Protein is having a moment—eating the right kind, tracking it, getting enough. It can be easy to fall down a rabbit hole, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Eating healthy needn’t be bland and boring, either. Boca Raton-born FROPRO features playful flavors that are a far cry from plain chocolate and vanilla (though they have those, too!). Favorites include birthday cake, chocolate chip cookie dough, and its newest flavor, salted pistachio crunch.
“FROPRO is a delicious peanut butter snack bar based on second chances, a lot of effort, and an amazing community,” says co-founder Matt Williams.
Walk any grocery aisle, and you’ll see that we live in an era of endless organic, plant-based snack options, but FROPRO’s backstory is what makes it remarkable. In a moment of necessity, Williams cooked up a filling peanut butter-based snack to tide him over as he biked in the blazing sun and pouring rain from coaching gig to tutoring session on his road to recovery after a DUI shook his world.
A bright new teaching and coaching job at a local private school lured him from New York to South Florida in the early aughts. That’s also where his and Chelsea’s love story began: in the carpool line, as she waited for the kids she was nannying. But in May 2010, his life came crashing down. With Chelsea by his side and the support of a strong community, he began his recovery journey, and this past May, he celebrated 16 years sober.
“I wouldn’t be here without the community of people that gave me a chance and loved me when I couldn’t love myself,” he admits. “If people weren’t there for me, weren’t there to extend that hand and share their experience, strength, and hope, I’d be dead. There is no doubt in my mind.”
That’s also why it’s important to him to pay it forward by hiring people in recovery. Williams strives to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, because he says he certainly didn’t deserve it, yet people gave it to him.
As a dessert guy who loves ice cream, he enjoys cold treats, so he used to freeze his original snack bars and called them FROPRO—aka frozen protein. He assures clients that they’re shelf-stable and just as delicious at room temperature or even warmed up. Joseph’s Classic Market sells them at checkout, and Whole Foods sells them in its refrigerated section. (gofropro.com)
Here are some other companies that keep us healthy with their snacks:
Tico’s Taco Chips
As a mother, Sannie Prieto-Solis wanted to feed her kids a healthy, delicious snack. The entire family has serious food allergies, including celiac disease, so she decided to make her own chips. Named after her son, Tico’s Taco Chips are gluten- and dairy-free and dusted with her proprietary taco seasoning blend. Find them at the Boca Green Market on Sundays. (ticostacochips.net)
Garden Butcher
Founded in Boca Raton by chef Erin Leeds, the casual café is serious about sourcing the best, most nutritious local ingredients for its eat-in and grab-and-go selections. All items are free of seed oils and refined sugar. Snacks include organic energy balls and organic fudgy sweet potato muffins, but it’s most famous for the Strawberry Glow smoothie, the Erewhon dupe that everyone can’t get enough of. (gardenbutcher.com)
Carrot Express
The Miami import with two Boca locations is rooted in transparency and wellness, using quality ingredients that make you feel good. All its snacks are house-made, including its beloved seasonal pumpkin chai donut, which is dairy- and gluten-free and made with maple syrup and pumpkin puree, and its Key lime date power bite, made with cashews, almonds, and coconut. (carrotexpress.com)
Hungry for more food news? Visit our food page, and subscribe to the magazine for the most delicious coverage of Boca and beyond.
