Natural Balance Foods is soooo proud to have been asked to supply our NAKD bars to the Ted Global 2010 conference in Oxford. Feeding the world’s leading thinkers is kinda cool! We wish the participants well as they work to create meaningful change.

Gather the world's leading thinkers and doers, offer them four days of rapid-fire stimulation, and the result? Unexpected connections. Extraordinary insights. Powerful inspiration.

http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/7

We’re feeding all the top artists Nakd & Trek bars backstage at the Apple iTunes Festival in London this month!

They have a great lineup to including; Scissor Sisters, Tony Bennett, Ozzy Osbourne, Phoenix, Ellie Goulding, Kate Nash, Foreigner and many many more. You can see more info from the links below.

http://www.itunesfestival.co.uk/ http://www.facebook.com/iTunesUK

The charity MIND recently had several runners participating in the London Marathon and the Great Manchester Run. They are not only a super fit bunch but were fuelled by none other than our Nakd bars! We wish them all the success as their not stopping there, they are also competing in the Bupa London 10000 and the Great East Swim! Phew! We received this lovely thank you from them this week...

“Thank you so much to Natural Balance Food for your donation of your Nakd bars to our Mind runners. The bars were very much appreciated by our runners and it was great that Mind could give out goody bags with some lovely treats in them to thank them for all their support.”

"On Sunday 9th May WildHearts took its family fitness event, the WeeWalk, to Aberdeen's Duthie Park. Once again Nakd were on hand to help the WeeWalkers refuel along the 3 mile route with delicious Nakd Raisins and Nakd Nibble bars, which all the children loved. Many of the kids commented that they didn't realise how 'yummy' being healthy could be! The products were a brilliant way to demonstrate to families creative ways to get their 5 a Day and Nakd's support really helped us to get our healthy eating message across in a fun way."

Keeping slim and getting stylish is a blog run by Laura Agar Wilson and has loads of great tips on, yep you guessed it, keeping slim and getting stylish! Laura posts lots of pictures and reviews on yummy foods and also posts about her training plans in order to help her keep fit! Laura has kindly reviewed our products and has a little extra for all you Nakd and pampering lovers out there. She is giving away 3 sets of gluten free samplers and each comes with extra pampering goodies! Pop on over to her blog to read her review and enter the competition! http://keepingslimandgettingstylish.blogspot.com/2010/05/natural-balance-foods-review-and.html

Thank you for sponsoring us at the Sheffield Hallam Nutrition fair. It was a very successful event in which members of the public could learn about different aspects of nutrition. We gave the raisins out to everybody that attended they fitted in well with our stall title ‘5 a day the student way’. They were very popular and people wanted to try all the flavours. They thought the raisins were innovative and something a bit different, and thought the range of flavours was a good idea.

"The British Lung Foundation had 162 runners in the 2010 Virgin London Marathon and it was a really successful day! We are hoping that the team will raise over £200,000 towards our vital work. It was our biggest team ever and as a thank you to our runners for their huge commitment and effort we put together goody bags to give to our team at the post race reception which they loved. The British Lung Foundation would like to say a massive thank you to Natural Balance Foods for providing us with Trek bars to add to the bags - they were perfect for restoring the runner's energy levels."

The WildHearts Foundation are a charity dedicated to investing in the human spirit and generating wealth for those in need both domestically and abroad. They recently held a ‘WeeWalk’ in Edinburgh to encourage children to get active and raise money for charity at the same time. The children had a fantastic time, with one weewalker so pleased with his medal for completing the walk he is even wearing it to bed! Wildhearts are a great charity who we love working with, some of you may remember their Santa Run in December!, and you can find out more about them here: http://www.wilddayout.com/

"WildHearts were absolutely delighted to have the support of Nakd for their WeeWalk event in Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden. WeeWalks aim to promote healthy, active lifestyles to children and teach them fun and exciting ways to get their 5 A Day, so working with Natural Balance and Nakd was an obvious choice! The kids thoroughly enjoyed tucking into the products at the event with many parents commenting on how delicious they were too."

