Erica Groussman

Groussman is originally from Upstate New York and moved to South Florida in 2011. She has said that as a child she organized bake sales and made jewelry to sell; as an adult she first worked in real estate and then moved into interior design, where she started her own firm.⁠[1][2][2]

She recalled that the idea for a protein bar brand came partly from watching her mother try one restrictive diet after another without finding balance, and partly from her own experience as a mother of two who could not find a healthy snack in the grocery store that tasted good without leaving her bloated.⁠[2][3][4][5]

In 2019, Groussman worked with a food scientist to develop flavor samples, holding taste tests with family and friends and using their feedback to decide which ones to keep. The brand launched in Miami the same year under the name Truwomen, a nod to providing better snacks and job opportunities for women; later, concluding that everyone wants clean, appealing snacks, she renamed it TRUBAR. The first four flavors launched together: cookie dough, peanut butter, salted almond, and donut.⁠[1][4][1][1][6]

In the early days she handled everything herself, from product development to marketing. For a long time there was no money, and she paid for ads with her personal credit card; she packed boxes by hand and took samples to gyms, yoga studios, and Pilates studios, leaving a tray of bars at the front desk for the studio to sell and then holding sampling events where she cut up bars for people to try. She recalled a period when she packed the bars in her own kitchen.⁠[4][4][4][7][8]

She has recalled that at the start she stepped back and let others run day-to-day operations; after a partner she brought in mismanaged the business and the company fell into debt, she took back control and refocused the brand on her own vision.⁠[2][9][9]

Some of the brand’s early visibility came from celebrity endorsements: the actress Halle Berry publicly called the bar, then branded Truwomen, her favorite new snack, and the television personality and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel also praised TRUBAR on TikTok.⁠[10][10][3]

On August 17, 2021, Simply Better Brands Corp., listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, completed its acquisition of Tru Brands Inc., the company behind the brand, for aggregate consideration of $7.5 million, paid by issuing company shares to Tru Brands’ shareholders and debtholders and settling some of Tru Brands’ outstanding debt. Groussman continued to serve as the brand’s chief executive; as of August 2025, she held less than 10% of the parent company.⁠[11][11][11][1][1]

TRUBAR entered major retailers including Whole Foods and Costco. In 2024 the brand secured about 15,000 new distribution points, expanding from 1,005 stores to more than 18,700 locations, including 730 Costco stores in the United States and Canada; its revenue that year exceeded $50 million. The bars are produced in the Midwest.⁠[12][1][1][1]

Groussman has said that one of the most defining moments of her career was TRUBAR’s first major order from Target; with limited resources, she repacked the bars herself to fulfill it.⁠[2][2]

On April 14, 2025, Simply Better Brands announced the rollout of TRUBAR in select Target stores across the United States and on target.com, starting with three flavors: “Oh Oh Cookie Dough,” “Daydreaming about Donuts,” and “Smother Fudger Peanut Butter.” Speaking as co-founder and chief executive, Groussman said the convenient, clean-ingredient protein bar was a great fit for Target’s focus on making shopping faster, easier, and more convenient.⁠[12][12][12][12]

On May 21, 2025, Simply Better Brands Corp. changed its name to TRUBAR Inc., with its ticker subsequently changing to TRBR, to focus entirely on the TRUBAR brand. J.R. Kingsley Ward, previously chief executive and chairman, became executive chairman responsible for capital markets and corporate development, and Groussman became chief executive of the listed company, leading the brand’s day-to-day operations, innovation, and growth strategy.⁠[13][13][13][13]

Most of TRUBAR’s leadership positions are held by women, and the company has committed to pay equity across the board.⁠[14]

On June 10, 2025, the consumer brand podcast The Story of a Brand released host Ramon Vela’s interview with Groussman. She said that TRUBAR first got into 30 Whole Foods stores because she kept messaging a buyer on LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry until he tried the bar and gave the brand a chance; with no money for promotion and shelved next to bars backed by millions of dollars in marketing, TRUBAR gradually became the best-selling bar in those stores and later went national at Whole Foods.⁠[6][6][6][6]

She also said she had learned Transcendental Meditation years earlier and used it when under pressure; she described TRUBAR as her “third child,” said she thinks about it constantly, and recalled having nightmares in the early years when she handled all of the procurement herself.⁠[6][6][6]

