I had even started really selling them, I still know Wilson back country.

like for a buck each, when I first started making them wrapped in that little saran wrap of the gear sticker

and Wilson back country.

Was it Andy?

yeah, Andy and kitchen.

They owned it then still do.

yeah, so they let me put them out in the counter was really great.

And then there was another guy who would come in and give me all these different stickers.

You know, you get the little gear stickers in the boxes, when you buy whatever outdoor gear, you know, whether it was, you know, climbing gear or what have you.

So he bring in a bunch of stickers that I could use to seal up the bars.

That's pretty neat.

Thinking way back to all those little things, you know, that helps you get going.

so what made you think about I'm going to start making a bar?

What was your purpose of wanting to make a bar?

And I wanted something that tastes good and had a lot of calories and what actually, you know, fill me up when I was skiing.

and a lot of it was back country skiing, back in the day when we'd be at the Jackson hole mountain resort, though in, in go out of bounds before they had the out of bounds, like real gates out of bounds.

I don't know if you remember, it never used to really be open.

Like you weren't allowed to go out of bounds from my memory.

Now they get those gates out.

so we weren't

allowed to, but people did it anyway.

Yeah.

We sneaked out and did it, super fun and exciting, you know, talk about adventure.

So I used to make these bars, they were huge.

They were Mongo.

and they probably had like 500 calories.

So that's how they started, just mixing up different.

And I, you know, I like great texture and flavors and really good ingredients in there.

And so.

The ingredients in there that I wanted to have.

And I loved, and peanut butter was always one of them, cause I'm a huge peanut butter fan, a lot of fuel to it and they kept you going.

so I'd make batches and I'd give them to my friends too.

And that's kind of how it started.

really just for my, I'd say specifically for those back country pursuits out of the Jackson hole, mountain resort.

And hence the name, you know, of the original bar was the tram bar

and the, I guess the there's trams all over the world.

So they're saying Tram that's not,

it doesn't have to be Jackson Hole tram.

Yeah.

It could be all over the world.

Be a great bar to take to Europe, go up there, trams there and take a hike too.

Yeah.

So during this time you started making bars, but you're probably still working.

Yeah, I was working and then I was making bars on the side, you know, when I'd have like a little, an extra hour, I'd make what I'd batches and trays of bars.

when we were skiing right in the resort, I'd always have them in line or tram bar in my pocket and have them in line in the beginning of the day.

And we used to go so early so that we could try to get the first box, which was never really the first box, because you know, all the special people got to go first, but we would be in line super early.

So you had to bring like food and breakfast really to like hang out for awhile.

And it was just like, you know, a hang out, chill, little party waiting for the tram to open.

and that's when I really kind of started passing out the.

and then my friends loved them so much that they'd asked me to make some for them.

So I started doing that and then it kind of became a hassle kind of a pain in the butt because I wanted to play all day and I wanted to, you know, then you go to work at night and so I'd have to try to fit some time to make the bars, which really wasn't a problem.

But.

I guess it kind of became a problem cause I was making too many for what my time allotment for it was at that moment in time.

And were they paying for them?

I ended up asking them to pay for them.

Eventually.

I said, at least pay for my ingredients.

I'll make you guys a bar.

And they were like, no problem.

and I would, I would cut up a tray and put it in a Ziploc bag and call it a slap.

Yeah, sell slaps.

I'll get, I should get you a slab sometime.

They're pretty cool.

If it perfectly at 20 bars, I think it was, that would fit.

And as a black bag, you know, they were, they changed to about, I mean, the bars probably ended up being about three ounces, which a few years ago that the tram and the grizzly were still three ounces.

If you remember.

yep.

And I'd, I think I'd sell them 20 bars for 25 or 30 bucks.

Something like that.

How cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

People still want those people still want to buy the slabs from me.

They're like, I just wanted one of those big Ziploc bags you used to sell.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

And how many years were you making them in your house or friend's houses before you started having to find a more appropriate place to make them?

so I started making them.

