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City People

Taking off

An entrepreneur is creating success one energy bar at a time.

By ERIKA VIDAL
Published August 11, 2006

BAYSHORE GARDENS - Erin DeMarines never dreamed that the old family recipe she used to cook up in her kitchen would end up on the shelves of Publix and Whole Foods. But that's exactly where her homemade cookies-turned-vegan energy bars may be headed.

A personal trainer, nutritional consultant and model, DeMarines first tried to make her family's chocolate peanut butter cookies healthier 10 years ago, after a client asked her to make them dairy-free.

"So the next time I made them, I put soy milk in. Then I thought, I bet if I added a little bit of protein that would make it healthier," she said. "So it just kind of happened, totally by accident."

She kept modifying the recipe according to her nutritional studies, personal tastes and eating philosophy. Within three months, she was selling them at local gyms. Eventually she worked with a pharmacist and a food scientist to perfect the recipe.

Until recently, she called them e-bars, with the "e" standing for everyone. Then about four months ago, at the urging of her marketing firm, she renamed them 3BAR, representing the three sports of the triathlete, swimming, jogging and biking.

DeMarines, 37, sells the bars in three flavors through her company's Web site, www.e-fitfoods.com, at Smoothie King shops on Swann Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard, and at Feet First on Bay to Bay Boulevard. She's also working on contracts with Publix and Whole Foods, and is planning more flavors and products.

While she's not crafting and marketing her energy bar, the Maryland native who has lived in Tampa for 11 years works on strengthening her already fit body.

Her love of running started on the track at the University of Maryland in College Park, where her father used to take her when she was just 3.

"He'd put me in the lane behind him and tell me to stay behind him," she said. Her father tells her that every time he turned around, she was right behind him.

DeMarines can't count how many races and triathlons she has competed in during the past 15 years. "There would be no way I could ever stop doing triathlons," she said. "Once it's in your blood, it's in your blood."

Her physique has landed her some pretty unexpected gigs. She has modeled for Venus Swimwear and occasionally models fitness apparel shown on the Home Shopping Network. One day she hopes to be featured in the swimsuit edition of Triathlete Magazine.

DeMarines tried her hand at acting after a movie producer approached her at a drugstore while she lived in Los Angeles. She appeared as an extra in an episode of Seinfeld and played a "beach babe" in an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

Close friend Veronica Swiatek looks to DeMarines for nutritional advice. Without her support and encouragement, Swiatek wouldn't be preparing for her first triathlon, she said.

"I think that if anyone deserves success, it's Erin," she said.

DeMarines says she has to pinch herself to make sure her success is real. She's confident that this is just the beginning for her business.

"I'm still kind of like that kid going, is it there yet? Am I there yet? I feel like I can't quite pat myself on the back yet. But I'm close."

Erika Vidal can be reached at evidal@sptimes.com or 226-3339.

*   *   *

ERIN DEMARINES

AGE: 37

FAMILY: Parents Jane and Ron DeMarines; sisters Julia and Charlotte.

GIGS: Founder and chief executive officer of e-Fit Foods Inc., which makes energy products

OTHER GIGS: Model, personal trainer

HOME: Condo in Bayshore Gardens

IN GOOD TIME: Runs a mile in 6 minutes, 40 seconds

TOP BAR FLAVOR: Cocoa Crunch

GUILTY PLEASURE: Soy chai latte from Starbucks

INSPIRATIONS: Her sister Julia, 22, a member of the triathlon team at the University of Colorado, and her grandmother Charlotte, 92, who still drives herself to the gym three times a week.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 08:07:11]