On November 23, 2025, TRUBAR Inc. signed an arrangement agreement with the Turkish consumer goods company ETİ Gıda Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. and an affiliate. ETİ Gıda agreed to acquire all of TRUBAR’s common shares for C$1.64 per share in cash, a 64% premium over the closing price on November 21, 2025, valuing the deal at about C$201 million; the transaction required shareholder and court approval. MNP LLP provided a fairness opinion, the board unanimously endorsed the deal, and directors and officers holding about 16% of the shares signed voting support agreements.⁠[15][16][16][16][16][16][16]

Groussman said ETİ Gıda’s deep consumer products experience and resources would help TRUBAR accelerate its growth in North America and internationally.⁠[16]

TRUBAR issued a management information circular on December 9, 2025, and held a special shareholders’ meeting on the transaction on January 13, 2026. The arrangement took effect at 12:01 a.m. Vancouver time on February 6, 2026: an ETİ Gıda affiliate acquired all 109,242,973 TRUBAR common shares, shareholders received C$1.64 per share in cash, and the aggregate consideration for the common shares was about C$201 million; TRUBAR’s shares were expected to be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange on or about February 9.⁠[15][15][15][15][15][15][15]

The same day, TRUBAR announced that ETİ Gıda had acquired 100% of the company for $173 million in cash with no earn-out, and that the founder, leadership team, and employees would all remain in place. TRUBAR said it had expanded to more than 21,000 retail locations over the past year, reached nearly $100 million in gross revenue in 2025, and launched a children’s line, TRUBAR Kids. ETİ Gıda is a family-owned company founded in Türkiye in 1961, with nearly 8,500 employees and nine production facilities.⁠[17][17][17][17][17][17][17][17]

Groussman said that joining ETİ did not change who TRUBAR was but doubled down on its products, people, and values; what changed was its ability to deliver more consistently, innovate faster, and reach more consumers. She later recalled that the closing felt less like a celebration than “a deep exhale,” as she thought of the version of herself who packed bars in her kitchen and carried samples everywhere, hoping someone would take a chance on the idea; she said her non-negotiables in the deal were the brand’s “Indulgent Nutrition” positioning, its voice and identity, and its mission of empowering women.⁠[17][17][8][8][8][8][8]

After the deal closed, Groussman stayed on as TRUBAR’s chief executive. She called the business her “third child” and said putting out fires was her greatest strength: problems will always come, and if you stay calm and handle them with grace, nothing can tear you down.⁠[5][5][5][5]

On October 6, 2026, TRUBAR launched TRUBAR PRO, a high-protein line with 18 grams of plant protein and 12 grams of fiber per bar, sweetened with monk fruit, in nearly 2,000 stores across six retailers including Target, CVS, and Wegmans, with plans to reach more than 5,600 stores by January 2027. Groussman said consumers should not have to choose between the nutrition they want, ingredients they feel good about, and the taste they actually crave.⁠[18][18][18][18][18][18]

“Once someone tries it, they’re sold.” She attributed TRUBAR’s ability to stand out on a crowded shelf to the product itself: once shoppers pick up the bar, taste it, and read the ingredients, they buy it (podcast at 09:57).⁠[6][6]

“If you start getting scared and dwelling, then you’re wasting energy that you could be using to go positive and forward.” She said she never lets things overwhelm her; when an ingredient runs short, she does not dwell on what to do but immediately looks for the next path and whom to contact (podcast at 16:45).⁠[6][6]

“For every single ingredient, I have at least one backup.” She learned from pandemic-era shortages, when suppliers could not keep up with demand, to buy ahead and build redundancy; today most of her ingredients have two or three backup suppliers (podcast at 23:26).⁠[6][6]

“If you have a good idea and you believe in yourself and you have the energy, and you know you’re going to wear all the hats and not act like you’re above anything, go for it.” She cautioned that it is a long road and founders must make sure they are resilient enough to stick it out (podcast at 25:34).⁠[6][6]

“If you’re stuck in your ways and you don’t want to change, that’s not good either.” She said that as a brand enters new retailers, details such as packaging and the placement of call-outs must keep changing, and a business has to adapt and flex to the stage it is in (podcast at 45:24).⁠[6][6]

TRUBAR: Official website: https://www.trubar.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[19]