Cali Cali selling new vegan Superbar in Circle K, Applegreen, Spar, Londis, Centra, SuperValu and Tesco

Fulfil founders Niall McGrath and Tom Gannon are adding vitamin-enriched vegan bars to their Cali Cali food range.

The pair, who set up the Californian street food-inspired brand four months before Covid-19 hit, have signed distribution deals to have the Cali Cali Superbar sold in Circle K, Applegreen, Spar, Londis, Centra, SuperValu and Tesco stores.

Pairing with agri-food giant Glanbia, the founders have been working on the taste of its vegan protein ingredient.

“There are lots of great products out there but one of the things we have noticed is that they have a really bad aftertaste,” McGrath said.

They have been perfecting the recipe for three years and after a trial run, they have two flavours to begin with: a chocolate, coconut and goji berry bar and a salted caramel bar.

With ambitions this year to sell 1.5 million of the vegan and gluten-free bars, which are high in vitamins D, C, B6 and B12, the co-founders see the bars sitting somewhere between a chocolate bar and a high-protein bar. McGrath and Gannon exited Fulfil in 2018.

“We are not going after protein bars — only 14 per cent of protein bars are bought because they have high protein in them,” McGrath said.

The brand has also worked with Kerry Foods to create low-calorie crisps that launched last year.

Cali Cali originally started by introducing four sauces to shop shelves and has continued to grow. A partnership with Boyne Valley will help ramp up production, with Mr Gannon saying there are seven people currently employed by Cali Cali but Boyne Valley will provide access to a manufacturing base of 200.

They say the deal with Boyne Valley is indispensable and has helped them to gain access to Australia, Benelux, the UAE and the UK. Most recently they have signed a deal with Waitrose in Dubai, which will see a rollout on March 2.

“We believe Dubai will be a real proof-of-concept market for us. We have had orders coming through from Saudi Arabia, right through to Kuwait — they seem to be just picking up on the brand,” Gannon said.

This year they plan to open a deli-style counter at the Junction 14 service station near Naas, Co Kildare, to show that their ingredients can also be used in food service. They’re also partnering with salad chain Chopped to supply ingredients for a healthy burrito bowl.