Striking out on her own

Local creates signature brand of energy bars

Denise Dinger didn't like the taste of energy bars, so the mother of four decided to make one herself.

After she had her fourth child in 1998, she went into the kitchen. The former personal trainer, dancer and body builder knew what foods were healthy and was convinced she could put her knowledge to work. Dinger had a concept she learned from body builders in the gym, but the recipe called for a redesign.

She took out the sugar and fat and added whole grains, fruit and vegetables. In the kitchen of her southwest Las Vegas home, she developed the no-bake Dendy bars, named for her nickname.

"I started with a food processor," Dinger said. "I broke three of them."

Then, she could only make four bars at a time. She upgraded her equipment, and her mother came to help her make 30 bars. She printed the labels off her computer and started to sell them to anyone interested.

"I got kicked out of a couple gyms," Dinger said. "I started peddling them in the locker rooms, out in the parking lots."

Word of mouth traveled, and soon Dendy On the Go bars were being sold in health food stores.

Nine months later, an investor came calling and Dinger bought industrial equipment and renovated a small warehouse. Now, she has five employees, including her mother and daughter, and sells all 12 flavors of bars in about 50 health food stores around the Las Vegas Valley for about $2 each.

"I was a frustrated housewife, so I kept inventing flavors," she said.

Butter pecan, vanilla creme, peanut butter chocolate chip and others line the shelves at her warehouse. The bars are now professional sealed and labeled with nutritional information.

She's spent the last eight months figuring out how to make them nonperishable without using synthetic materials. Instead she uses fructose, sea salt and sunflower oil.

"I went on the Internet and searched and searched. A week later I found the right person who could give me the right information," Dinger said. "I just talk about it all the time. The truth of the matter is, I truly believe in the product."

Without faith, Dinger would've given up a long time ago. Jump-starting a business hasn't been easy. Advice, at times, costs money, and it was difficult to catch a break, she said. She shared a kitchen for nine months before she had her own equipment.

"We've had to struggle," Dinger said. "It's all our eggs in this basket and hope to God it pays off."

"We'll be millionaires because we don't know anything else," said Holly Orsulak, friend and chief operating officer for Dendy bars. "And we withstand adversity. We're good at adversity. We're all good at waiting."

Struggle aside, Dinger counts her blessings in the form of people who have helped her along the way.

"It's been exciting to watch it grow," said Hannah Bloom, Dinger's mother. She moved her family to the United States from South Africa when Dinger was a child to help her pursue her dancing career. "Every child, no matter how old they are, needs encouragement."

Bloom prepares packaged bars in cases for shipment, but she's also there because she likes the taste of the bars. Employees taste test everything that comes down the belt.

"The after-taste in some of those bars are ... very nasty," Bloom said, making a face.

With the low-carb revolution under way, Dinger is in the midst of developing a low carbohydrate bar she's calling the Freedom Bar. Eventually, it will be a whole grain, sugar-free bar, she said.

"I'm there. I'm back. I have to make full batches," Dinger said. "I don't know how to make small batches anymore. Isn't that funny?"

Those interested in Dendy bars can call 248-1822.


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