Emma Kerry and Jessica Munro are taking part in the Annual Nutrition Fair on the 28th April 2010 which is held by final year food students at Sheffield Hallam University, who are studying the epidemiology and nutrition module. Their stall at this event is titled 5-a-day the student way, in which they are aiming to provide information and advice on how to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day on a budget. They will talk about a number of issues surrounding the cost of fruit and vegetables and how seasonality can affect cost and also give many tips on how to eat fruit and vegetables cheaply. They have produced posters for their stall and leaflets which they will give out to everyone that attends. To attract people to the stall they will be giving away free bags of Nakd flavoured raisins, and explaining how these can contribute to one of your 5-a-day and that they are cheaper than buying a bar of chocolate and around the same price as a bag of crisps. Also at their stall there is a competition in which there will be 2 fruit baskets containing the same fruit and vegetables, however one will have been purchased from the market, and the other from a supermarket. The aim of the competition is to demonstrate that buying fruit and vegetables from a market can be a lot cheaper than from a supermarket. The prize is a fruit bouquet which will won by the person who guesses the correct prices of the baskets. The nutrition fair is a very popular event in which usually around 400 people attend of all ages and professions.

“Many thanks again to the Natural Balance Foods Company for agreeing to sponsor us for this event.” Emma Kerry and Jessica Munro

Entries continue to arrive for the 10th Portsmouth Triathletes Spring Duathlon at Goodwood on 18th April.
Over 110 athletes are registered for the popular Run / Bike / Run event around the historic Goodwood motor race circuit
including Paul Thomas, a gold medal winning disabled athlete who is using the event in his build up for a European
championship. 
This year sees Natural Balance Food's sponsoring the post race nutrition, and after running 8K and cycling 40K we expect the
athletes to have quite a calorie deficit!
For more details of the event go to the Portsmouth Triathletes web site www.portsmouthtriathletes.co.uk 

A great blog helping to spread the wholefood word along with other ways to keep fit and stay healthy! The blog includes daily workouts as well as a some great reviews of our products. Laura's a vegetarian and training for her first half marathon :)  You can view her blog and reviews here: http://boxruneat.blogspot.com/ ... Go get 'em, Laura!

Becoming a vegetarian at 10, Dan Beaton is pretty serious about his diet. He recently spent several weeks living off a vegan diet using products such as our Trek bars to keep up his strength. He’s written up his thoughts and findings which we think is an interesting read and you can find it here: http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/vegan-body-building.html

Keep up the good work Dan!

Jerry and Jemma (father and daughter) have kindly reviewed our products on Jerry’s website meanmeansmurder. The website has lots of information about animal welfare, environmental issues, human health and nutrition, an events page and lots more! They’ve had a nibble on all the products and from their reviews we’re pretty sure they enjoyed themselves! Several of our products received a 10/10 rating with the Cocoa Orange bar getting 11/10!! To read the full product review and find out more visit the website here: http://meatmeanzmurder.webs.com/nakd.htm

Janine, Spence and Gary are Team AWNTY 2012 and are participating in the Endurance Race to The North Pole in April 2012.
Find out more about them on their website www.teamawnty2012.co.uk. Their chosen charities are Help for Heroes, Marie Curie, Fibroduck.com for Fibromyalgia Awareness, Brookfield Special Needs School and Adventure Dolphin. They are just ordinary people doing something quite extraordinary to enrich other people’s lives. Their perfect choice for training fuel are the Nakd and Trek bars which complement their intensive training and are deliciously yummy! They will get Nakd At The North Pole! They recently went to the NEC outdoor show and met Ben Fogle and James Cracknell! They had a chat about all things North Pole and are currently running a caption competition. Head on over to their facebook page to find out more! Search ‘Team AWNTY 2012’.

We’ve teamed up with our friends at Animal Aid to offer every new member throughout April a free Gluten Free Sampler! If you are not an Animal Aid member, please join today and help them to help more animals. Members receive Outrage magazine every quarter, 10% off everything in the Animal Aid shop and discounts from more than 70 ethical businesses!

April 10th see's Fairfoods holding a vegan food fair in the South West with Green Garden Cafe. It will feature stalls, lots of free vegan food samples (including some yummy Nakd gluten free bars!), free recipes, nutrition information and free advice on vegan issues. There will also be the opportunity to purchase food and other goodies to takeaway. Entrance to the fair is free.

Venue The fair will take place at North Street Church Hall, 33 North Street, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 1LW. The venue is in Taunton's main shopping centre opposite Debenhams, click herefor a map. Time The fair runs from 11.30am to 3.30pm.

