At some point during everyone’s career as a gravel rider, you will reach into your jersey pocket, retrieve an energy bar and then a number of things might happen. You will fail to open the wrapper, thanks to a combination of shiny/unyielding plastic wrapper and lack of dexterity due to wearing gloves/having cold hands. You will resort to using your teeth to open said wrapper at which point you will be left with a small piece of plastic in your mouth, which you will in all likelihood drop. The wrapper will prove to be difficult to open, even with the hole torn in the top and you will have to either ride no-handed so that you can open it more easily or you will resort to squeezing the contents out through a hole that is too small or you will aggressively tear at the wrapper at which point half of the bar will snap off and fall to the floor. If this hasn’t happened to you yet, then it’s only a matter of time. But is there a better way? One Good Thing certainly think so and their bars have one huge USP – their wrappers are edible. No hassle, no struggle and most importantly no litter afterwards.
There’s a gentle squeak-whoosh-thud and a brightly coloured cardboard box lands on the door mat at Gravel Union Towers, courtesy of the postman. From the outside of the box you would have no idea that the contents are so revolutionary. One Good Thing, the manufacturers, have chosen to promote the other characteristics of the bar (small size, oat-based content, ease of digestion) and don’t mention the fact that YOU CAN EAT THE WRAPPER, which would seem to us to be a far bigger USP. Perhaps they have decided that writing “naked energy bars” on the box might be too titillating? The low impact/wrapper-free ethos of the bars themselves is continued in the packaging too, which is made from 70% recycled card.
Once inside, you’ll find the OGT bars themselves. Each one is square, 4.5cm square, 1.5cm thick and weighs just over 40g. OGT bars come in five different flavours – Lemon Drizzle, Cherry Bakewell, Honeycomb, Salted Caramel and Chocolate & Orange. Each one is covered in a “100% natural, edible beeswax-based coating”.
If you think of a standard energy bar (or other type of snack bar), the wrapper has to perform a variety of tasks – it needs to keep the contents fresh, it must keep the contents in one piece, it must offer protection from the elements/environment and it generally acts as marketing/advertising/desire-generator. Through some super clever engineering, the OGT beeswax wrapper does all that, but manages to do it without using any plastic.
OGT’s description of the wrapper is that “it works exactly how the skin on an apple does, meaning it can be rinsed if necessary and will no absorb anything it touches.” They go on to say “The coating protects the other ingredients inside, keeping your bar fresh and tasty. Our bars are naturally waterproof, this means if they get wet nothing will be absorbed and they won’t get sticky or dissolve. They can be conveniently eaten straight from your pocket or can be rinsed if required.”
At first, you might be slightly reticent to put the ‘naked’ OGT bar in your jersey pocket. Surely it will turn to mush? Or pick up bits of fluff? Or taste of washing detergent? Or perhaps worse of all, feel slimey or sweaty? In order to put the OGT bars through their paces, we took them out on a variety of rides with a mix of temperatures. We did short intense climbs, long flowy descents, deliberately shouldered our bikes, rode down sets of steps and did everything we could other than stand under a shower to test the bombproof characteristics of the bars and they were remarkable. Beyond the texture becoming slightly more malleable after a few hours of being stored in a jersey pocket, there were no other discernible changes at all. The flavour, texture and mouth feel of the OGT bar isn’t dissimilar to other oat-based bars on the market. That might sound like a disservice, but it’s remarkable that the eating sensation of the OGT bar is so normal, when its wrapper is so extraordinary.
For gravel riders and bikepackers, the OGT bar could be a revolution – no wrapper to dispose of means no waste disposal issue, no accidental litter and a lower environmental impact. The manufacturers have realised that many people will buy the bars because of their environmental credentials and there is a whole section in the FAQs all about it. Anyone using the bars as part of some physical activity will obviously want to know about the nutritional benefits and there’s a dietary section in the FAQs which should give you all the answers too.
As with anything food-based, there’s an element of potluck how your digestive system will cope with it and this applies even more if you’re competing or doing intensive/extensive periods of exercise like an ultra-distance event or a multiday bikepacking trip. However, with their “100% natural, easily digestible ingredients” OGT claim that you can “enjoy fuelling your sport with a tasty source of energy without any flavour fatigue” and from our testing so far, this certainly seems to be the case. The environmentally sound principles, the good flavour, the ease of delivery and the reasonable price all feel like they are exactly the right ingredients to make OGT bars a big success.
A box of twelve bars starts from £9.99 (with a current introductory price offer). At present, the bars are only available in the UK, but OGT are hoping to be able to offer European sales in the future. You can find out more information or place orders via their website.