The Carnivore Bar

Change of Pace
over 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 04:25:16 PM

Hey Kickstarter Backers,

We’ve been given a little more time for the campaign launch deadline from Indiegogo, so we’re slowing our roll a little. We’re still raising the price of Carnivore Bars and we’re still launching the campaign, but the difference will be that now you have more time to decide whether or not to subscribe and lock in the current subscription price. There is absolutely no penalty for canceling subscriptions at any time and we'll give refunds if you aren’t satisfied with the product in any way. But with this price increase we’re trying to respond appropriately to the unknown variables at play, stay in business, and provide a reliable product for the carnivore community. We want to give people who supported us adequate time to respond to our changing policy and with the news, data, and state of the world changing every day, we also want to have as accurate and up to date information as possible before we move forward.

Additionally, we’re experiencing some unpredictable disruptions not only in the supply chains but also in international shipping, so we’re currently troubleshooting these issues. Thanks for sticking in here with us, we’re incredibly grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

Phillip

Long Days Journey into Night
over 4 years ago – Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 04:01:14 PM

Dear Kickstarter Backers,

The recent instability and ever-changing conditions of our world have given us all many opportunities to reflect upon various aspects of our lives, hopefully with lots of gratitude and motivation to strive forward while doing so. Here at The Carnivore Bar we’re feeling these values strongly, along with a sense of responsibility and duty.

We’re happy to announce that while we were majorly backed up on orders and didn’t expect to ship until the end of May, we were actually able to get caught up by mid-March! However, we were hesitant to announce this because of the various technical difficulties and supply chain issues that we experienced emerging from COVID-19. With the frequency at which information was changing and being released, we wanted to see what the situation was actually like and how dire things really were. While we truly wanted to do an update and reach out to everyone sooner, we didn’t have enough information at the time to make any intelligent assertions. So instead we waited, gathered data, assessed the situation, did some deep thinking, and ultimately decided that we need to act now, definitively.

Our next step is to do another crowdfunding campaign starting on Saturday, April 18, this time through Indiegogo. The reality is that as a business we don’t have a healthy profit margin at the moment. Your generous support via Kickstarter has allowed us to turn this dream into a reality by getting The Carnivore Bar off the ground, but ultimately the business needs to scale up in order to meet demand. We were hoping to receive some venture capital investment but as you might imagine, investors have had a rough few weeks and are now more risk averse. We don’t blame them, but now it’s imperative that we make some strategic decisions and structure the business more appropriately. This means we need to start pricing in expansion and maintenance costs by setting up the structure of our business in a way where we can actually meet our demand, and not keep falling behind.

In other words, the day we launch our Indiegogo campaign (April 18) we’re also going to be raising the prices of the Carnivore Bars on our website and will be ending the options for new subscriptions, meaning future orders will only be available by the box/a la carte. 

THIS WILL NOT AFFECT CURRENT SUBSCRIPTIONS! (All subscriptions made before April 18th)

I’m reaching out to you, our Kickstarter backers, ahead of time because you all are our original, core group of supporters and customers. I couldn’t have done this without your support and I want to give you all a final opportunity to subscribe before subscriptions go away entirely, and to give it to you at the original price. This price ($69/box for grain-finished and $79/box for grass-finished) will be locked in and won’t change despite any price changes that happen in the future for boxes of Carnivore Bars. If you’re interested in subscribing, please place your subscription orders on our website at www.carnivorebar.com as soon as possible, as this will only be available until Saturday, April 18.

Thank you again for your continued support. I hope you’re all safe, healthy, and prepared.

Sincerely,

Phillip

Don't Quit
almost 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 03, 2020 at 08:33:05 PM

We have a rule in our family. I thought it was dumb at the time. Don’t quit. You can do any after-school program, enroll in any sport you want, do whatever you want to do. But if you start a season, a club, a play...whatever it is, you finish it. 