For more info visit www.fairfoods.org.uk/tauntonveganfoodfair

On Sunday 21st March Conwy Borough Council held a day of events in aid of Sports Relief. Some of these events involved the swimming pool and the athletics track. They also organised charity runs around the track and for those more ambitious a six mile cross country run! There were various opportunities for families to take part with Gym sessions including, 'spinning', ' Tai Chi' and aerobics, as well as fun in the pool including sea scooters, canoeing and water polo. The event went really well, 300 people took part, with around half of these completing the mile,100 running the 3 miles and around 50 running the 6 miles! The day was attended by individuals, friends, families and animals and covered a wide age range. Everyone that completed their challenge received a goody bag and medals from Sport Relief and some yummy Nakd and Trek goodies!

Well done to Conwy Borough Council for holding a fun day for the locals and helping to raise money along the way!

Moonlight Walk 14th March 2010

I am writing to thank you for your most kind support of our recent sponsored walk held on 14th March.

Whilst we do not yet know how much money we will have raised the indications are very promising. Funds raised from the event will help us to provide Marie Curie nursing care, free of charge, in the homes of local people with a terminal illness. This not only provides respite for their family but also give the patient the choice of where they spend their final days.

Suffice to say we believe the event was a huge success. Nearly two hundred people registered and in their feedback they told us they thoroughly enjoyed the distance and routes available, the clear signage, organisation prior to the event and on the day and the goody bags and refreshments.

Woodland walking in the dark and young children is enough to give any organiser nightmares, but thankful no one got lost and we only had one small minor injury, a young boy spilt hot chocolate on his fingers.

I am extremely grateful of your donation of Natural Balance products for all the participants, many people commented how nice they were. Once again we are extremely grateful and appreciative of your support. Thank you

Natural Balance Foods have been an important and much valued supporter of Animal Aid for several years. Featuring our logo and web address on every Trek and Nak’d bar give a great boost to our public profile. So we offer a big “thank you” to NBF.

At Animal Aid we are passionate about doing the best work we can with all the resources at our disposal to advance the cause of animals. That’s not rhetoric, that is the truth of it. We expose cruelty and abuse that those involved would rather keep hidden. We do this through undercover filming and the publication of detailed, factually reliable reports. Our work often features prominently in the national and regional press, as well as in the broadcast media. We meet with senior politicians and government officials to further our lobbying efforts and, on a more upbeat note, we stage a major annual exhibition of ethical goods and ideas. In addition, we merchandise, via mail order, a host of cruelty free items, including chocolates, wines, books, clothing and cosmetics. Equally important is the work we do in schools – hundreds of school talks annually and the distribution to thousands of schools across Britain of our curriculum-sensitive teaching resources, including lesson plans, wall charts and videos.

And we get results. In the recent past we have, for instance, played a central role in stopping Cambridge University from building a huge primate testing facility; we stopped Focus DIY and Wyevale garden centres from selling pets (many of whom would have been impulse purchases!); and we landed the bird shooting industry with a £20 million unpaid tax bill. We also stopped Makro selling live lobsters in its 30 stores.

The most recent heartening development is the announcement by the head of the government’s food regulatory body that he backs our call to have CCTV installed in every British abattoir. Our campaign already has the support of the RSPCA, the Soil Association and Compassion in World Farming.

The Food Standards Agency’s Chief Executive, Tim Smith, has said he intends to develop a detailed plan for the industry within six months and that footage should be made available to supermarkets, manufacturers and wholesalers.

Animal Aid began calling for CCTV to be installed in all UK slaughterhouses in August last year after secretly filming shocking scenes of cruelty in three randomly chosen abattoirs. Possible prosecutions are pending.

Just four months later, three workers were suspended from a Soil Association-approved abattoir for breaches of animal welfare laws, filmed again by Animal Aid – evidence that has also led to investigations with a view to possible prosecutions.

We will not let up.

Thanks again to Natural Balance Foods and to all our wonderful supporters across Britain who carry our message to the general public through demos, street stalls, library displays, letters to newspapers and the like. With their continued help, all things are possible.

We'd like to congratulate Jamie Oliver on receiving his award from Ted.com! We fully support his efforts in highlighting the benefits of healthy eating habits. Go Jamie! Please click the following link to watch his Ted.com talk: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TEDTalks_video

We recently donated some Nakd bars to a fund raising event for local hospital the John Radcliffe. Below Jo Hubbick, the organiser, gives us her account of the event.

