A genuinely high-protein bar from Roobar: 27% protein, which works out at roughly 11 g in a 40 g bar — a real amount, comparable to two eggs, and unusual for an organic plant-based bar.
Why it uses two proteins and not one. The bar combines rice protein and pea protein, and that combination is deliberate rather than decorative. Pea protein is rich in lysine but short on the sulphur amino acids methionine and cysteine; rice protein is the reverse — good on methionine, low on lysine. Put them together and the gaps fill in, giving an amino acid profile that stands comparison with animal protein. It is the same principle behind rice and beans, or bread and hummus, applied inside a snack bar. Textured pea protein also does the mechanical work here: it is what stops a plant protein bar collapsing into paste and gives it something to chew.
What is in it. No-added-sugar chocolate coating (17%) made from cacao mass, hazelnuts, erythritol, cacao butter, coconut cream, coconut flour and sunflower lecithin; roasted blanched peanuts with salt; cacao butter; textured pea protein; coconut syrup; soluble tapioca fibre syrup; rice protein; pea protein; and peanut butter (6.6%). All organic, all vegan.
Tapioca fibre syrup — worth knowing about. It is used in place of glucose syrup to bind the bar while keeping the sugar figure down, and it is a soluble fibre rather than a sugar. That is a real benefit, but it comes with a caveat nobody prints on the wrapper: soluble fibres ferment in the large intestine, and people who are not used to them sometimes get wind or bloating from fibre-dense bars. If you are new to them, one bar is a sensible place to start.
Where it fits. After training, in a gym bag, or on a long day when the next meal keeps receding. It is a functional bar and tastes like one: chewy, substantial, only mildly sweet. If you want a treat, buy a chocolate bar instead; if you want protein you can carry, this does the job.
Allergens: peanuts and hazelnuts. May contain traces of other nuts and sesame.
Available at Só Verde, an organic concept store in Foz, Porto.