About Us

I bet you were expecting this “About Us” page to be riddled with the athletic accomplishments of its founder and how “if it wasn’t for the lack of gluten-free nutrition options, I would have won the gold medal in long-distance basket weaving, so I set out to make the product that would have allowed me to fulfill my purpose” type backstories…. But much like our products we delight in the unexpected (and in run-on sentences).

So here is the truth, Origin Endurance started as a joke dreamed up in a biscuit shop in Tennessee, as founder Travis Schlegel tried sorghum syrup for the first time. Originally named “Schlegel Sorghum”, Origin Endurance was over a decade in the making, and it started with sorghum. We just so happened to stumble across one of the most nutritious, environmentally responsible, and USA homegrown products around. We spent months trying different recipes with sorghum, including grain bowls, banana breads, cookies, bars, etc all while training for an Ironman, but somehow continued to overlook it’s application for athletes. Travis had recently gone plant-based, and was doing his best to be more conscious of his food choices’ impact on both his body and the planet, and while running along, listening to Finding Ultra, and eating a tube of high fructose corn syrup for “nutrition”, an idea was born. The next day, he mixed some sorghum syrup with some pineapple ginger juice, and salt, and our first product (Kona) was born.

Since that initial run, we continue to create products that are made simply from ingredients that grow out of the ground, not from a lab. Our products are all delicious and easy to eat and swallow regardless of your level of exertion, and they are designed for all people, whether training for your next 5k or your next ultra, the challenge is up to you, the fueling, is up to us. And of course, all of our products are “stupid nutritious” – we challenge all our customers to compare our vitamin and mineral profile to our competitors, it’s not even close. And how do we manage to cram so many vitamins into our teeny packages, with massive loads of lab-based powders and serums of course (just kidding, just wanted to see if you were actually still reading this); we do it by using natural, healthy ingredients, straight from the farm. We strive to produce minimally processed products, and products that minimize their impact on the environment, all powered by sorghum.

Sorghum really is an unsung hero. Requiring 1/10th the water of rice (hello, brown rice syrup) and producing 1/8th the nutrient pollution of corn (hello….every product in America), sorghum is a core nutrition staple in many communities around the world, amazing, except the US, who happens to be the largest grower of it! This grain is drought resistant, low glycemic index, high in protein and fiber, is rich with vitamins, and minerals, and grows right up the road. We hope you will fall in love with sorghum as much as we have.

Origin Endurance, it really is nutrition you feel good about.