Before 7 Summits Snacks Co-Founder Kristyn Carriere launched Canada’s #1 chocolate energy bars, she joined the circus. To clarify, she toured internationally with Disney on Ice as an ice skater, “but my contract was with Barnum and Bailey, so my Dad liked to say I ran away with the circus,” she laughed.
Growing up in Alberta, Kristyn and her two sisters’ childhood was rooted in both sports, “to keep us out of trouble” and an adoration for nature’s playground. “The international experience was inspiring to me,” she said. “I loved learning about European culture, the history, and being outside and active was still very important.”
While some travelers seek out the highest tower or biggest mall, Kristyn found herself always searching for those outdoor adventures, like summiting Mount Fuji when touring in Japan.
7 Summits' Co-Founding Sisters Kristyn (left) and Leanna (right).
After four years on tour, she found herself in the classroom at the University of Alberta where her studies in nutrition led to a love of food science. “In taking those courses, I found my passion,” she said. “How ingredients come together to make the foods we love, how taste preferences form— it was all really motivating to me.”
Degree in hand, Kristyn moved to England and began working for Cadbury, one of the largest confectionery companies in the world. “And that’s how I became a chocolate scientist,” she laughed. Between her 10 years at Cadbury and later Godiva, she not only learned how to make chocolate, but how to make great chocolate.
“It taught me how to make products for preference and how to understand preference based on regionality.”
“After ten years of this foundational knowledge, it got me to start thinking that, hey, maybe I could put this into play.”
Home for the holidays in 2019, it was over a glass of wine when her sister and Co-Founder Leanna began to ponder the idea of chocolate for fueling her own endurance sports in lieu of common gels. “She’s always been my inspiration, my guiding light and my muse,” Kristyn said of her little sister.
Leanna’s idea remained idle until a fateful day the following spring. “I woke up with a jolt in the night, sat straight up, and started writing down this burst of inspiration that came to me.” It was 4:00am in England when the name 7 Summits Snacks popped into her head.
Her partner Robin was climbing Mount Everest and scheduled to summit around that same time. “I thought to myself ‘Robin should be on the summit now. That was crazy’ and went back to bed.”
When she woke hours later, her life changed forever. Shortly after summiting Mount Everest, Robin passed away. “If you do the math, that was about the time I woke up with my wave of inspiration. Robin sent me a message and this company was officially born.”
Knowing the industry all too well, Kristyn was committed to finding the best, ethically sourced chocolate she could. “We probably tasted 100 different chocolates; there was a lot of screening for what we believed our taste palette would be for our North American audience.”
“I started talking to people, sharing our ideas with friends and recruited people who we thought would be consumers of the product.”
Every detail, down to the shape of the bar, the size of the bar and number of portions, was a result of the sisters’ commitment to the consumer. “Ten years of research taught me how to do usage testing,” she laughed. “Does anyone want to try this chocolate bar and give us feedback?!”
The Everest Dark Chocolate Endurance Bar was the brand’s flagship product, launching across Canada in 2020. Shortly after, Kristyn’s personal favorite, the Aconcagua Dark Chocolate Endurance Bar hit the shelves. “I just love golden berries!” she laughed. Also known as gooseberries or Inca berries, incorporating the Peruvian fruit is one Kristyn is smitten by. “The tartness with the cacao creates such a nice harmony— they are amazing!”
After more research, development, and vetting by their online community, 7 Summits Snacks launched three more bars, the Denali, Carstensz, and Vinson, one year later.
The Superfood Bars are the brand’s classic, clean label snacking bar. “Something for sharing while hiking, as a snack, or with coffee or wine. It’s good tasting chocolate that you can feel good about purchasing and consuming.”
The Endurance Bars consist of the perfected classic recipe, but with added honey for extra carbohydrates and coconut oil to help it melt in your mouth so there’s less chewing required.
“The best part is when people come to our booth and tell us our bars helped them. When people trust in our product and give us feedback, that’s the best feedback, and it motivates us to keep going.”
Kristyn admits they’re not experts in marketing. “We’re good at sports and building products,” she laughed, “but I’m so proud of getting in 200 stores in Canada and now launching in the U.S., without any experience in sales or marketing.”
“We’re excited for the challenge— we’ve been scrappy and tenacious, and having that drive has been important for us.”
Made by athletes for athletes, 7 Summits Snacks believes their chocolate bars to be a purposeful product. “Yes, chocolate can be a treat, but this is chocolate with purpose. It has a reason to be consumed, and we advocate for that activity.”
For those challenging eating chocolate to fuel your next adventure or endurance activity, 7 Summits Snacks is praised for not causing GI distress and has the added benefit of chocolate’s antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. “And it’s delicious,” Kristyn laughed. “Who ever said a gel is delicious?”
Originally from Alaska, Maria currently resides in Montana with her husband, two young daughters and chocolate lab named Echo. When she’s not chasing her kids or that next running goal, you can find her weekend-warrioring in the mountains or thinking about her next cup of coffee.