I'd say about, well, when I got legit, I mean, legit got my business license and such that was in

right around 2005.

that's when I started making them at Nora's the 2005, somewhere around there.

I sort of make them at Nora's.

I waited tables at Nora's at night.

so I would make them either on the night they were closed or I would go in after all the prep had been done on my days off and work in the back kitchen, making the bar.

Once it became legit before that.

Yeah.

I just made them at the house and it was, you know, kinda just to my friends mostly.

so yeah, I had to have a health inspector come.

I thought it was such a big deal.

do all this paperwork to become, you know, official and I needed all of this same time for a few accounts in Jackson Hole.

Like they wouldn't buy my bars unless they, you know, certain things,

And I think it was actually hungry jacks.

That was the first one that let me know, I need these items in order to sell them the product at Hungry Jacks.

So it got me all, you know, doing it the right way and becoming a legitimate business.

And, yeah.

Then I can actually start growing the business properly.

Now were you at that point, were you still wrapping them in saran or did you have a different type of packaging?

So it came to a point where I started looking around and found these little plastic, like cellophane bags.

That I could put them in and you get these little thermal impulse sealers, these hand sealers, and I'd feel the end, put them in a bag still the end.

But I used to freeze the bars before I put them in because they slide in, they would slide in the bags easier.

There's a whole technique to it all.

so it slide in the bags easier and then they could seal them and put a sticker on the front, a sticker on the back.

I did thousands upon thousands of bars that way.

Yeah, labor intense, but you get really good at doing that when you're doing it over and over again, it was pretty neat.

Um, so that was, that was my first packaging.

I mean, after the saran wrap that actually had the name on it.

when I was working at cosmic apple gardens, I met quite a few people there.

So I got my first website from a friend who wanted to learn how to.

Make websites, from her.

And then my first design, there was a graphic designer who also volunteered her time at the farm and she made my first design for the bar.

so I had a lot of friends that.

Helped make it come together now.

And we're all saying, you've gotta sell these bars.

They're way better than whatever big brand we all know.

So eventually I bit the bullet and gave it a try.

And we, you know, we grew and grew super slowly and grew and in Jackson Hole and got into more accounts and became a what's the word that I've heard people, use, Oh, it'll come to me later, but really, yeah.

Coveted or the bars seemed so coveted by my people back then, because I think they were, you know, not real easy to get.

They were commodity,

there are commodity.

and where was the first place that you went outside of the Jackson Teton Valley or.

As far as selling your bars,

I'd say,

well, it's interesting.

And think back to then, when we first started selling the bars and I had a couple sales people, I mean, in the industry now people would call it shotgunning.

so.

I called, we would call up accounts that we thought would be a good fit, like bike shops.

And it was a lot of bike shops and outdoor shops at first, cause really targeting that outdoor, you know, kind of mountain audience.

so we would call them, we would send them samples, they would try them, they loved them and then they would start selling them.

I can't tell you, I mean, it was.

It was kind of all over.

we did the same thing with some grocery stores and these were all, so we did this all direct, make the bars, put them in boxes, shipped them to another state and they'd put them on the shelf and sell them.

You know, we didn't hear from them for awhile.

we call them up and say, you know, how's it going?

How the bar is selling, blah, blah, blah.

started making also little baby samples.

That I'd put in small Blake bite size square that had put it in a little small cellophane bag and seal it up and we'd send samples to every single store so they could sample them out to their customers.

so very mom and pop, but it worked, and we worked hard, her doing it.

I'd say.

kind of bigger stores that were close by where the whole foods in salt lake city, we went to each store directly there and sold direct.

You can't really do that now with whole foods.

And then I would go down there and do a lot of sampling at those whole foods.

And the bars started selling really well there, which enabled us to go direct to all the other Rocky mountain region, whole foods.

and that was a really great indicator for me.

as to how good our bars are.

I mean, they're pretty, they're a great account to get into.

