For John and Maddy Aliotti, wellness isn’t just a lifestyle—it’s a family tradition. The father-daughter duo behind Cibáre Foods grew up spending quality time hiking, playing competitive sports, and sharing home-cooked meals. So when John—an endurance athlete and lifelong foodie—couldn’t find a clean, great-tasting protein bar, he took matters into his own hands, crafting one in his kitchen using real, high-quality ingredients. The bars were a hit with friends, family, and fellow fitness enthusiasts, but it was Maddy—whose background in product development gave her an eye for market-ready gold—who encouraged turning the kitchen experiment into a real brand. Today, Cibáre is all about fueling active lives with no-compromise snacks that taste as good as they perform. In this Delivery Rank’s interview with John, we talk about starting a family business, building a product they truly believe in, and how Cibáre continues to nourish both body and community.
You’ve gone from a home kitchen experiment to a thriving business—what was the turning point when you realized your protein bar could actually become a brand?
Great question! To answer that, let’s go back in time a bit. A little over ten years ago I was taking a HIIT class and after one of our classes I tried a protein bar for the very first time. In a nutshell, it was awful with a horrible, funky aftertaste and a texture which was hard as a brick. The ingredients included things I couldn't pronounce and honestly had never heard of.
Over the next few classes, I tried a second and third hoping for an improvement but each resulted in an awful tasting bar. I understood the benefits protein plays in overall health and wellness but I thought there had to be a happy medium between those benefits and a pleasant eating experience. I’ve never been intimidated in the kitchen, so I decided to make my own bar.
My ground rules were simple: this bar had to be healthy, delicious, unprocessed and be based on a few simple ingredients. So I started playing around with different protein powders, nut butters, and fruits until I arrived at a bar texture and taste I liked. This didn’t happen overnight! However with time and patience and a lot of sampling, I eventually arrived at a recipe which was repeatable, and produced a delicious bar with a nice creamy texture.
At first I was only making the bars for myself and family but eventually I had friends, gym partners, and co-workers all asking when the next batch of bars would be available. It was at this point the lightbulb went off and I realized we had something people wanted.
My daughter Maddy saw what was happening and after researching the bar space found there wasn’t a fantastic plant-based option out there with shelf-stable probiotics. So we scaled our kitchen formula into a commercial recipe and in 2022, we launched cibáre as a father & daughter brand.
As a longtime athlete and foodie, how did your experience in competitive sports shape your standards for performance nutrition and food quality?
I learned long ago that proper nutrition is essential for anyone from the competitive athlete to the weekend warrior. Although my competitive playing days are behind me, I still enjoy a very active lifestyle and understand that getting the most from any activity requires healthy proteins and carbs delivered in a way that is easy on the gut.
The foodie in me says, “that’s all great - but it has to taste great!” Point taken - In fact, taste and texture were more important than hitting a “target” for grams of protein when I was developing the recipe. Many bars try to cram too much protein into a 45g package and because of the bitterness of the protein powders, the result is a bar which requires the addition of a sugar substitute, sugar alcohol, fillers, or cane sugar itself just to make it edible. Things like xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol, maltitol, mannitol, isomalt, lactitol, stevia, brown rice syrup, tapioca fiber, monk fruit, or agave syrup are common in most bars on the market…but we don’t use them in cibáre. My philosophy is that your food shouldn't be complicated; if I need to get my phone out to google an ingredient or why it’s in my food, well, that’s a red flag.
Our bars are delicious and sweetened using nothing more than organic dates. The 1B probiotics plus 4g of fiber makes them gut-healthy and a great grab-and-go option for anyone.
Bringing your daughter on board to co-create the business is a bold and beautiful move. What strengths do you and Maddy each bring to the Cibáre partnership, and how do you keep the “family dynamic” thriving in a business setting?
I’m just a former athlete and present-day kitchen nerd - Maddy is the brains of the operation! In all seriousness, we complement each other well. She is more patient than I and brings an acute understanding of our brand into our packaging and messaging. I manage the day-to-day operations and leave the marketing to her. We are both aligned in our thinking and approach of how we want to grow cibáre.
Keeping the “family dynamic” thriving hasn’t been an issue and I believe our personal relationship is stronger as a result of being business partners. We have a better understanding of how the other thinks and solves problems, which has helped us communicate better outside the business. I always knew I had a kind, thoughtful, smart daughter but working together with her in a business setting has really made an impression on me as a dad and a co-founder. We are running a business together but at the end of the day we will always be a family.
Cibáre was born from flavor experimentation—do you remember the first flavor combo you nailed, and what made it stand out to you and your taste testers?
The first flavor I developed early on was Vanilla Almond. It’s funny because I’m not a huge fan of vanilla itself but the bar was the simplest for me to learn from and perfect the texture and ultimately my style. The bar mixed subtle overtones of vanilla into a creamy texture with almonds and dates. People loved it but as we researched the bar space and prepared to launch the company we found flavors with chocolate, peanut butter, blueberry, and almond had greater market appeal. The recipe for that original Vanilla Almond is waiting in the wings on our roadmap for a future release.
The brand clearly celebrates an active, connected lifestyle. How important is that community spirit to your mission, and how does it show up in your company culture or customer relationships?
Our brand reflects our California roots with the nearby mountains, beaches, and plenty of sunshine. We use our wholesome foods to connect people to the beautiful outdoors and help nourish their best adventures. In fact, the word cibáre comes from the Italian word, “to feed or nourish,” which aligns with our mission of empowering every wellness journey with clean, transparent nutrition. Cibáre is more than just another bar company and we really treat our customers as if they were guests enjoying a meal in our home.
