VARE Foods — Chicago, IL
The snack industry doesn't want you full. We do.
Why VARE exists
You're not the problem.
You've told yourself you have no willpower. That you can't stop at one. That something is wrong with you. There isn't. Snack companies spend billions engineering their products to override your fullness signals. The spiral isn't an accident — it's the product working exactly as designed. VARE is built around one idea: a snack that actually fills you up, so you don't have to fight yourself.
Letter from the Co-Founder
Andrew Cook
I've always been a "fat kid" at heart. My relationship with food has been complicated, to say the least.
Growing up, I was a little overweight and very unsure of myself — so I turned to food in the moment, but it always came with something after. Guilt. The kind that made me feel like I lacked control. I'd finish an entire pack of cookies or chips in one sitting and immediately feel like I had fallen short of the person I wanted to be.
In my head, there was always a different version of me. Someone more disciplined, more in control. And those moments never seemed to match that.
Even after I joined the military and found my passion for fitness, that tension never really went away. Food was still both a joy and something that quietly held me back.
I tried to fix it the way most people do. Better-for-you snacks. Protein bars. "Healthier" options. But none of them worked. They didn't satisfy. They felt like a chore. And somehow, I'd still end up hungry and reaching for more.
"This is crazy. There has to be a better way."
A few months ago, it came to a head. I was sitting at my desk, completely burnt out, staring at a pack of M&Ms, a protein bar, air-puffed chips, and beef jerky spread out in front of me. Something sweet. Something "healthy." Something high-protein. I'd assembled the entire broken system without even realizing it.
So I decided to build something better. I started experimenting. Testing. Failing. Iterating. Trying to create something that actually tasted good and moved me toward my goals instead of away from them.
It had to taste like something you'd actually want. And it had to fill you up in a way nothing else was doing. Both. Not one or the other.
Andrew Cook
Co-Founder, Operations & Production — VARE Foods
I didn't have Andrew's relationship with food. But I kept seeing the same thing everywhere I looked — and it made me furious.
People who were doing everything right. Tracking. Being intentional. Trying. And still losing the battle every night because the system was designed for them to lose it. The snack aisle isn't a neutral place. It's a machine built to keep you coming back.
I've spent years studying nutrition, performance, and how food actually affects the body. And from where I was standing, the gap wasn't willpower — it was product design. Nobody had built a snack that worked with your biology instead of against it.
"It wasn't a willpower problem. It was a design problem."
When I saw what Andrew was building, it was obvious. He had the obsession — the firsthand experience of knowing exactly what was missing. I had the framework to understand why, and the conviction that it could be solved. Together, we decided to actually solve it.
VARE isn't a fitness brand. It's not a diet brand. It's for anyone who's ever felt out of control around food and wondered if something was wrong with them. Nothing is wrong with you. The snack was wrong. We're fixing that.
JD Locke
Co-Founder, Brand & Product — VARE Foods
Co-Founder
JD Locke
The Spark
Andrew Cook
Operations, production, and distribution. The guy who lived the problem, refused to accept it, and built the first batch himself. Every product decision runs through him.
The Structure
JD Locke
Brand, product, and customer experience. Saw the systemic failure clearly enough to get angry about it — and build something better. The framework that makes VARE more than a snack.
What we're building
A snack that's finally on your side.
Not another protein bar. Not a "better-for-you" compromise. A snack engineered to fill you up — because you deserve to stop at one.
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