And really gauge how good of a product do you have if you sell well?

and I spent a lot of time in salt lake and then in Colorado, when we got more of the Rocky mountain accounts at whole foods, and they were a great company to work with and super fun.

Yeah.

okay.

Let's share with people.

How many different bars do you make now?

We have eight different bars now.

Okay.

But this is going to be more, it's more, really great local history for Jackson ball, but I'm glad you asked this.

we have eight bars now.

Four of them are almond butter based and for a peanut butter based, you can't find them all in.

Every store, like some stores will just get four different flavors and that all the flavors, but we have eight, you can see them all on the website.

I have probably, I dunno, six or seven more recipes for different bar flavors.

Oh, awesome.

But, it's I think it's lemon coconut in it.

Lemon, coconut, my wife doesn't like coconut.

She won't go near it.

Oh, good.

Well then

you already my bike.

Hey Kate, we're going to do a break to get a word from a sponsor.

We're going to come back and learn about where Kate's real food is.

and Where you are now.

Okay.

All right.

Cool.

Sounds great.

Welcome back.

Kate, talking to Kate shade with Kate's real food and you organically started and grew grassroots style of a food company.

And you started with one item that you were making for friends, handing them.

Selling them as a slab.

I love it.

Which people listening in the world of avalanches it's a slab breaks away.

Right.

That's so true though.

You are selling a slab and I just love the connectivity to nature.

I love that too.

That's awesome.

And so now you make.

Different bars.

You're in.

Are you international?

How many states are you in you and every state

we're going to have a state.

Okay.

And are you international?

I could probably get some information on that.

we should be.

We had just, started working with yes.

I would say we would, I can tell you where and little later time.

Oh, it's

all right now, just on the other half before the commercial, you said interesting connection story.

When I asked about how many bars you.

Oh where you, you had said something else right before that,

talking about what was the next bar, maybe that's

what it was.

So the next bar was actually the tram bar with a different label.

The grizzly bar back in the day, the tremor and the grizzly bar were exactly the same.

What I did.

As a request from one of my customers, which was Jenny Lake Boating up in Grand Teton National Park.

They wanted to sell my bars up there, but the name of the tram bar just really didn't work in the park.

Right.

and they thought it would be great to have a grizzly bear bar.

So, so that's how the grizzly barking.

But it was exactly the same.

It had milk chocolate.

Now the grizzly bear has dark chocolate.

but it, they sold like hotcakes up there and it was such a great fit.

It was the only food product they were selling, I believe.

And I think it might still be the only food product they sell.

If you'll go through, there's a, just a display of the grizzly bear.

And that's it.

They're like, it's easy.

That makes it really easy that way.

And you've got a great product.

So, and that's at the Jenny lake boat area.

Yup.

Right on the ramp when you get on the boat.

Yeah.

Wow.

What a captive audience ,Kate

yeah, it was amazing.

We got so much great response from them.

and eventually I changed the grizzly bar to have dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.

so it's the same but different, but now it is the best-selling of bar.

We have the grizzly barn with the dark chocolate.

So just, yeah, kind of just a neat little local tidbit about the history of the bars, some of their names,

what enabled.

To grow and, well, I guess also are your bar still produced here in the valley?

They're not produced here in the valley.

So in 2010, that's when I quit my, you know, my other waiting jobs, and other jobs in general, just to go for it with Kate's Real food.

and I had partnered with Bruce daily.

So that way I was able to, you know, kind of pay myself and start to grow the company.

I feel like, you know, since 2010 we have we've grown pretty significantly.

it was pretty organic growth, I would say in the first four and five years and in more, and we produced the bars in Victor, Idaho.

well actually originally I had a small place in Driggs where.

We handmade made the bars.

and then we moved to a bigger facility in Victor.

once we were in Victor, it was quite a bit bigger.

We were even able to get a packaging machine.

So that was like my first huge moment where instead of it taking, you know, one hour to package a hundred bars, It would take I think it was 60 bars.

A minute.

We could do so it, it completely change.

