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.
Personally, I’ve fallen pretty deep into the BJJ world. I’ve been running one of the sport’s most popular newsletters for the last few years (which now lives here by the way!) and I’ve even been talked into showing up at 5am to coach a few days a week.
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.
(And, if you run a BJJ newsletter long enough, you'll realise that most jiu-jitsu people feel much the same.)
You don’t want a full meal before you roll - but, you also don’t want to walk into the gym feeling flat, hungry and washed out.
It's also important to understand that BJJ isn’t just another workout. It’s 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 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, BJJ 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
We want Raised to be the energy bar for BJJ.
Actually, we want it to be the energy bar for anyone with a mouth that wants to eat well and train regularly, no matter what they're into.
First and foremost though, we want our grappling community to know there’s a snack made for them - something that helps them train better, recover smarter, and stay on the mats longer.
And at risk of being a bit cliché - BJJ is about more than just training, it’s about the people.
So you’ll find us stocking your local gyms. You'll find us at comps. Handing out samples. Backing the athletes and supporting the sport.
