Senior Will Moller Founds "Bronx Energy Bars" to Fight Food Insecurity in the Bronx
In January 2021, senior Will Moller took the initiative to help food-insecure families in South Bronx—37% of the families residing there, in fact, according to FRAC (the Food Research and Action Center). The 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend individuals consume at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, which only 4% of South Bronx residents achieve. The widespread food insecurity in the South Bronx is due in part to the low-paying jobs that do not adequately sustain families.
In response to this crisis, Moller created the company Bronx Energy Bars, which donates 100% of proceeds to LIFT NYC. As stated on the Bronx Energy Bars website, “LIFT is an organization that provides one-on-one coaching for families living in the South Bronx. Their team empowers families to break the cycle of poverty through support on career, education, and finances.”
Bronx Energy Bars started out as a simple idea in 2020, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it became a reality in the beginning months of 2021. With the pandemic exacerbating food instability, Moller decided he could help through entrepreneurship. He told The Riverdale Review that he wants to “improve access to healthy food options in the South Bronx, as well as help to fight against the explosion of food insecurity.”
Moller started the company with the help of his family, but he now takes on the majority of the workload. He is responsible for pitching the energy bars to new stores, sending their ingredients to the commercial kitchen, writing educational blog posts about health and food insecurity, and running the business altogether.
The company produces two bars, Peanut Butter Banana and Cranberry Orange Oat. The flavors were finalized after research, taste tests, and experimentation with different flavor combinations. As of now, Moller is not planning to expand the flavor roster. Creating a new flavor could be costly, and the current bars are already delicious and adored. All the ingredients, such as quinoa, brown rice, agave syrup, and brown rice syrup, are simple, healthy, and natural. .
Moller has succeeded in selling the bars at 13 different stores across Manhattan, with over 500 bars sold. He even got the bars into Riverdale’s very own vending machines. Bronx Energy Bars has already donated $5,000 to the LIFT communities through a combination of the bars’ proceeds as well as the contributions from a fundraiser.
In order to get the bars into stores, Moller has visited over 75 small businesses around the city with a box of his bars in one hand and an information sheet in the other. So far his pitches to these businesses have worked well, and he will continue to approach new stores. Junior Alex Moller, Will’s brother, said, “Any chance Will gets, he's always delivering bars to stores all over the city. He is incredibly enthusiastic and truly believes in the mission.”
When asked about the company’s progress, senior Corwin Cheung, a friend of Moller’s, said, “Will has incredible drive, and that’s the main reason for his massive success.” Cheung went on to say Moller uses “to-do systems”' and “goal-setting to accomplish big tasks from working with stores to selling bulk orders.”
Next year, Moller will be headed off to college in Chicago, so running a New York-based company may prove difficult. When asked by TheRiverdale Review what his plans were for the company, he responded that LIFT has a branch in Chicago, so he might start some Chicago-based efforts. He is open to the possibility of creating “South Side Energy Bars,” which would focus on the prevalent food insecurity in the South Side of Chicago, while Bronx Energy Bars may need to be run by someone else located in New York. Regardless of where he is, Moller is determined to make sure his Bronx Energy Bars continue to help LIFT communities in need.
