Funding boost for Gloucestershire business making snack bars for the elderly

A Gloucestershire company specialising in nutritious snack bars for older people is anticipating future growth after securing £25,000 from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme.

Grandbar Snacks is the brainchild of former teacher and now nutrition consultant, Mary Merheim, who came up with the idea as a way of supporting her father through his loss of appetite in 2018.

Her research revealed how disinterest in food is a common part of the ageing process, partly due to conditions like dementia and the medications used to treat them.

As a result, one in 10 people over the age of 65 are said to be at risk of malnutrition, especially when living alone. Malnutrition in the elderly can prevent wounds from healing, is a cause of frailty and falls, and can mean longer and more frequent hospital visits – costing the NHS millions every year.

Having drawn a blank in her search for a high-calorie cake bar that was both appetising and nutritious – the vast majority being targeted at gym goers, weight watchers or children – Merheim invented her own. Grandbars are made to an original recipe using healthy, natural ingredients including almonds, flaxseeds, coconut oil, dried fruit, gluten-free oats, honey and chocolate.

“I was very conscious that my father, in his 90s, was heading towards sweet foods rather than savoury, which is also common in the elderly due to the deterioration of taste buds,” says Merheim. “Making Grandbars sweet was playing into natural preferences – like parents hiding vegetables in spaghetti sauce.”

Her plan worked. As chief taster, her father regained his interest in food and Merheim began selling her cake bars at school fetes and festivals.

When her father passed away, she used her inheritance to soft-launch the business in 2022, and it was named best start-up at the Gloucestershire Foodie Awards the following year. Having retrained as an end-of-life doula, Mary has since gained an HND qualification in nutrition and written a book called Navigating Nutrition in Later Life.

Now she is set to relaunch Tewkesbury-based Grandbars and the Start-Up Loan has been used to redesign the company’s website and fund a year’s worth of packaging and expand the product range.

For the relaunch, she researched shelf life and finessed the ingredients, which are finely ground to enable ease of swallowing and digestion. There are currently three Grandbar flavours: milk chocolate, lemon and white chocolate, and ginger and dark chocolate; a fourth, involving coffee, is due later this year.

All are designed to be split in two so they are less daunting to eat, and also to add a social element. “Because people with dementia don’t always remember if they have eaten, or even feel hungry, someone who is visiting can make them a cup of tea and share a Grandbar without being the food police,” says Merheim, who hopes to sell Grandbars direct to care homes and agencies as well as via her website.

When the need for more investment in the business became evident, Mary and her finance director came across the British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans programme. “It seemed like the perfect balance: we were able to get the amount we needed and it was easy to apply.”

She was supported with her application by Suzy Lowe, Start Up Loans officer at SWIG Finance which is the British Business Bank’s Business Support Partner in the South West for the Start Up Loans programme.

Lowe said: “She invested a great deal of time, energy and exceptional culinary skill to create a product that has so much potential.

“Hearing about the trials related to caring for the elderly and motivating them to eat was thought-provoking. This product will not only serve the individuals but provide peace of mind for family and carers when encouraging loved ones or patients to achieve a balanced and nourishing diet.”