“We were raising funds for the Oxford Heart Centre at the John Radcliffe. The funds are to be used to help raise the extra £2 million pounds needed to open this facility. Further information is available from their website: www.oxfordheartcentre.nhs.uk

During the Spinathon we raised £495.00, this was raised through bike hire and sponsorship. The event took place on the 17th February at 9.00-12.00 we had 13 people who completed all 3 hours and 2 people who did 2 hours. We used music from the 50/60's, 70/80's & 90/00's, which proved to be great fun as people had given me their requests previously at a cost of £2.00 per track.

The bars were a great success and given out by our fab volunteers (on their school holidays), every hour and definitely kept us going for the duration! I myself burnt 2200 calories, so getting the right nutrients back in, was just what we all needed!

I myself am using Trek bars which are fab for my Marathon training, just hope they help improve my time!

Thank you again for all your support on this event, it was very much appreciated”.

Freya Gillott runs a great blog and recently asked to review our products. As she’s always saying such lovely things about us we couldn’t help but spread the Nakd cheer and send her some goodies. Freya writes a great daily blog on her eating habits including ideas, tips, recipes and the little bargains she picks up along the way. It’s a great read and we recommend you have a look – even better you’ll see us popping up all over the place! Thanks Freya!

You can view Freya’s article here: http://britchickruns.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/all-is-revealed

Marie Curie Cancer Care is extremely appreciative of the donation of Nibble Bars kindly donated by Natural Balance Foods for participants in our Mothers Day Moonlight Walk.

The walk will take place on Sunday 14th March 2010 and there is a choice of a 5km or 10km walks suitable for all the family. The courses are well marshalled, along bridle paths and footpaths in beautiful Warwickshire woodland, both walks start and finish at Binley Woods Village Hall.

There are limited free t-shirts for anyone who registers and a goody bag for participants on the day which include a Nibble Bar to provide nutrition and energy!

Participants are encouraged to raise sponsorship to help make a real difference to the lives of people with a terminal illness and their families. Funds from this event will pay for the Marie Curie Nursing service to offer the care and support that everyone deserves at the end of their lives. This service is provided completely free of charge.

For further information call 01604 442 313 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk

“Health4Life” has two interpretations which come to mind; “health for a lifetime”, or a more present “health for living”, in either or both cases it is a challenging idea, because sadly a lifetime or a daily life experience of true health is truly sensational when placed in the context of our cultures current and free flowing sickness epidemic. This Health4Life event was sensational but not sensationalised, as the truth regarding the relationship between our lifestyle choices and their impact on our present and future health is itself the sensational, needing not even the softest hint of spin. “Tackling the Stress factor” wasn’t the unveiling of a new wonder drug we’re all encouraged to feel we’re moving towards, this was the inaugural event of an organisation which is looking towards a cure for the “pill for an ill” mentality which we’re culturally fed...Read more.

Natural Balance are this years main sponsors of The Exbury Gardens 10k race which takes place this year on Mothers Day Sunday 14th March. The circular race, run over quiet country lanes, is now in its 3rd year and starts and finishes in the beautiful 200 acre gardens on the edge of the New Forest which were the inspiration of Nathan Rothschild and now attract over 100,000 visitors annually. One of the main attractions of the race is the unusual mid-section part of the course which includes around 500m of running along the pebble foreshore path at Lepe and gives spectacular views over The Solent to the Isle of Wight.

Once again this years race has proved as popular as ever and sold out over a month before raceday with entrants coming from all parts of the country, including York, Cirencester and a number from around the London area as well as lots of local runners, many of whom are taking part in their first ever 10k run

All profits from the race are given back to local good causes and charities with well over £1,000 donated every year - this year we will be looking to donate a large part of the raceday profits to two of the local Hardley runners who are supporting the Help for Heroes charity by taking part in the gruelling Marathon de Sables and The Lakeland 100mile challenge. For more race details visit the Hardley Runners website at www.hardleyrunners.co.uk

Sarah Collins runs a great blog called ‘Gluten-free tries Vegan’ which has features on different gluten-free vegan products, recipes and tips for healthy living. She recently, with some helpers, reviewed our raisins and gluten free range. We’re pretty chuffed with what she said about us, and wanted to say thanks! We think you should all scoot on over to her blog to see the review and all her other tips and stories. You can view it here.

