The nutrition sponsorship at Ironman events looks to be having a shake-up, with California based Bonk Breaker named as the official energy bar of all US Ironman, Ironman 70.3 and 5150 Triathlon Series events. This latest deal looks to put the role of PowerBar at Ironman events into question.
The relationship between Ironman brand owner World Triathlon Corp (WTC) and Nestlé SA division PowerBar is a long-standing one. In 2008, the two organisations signed a deal that designated PowerBar as the Official Global Energy Bar and Energy Gel Sponsor from 2009 through to 2011 for all US and international Ironman and Ironman 70.3 qualifying events. This included the Ironman World Championship 70.3 and the Ford Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
As Bonk Breaker now takes on the official energy bar duties in the US, the global position for PowerBar at Ironman events has yet to be confirmed.
Bonk Breaker is based in Southern California, and is sold throughout the United States and in eight countries abroad. The brand sponsors Team SpiderTech (UCI Pro Continental), Kenda 5-hour Energy Pro Cycling, the Hincapie Sportswear Development Team, four-time World Champion track cyclist Sarah Hammer, pro football receiver Wes Welker, and ‘other outstanding athletes around the globe’.
Created in 2006 by Jason Winn while training for his first Ironman triathlon, ‘Bonk Breaker is on a mission to feed the world with the best tasting and most nutritious energy bars on the planet. Professional and amateur athletes and anyone hungry for a nutritious snack on the fly reach for the gluten-free, dairy-free bars that are baked fresh from the finest natural ingredients.’
“We’re incredibly excited to join forces with Ironman,” said Winn. “What could be better than the world’s greatest energy bars fueling athletes in the world’s greatest sports brand in the fast growing sport of triathlon? Bonk Breaker is the perfect energy bar to help meet the incredible nutritional demands of triathletes – from pros to age groupers. We look forward to providing Ironman athletes with the ideal blend of endurance nutrition – both on and off the course.”
“The relationship with Bonk Breaker is a fantastic fit,” said Erik Vervloet, Chief Marketing Officer for Ironman. “The Bonk Breaker team understands the unique challenges endurance athletes face to reach their training and racing goals. These bars are made by athletes for athletes and will be good for our participants.”
Bonk Breaker co-owner Chris Frank added, “Simply put, we started Bonk Breaker with the intention of creating a great tasting and nutritious energy bar that we would want to eat during competition. What started out in Jason’s kitchen as a solution to our own demands has rapidly grown into a fun, competitive company.
“Working with Ironman will take Bonk Breaker to a new level in many ways. We sponsor a number of pro triathletes as part of our Team Bonk Breaker and a major component to our product research and development process is simply listening to our athletes and partners. We get incredible ideas and feedback about what they like and don’t like, and we’re nimble enough to be able to respond swiftly. As a company, we believe that’s a big advantage.”
Named as one of the best nutrition products of 2011 by Road Bike Action and selected four times as the best energy bar by Competitor, Bonk Breaker is presently available in eight flavours: peanut butter & jelly, peanut butter & jelly high protein, peanut butter & banana, peanut butter & dark chocolate chip, almond butter & honey, espresso chip, blueberry oat and apple pie.