I thought that was a pretty arbitrary and pointless rule as a kid. It irked nearly all of my siblings too. If there were a million things to do and you just wanted to try something why couldn’t you just do something a few times then bail? Many passionate arguments were attempted and failed in the pursuit of quitting a commitment, but none of our excuses were ever given any quarter. It seemed a waste to me, to limit our experiences like that, when there were so many things out there to try and it was impossible to try them all. But the rule remained, because there was wisdom in it that I couldn't see at the time. As it turns out; it was probably one of the most valuable things I ever learned. Sticking with something through the challenges and difficulties inherent in any endeavor is never fun in the middle. As an adult,  it's a principle I’ll always remember. And though I’ll never fully live up to it, it's a beautiful aim. So it is with great pleasure that I officially announce that we have finally finished fulfilling the Kickstarter. Really, this is just the beginning. We’re just getting started. But thank God we stuck through it and didn’t quit...because there were a lot of close moments.

Speaking of getting started, the pre-order was a resounding success. About a third of our total backers were pre-order supporters over the past year. And they’ve been patiently waiting all this time for their bars just like the original Kickstarter backers who pledged in March, and now it's finally their turn to try the Carnivore Bar. So it’s no time to rest on our laurels, but time to get to work. Time to launch the website, officially open for business, and kick some tail. Next step is getting all those pre-orders fulfilled!

There is no way I could have done this without you. I’m proud I didn’t quit. But the real thanks is to each and every one of you. If it weren’t for your support I would have. No one is an island. We’re a tribe. And all the personal strength in the world wouldn’t have made the difference that your support, encouragement, and faith in me did. I got through this because you gave me the chance to do something for the community. To make something of myself and solve a real problem. You as a group entrusted me with making this dream a reality. And I owe it all to you. Creating something new that has never existed is always a grueling and arduous process. But thanks to you wonderful people it’ll never be thankless. I can never fully express my gratitude.

Sincerely Phillip,

P.S.

1. The new wrappers are here and from now on you should get the bars you ordered correctly labelled. In the previous versions of the wrapper, stickers on the top right hand corner of the box describe the variety of bars you received. Apparently, according to support questions, I did a terrible job explaining that. I’m sorry folks. I had to wrap them with what was currently available in order to get the bars to you without further delay. So we used our original wrapper, grass-fed salted, for all varieties, and added stickers to each box. Sorry for the confusion folks. Grain=Grain-fed, Rocks crossed out=Salt free. 

2. Additionally we had some comments that some people really hate the grass fed taste. I get it. I made the grain fed variety for precisely this reason. Just because you aren’t a fan of grass-fed beef doesn’t mean that you’ll hate the carnivore bar. Many people have said that they prefer the grain-fed version of the bar to the grass-fed, even amongst those who eat grass-fed beef. I’m not here to sway you one way or the other, but we do make a version without any “grass-fed flavor”. Eat the meat you like! If you tried the grass-fed version and disliked the flavor, try the grain-fed version. We support low carbers of every preference. We made this product because we saw a need not being filled and my wife and I wanted a product just like this for ourselves and so did you! You should have the version you want, just put the ideology aside and Eat Meat! Grain-fed/Grass-fed, whatever floats your boat. So long as we’re putting people first over dogma.

P.P.S. It seems shouting people out has become a bit of a habit here at TCB so why break the trend? Here’s some Shawn Baker love, probably long overdue. Buy his fantastic book full of valuable wisdom on every page, and check out what he’s doing over at MeatRx! Probably eating steak and kicking ass. Just my guess. ; ) He also was in this awesome interview this week with Tom Bilyeu Check it out!

Merry Christmas!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Dec 25, 2019 at 09:57:47 PM

Merry Christmas, Backers!

The good news is that many of you have gotten your rewards before Christmas! The bad news is that some of you did not... We made, packaged, and shipped as many rewards as we were able to before heading off for Christmas. Today Mikey our head chef is spending his Christmas with his newborn baby girl; I am heading to Gran’s house. We will continue our efforts to get your rewards to you tomorrow, to get as many rewards out as possible by the end of the year. We have completed about 75% of our goal and expect to complete the rest by the first two weeks of January.

