Whatever happened to Meal Pack Pemmican bars?

[tacomabill]

The Berkeley, CA company, Bear Valley, that made them went out of business about a year ago. Their Meal Pack Pemmican bars were the best energy type bars I every tried and price was the best value as well.

The product is listed on a lot of sites as no longer available and the company website is gone:

Bear Valley Pemmican Bar | REI Co-op

This concentrated natural food bar with all eight essential amino acids for complete protein offers fast energy.

www.rei.com

Just curious what happened. Maybe they got bought out but have not seen anything resembling that product. They were never widely distributed and in Boise only REI and Boise Coop carried them, so maybe they did a poor job of marketing that eventually led to their demise.

 

[Shovel]

Old thread, but I know what happened to them.

They were initially sued by ConAgra over the name but during discovery they were able to maintain ownership of it due to using that name to market their meal bars since the 1970s. Then in late 2018 the business, operating out of a single building in California was sold by the original owner who was looking to retire, to a buyer who took all the intellectual property, recipes and the lease of the building with a stated intent to continue producing the bars. Immediately after ownership was transferred operations shut down and the former owner stated several months later that the buyer had disappeared entirely and would not reply to emails, phone number disconnected, etc. - leading to speculation that ConAgra just killed it to settle the legal dispute over the name.

 

[38snubby]

Interesting story there. How did you come across this intel?

 

[TwinStick]

If true, just another sad story of how people and legalities ruined yet another business.

I read an article about how HD Motorcycle took a friggin high school to court over the use of the word Hogs !!! Can you believe that ? I mean really, where is the intent to defraud or make money from the sports team on the back of HD ? There is none. I thought a whole lot less of HD after that. People are awesome !!!

 

[givemethewillys]

Hasn't pemmican been made since at least the pioneer days? How could they be sued over the generic name of dehydrated meat and lard? I've seen quite a few diy videos online lately as world events have spurred folks into being a bit more self sufficient. Pemmican lasts indefinitely, so maybe try to make some yourself?

 

[pith helmet]

I made my own for the first time last year with venison, blueberries, figs and a little salt pork. Wasn’t the best.
Will tweak the recipe and make it a bit and try again.

 

[gatorgrizz27]

Apparently it’s a “meatless” pemmican bar, if there could be such a thing. I’d sue them for attempting to mislead consumers, but I hate meatless meat products with a vengance.

FWIW, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard pemmican described as “good”. It was what it was when you were 500 miles into the Great Lakes and needed some fuel for the voyage.

If you want the meat/berries mix, EPIC makes some tasty jerky bars that last awhile without refrigeration due to being vacuum sealed, not cheap though.