Founder Bio - Art Eggersten

Art Eggertsen has spent the better part of his adult life dedicated to the study and promotion of healthy living through eating well. Part athlete, part environmentalist, in many ways pragmatic but also idealistic, he’s a self-proclaimed “foodie” and admittedly “fascinated by all things edible.”

“I’m interested in where food comes from, how it can be preserved and packaged, its preparation methods and techniques,” says Art. “As well I love to discover and enjoy all its various flavors, aromas, colors, and textures. My relationship with food has defined my life.”
Art’s passion for food has led him to open two restaurants and develop menus for countless others. He has worked as a Congressional lobbyist and liaison for a major national nonprofit in Washington, D.C., representing its interests in the areas of nutrition education and agricultural production policy, and, in the process, spent countless hours gleaning wisdom and advice from such nutritional gurus as Dean Ornish, John McDougall, T. Colin Campbell, and Benjamin Spock.

Art works as a professional advisor with Women Beyond Cancer, and is Director of Nutrition Progress at the Image Reborn Foundation in Park City, where he has advised hundreds of cancer patients attending the group’s retreats. Art’s latest project is Entelechy, a planned sustainable community he founded in 2002 in Kooskia, Idaho. “This is my life’s work,” says Art. “This is where my heart is.”

In 1994, Art established the Utah Wellness Center in Provo, Utah, a facility devoted to Integrated Therapies. Later, in 2001, he founded a one-on-one nutrition consulting business, Performance Foods. Here he designed specific diet programs for a variety of clients’ from cancer survivors to world-class athletes. It was there that he earned his current moniker, “The Food Coach.”

Art founded PROBAR, LLC, in 2002. “I’d been making bars for myself and using them for fuel during long days snowboarding,” he says. “I realized my clients might like them, so I started using the bars in my nutrition programs.” His efforts, of course, paid off, and today the company offers three lines of bars to meet every taste: Art’s Original Collection, Sweet and Savory and his latest creation, fruition.

PROBAR has won numerous industry awards, has been recognized as a top choice for food on the go by a variety of food and natural lifestyle magazines, and is now available at retail stores and online throughout North America.

PROBAR’s mission, says Art, is simple if ambitious: “We make wholesome, nutritious, delicious meal replacement and snack bars that anyone can enjoy. The idea is to make healthy food taste good, but to also make it convenient so it’s within reach of anyone who wants it. If we can get people to eat better, help create a healthier society, and make a great business out of it in the process, we’ve achieved our goals.” Art currently serves as PROBAR’s director of research and product development.