Real Life Options are a Scottish Government initiative supporting employers and employees to develop health promotion and safety themes in the workplace. They offer a range of health events and campaigns within the company, focusing on issues including breast cancer, alcohol awareness, smoking cessation and physical activity. The fun continues in February 2010, when Real Life Options is hosting a series of staff road shows across Scotland, covering over 200 miles. There will be free samples of healthy & nutritious food, food demonstrations and external speakers; as well as free therapies, including hand and head massage. Everyone will get a free goody bag, with great health related products; and a prize draw will feature healthy prizes such as smoothie makers, yoga kits or spa weekends. Never one to shy away from helping a good cause we have donated some of our Nakd Nibble bars for the staff to get their teeth into. We hope the events are a successful and wish Real Life Options all the best for the future!

You can read more about Real Life Options here: www.reallifeoptions.org

The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl is a blog by Shauna Reid who lost an amazing 12 stone! She now uses the website to help others and aid healthy living – it includes recipes, tips, diet and fitness resources and you can read all about Shauna’s amazing story for yourself! Shauna contacted us to help celebrate the 9th birthday of the blog and we didn’t hesitate in helping her. So pop on over to http://www.dietgirl.org/dietgirl/2010/01/uber-prezzie-box-from-natural-balance-foods-dg-9th-birthday-sell-out-day-8.html to get your chance of winning some Nakd and Trek goodies!

Natural Balance Foods Founder Jamie Combs was among the 20,000 activists at The Wave Climate March on December 5th in London. Natural Balance supported the event with free NAKD bars for the organisers and filmed the protest to be part of a future documentary on the green movement. He was of course asked about snack bars...

On Saturday 5th December and Sunday 6th December, stalls were held at the Sheffield Vegan Fayre and Animal Aid Christmas Fayre respectively to raise awareness and raise funds for the Doris Banham Dog Rescue Charity. This is a small charity, run by volunteers, that helps to prevent the needless destruction of stray dogs at council pounds across the country. Stray dogs that are collected by the dog wardens and police are taken to these pounds and are given just 7 days to be reclaimed before being put to sleep. Whilst the dogs are in the pounds we pay for any urgent vet’s treatment that is required, provide extra food and give them coats to keep them warm. When the 7 days are up we take the dogs to rescue centres around the country where they can then be found permanent loving homes. In 2008 we saved 3117 dogs from being put to sleep at council pounds. Please visit our website at www.dogsos.co.uk for more information.
Both events were extremely successful. Natural Balance Foods donated 2 pressie boxes which contained numerous products which were used as tombola prizes at the London fayre and as part of the main hamper prize at the Sheffield fayre. The majority of the funds raised were due to the raffle and tombola, and we made £110 at Sheffield and £352 at London. All this money will go directly to saving these dogs. Thanks Natural Balance Foods!

Save A Scream is a website focusing on a cruelty free lifestyle and includes a recommended page, interview section, features page and blogs. Jamie, our founder and Managing Director, recently spoke to them about Natural Balance Foods and issues affecting the industry…

Shari Black Velvet: The company has only been around since 2005. Have you been happy with the growth in that time?

Jamie Combs: I’m delighted and excited with our rapid success and the explosion of the entire Wholefood movement. I think it reflects a broader evolution toward more holistic thinking that more and more people are experiencing in regards to their relationship with their environments, bodies and minds. It is increasingly dawning on the great mass of people that they are a part of nature and grow out of this world like everything else.  They come to realise health and happiness are by-products of aligning with the nature. With the rise of this understanding comes a whole spectrum of social changes, one of which is replacing heavily processed foods with more raw, wholefoods and a focus on a more vegetarian, eco-friendly diet. We’re very happy and proud to be helping to lead the vegan, wholefood side of this bigger holistic shift. 

To read the rest of the interview please visit the Save A Scream website here: http://www.saveascream.com/naturalbalancefoods.htm
To view us on the recommended page visit here: http://www.saveascream.com/recommended.htm

On Saturday 5th Dec 09, Sheffield Animal Friends held a free vegan food fayre in the centre of Sheffield, which turned out to be a great success with lots of interested and appreciative people coming to enjoy the food. There was a wide variety of delicious vegan food on offer, some of which was made using donated products and other products were given away as samples for people to try. Many people said they enjoyed the food so much that it had inspired them to eat a more vegan diet, as well people who were already veg*n saying they were pleased to come across products such as Trek bars that were new to them. The food fayres in Sheffield are now set to become an annual event, so for any info related to that or any S.A.F activities please go to www.sheffieldaf.org.uk

Natural Balance Foods are going to be proud sponsors of The Beast race in February 2010. The race consists of a 5-10 mile run across a course of steep hills, water, mud, 32 obstacles usually tackled by animals of a four legged variety, with a couple of extra surprises along the way.