Unfortunately some of the custom mixed orders of grain- and grass-fed boxes were more time-consuming than we anticipated. It was a really cool idea to allow every order to mix and match but it severely slowed down the packing and shipping process. As we learn what makes sense and what doesn’t, we realize that we need to do some refinement in how we package and order the boxes. We really felt strongly about giving you all 12 bars instead of 10 for the presentation, but that change created issues with shipping and box dimensions. We are getting better at this every day and as a result shipping cost should go down because of these changes. We will take these lessons learned, and apply them to our new website. 

Additionally, we are aware our super-strong wrapper is a little too strong, and a bit difficult to open. We have already ordered replacements, with the same oxygen and moisture barrier, but easier to open.

Anecdotally some of our feedback is that the grain-fed bars are really tasty especially to the folks who are just starting out on their low carb journey as they have a more conventional taste. Here’s a young carnivore’s opinion:

RawMeatRoy - A Carnivore Bar Review

Merry Ellen and I continue to prefer the grass-fed since we’ve been eating that for many years, but we are excited to serve every variant to our zero carb community. Here are some reviews that we’ve captured: Carnivorebar.com

If you’d like to add a review we’d love to show the world what people are saying. Your opinions matter to us. If you have constructive criticism we’d love to hear that too. We want to make something for the community that is here for the long haul. We aren’t trying to just wow everyone with a flashy idea and a sales pitch. We want to be a reliable go-to for years to come. As a community we really needed a portable high-fat all-meat product with nothing toxic in it. And we’re thrilled that more meat companies are popping up. 

We’re seeking to fill a huge need for ourselves and the community. We’re so grateful that you all felt like it was something worth waiting for and backing the development of. Our hope is that it will be a constant tool for us all to go where we want to go, without limitations or boundaries. We can travel anywhere, do anything we want to do, without having to worry about being hungry. I for one hate being stuck somewhere where I have to involuntarily fast. I’ve been working on extending my fasting but sometimes when I’m stressed out, that’s just not the best option for me. It’s so great to have a backup that doesn’t require any food prep and that I can take with me on the go. I hope you find them as tasty and as useful as I dreamed they could be. I’d love to have the privilege to continue making this product for you as long as I can. Our Carnivore Family and extended relations (keto, paleo, low carb) are what has kept us from giving up. You are why we are fighting so hard to make this a reality. Thank you for everything.

Merry Christmas!

Phillip

P.S. We would like to shout out Carnivore Snax, a really cool idea by a fellow carnivore @biohacking.chick. They are trying to make a high fat jerky, that would be a dream come true. We wish them the best. I think we Carnivores can overturn the nutritionally bankrupt environment that is the status quo; we will support any carnivore who is in it for the right reasons.

Everything You Do Matters
about 5 years ago – Wed, Dec 04, 2019 at 01:41:41 AM

Everything You Do Matters

“There’s a deep idea in the west, pick up your damn suffering, and bear It! And try and be a good person, so you don’t make it worse. Well that’s a truth, you know.

...

Life is Suffering. Yes! Well who wants to admit that? Well just think about it- so what do you do in the face of that suffering? Try to REDUCE it! Start with yourself, what good are you?

...

How do you overcome the suffering of life? Be a better person! That’s how you do it. Well that’s hard. It takes responsibility. Well I think if you say to someone, you want to have a meaningful life? Everything you do matters, that's the definition of a meaningful life! But EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS…so you’re going to have to carry that with you. Or do you just want to forget about the whole ‘meaning’ thing! Then you don’t have any responsibility, because who the hell cares?

...

Which one do you want? Well ask yourself: which one are you pursuing? And you’ll find very rapidly that it isn’t the majority of your soul that’s pursuing the whole meaning thing!

...

It’s the oldest story of mankind; get yourself together, transcend your suffering, see if you can be some kind of hero, make the suffering in the world less. Well, that’s the way forward...”

This is an excerpt of a talk from a hero of mine, Dr. Jordan Peterson. He very much started me on this path. And this embodies the current moment for the Carnivore Bar. We want to make a food for carnivores or low carbers, make it easier to travel without having to involuntarily fast, and in so doing alleviate some of the unnecessary suffering in the world. We’re trying to solve the problem for the community and make this way of eating more accessible. 