That wasn't like the first aha, holy cow, the efficiency moment.

you know, lot more efficiencies after that, little things and kind of made a big difference.

And then it was just two years ago.

So we produced the bars in Victor, Idaho.

until two years ago, we probably could've made up to 3 million bars in a year.

labor was a little more difficult.

We had some really good bar makers, but if you have someone that that's sick for a week, you know, that's however many thousands of bars that you're not putting out that week.

Um, and for that, for us, that was a big deal.

two years ago, my business partner.

well, it opened, so it was more than two years ago that it started, but he created a, he built a co-packing facility.

So a co manufacturing facility, basically another business that would make Kate's Real Food bars for us.

so two years ago, our bars started to get made in Bedford, Pennsylvania.

I had two employees that moved from Victor to Bedford, Pennsylvania to help in the project.

They're still there.

I would say that was instrumental and be able to make it happen.

to me.

It's really important how the bars are made and they're made correctly.

you'll see a lot of extruded bars out there to me.

they become over mixed and kind of homogeneous where when you hand make them, you know, you can retain all the texture and the whole ingredients of the bar.

So, you know, you bite into a chewy cherry, and then you've got like a little crunchy rice nugget or crunchy almond that you're biting into.

And to me, good food has like great texture, especially in the bar.

So because it's vertically integrated, we, I feel like we've got more control over how the bars come out.

And I'm super picky.

So I'll, yeah, we work together really hard to make sure that the bars are coming out the way they should.

And I think that is rare in the industry to have such a good connection with someone else.

That's making your bars.

Now, could you share with us, you've mentioned an extruded bar versus your bar more handmade.

what is it extruded bar mean?

And you don't have to share names of other bars, but what's that type of texture look like compared to you actually see the cherries and the almonds and the coconut flakes, you know, pieces in your bar.

Yeah.

When it's extruded.

I mean, some bars are extruded and you can still see some of the ingredients in there, but they're really, it's all the ingredients get mixed together.

Very much so very mixed together so that the ingredients pretty much start breaking down and you can't decipher, Like what the ingredient actually is some of the bars you get that are extruded, you might see it, you know, an almond, and some almond bits here and there, but you might not really know what's in the rest of the bar.

unless you read the ingredients.

This is the one I experienced mixed in a big hopper.

It goes down smaller and smaller into a tube.

And basically.

Bars are pooped out and that's what they look like.

You know, everyone will say it.

I heard everyone say it, so it's not original, but yeah.

Yup, exactly.

So that's extruded.

And to me, I can tell the difference between there's some extruded bars that are better than others.

Like they don't mix them up as much.

other extruded bars, I think that's the way they want them.

I mean, they're all.

You know, you eat them and it's smooth.

there's not, it's a very smooth texture.

You don't get whole bits of different ingredients in there.

So was that helpful?

Yeah, it is.

It gives people an idea.

Not everybody knows about Kate's Real Food.

And so it gives them an idea.

If they're going to a place in their community and see Kate's real bar, what's the difference between your bar and somebody else's bar.

And can people still find them in whole foods on a national level or w what other type of stores, and you can find

us in a lot of different regions of whole foods.

hopefully we'll be in all of the whole foods soon enough.

Hopefully it says multiple different regions.

across the United States, like Northern California is one region in Southern California is a region Rocky mountains region, Pacific, Northwest Northeast, all different regions.

So you get into regions and then once you're in a certain amount of regions, you have the ability to pitch your product, to get into all of them at once.

which hopefully we will see.

Being all in the whole foods.

we are also in a lot of people down in Texas area would know AGB.

It's an amazing

store.

We are there, which is amazing for us.

Yes.

all the REI is across the country and I will say REI is one of the places that has they have, I believe six out of eight of our flavor.

we will be in Herman's again, which has done in Utah.

And they're going to also going to have six out of eight of our flavors.

Harris Teeter, Hannaford, king Soopers, some of the giant stores, there's a lot of different giant stores.

We have started to get into quite a few.