The race is open to runners of all abilities aged 18 years or over, and we’re really looking forward to February and getting involved with the race!

5th Dec 2009
Hillingdon Road Race
Position 15/100

It was a cold winter day in London and overcast, the ground was damp and the racers were ready to commence the series, you can feel the tension as there is an echoing click of racers clipping in. Then 3,2,1, were off racing hard and fast to start my line is a little off in and out of the corners then I settle in, it's been 7 months since I ve raced and the rush comes flooding back, after an hour of hard paced racing we go into the final 5 laps, I'm pushing hard and making breaks I'm leading the pack with 3 laps to go then I'm run off the road into the grass, still I get back on and push hard, here comes the final lap and it's intense heart rate is thumping here comes the last corner then the final hill, we push up the hill I'm trying to weave between people up the field and I cross the line in 15th a reasonable finish, I cooldown and find my girlfriend who has my jacket and a trekbar for me, both much needed and both appreciated, so next week it is for another fun filled weekend of racing.

12th Dec 2009
Hillingdon Road Race

I'm back again and very excited about today, a cold day and this time the Tarmac is dry the race starts and we push hard from the start, there are a series of breakaways and I'm with everyone, I make an attack to see who will follow there s no response so a fruitless effort, then a racer pulls away and I jump now there is 3 of us pushing hard making a break, we finally get caught by the pack after a few more breaks and some hard efforts it's the last lap here come the final bend I m in a good position I'm start to sprint movig through the field I'm in 5th ready to strke for 1st position then BAM Im on the floor the racer infront has crashed he's taken me down too, lying on the cold Tarmac I feel like my left handside is on fire, a Dr comes to check if I'm ok, diagnosis of severe road rash and the treatment a warm bath, it's gonna be a long drive home, but I ll be back next week racing again, I think I ll have two trek bars on the way back one for me and one for the injury, until next week keep on spinning

This year my two big events have been Ironman distance triathlon races, part of the Challenge series. The first was held in Germany back in July at the Quelle Challenge at Roth. I had raced this one back in 2006 when I was hopeful of breaking the 11 hour barrier. Unfortunately due to an injury in the late spring I lost around 6 weeks of run training and was 17 minutes adrift of my target. So, there was very much a sense of unfinished business when I returned this year. Fortunately the weather was kinder and instead of blazing sun, and clear blue skies with temperatures hitting the mid 30s we were greeted with a fairly overcast day and temperatures which only reached the low 20s. After an excellent swim I struggled somewhat on the bike towards the end but had a brilliant run and managed to cross the line in 10:47, job done and much satisfaction all round especially knowing I could improve on the bike leg.

Next stop was the Evolution Challenge Barcelona-Maresme. After a good race in Germany and areas I knew I could improve upon my confidence was high for this race and I hoped to get nearer to 10:30. However, even though it was already early October it was very, very hot! In fact the temperature was in the high 20s for most of the day with no shade at all! This event involved a sea swim (rather than the German ship canal) which made life more interesting (and slower!). The bike course however was a cyclist dream, very good road surfaces and 2.5 laps of a closed dual carriage-way along the coast. I managed to knock 20 mins of my Roth time but that didn’t quite make up for the time lost on the swim. Out onto the run course and the heat was taking its toll with triathletes dropping like flies. By half way I knew I wouldn’t be breaking any records and was glad to be finishing with another sub 11 hours albeit 10 minutes adrift of my Roth time. However, 10:57 on this course (which proved to be a little longer than Roth) was enough to secure me 20th overall and 6th age grouper and best of all I won my Age Group.

All in all I’ve had a very successful season coming 2nd in the BTF Age Group Middle Distance Championship at Bala back in June and taking 2nd overall at the Half Ireman in Ireland at the end of August all fuelled of course by Trek Bars! Thanks very much to Natural Balance Foods for your continued support.

www.justgiving.com/Kelda-Spratt

The November issue of FMCG magazine has us on the cover and includes a nice article about NBF.

<<<< Click on the image to read the article.

Here at Natural Balance Foods we love supporting a good cause, so we jumped at the chance to help out Cancer Research Wales. On Monday 19th October Cancer Research Wales are presenting a charity gala screening of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. For just £10 you get the chance to see this amazing version of the classic tale starring non-other than George Clooney and Meryl Streep a full week before general release! On top of all that you get goody bag that contains, among other things, some Nakd goodies! Now, we think that’s pretty good for £10, and your helping out a good cause!

