News

Actions

Choice to go healthy leads to new business

Punta Gorda company makes energy bars
Posted at 7:45 AM, Aug 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-31 07:47:19-04

When Marjan Zaun turned 40 years old she decided to train for her first ever fitness competition. It opened more doors than she could have imagined.

"That journey has brought me to realize how important it is to fuel our body with the right kind of food," Zaun says. 

To find the right kind of food, she had to educate herself on healthy eating. That led to some experimenting in the kitchen, and eventually a new business.

She opened Flexx Bar Company with one goal in mind. 

"Whole food nutrition, that anyone, from kids to adults can eat," she says. 

In her Punta Gorda work space, Zaun and two employees do it all. They cook and package natural food products like energy bars and granola. There are no additives, preservatives or added sugar in any of her products.

"And you can taste it," Zaun says. "When you taste the bar and there's no chemicals in it, your palette will taste that and really appreciate it."

You can buy Flexx Bar products online and at a handful of local grocery stores, but Zaun does much of her sales at Southwest Florida farmers markets from Sarasota to Marco Island. 

"That's my passion,"  she says. "Talking to people that come up to my booth at the farmers market and say, 'when you're eating whole foods and good protein and good carbohydrates, and good fats, your body absorbs that and your body breaks that down. As opposed to other things out there that are full of chemicals."