I actually know a lot of new accounts recently.

so many that I start getting confused.

So, and a lot of times, you know, we're, we'll be in the process.

So we might not be in no Harmon's until July or whatever account.

I'm just using them as an example.

So we're always in the process of pitching to new retailers, in the process of, you know, waiting until August until we're on the shelves, certain places, and it's actually become quite overwhelming.

Honestly, when I can say I can't keep track anymore, it's kind of we're at the next level,

right?

Yeah.

it's kinda crazy.

It still doesn't seem quite so real to me.

How many

bars do you all make now?

A year or a month?

I'd say, well, now we have mini bars too, which are kind of half the size.

So those are a lot, with the addition of this new account that I'll tell you about in a minute,

I would say.

I'll just say this it's.

It will be over 50 million bars this year.

I'm trying to be too specific, but thinking for too long,

and you have how many employees now

we have?

Well, so the organic snack company, which is our co-manufacturer has most of the employees, but they're actually not considered Kate's employees.

All they do is make our bar stuff.

I'm guessing that they're reaching, you know, close to a hundred right now.

I'd say that's part-time and full-time included at Kate's Real Food food.

We, you know, somewhere around 20 employees, little less.

What spectacular success.

I hope I hope it's successful for you.

It sounds like a success at this point.

Kate.

Have you flown anywhere recently?

No, I have not in a while.

Tell me what's the big news Kate.

They are on Delta airlines as one of their snacks that they will hand out to you while in flight.

No kidding.

That's big.

No kidding.

It's huge.

Which bar are they going to hand out?

They have the dark chocolate cherry almond, formerly known as the handle bar

are the mini it's a minibar.

So it's like.

It's a half size bar.

When does

that start?

This has started so well started really months ago.

COVID kind of kept it a little bit slower.

With them, but yeah, it's, I'd say we've fully been on board over, you know, almost a couple months on their flights.

Yeah,

my fly on next time I fly.

I'll take a picture and post it to your account.

Send it to

me.

I'll share it on the connection account to, I love it.

I'll specifically ask for a Kate's bar.

Do it.

Yeah.

So that kind of, yeah, that'll bring us to the next level.

it's still early with them, so we'll see how it all, you know, how it affects us.

but pretty exciting.

Well,

I'll say this for everybody.

That's listening.

When you fly Delta asked for Kate's bars as one of your snacks, and then take a picture and put up on the connection.

Instagram accounts.

Yeah, I would love it.

I have lots of friends that are listening and they fly.

Okay.

That's yeah, I would love it.

I want to see it.

It's already, I have a bunch of friends that somebody's me, photos and it's just crazy.

I'm so happy for you.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Yeah, next level.

and they're available at Jackson hole Marketplace.

Exactly.

Go to Jackson Hole Marketplace to get your Kate's bars..

That's right.

Keep a few in the desk.

You never know when you snack, you get hungry and it's good that for me, I'm sensitive to a lot of foods.

So the ingredients that you use though, I checked for the almond, eighth almond based wins and make sure the gluten-free and then otherwise I'm going for it.

Oh, that's

awesome.

Yeah, peanut butter, you can't do then

peanuts kind of bother my stomach, so I stay away from it.

if I'm hungry enough, I'll eat one that matter.

But, If I think about it and plan properly, I'll stick with almond butter

based

ones.

All right, good.

Yeah, the gluten-free is a big deal.

And when I first made the bars, it really wasn't a deal like there wasn't much talked about with the gluten-free.

I just feel really fortunate that when I made the borrowers, everything that I used was gluten free.

and now, yeah, we do have, we have the official certification.

That's wonderful.

Yeah.

So.

So Kate, what is your website and how can people connect with you if they want to?

Our website is KatesRealFood.com

alright, and that's K a T E S no, apostrophe,

no apostrophe, K a T E S real food.

No S at the end of food, Kate's real food.com.

