It all starts with jiu-jitsu...
As with many good stories, this one starts with someone being choked.
In early 2020, mere moments before the world came to a grinding halt, I (Darcy) walked in for a trial class at my local gym. I was promptly strangled by a small child and left stranded somewhere between ‘existential crisis’ and ‘I must learn everything’.
Jess (my wife & co-founder) took a much more measured approach - simply signing up because she thought it looked like a fun way to meet people, stay fit and learn some new skills.
Same result, different path.
A bit of background on us...
We’ve been training ever since - coming on about 4 years or so for Jess and 6+ for myself. Jess is currently on a little maternity leave from the mats since we recently had our first baby.
Aside from our time in the sport, we've both also got years of experience in creating high-quality health foods which is where this idea really comes to life.
Jess has spent many years baking, working in top cafés, and creating genuinely amazing food. She’s also French, which makes her genetically predisposed to knowing more about great food and quality ingredients than most.
And in a previous life, I built and sold a health food business with a café, gourmet pantry, and a line of handmade products we shipped all over Australia. It taught me a lot - about good food, small business, and what not to do. But I loved it. Enough to do it again.
So, what's the problem?
Well, like many, we try to eat well and train often - but legitimately struggle to find something halfway decent as a snack before or after class.
You don’t want a full meal before you train - but, you also don’t want to walk into the gym or shape up to your workout feeling flat, hungry and washed out.
And if you train a physically demanding sport - be it BJJ, hyrox, crossfit, running or anything else - you no doubt experience joint stress, muscle fatigue, salt loss, nervous system spikes, and impact.
Sandwiches and bananas are great - but they rarely cover all bases. Especially not for a tough training session.
So naturally… you look for energy and protein bars.
And honestly? Most of them suck.
it's gotta be us
Once we realised we were the perfect team for this - health food experience, active people, and not completely terrible at running a business - we got to work.
Armed with a trusty KitchenAid and a food processor, we spent hours mixing ingredients, testing recipes, getting it wrong, and slowly getting it right.
As mentioned earlier, most of the bars we came across were, in our opinion, rubbish. They’re packed with weird preservatives, fake flavours, and a ton of refined sugar. They’re basically candy bars in gym clothes or dry protein-rich bricks.
So for us, the goal was simple:
Bars that taste great, contain no junk, and actually help with training and recovery.
We made sample after sample. Handed them out to friends & training partners. Tested every other brand we could find.
We’ve eaten more energy bars than you’ve had hot dinners.
Introducing: raised, the bar
While jiu-jitsu definitely inspired us, we want Raised to be the go-to energy bar for anyone that wants to eat well and stay active, doing what they love for the long term.
We are proud to be finding our way out into the world bar by bar - and getting into the hands of people who really appreciate what we are doing.
So you'll find us in gyms, health food stores, and anywhere people who give a damn about what they eat tend to hang out. We'll be front and centre at events handing out samples, backing the athletes andupporting the communities that keep people moving.