That means facing our own inadequacy and the difficulties that stand in the way of any entrepreneur who attempts to solve a significant problem. Give it your best, fail repeatedly, don’t give up, become better, then overcome it. Say “good” in the face of adversity, and bear it! I have to say that this community and this endeavor has changed me as a human being. I’ve certainly burnt off some dead wood off of my character and left behind a rather selfish child and stepped into the man I feel I always should have been. I’ve found my raison d'être. I feel called to solve this thing if it’s the last thing I do. So without further ado it’s my great pleasure to announce to you that we’re finally shipping.

These are the boxes in our first shipment (about half of the Kickstarter rewards) and the rest should be out in the next three weeks. I do have to say that we don’t currently have all of the Kickstarter Bars made yet. But we are starting to run out of room to store them and we need to start sending them to you fine folks who backed us. These bars are the grass-finished bars with salt which is our original version of the bar. Half & half, as well as grain-finished and unsalted bars, are being made as this update is being written.

We’ve worked through both the metaphorical and literal darkness to get these bars to you.

Gone from old and dilapidated power in the basement...

 To reliable power that we actually have access to.

Got truly hot water (180°F) with an industrial hot water heater to manage our clean up process. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to clean up tallow without it. 

Wrote you a nice message and put it in each box.

We’re hard at work making dried beef to the point of creating a stockpile. The tallow has been our chief holdup this November. Now we finally have what we need to accelerate production speed. Our grain-finished bars are now sourced through Gilson’s food and all of those logistics are now finalized.

We ran a new set of lab work because our formula had to change due to texture goals, and we are hitting 83% of calories from fat, pretty much dead on our goal of matching the Paleolithic Ketogenic Diet from Paleomedicina ratio of 82% or Amber O’Hearn’s Keto Animal Foods and Mikhaila Peterson’s Lion diet. The goal being we want to meet the strictest version of your expectations in order to be a part of your lives for years to come. Thanks for bearing with us through our growing pains. Speaking of which, my one and only full time employee Mikey you saw working in the dark earlier so dedicatedly, also welcomed his daughter into the world last week.

Her name is Mabel, and no her daddy was not making carnivore bars during her birth!

I forget sometimes that just because we look cool online that a lot of folks don’t know how small The Carnivore Bar is as a company. We have just two full time employees, me and Mikey. So please look for the tracking numbers that will be hitting your mailboxes this month and resist the temptation for all 500 of you to send me direct messages… I will do my best to answer them, but you will not like how long it takes me. All of this that we’re trying to do, thousands of thousands of bars, with legal paperwork and red tape and craziness to boot, we’re attempting with a teeny tiny team on the ground. We do have an amazing support team of consultants and partners with Hedgewood that just joined us, and my wife Merry Ellen who serves as web/marketing guru and Phillip-wrangler. This team has been vital to keeping my head on straight throughout the whole process and I couldn’t have done any of this without their constant support.

The point is, that we deeply appreciate you backing us and believing in us. We depend on your continued goodwill, patience and enthusiasm for this journey. You mean everything to us, and you give us a reason to keep fighting tirelessly to make this dream a reality. It is both an honor and a privilege to serve you. I hope you’ll continue to put your faith in us as we hope to deliver you the pemmican bar you wished someone out there would make. Well here we are making it.

Thank you for supporting us! Everything you do matters!

Sincerely Phillip

PS. in other great news Diana Rogers started an Indiegogo campaign to help fund her SACRED COW project and TODAY ONLY, Butcher Box is matching donations. If you can find it in your heart to help tell the story of how cows can help save the world, jump on over and support this great rancher and filmmaker. I met her at the Grass-fed Exchange and she’s every bit as sincere as she seems. Partnering with another one of my heroes Robb Wolf, it seems like a dynamic duo that’ll be hard to beat. I’m glad that such great people are taking it upon themselves to set the record straight on the misleading information about animal agriculture.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sacred-cow-the-case-for-better-meat#/

#notsponsored just love them

P.P.S. If you are a pre-order supporter via Backerkit then your items will make it to you by the end of January. Sorry you’ve gotten bumped, but I have to put the Kickstarter first since they’ve been patiently waiting since March. I have not forgotten about you. And we will deliver exactly the same quality or better, it’ll just take us a little longer than we hoped. Thank you for believing in us.