Some of the best businesses start with a personal problem. Harrison Nastasi watched his mother manage arthritis pain with superfoods, while his father lived with celiac disease. That combination sparked an idea that turned into a college side hustle, and later into a growing snack brand.
Joining us on this episode of Business Trends Today are Harrison Nastasi and Justin Iannelli, co-founders of Bobica Bars. They set out to create a snack that was both nutritious and allergy-friendly while they were still in college. What began in a dorm kitchen has now grown into an expanding consumer brand focused on making nutrition more convenient and accessible.
The beginning of Bobica Bars
The name Bobica traces back to Nastasi’s family roots in Croatia, where the word means berry. He wanted something alliterative and easy to remember, reflecting a brand that leans playful rather than premium.
The idea grew out of watching his parents struggle to find healthy foods. To help her joint pain, Nastasi’s mother turned to superfoods like acai bowls. But the bowls weren’t ideal for snacking on the go. His father has celiac disease, an autoimmune condition that requires avoiding gluten, which ruled out most conventional snacks. Nastasi wanted to create one snack that could deliver his mother’s superfood benefits while also being safe for his father to eat.
He also wanted it to be something people could carry anywhere without worrying about it melting or freezing. That led him to create an oat-based bar with a superfood glaze.
"We just started in the kitchen. We got the home cottage license to make it in his own kitchen. And then from there, we just did our research and just looked up more and more YouTube videos and kept it going," - Justin Iannelli
Iannelli, who had worked with Nastasi on other projects before, said this idea stuck in a way the earlier ones hadn’t. The two started testing recipes together in the kitchen, refining the bar as they went.
From pitch competitions to store shelvesÂ
Nastasi and Iannelli funded their early growth through undergraduate pitch competitions, which Nastasi compares to Shark Tank for college students. Bobica Bars placed at both the national and global level. Those winnings, along with some early family help covering initial packaging costs, got the company off the ground.
Retail placement soon followed. A local buyer connection led to placement in ShopRite. The founders say they have been invited to Discovery Day at Target headquarters and buyers from Whole Foods have reached out as well.
Scaling required solving a manufacturing problem first. Nastasi said it took roughly two years to find a co-manufacturer capable of producing Bobica Bars, since the product doesn’t fit the equipment most manufacturers already run.
"We spent two years searching for a manufacturer who could really do our product because it's so unique." - Harrison Nastasi
Because the bar is free of the top 11 allergens, many facilities that also process peanuts or other allergens couldn’t be used. The granola base created its own challenge too, since it can’t be extruded the way many bars are, and manufacturers set up for a standard chocolate glaze weren’t equipped to run it. Eventually they found a manufacturing partner that could accommodate both.
The power of putting in on paperÂ
Iannelli’s advice to other entrepreneurs is to simply start, using whatever resources are available, from YouTube tutorials to the connections made through pitch competitions. Nastasi added that the first step is putting the idea down on paper.
“If you put that idea in your head that day on paper, it shows it’s real. It shows it’s possible,” Nastasi said.
What began in a college dorm room has now grown into a brand chasing national retail shelf space. For Nastasi and Iannelli, that’s proof the idea they wrote down years ago was worth chasing.
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