Behind the Phlavor: Free For All

Making a vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free energy bar that actually tastes good? That was the challenge staring me down when I decided to create Free For All.

 

I'll be honest. I wasn't sure it could be done. 

The OG Recipe was already dialed in. People loved it. The cranberries, chocolate, coconut, and cinnamon hit all the right notes. But I kept hearing the same thing from runners and cyclists at races: "I wish I could eat your bars, but I can't do dairy," or "I have a nut allergy," or simply, "I'm vegan." Every time someone passed on a bar because of dietary restrictions, it felt like leaving people behind. And that didn't sit right with me.

So I set out to solve it. Take the OG Recipe, strip out the almond butter, honey, and anything with dairy or gluten, and somehow make it taste just as good. Maybe better.

Easier said than done.

The Real Challenge

Here's the thing about reformulating a recipe: you can't just remove ingredients and hope for the best. Every ingredient plays a role. Almond butter gives you richness, binding, and that creamy mouthfeel. Honey adds sweetness, moisture, and helps everything stick together. Take those away, and you're starting from scratch.

I needed substitutes that wouldn't just work. They had to deliver on flavor and texture without compromise. No one wants an energy bar that tastes like obligation. If Free For All was going to exist, it had to be something people actually craved, whether they had dietary restrictions or not.

That's when I started experimenting with sunflower butter and agave syrup.

The Breakthrough Ingredients

Replacing almond butter, sunflower butter (also known as tahini) has this deep, almost nutty richness that is creamy, smooth, and plays beautifully with chocolate. 

To remove the dairy (butter), I found a blend of whipped up seed oils. This maintains the healthy fat content to slow the burning of carbohydrates while still delivering the optimal nutritional balance.

And agave syrup? Clean sweetness with just the right amount of moisture to hold everything together without being sticky or heavy. And replacing the honey makes the bar 100% vegan. 

Then I let the cranberries and chocolate do what they do best: shine.

Without competing flavors, the tart cranberries popped even more against the richness of the dark chocolate. The texture held up on long runs. The bar stayed chewy, easy to eat with an elevated heart rate, and most importantly, it tasted incredible.

I handed samples to friends, training partners, people at races. The reactions were the same every time: disbelief. "Wait, this is vegan?" "There's no nuts in this?" "Are you sure it's dairy-free?"

That's when I knew we had it...

The Free For All

The name says it all. Free For All isn't just about what the bar doesn't have. It's about what it does have: access. Freedom. The ability to fuel your fun without compromise, no matter what your dietary needs are.

Whether you're tackling a 100-miler, heading out for a quick trail run, or just need a snack that won't weigh you down, Free For All is built for you. It's proof that you don't need to sacrifice flavor to fuel your body the way it needs. And honestly? You don't need allergies or dietary restrictions to love this bar. You just need to love great-tasting, real food that powers every element of fun.

Click here to shop Free For All today!

Share your adventures with us on Instagram @phunbar, join the Phun Bar group on Strava, or hit us up at www.phunbar.com.

Thanks for your support!

Jason, Phounder