FOOD & BEVERAGE MAGAZINE — Most energy bars go from concept to shelf in a few months. ILA spent six years — and the founders will tell you that wasn't a delay. It was the whole point.
The Atlanta-based brand has launched its first two products, ILA Chocolate and ILA Peanut, plant-based energy bars built around whole-food ingredients and adaptogenic herbs. Both are available now, headquartered and distributed out of Atlanta. But in a snack aisle where "adaptogenic" has become a marketing reflex, the story worth watching here isn't the launch. It's who built it, and how long they were willing to wait to get it right.
ILA was founded by Amy Saleh and Eileen Brantley, practicing clinical herbalists with more than two decades of combined training and hands-on herbal practice. Saleh is a Certified Holistic Herbalist trained at the BotanoLogos School of Herbal Studies and is currently a doctoral candidate in acupuncture and herbal medicine. Brantley holds a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine and is a Certified Nutrition Specialist, alongside an herbalism certification from the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine. [MORE]
