BRUNSWICK

A hungry 26-year-old has created an energy bar geared toward battling that afternoon slump.

Entrepreneur Alden Blease, a Portland native, is the creative force behind the Redd Bar — a plant-based meal bridge for people on the go. Blease, who first sold energy bars to his fellow students at the University of Maine in Orono, now has accounts all over the country, and recently received a one million dollar investment to accelerate distribution even further. Blease is headquartered at Fort Andross in Brunswick, where all Redd operations take place.

Though business is on the rise, it’s been a long road to success for Blease.

“I was really into health and fitness in high school, and started to recognize the connection between food and function,” said Blease, whose interest in fitness led to a modeling contract in New York City. “I was introduced to superfood and raw eating, because in the modeling world you have to keep the right figure.”

Though Blease enjoyed staying fit for the job, he said he realized he was doing so for the wrong reasons. In 2010 he quit modeling and enrolled in a Bio- Engineering program at the University of Maine in Orono.

“I didn’t have a lot of money and my meal plan ran out early on,” said Blease. “So I went to the Natural Living Center and filled a bag with bulk ingredients like coconut and agave syrup, and superfoods like maca and vanilla. I poured everything into the bag and mashed it together to about the size of a basketball, and survived for a full week off of it. That was the very beginning.”

Blease’s friends took notice, and after giving them samples of the mixture they began to request whole batches for themselves.

“I started making batches in my dorm room and sold them for about 10 dollars,” said Blease, who noted that several of his ingredients — especially maca, which is a native plant to Peru — are a very clean source of energy. “That’s how I got the idea to start the company.”

As Blease became more serious about marketing his product, he realized that he needed a smaller portion size at a normal bar cost. Blease began renting a commercial kitchen in Bowdoinham, and was able to produce and package the bars on an assembly line.

“I was able to make

100 pound batches and start selling them to local stores,” Blease said.

Blease made his first sale to Morning Glory Natural Foods in Brunswick under the name Rawgasm, but changed the name shortly thereafter to Redd, an acronym for “research enhanced design and development.”

Susan Tarpinian, owner of Morning Glory, said she knew Blease was something special from day one.

“He was really enthusiastic about his product,” said

Tarpinian. “He came to our food show, got people interested, and the bars were delicious. It was a joy doing business with him. Now we sell tons of them. I’m very happy to be part of his growth.”

Once Blease established himself in local stores, he began traveling the country to promote his product. He’s been doing so every since, most recently debuting peanut butter and oatmeal flavors to go with his vintage chocolate flavor.

“I recently drove through the night between events, and eating R.e.d.d. Bars got me through,” said Blease, who only has two official employees and works countless hours to secure product shipment, promotion and testing. “The heart of what we do is to give people more energy by creating nutritious products with the right curated blends of superfoods.”

Blease said he thinks of his product as a “meal bridge,” heavier than a snack but lighter than a meal.

“When you eat a bar you get two to three hours of increased energy and focus,” said Blease. “The bars also suppress your appetite and give you a general sense of well-being, a clean way of getting that caffeine stimulant effect.”

Peter Van Alstine, Blease’s partner at Redd, said that while millennials are their target demographic, Redd Bars will work for anyone.

“Anyone looking for that edge or to avoid that afternoon slump and power through the work day should try a Redd Bar,” said Van Alstine, who signed on with Blease in July of 2015 and hasn’t looked back since.

“It’s been a crazy journey so far,” Van Alstine said. “Any early stage venture is.”

To sample one of Blease’s Redd Bars, visit Morning Glory Natural Foods at 60

Maine St. in Brunswick, or go to reddbar.com.

bgoodridge@timesrecord.com