Some people put foods, it would probably come up anyway, but you know, you know, yeah, we sell all of our bars online.

you can subscribe like the little SMS messaging things, get on our newsletter.

We have specials and, yeah.

And they'll come super fresh to you.

If you order online,

I love it.

And people connect can connect with you via the website.

Me personally, yeah, they can connect via the website.

Basically at the, yeah, it's the contact us.

I don't directly get those emails, but they will be sent to me if they're addressed to me.

Yup.

I love it.

Yeah.

You can connect with the real person.

Yeah.

There is a real person behind the company.

It's a question.

People ask all the time or a real Kate.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, you are the real Kate behind Kate's.

And I'm so happy for you.

And it's an honor to get, to have the time to talk to you.

If somebody that's built a business from, you know, grassroots from starting in friend's kitchen to, you know, think about, I want people to think about how many years you were.

Working other jobs while doing this business, it wasn't until 2010 that you said I'm going to just focus on Kate's Real Food, big leap of faith for somebody starting a business when you had a business.

And you've been working at for many years, but, just

kind of a side job though, to make extra money.

Right.

Yeah.

I had so many people back in the day say, oh my gosh, you got to start selling.

These are the best bars ever.

you gotta start making it.

You have to make a business out of it.

So yeah, I made a little side business and then after a while being in the service industry, I guess gets it is what you make of it.

But I knew I wasn't destined to wait tables the rest of my life.

and I really, you know, I want to make some sort of no difference or change or make some people happy somehow in the world.

And that's something I'm still working on with the business, but, you know, my passion.

And why my bars are organic, are from working at the Cosmic Apple Gardens.

organic I think is really huge and it's definitely bigger out west.

and you know, the whole regenerative agriculture and small farms I think is really.

Amazing and the way to go.

And it's really good to see that it's, it's getting more in the spotlight, um, and things are changing there.

And, even really big corporations are looking at regenerative farming.

but in, in how much it fuels.

You know, my outdoor passions, which to me is another really important thing, for me growing up and now being able to get outside and adventure in the mountains.

And it's just part of it like, a good, healthy way of being, in good living.

so if there's.

There's ways now that I'm really looking to be able to give back and get more people to, you know, learn or be more educated about organic foods and farming and just getting more active and adventuring outside.

So, yeah, that's where we'll be putting our energy.

Also, as we continue to grow,

I love your passion.

Thank you.

And your desire for people to live Healthy happy lives.

I hope so.

The world would be a happier place,

right?

Yeah.

It all starts with good food.

Yeah.

Getting outside and doing something, whether it's raining or snowing, windy, sunny.

it's all about being in the moment and being in the place so true.

Well, Kate congratulations on what you're doing and landing that big Delta account and being in Jackson Hole Marketplace, that's really moving the needle there.

I so appreciate it.

Great gift baskets, I believe right.

Please.

Thank you.

Yes, you can make some really cool gift baskets and we can ship the gift baskets as long as they don't have alcohol in them.

We can ship them.

Yeah.

Local Jackson hole goods.

Yeah.

Perfect.

We do our best.

Yeah.

I love it.

Well, I'll let you get back to your day.

Thank you, Kate.

Enjoy the, uh, the rain or snow or whatever brings,

embrace, embrace the weather wherever you are.

Yeah.

But you know what?

We're back up to pretty normal water table level where we need to be.

But I think we need to be beyond that, but it's not looking as dim as it did as bleak back in January, February.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It feels like, it feels like we're getting later precipitation.

Yeah.

And we have before.

I hope it keeps extending throughout the summer because we need

it.

We don't want them big.

We don't want super dry season all summer.

No.

So yeah.

Pray for rain.

Yes, indeed.

Pray for rain.

Yeah.

Go enjoy your day.

Thank you.

Kate.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

If there's anything else you need, let me

know.

All right, I'll do that for sure.

All right.

To learn more about Kate Schade.

And Kate's Real Food.

Visit TheJacksonHoleConnection.com episode number 193.

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thank you, everybody who helps keep this podcast going each week.

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