Orinda Mom May Have The Recipe For Success

The idea for Be Real Bars came when Stephanie Tomasco took a close look at her daughter Olivia's diet.

"It was horrifying how much sugar she was eating," said Tomasco.

That launched the Orinda mother on a two-year quest to develop a healthy snack bar for children.

The journey is nearing fruition.

Tomasco has begun a Kickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 to help fund the first batch of her recipe for low-sugar, gluten-free oatmeal raisin and chocolate food bars.

The fundraising effort lasts until Dec. 21. If Tomasco reaches her goal, she will combine the $20,000 with her $10,000 investment to pay an Oakland company to manufacture and package the snacks.

Starting next week, Tomasco will speak with food brokers and local grocery stores about putting the Be Real Bars on their shelves as early as January.

Tomasco turns 40 in mid-December and thinks this is a great way to start her next decade.

"It would be so fun to go into my 40s with this," she said.

Tomasco has a business background to rely on.

She grew up in San Mateo and attended USC. She lived in New York and San Francisco before she and her husband, Jonathan, moved to Orinda in 2007.

Tomasco started a magazine and had a lifestyle marketing business before working for Charles Schwab as a strategic consultant.

When her daughter was born five years ago, Tomasco decided it was time to stay at home.

'I went back to work for a little while, but I didn't want to leave my daughter," said Tomasco. "It just wasn't for me."

When Olivia entered preschool two years ago, Tomasco got the urge to return to the business world.

"I felt the timing was right," she said.

However, she wanted to do it on her terms -- where she could work from home and still spend time being a mother.

Tomasco started by making Olivia brownies using natural ingredients. Eventually, she developed the recipes for the snack bars and started making them from her kitchen.

The bars have only seven grams of sugar and are free of gluten, dairy and peanuts. They do have dates, oats, almonds, cashews, quinoa and other healthy ingredients.

"I saw a gap in the market for a gluten-free bar for kids," said Tomasco. "There is one company that has almost all the market share for kid bars, so I thought they could use a little competition."

She found the Oakland company, which worked with her on things such as shelf life, supplies, texture and cost.

Tomasco used her own money to produce 5,000 of the food bars. She's been using them for taste tests, among other things.

A week ago, she launched the Kickstarter campaign.

"It's a really cool thing, especially for a stay-at-home mom," said Tomasco.

So far, Tomasco said things have been progressing well. She's too busy to think about how far she's come. She may get to do that when her product hits the shelves.

"When the bars are in the stores, I may have to pinch myself," she said.