Founded by Kate Shade, Kate’s Real Food produces hand-rolled organic energy bars in six varieties.

“I wanted something that would sustain me when I was out skiing and doing mountain activities.” Shade said. “I started mixing up ingredients right from my cupboards and ingredients I thought tasted great, and their combination together and what also had a good combination of protein, fat and carbs to keep me going. That’s how the company started.”

Shade said she started selling the bars at farmers markets and in 2010, partnered with Altoona native Bruce Thaler to manufacture the bars.

“We started to grow the company significantly from there.” Shade said.

The Organic Snack Co. founders Bruce Thaler and Kate Shade broke ground on the Bedford facility last year. “This is a huge step for us,” Shade said of the Bedford operation. “It’s going to really allow me to be able to scale up and get into bigger retailers.” Mirror photo by Rick Boston

Kate’s Real Foods are manufactured in Idaho, but looking to expand east Thaler, and his son, Mark, who is CEO of The Organic Snack Co., the co-packer of Kate’s Real Foods, looked toward home to build a manufacturing facility and said they found the perfect place in Bedford County.

“We have really maxed out our operation in Idaho, so we needed to expand,” Mark said. “We wanted to bring it back to the East, and my dad and my whole family was born and raised in Altoona. We really wanted to bring it back locally.”

Bette Slayton, president of the Bedford County Development Association, said Kate’s Real Foods is a natural fit for the area.

“We have hiking trails. We have Blue Knob and Shawnee State Park. We have Bedford Springs with miles of hiking trails. This just really fits into this whole outdoor healthy, beautiful county region that we have,” she said.

Mark Thaler said the BCDA was instrumental in bringing the manufacturing facility to Bedford County.

“They were a huge factor in us coming here,” he said. “It offers a pretty attractive tax benefits as far as sales tax is concerned.”

Mark Thaler said an issue The Organic Snack Co. has at its Idaho facility is finding and keeping workers, a problem he does not think he will have in Bedford.

“We had over 100 applicants for the first seven jobs, so we couldn’t be happier,” he said.

Thaler said the Bedford production facility can produce 40 million bars a year, a significant increase on the 2 million a year produced in Idaho.

Shade said bringing production of Kate’s Real Food to Bedford is going to take the company to a higher level.

“This is a huge step for us,” she said. “It’s going to really allow me to be able to scale up and get into bigger retailers.”

Mirror Staff Writer Rick Boston is at 946-7535.