Vendor Spotlight: Kosuma Energy Bars

Judy Gremaud started Kosuma Energy Bars in May of 2012 in London, ON, after being inspired to create her own energy bars which would fit her family’s dietary needs. The bars became popular among Judy’s family and friends, who encouraged her to create a business based on the energy bars. Family friend Ephie Smith then joined the company in August of 2012, after offering to help Judy with the business. Ephie was a stay-at-home mom who was running childcare out of her home, and she noticed how busy Judy was with her new business venture. “The childcare group that I had was every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so I just offered the time that I was available,” said Ephie. “It started out just as a day here and a day there, and then in September she asked if I could come on a little bit more often.” 

Following the quickly growing popularity of Kosuma Bars, Meghan Bonk was hired in March of 2013. She had graduated from Guelph with a degree in nutrition and had spent some years working odd jobs and traveling, and had just returned from a working holiday in Ireland. “I was kind of like, okay I think it’s time to actually get some roots and I was trying to figure out what kind of job I could get, and I sort of just stumbled upon a Kijiji ad for a position at Kosuma,” Meghan explained. “I went to the interview and I was like wow, this is super cool, and I got hired and really enjoyed it.” Ephie and Meghan went on to work with Judy for roughly another 5 years, until Judy approached them with the opportunity to take over the business in 2017. 

Judy initially made the bars out of her home kitchen, and then upon officially creating the business she moved to production based out of the Western Fair Market. After Ephie and Meghan took over, they moved the production to St. Thomas in 2018, as they had run out of space at the Western Fair Market. “We knew we had to find a location outside of the market in order to fulfill the things we needed, but we couldn’t find anything there,” said Ephie. Since Kosuma Energy Bars are blended and not baked, they did not need a typical industrial restaurant space. Ephie and Meghan ended up chatting with Living Alive Granola, another company that was doing some demos at the Western Fair Market, and they mentioned to Ephie and Meghan that they might have a perfect spot for them in St. Thomas. “We came and looked and it was everything that we needed,” Ephie said with a smile. They have been hand making the bars in St. Thomas since then. 
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Kosuma Energy Bars are whole food energy bars that are handcrafted with natural ingredients. All of their nine bar flavours are naturally sweetened, contain healthy fats, are vegan, gluten free, GMO free and are high in protein. The bars are all made using nuts and seeds, with some having a layer of organic dark chocolate on top. When Judy first started the company she had 2 flavours of bars, cranberry almond and cranberry peanut, and not all of the bars were vegan. Kosuma now has 9 different flavours of bars available; chocolate peanut, peanut butter, pecan spice, cranberry chocolate, cranberry almond, cherry chocolate, chocolate almond, lemon, and chocolate coconut. Their bars can be found in numerous stores across Ontario, and they are available for purchase online, with free local delivery to London, St. Thomas, Komoka, Kilworth and Thorndale. 

Initially, half of the bars were vegan and half were not, with some being made with a whey protein powder and some with an organic sprouted brown rice protein powder. The decision to transition the bars to fully vegan was actually inspired during the creation of new packaging, which was made by St. Thomas local Amanda DeVries of Eye Candy Design. “It’s just easier, because some were vegan and some weren’t vegan, and although the whey was delicious it was just easier that way,” Meghan explained. “Within a year of taking over the company, because we didn’t have enough on our plate, we just did a whole rebrand!” Meghan said with a laugh. “And one less ingredient to order! We have to order so many ingredients,” Ephie said with a laugh. 

​All of the Kosuma Energy Bars are handmade solely by Ephie and Meghan. No two weeks are the same, as they make what number of bars are needed based on weekly orders and wholesale, as well as upcoming events. “On an average day I’d say we probably do about 6 or 7 trays, and there are 48 bars in a tray, so about 300 bars,” said Meghan. Generally speaking they take one day each month to make up their dry mixes, and since they do not have to bake the bars, the only kind of machine they use is a mixer. The two of them hand roll all the bars out, hand cut them, and hand weigh them. “We have to weigh every single one, and then we handbag them and put them through our sealer,” Meghan explained. “So it is quite the process, there is a lot that goes into making the bars.” After making the bars together for so long though, the pair has gotten into a natural flow. “We’ve really perfected what we do in our production, because for lack of a better explanation, we share a brain,” Ephie said with a laugh. “There’s some days when there doesn’t need to be communication, because we know exactly what needs to be done and we divide and conquer. We are way more efficient now than what we were years ago.”

Kosuma Energy Bars had their first day as a vendor at the Horton Farmers’ Market in the winter of 2022. Following COVID, the majority of their business was geared online and through wholesale, but Ephie and Meghan found out after moving to St. Thomas that the community here was different than what they had previously experienced. “The support you get from this community is different from any other community we’ve worked in or serviced,” Ephie said. “We’re small, we don’t have a lot of money to put out for big advertising, and we just noticed that you lose a lot of people because you aren’t in their face, talking to them and communicating. So we thought we would give it a shot here and see, and it was just nice to be a part of the community and meet new locals and show them what we have.”

​After taking a break from markets following their move from London at the Western Fair Market to St. Thomas, the Horton Farmers’ Market was a refreshing new option for the duo. “We love the St. Thomas community. The market here feels like a family, and even the customers come in and say it has a certain feel to it,” Meghan said with a smile. “We’ve really enjoyed meeting fellow vendors and the customers have been amazing too, so we are happy with our decision to be in the Horton Market and just to be more involved in the St. Thomas community because it wasn’t something ever that we planned for. We were a London based company for a number of years and then we pretty much came here [to St. Thomas] because we couldn’t find anything else, and then it ended up being such an incredible move for us.” 

This past May Kosuma Energy Bars celebrated their 12 year anniversary, and the Horton Farmers’ Market and St. Thomas community is so happy to have them here! Kosuma means ‘thrive and grow strong’, and we are so thankful that the Horton Farmers’ Market allows our locals to meet vendors, explore their products, and thrive and go strong together as a community. ​

Paige Palmer, EDC Summer Marketing Support

Paige is happy to be joining the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation as their 2024 Summer Marketing Assistant. She is completing her undergraduate degree this summer with a double major in Media and Communications Studies and Thanatology at Western University and King’s University College. She is excited to help to promote local vendors and businesses this summer, and is looking forward to trying all the delicious and unique produce and products at the Horton Farmers’ Market this summer! Outside of work and school she loves spending time learning about nature, animals, and gardening. ​