Startup CPG Newswire:
Harken Sweets Brings its Plant-Based Candy Bars to Nearly 5,000 Doors Across Leading Retailers

PRESS RELEASE — NEWS PROVIDED BY Erika Lopez for Harken Sweets

NEW YORK (Aug. 27, 2024) — Harken Sweets, the better-for-you, plant-based, zero-sugar, superfood-infused candy bar, is continuing its explosive retail growth by adding 1,000 new doors across leading grocery chains including Albertsons / Safeway, HyVee, The Fresh Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Lassen’s, Better Health Market, Acme, and more. This comes on the heels of launching into 3,500 Walmart stores, as well as Shoprite, McCaffrey’s, Pop Up Grocer, and more.

“Expanding our retail footprint is a key strategy for us as we continue positioning Harken Sweets as a brand that’s democratizing wellness and reimagining the classic candy bar with the superfood date fruit,” CEO and Founder, Katie Lefkowitz. “By placing Harken Sweets in everyday retailers, we’re making our candy bars more accessible to a wide and diverse audience – inspiring them to make healthier choices without sacrificing taste.

Harken Sweets was created when Katie Lefkowitz, a lifelong candy bar fanatic, received a diagnosis related to colon cancer that forced her to rethink her food and lifestyle choices.

When nothing on the market measured up, she utilized her background in neuroscience to create a chocolaty coating that mimics the taste and texture of classic milk chocolate. Harken Sweets also uses dates—also known as “nature’s candy”—which are high in antioxidants, fiber and important minerals like magnesium and B12—crucial for vegan diets. Its signature date caramel adds a natural sweetness and gooey texture which helps make Harken Sweets the perfect sugar-free, plant-based sweet treat.

Harken Sweets reimagines the old-school, nostalgic candy bars consumers grew up eating with all-new, nutrition-dense, better-for-you ingredients. Each candy bar is 150 calories or less with no added or artificial sugars. All bars feature a nougat layer topped with salted caramel date center, encased on a creamy, oat chocolate coating, and reinforced with sunchokes and prebiotic tapioca. The brand’s ongoing retail expansion underscores its commitment to holistic wellbeing and making healthier snack options available and affordable for consumers. In addition to these new stores, Harken bars are also available at Fairway, Gourmet Garage, Down to Earth, Clark’s Nutrition, McCaffrey’s, McLanr, CoreMark, KeHE, UNFI, Carrs, Pak’N’Save, Randalls, Shaw’s, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons as well as available on HarkenSweets.com, Walmart.com and TikTok and Instagram shop. To learn more about Harken Sweets, please visit our website or Instagram.

About Harken Sweets

Launched in 2023 after a health scare pushed founder Katie Lefkowitz into searching for nutrition-dense, gut-friendly alternative snacks, Harken Sweets goal is to reimagine indulgence, utilizing superfood ingredients to transform childhood treats into healthy delights. Our signature ingredient, the date fruit, infuses each Harken bar with natural sweetness and superior nutrition, offering a healthier alternative to a traditional sweet. With fewer than 150 calories per bar, sweetened with date fruit and no sugar added, rich in prebiotic fiber, and plant-based with less fat, Harken is pioneering a new category. At Harken Sweets, we’re reimagining Old School Candy with All New Ingredients.

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