Banana Bar Without Eggs – On the Challenge, the Creativity, and How I Almost Lost Control in Front of One of My All-Time Favorite Snacks

By Liran Gruda – R&D Chef and Devoted Banana-Bar and Strawberry-Bar Addict

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There are moments in the career of anyone who develops food products when a challenge lands on your desk and you instantly know: this is not “just another project.”
It’s not another “new product development,” not another routine cycle of trials–tasting–analysis–optimization.
It feels like a final exam.

For me, that moment arrived a few years ago, when I got a call from Yoav Malach from Achva.

Now, Achva (anyone who knows the company knows this) is not “just a factory.”
It’s a facility that operates like a textbook example of the food industry: structured management, strategic thinking, clean and disciplined production lines, and an internal culture of true professionalism.
In my eyes, it has always represented that rare combination of Israeli modesty and European precision. If there’s a place that respects processes, it’s Achva.

Yoav’s phone call was short:

“Liran, we’re bringing back the Banana Bar. But there’s a problem… we can’t use eggs in that department.”

And just like that, the silence ended.

Because the Banana Bar (let’s refresh the memory) is based on a classic foam technology that relies for decades on egg white protein.
It’s the heart of the product.
It defines its texture, its trapped air, its elasticity, its pleasant collapse in the mouth. Something between a marshmallow and a dense, stable version of our beloved Krembo.

Rebuilding that foam without eggs, within strict factory limitations, without adding exotic ingredients, without changing the equipment, and without turning the production team’s life into a nightmare?

That’s exactly the kind of challenge I love.

And not only because I’m a chef who gets excited about projects like this, but because I’m… how shall I put this delicately… mildly addicted to Banana Bars and Strawberry Bars.
Yes, it’s a known weakness. Some people collect watches; I collect nostalgic marshmallow- coated experiences.

Understanding What Makes a Banana Bar… a Banana Bar

To develop a food product properly, you always start with the simplest question:

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What are we actually trying to preserve?

Because sometimes, when you remove a central ingredient, like eggs, the product may look the same but certainly doesn’t feel the same.

And with products like the Banana Bar, which we all grew up with since age four, there’s zero margin for error.
The consumer will spot a deviation of one millimeter in texture like a trained scent dog.

So what defines a Banana Bar?

• A stable foam that’s not too sticky
• A light, airy chew with a hint of elasticity, and yes, slightly brittle
• Balanced sweetness
• Stability during cooling and transport
• Perfect behavior under the compound-chocolate coating (if only it were real dark chocolate like abroad…)
• Aroma and nostalgia that transport you straight back to the 90s

The challenge was to recreate the exact same experience, without a single egg, without introducing new problematic ingredients, and without disrupting the entire manufacturing process.‍

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The Egg Ban – So What’s Left?

In many factories, especially those strict about allergen separation, egg-free production lines are a must.

But creating an industrial foam that needs to retain volume, structure, viscosity, and coating stability without eggs?
That’s a serious challenge.

Every food technologist knows that replacing eggs is anything but simple.
Even today, in 2025, with the rise of advanced plant proteins, functional fibers, and smart stabilizers, achieving a stable whipping function without egg proteins is still difficult.

And Achva told me one very clear thing:

“We are not adding ingredients that complicate production. No line changes. No unnecessary complexity.”

That’s when I realized what the real challenge was:

Not just to develop a product,
but to develop a product that behaves like the original
and can be manufactured under the factory’s existing conditions
without major changes.

This requires a different mindset:

Not “what would I do if I had my own private experimental plant,”
but how to integrate innovation within real industrial constraints.

And that’s where the true fun of food-product development begins.

Thinking Outside the Foam

When I started the project, I knew I couldn’t “hold the egg stick from both ends.”
The options on the table:

Foamed plant protein – but…
Unpleasant aroma, off-flavors, unstable under freezing.

Special hydrocolloids – but…
Require heating, gelation, or equipment the line simply doesn’t have.

More aggressive aeration – but…
It wouldn’t hold volume and would collapse once coated.

In short, no simple solution.

I found myself running between the lab, calls with Yoav, and visits to the production line.

For me, it felt like a chef trying to recreate a childhood recipe from grandma- but inside a laboratory with industrial constraints.

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The Solution – This Is Where You Start Guessing

Here’s the part where I must be careful.

I can’t reveal the formula. Not only for reasons of confidentiality or IP, but because the magic of this project lies in how unexpected the solution was.

We did not add any new raw material the factory had never used.
We did not change the equipment.
We did not alter temperatures.
We did not change the essence of the production process.

But we did use an existing ingredient in a creative way.

The result?

A stable, soft, industrial-grade foam with a signature that truly feels like the Banana Bar we all know.

So here’s my challenge to you; food technologists, R&D people, chef-technologists:

What technological approach allows the creation of a stable industrial foam without eggs, under fixed production conditions, using only ingredients already present at Achva?

Whoever cracks it is invited for coffee and cake at the Gruda Lab-
and I promise the cake will be at least as good as a Banana Bar.

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The Professional Lesson – Why This Matters to the Industry

Why am I writing this?

Because this small story teaches a lot about new-product development and innovation in the food industry.

We live in a market where every brand wants to be “simple,” “natural,” “allergen-free,”
but at the same time look, feel, and taste exactly like the original.

What does this require?

• Deep understanding of the factory’s constraints
• Real familiarity with the production systems
• Putting the consumer experience above all
• Extreme creativity
• Working with advanced food- development labs like Gruda 😊
• And remembering that there is always a solution- sometimes a simple one, if you look at it from a different angle

In other words:

Food-product development is not just science- it’s also kitchen, psychology, and a whole lot of intuition.

Before We Finish… Why the Banana Bar Drives Me Crazy

I admit, this project was not only technical.
It was emotional.

Banana Bar and Strawberry Bar are not “just snacks” for me.
They’re small nostalgic moments.
A taste from childhood that takes you straight back to the neighborhood grocery store, to the yellow-and-red wrappers, to simpler days.

Maybe that’s why I insisted that the new version be not just good- but right.

In food development, when you have an emotional connection to a product, it can be both dangerous and exhilarating.
On one hand, you may lose objectivity;
on the other- you become uncompromising.

And me, as you know… when I dive into something, I dive all the way.

So What Did I Learn from This Project?

1. True innovation isn’t measured by how many new stabilizers you add, but by how     creatively you use the existing ones.
2. A good food technologist and chef must learn to work within constraints, not eliminate them with shortcuts.
3. Factories like Achva remind me how professional, precise, and beautiful the Israeli food industry can be.
4. Sometimes the client isn’t looking for a revolution just a solution that fits their reality.
5. Never underestimate the power of a nostalgic product.

And What’s Next?

Looking back, this project is the perfect example of how we work at Gruda:

Innovation, respect for industry, deep process understanding, and a bridge between culinary creativity and technology.

It’s not a story about “inventing something new,”
but about thinking differently.

And to me, that is the true meaning of food-product development.

Alright, Who’s Guessing?

As I said:
Whoever figures out the method
is welcome to our lab for coffee and cake.

And a warning:
If you guess “air-based foam”
or “sacrificing a chicken for luck”
you’re not even close.

But if you’re real product-development people, food technologists,
or simply Banana-Bar fanatics like me- you just might succeed.

And if you simply want to develop a new product- we’re here.
Don’t hesitate to reach out.
I usually respond pretty fast…
especially if someone mentions Banana Bars.