About

Trailnuggets started in January 2014 as a collaboration between Rodeo Adventure Labs Cycling Team, run by Stephen Fitzgerald, and Bake Works, Zac Fitzgerald’s bakery in Washington State.

As a family run business Bake Works had always wanted to sponsor one of their son’s cycling teams, and though they create and sell many healthy and mostly delicious products, none had been exactly the right first for athletics and adventure sports.

“Instead of just telling them it wasn’t a good fit and giving up, I asked them if they’d like to collaborate and try to create something new with a few simple goals.”

  1. It had to be very simple, relying on ingredients that were already perfect straight from nature.
  2. It had to be all natural. No esoteric chemicals or ingredients.
  3. It had to be easy to eat (summer or winter!).
  4. It had to taste very very good.

“I gave them input as to what I thought would be a good starting point, they added their significant food prep and ingredients expertise to the equation, and the first Rodeo Trail Nugget Flavor was born soon after.”

The first test subjects were Rodeo Labs team members. Then friends, internet friends, family members, and complete strangers (in order to really get honest feedback).

“We were shocked when positive comments started rolling in. We loved what we had created, and it was amazing that other people did as well. Then when people said they’d love to be able to buy some, we knew we had something. We took the feedback, refined some more, made some mistakes, and finalized the first flavor before moving onto the second flavor which was Just Beet It.

Having two fruity flavors in the bag, Rodeo Labs wanted something a bit more rich for the third flavor. A very simple bit of straw polling and research revealed that many people love chocolate and peanut butter and that was what they targeted.

The result is excellent, and with that we were ready to introduce all three bars to the world.

All of our flavors incorporate the basic Trailnuggets philosophy: Take proven foods and deliver them in a surprising and delightful way. We consider his mission accomplished.