Elizabeth from Cancer Research Wales is just as excited as us, “Cancer Research Wales is thrilled to be supported by Natural Balance Foods and proud to be associated with a delicious natural product which everyone can enjoy! Thank you for helping to make a difference to pioneering cancer research projects in Wales”.

For further information and tickets please contact Cancer Research Wales on crw@velindre-tr.wales.nhs.uk or Tel: 029 2031 6976 or check out their facebook page by searching ‘fantastic mr fox cancer research wales’

Natural Balance Foods has partnered up with Trekstock during London Fashion Week to help them raise funds for The Teenage Cancer Trust by supplying free jc’s TREK bars.

Founded in 2006, Trekstock has raised thousands of pounds for Teenage Cancer Trust. The idea originated when its founder, Sophie Epstone, signed up for a Teenage Cancer Trust trek to Everest. To raise money, she conceived the idea to put on a little music gig, pushing her to visit the UK festivals, spread the word about Teenage Cancer Trust and promote the event using her now cult 'I ? Trekstock' blue badges. The message has grown far and wide, as has the support from world famous artists and celebrities...and do-gooder wholefood companies!

George recently confessed his love for Nakd bars on his Talksport Radio show saying “I'm full of energy tonight and it's down to the delicious nakd bars. All natural healthy bites with no sugar that's suits me too! My favorite is Cashew and I can't get over how tasty these are! I got them from www.eatnakd.com and you can too!”

Thanks, George we really appreciate the kinds words!

On Sunday 6th September, Nakd fan Ewan Innes will be competing in this year’s Great Scottish Run and with the help of Natural Balance Foods he will be doing this wearing a teddy bear suit!

Ewan wanted to make the run a real challenge by completing the race in fancy dress, however, to get such an amazing costume he needed funding! In order to purchase the teddy bear suit Ewan raffled off Nakd goodies along with other prizes to raise the money needed to have the suit made. By wearing the suit Ewan hopes to make even more money and reach his target of £10,000 for his chosen charity the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation.

The Yorkhill Children's Foundation aims to support the work of the Yorkhill NHS Trust and provides funding for extra medical equipment, improvements in child and family facilities and the provision of extra services which make a stay in hospital less distressing for children and their families.

If you would like to sponsor Ewan and support this worthy charity, please visit his Just Giving page to donate online.

http://www.justgiving.com/Teddy-Bear/

Natural Balance Foods and Business Link have teamed up to supply visitors of the Holdenby Food Show with free Nakd goodies.

The third Holdenby Food Show promises to be the best yet! Since it’s launch the show has brought 5,000 visitors to Holdenby each year for a truly memorable two days, showcasing a fantastic mix of local and regional producers, plus suppliers of fine foods, organic produce and other non-edible quality goods related to the home and kitchen.

The event will take place this Bank Holiday weekend; show times 11am – 5pm on Sunday 30th August and Monday 31st August 2009.

Mark Holmes of Business Link says “The Natural Balance Foods products are packed full of flavour and as a quick snack are a much healthier (and more filling!) option over cereal or chocolate bars. We can’t think of a tastier way to one of your five-a-

So why don’t you pop along to the event and see what goodies could be in store for you!

Read all about our uber-fit Team Trek athlete, Jason Walkley, as he competes in the ETU LD Triathlon Championship in Prague, Czech Republic:

Race distance: 4k river swim, 120k cycle, 30k run

“We arrived in Prague on the Wednesday before the race, only just got to the hotel.... well that’s what it felt like as driving is a little make it up as you go along over there. The Angelo Hotel was the main hotel for the GB team and it was fantastic.

Thursday – Registration: The registration tent was a very small gazebo with a hand written rough English sign saying registration being the only thing guiding us there. We left feeling confused and knowing nothing of any help than we already knew before we got there.

Friday – Bike Build: Once built, a few of us guys went out for an hour to test ride our bikes. We ended up on the motorway which was a little dicey but fun. On returning to the hotel and checking my tyres I found a slit in the tub on my disc approx 5mm long. So I stripped the tub off and stuck a new one on.

Saturday – Event Day: The swim was 2 laps, this meant swimming against the current twice, and it was like swimming in an endless pool most the time, with only the very good AG and all Elite swimmers pulling ahead from us normal swimmers. Swim split: 1hr 11mins 58secs.

