Typically I would laugh at anyone who came up with the idea of combining buffalo meat with cranberries and calling it a treat. Guess that's why I'm not a wealthy entrepreneur. A pair of savvy small business owners decided to combine these two ingredients in an energy bar (along with garlic and onion)— the Tanka Bar—with tremendous success. Based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the bar is actually a twist on a Native American Lakota food called "wasna." While the 70-cal snack only sold online at first and at a few specific outlets in South Dakota, the bars quickly became so popular that the company quadrupled manufaturing and signed distribution deals that put their Tankas in more than one thousands stores throughout twelve states. Bearing in mind that the company just launched in October, those are excellent stats.

So how'd they do it? While the Native American founders started the company to appeal to their community, interest in the energy bar has spread to a much larger market that includes athletes, backpackers, rock climbers, and other health enthusiasts, according to USA Today. As a credit to the company, they managed to inadvertently do a great job of penetrating the hyper-saturated energy bar market by offering something entirely different from what's already out there. While the product is equally healthy—perhaps more so—than some of the sugary energy bars on the market, its success also suggests that it tastes good too.

Anyone tried one?