According to the Ministry of Agriculture 17% of the total fruit and berry farmland in Latvia is used for black currant (second only to apples). Mind you, that’s officially declared data. In Latvia you will be hard-pressed to find a family without black currant bushes nicely tucked away in the corner of their garden. My contribution to unaccounted residential farming? A solid 5 square meter patch.

Naturally, The Beginnings turned to local farmers for sourcing berries for what is the best black currant bar in northern Europe (more on that later). This berry has such a distinctive taste that many producers use black currant for wine making, but I digress. You’ve got the point — the black currant (and all its varieties) is as big of a deal in Latvia as Sangiovese grapes are in Tuscany.

Our black currant bar starts as a berry coming from the many small (and picturesque) farms sprinkled all over the country. Fresh black currant is powerful, fragrant and tart, nicknamed the queen of the north for a reason. It's the intense taste and winter hardy character compared to the much milder strawberries and raspberries.

We use few ingredients, mostly to mute the intensity of the currant (slightly). Dates and agave syrup add sweetness. Almonds, oats and coconut pack proteins, fats and chewy texture; while cocoa butter binds flavors together. Deceptively simple processing is a balancing act of the whole berries set against sweeter nutty/oat base.

Since colder months are here I feel compelled to omit the description of our state-of-the-art packing equipment and focus instead on a fun fact — black currant contains three times the amount of Vitamin C found in lemon! You know, that one nutrient that does all the heavy lifting, getting us all through the festive season.

So make sure you always have a couple of these bars stashed in an obvious and easy to reach place.

The praise of this particular flavor is coming not only from customers, but also from known European brands who are sourcing our product for distribution under their own name. Taste and quality of our bars simply cannot be matched elsewhere. If, however, you are new to The Beginnings experience I strongly suggest you start with black currant flavour — our signature taste (and a national treasure really).

Word of caution for the uninitiated: when snacking on the way to a festive occasion don't get black currant bar crumbs on your crisp white shirts. Stains from natural berries are on par with that of red wine, and our bars are as juicy and as natural as they come.