In 2019 Trek have launched a range of gluten-free vegan Protein Bars. These add something very new to the Trek range of energy bars and high protein flapjacks. Trek are adding a new Protein Bar option to an incredibly well served market. If the Protein Bar market were a ship and Bars were its passengers the ship would be capsizing under the enormous payload and the passengers would be evacuating onto lifeboats to escape. Can the new bars from Trek secure a cabin? Lets find out.

Trek Protein Bars

Trek is one of the two major brands, together with Nakd, under the Natural Balance Foods umbrella. Trek and Nakd both are stocked pretty much everywhere  you might look. Health food stores, outdoor stores, supermarkets and online retailers. They are major success stories and well loved brands.

The newly launched range of four Trek Protein Bars each deliver a minimum of 20 grams or more protein per 100 grams and are gluten free and vegan. This satisfies the criteria I apply to taste test and evaluate for inclusion within the Best Gluten Free & Vegan Protein Bars and Gluten Free Vegan Protein Bars Nutritional Comparison. I taste test and analyse all the bars so you do not have to!

Ingredients & Nutrition

All the Trek Protein Bars are declared gluten free and vegan. Primary ingredients are Peanuts, Oligofructose and Soya Protein.

Oligowhatnow? Oligofructose is one of those ingredients which might sound scary but is actually a gut bacteria friendly prebiotic fibre. Foods like chicory, jerusalem artichoke & celeriac contains lots of it. You eat those everyday right?

Soy or Soya Protein Crunchies or Crispies are appearing in more and more products. They can also be bought directly.  They add protein and crispy crunchy texture to anything. There are some reasons to be cautious about the quantity and type of soy in your diet but if you are happy to include it they do help give these bars high protein and terrific texture.

Trek have a great FAQ covering ingredients, nutrition and packaging. Questions such as “Why is there a May Contain Milk warning given the bars are vegan?” and “Are the bars suitable for diabetics” are given clear, simple, useful answers.

Protein is minimum 10 grams per 40 gram bar and averages at 26 grams per 100 grams. This places Trek Protein Bars right at the top end of the scale for Protein content and at the very top for bars with whole food ingredients that you can see. The bars shown above them – Sunwarrior and BodyMe – are both of the ‘processed fudge’ variety.

Sugar is less than 5 grams per bar. The absence of dates and use of oligofructose instead of a sugar syrup keeps the sugar content very low.  So low that the bars are suitable for a low added sugar diet and are borderline keto friendly.

Cost & Value

Prices are compared per 100 grams to enable a like for like between different bar sizes. Trek are offering terrific value. A box of 16 costs between £14.90 and £16, roughly £1.00 per bar. Buy a box of 36 and the price per bar goes even lower to less than £1.00 per bar. As with pretty much all Protein Bars buying boxes is far more economical than buying singles.

Best Buys From: Go to the Eat Trek website. They have a portal enabling you to select and buy from a retailer of choice AND see if there is any special offer applied

Taste Test!

So far so good. Nice ingredients, great nutrition and super value for money but are these virtues backed up by the bars actually tasting nice? Common to all the Trek Bars is their very notable texture. Wow! These are the crispiest, crunchiest bars I have ever tried! Before Trek, Kind Bars and Eat Natural Bars both offered a fair bit of crisp and crunch but Trek have them both beaten. If you like a big satisfying CRUNCH you will adore these.

Another common feature to all the bars is that their flavor is mostly subtle. There is none of the overpowering sweetness found in some bars. Nor is there any odd aftertaste that various sweeteners can sometimes leave. So, what do you get?

Trek Blueberry & Pumpkin Seed

Blueberry flavour? Really? Blueberries!? I love Blueberries! These bars tease with a nice sweet berry-like aroma on opening. Upon eating the blueberry flavour is more of a hint than a story. Just 2% blueberry? Bring on the Triple Blueberry flavor! Still rather nice but not bursting with blueberry.

Trek Coconut & Raspberry

Oh my, this one just works. Begins with a clean crisp bite. Proceeds into earthy nuttiness complimented by gentle sweetness with a background of coconut. Ends with a convincing kiss of sweet & tart raspberry which lingers. Lovely!

Trek Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt

Great combination of texture and flavor! Adding just a pinch of extra salt – and these are still under 0.3 g grams salt per bar – enhances the flavour of everything else. The nuts taste nuttier. The chocolate tastes more chocolatey. The salt itself cannot really be tasted. This is the magic of salt! Fantastic bar.

Trek Dark Chocolate & Orange

I love the idea but given the modest quantities of chocolate and orange deliver a mild flavor. Nice, pleasant, enjoyable. Not sensational. I would still choose these over a bar stuffed with lots of sugar.

Trek Protein Bars vs The Rest!

• Crispiest crunchiest Protein bars on the market
• Higher protein and lower sugar than most other bars
• Similar price and one third less sugar than Eat Natural Protein Packed Bars
• Except for “soya crispies” the bars have relatively short and simple ingredient lists
• Welcome inclusion of prebiotic fibre as the binder also keeps the sugar content very low
• Fantastic value and availability from a broad range of online and high street stores

I buy all the bars I taste test, no freebies, so when I say I like something I really do. Trek Bars are most definitely a ‘best buy’ within the crowded market. Have Trek made it into any of the ‘best of categories’ within my work of love in the form of the Best Gluten Free & Vegan Protein Bars monster review? Yeah, probably. . . go check!

Another note of praise. Trek have a very honest & open answer to “Is your packaging recyclable?”  within their FAQ. They say no, explain why, share what they are doing about it and invite any suggestions. I do not know of any Protein Bar maker whose bar wrappers are recyclable or compostable. It is a common issue.

Have *you* tried the Trek Protein Bars? Love them? Adore them? Tell and share!

More of the Same?

Do you know of a Gluten Free and Vegan Bar I have not tried? The horror! Name it and I will fill in that gap in the universe stat! Ooh, caveat that they must also not contain oats. Oats and I have agreed not to see each other. I am a special type of coeliac that cannot tolerate even the ‘good guy’ gluten-free oats.

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