Next onto the bike course; the course was a 19k lap, 9.5k out and back, consisting of 6 gruelling laps. The hill leading upto the turn point wasn't overly steep but a very long drag and it really took it out of your legs (11mph average speed on the climb). Bike Split: 3hrs 26mins 51secs:

Into T2: The dismount line was about 5m off the dual carriageway and caught us all by surprise, I didn’t have time to take my feet out the shoes so after a dodgy make it up as I went along dismount I ran the 150m into T2 in my shoes. The feed stations on the bike course then started to run out of water and food etc it didn’t affect me but for everyone else this is where it started to go wrong.:

The run can only be described as one of the hardest runs I have ever done! 30k along the river the description said. They didn’t mention the fact that most of it was off road and the end of each lap was a full lap around the horse racing track made off a sandy type material. Run time: 2hrs 28mins 32secs.

So a finish time of 7hrs 7mins 22secs, 6th in age group, 56th Overall including the Elites which meant I was 31st Overall in the Age Group race, I am delighted with this!”

Well done to Jason from all at Natural Balance Foods on his amazing achievement!

Our very own Operations Manager Elf, Naomi and two friends arrived in Oxford at 9pm on Saturday Night 11/07/09 to undertake this years Oxford Moonlight Stroll for Sobell Hospice Charity. Unfortunately, the weather was not kind to the girls and the rain did not look like it was going to stop. They all sat in the car praying for the weather to clear up – even just a tad – but to no avail. Whilst waiting, our charity goers munched on a Trek bar each to keep their energy up - Trek Oat Flapjacks are Naomi’s favourite!!!

The girls gathered on the field for the warm up with umbrellas in hand – with the dance music pumping they all got in the mood for the 9 mile walk that was ahead of them!!

Setting off at 10.30pm following the umbrella’s in front, the walkers ended up ducking and weaving through Oxford Town Centre in between cobbled streets and dark parks. Having walked about 7 miles it was time for a much needed refreshment; a bottle of water amd Trek bar later and they were back walking and the end was in sight.

The girls completed the 9 miles in 2 and a half hours, which is fab and between the 3 of them raised over £300 for the Sobell Hospice Charity, so a good achievement all in all. Well done, good effort!

You thought our original bars were simple, well get a load of these beauties! Just fruit and nuts smooshed together and available NOW online and in selected health food shops!

Supremely simple, all-natural, vegan, no added sugar, gluten, wheat, dairy and GMO free, cold-pressed, never baked, 95-100% raw. We’re so proud of these little beauties we could pop!

Available in four tasty flavours: Cocoa Orange, Pecan Pie, Ginger Bread and Cashew Cookie, these delicious bars can be purchased online and in selected health stores now! And for a limited time only you can purchase online the Nakd Gluten Free Sampler: one of each bar for you to try!

Word just in that after spending the last month remodelling her art studio, preparing for her first show, and generally "working like a dog" it all went very well. More raving fans! We are so happy for her and hope she remembers us when her work makes it into the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

Our delightful and much loved Global Glee and Happiness Elf has taken off to Oregon to pursue her career as a metal artist. Those of you who had the pleasure to know Breezy will know it’s a perfect fit for a truly one-of-a-kind girl. Although we’re shattered she’s gone, we know she’s right where she needs to be and are very happy for her. She was a founding member of our young company and a ray of sunshine wherever she is.

Rest assured that whereever is she is, she’s spreading smiles right now this very second. Truly an elf for the history books!

Come join the friendly NAKD community online and share news, info and random silliness with us. Look us up under NAKD BARS or Click Here . See you soon!

After overwhelming demand they’ve launched and the feedback has been fantastic (whew!). Two flavours are available, Oat Crunch and Cherry Crunch and they are truly flippin’ yum and really stick with you. Please rush out and try them. We think you’ll dig ‘em.

All three flavours (cherry, lemon and orange) in 5 packs will be available in the Homebaking section with the other dried fruit. The coolest thing to happen to grapes since wine.

Seriously, how we could we not get involved in this? British silliness at it’s very best. 22 miles of madness. Starts at 10am run alone, in teams or on horseback. It’s put one by Green Events in Wales, perhaps the greatest event organizers on Earth. More info at http://www.green-events.co.uk/events.php#id3. We’ll be there filming, feeding folks and generally goofing off. Come join us, you can’t have anything more fun to do!