Grégoire met en relation Alex & Jimmy through his network because they are looking for a distributor in France. He takes on the distribution alongside his job as Red Bull’s sales director. Mulebar breaks the mold and grows rapidly in a stagnant market where nothing had happened for years, despite a demand for innovation.

In 2014, Grégoire meets Denis Gargaud, a professional canoe slalom athlete. He is looking for a distributor for Duo Tonic, his young brand of 2-in-1 drink/gel products in refill packs—a revolutionary concept at the time! In 2015, they jointly buy Mulebar from Alex and Jimmy, who each have other plans.

At the end of 2016, Denis and Grégoire raise funds to develop the brand:

New logo, new packaging, expansion of the organic range, creation of the energy compote range, new energy gels packaged in resealable and reusable tubes, gel refills...

Still in 2016, Denis becomes Olympic champion in Rio (watch the race here); sales accelerate, the brand expands internationally, and the team grows to as many as 7 people.

In 2018, Mulebar launched a range of Muesli that experienced nice success, but the minimum production quantities were far too high compared to the short shelf life, resulting in financial losses, so the range was discontinued at the end of 2019.

In 2019, Denis decided to dedicate himself 100% to Canoeing in hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. He stepped back from operations but remained an involved partner, particularly in the design of new products with his friends, all professional athletes. Luxury testers! It was also our record year in terms of revenue since the launch in France. Mule is present in 450 stores in France and in 22 countries through local distributors.

2020 marks a dark year for Mulebar with the Covid crisis and the halt of all competitions for many long months, several lockdowns, and the closure of stores and gyms worldwide. The brand is in great danger. The decision is made to part ways with the team in hopes of continuing the adventure. Grégoire remains alone on board to try to save Mulebar.

March 2021 marks the quite extraordinary recovery of online sales, with a big success of our eco-refills of gels linked to the #noplastic movement, then the return of competitions and the reopening of stores in France and abroad. Unfortunately, many of them have decided to skip nutrition or significantly reduce the offering in favor of new brands with very substantial financial means, so Mulebar loses many customers and nearly all of the large export. Denis misses the qualification for Tokyo but wins the French championships, the European championships, the World Cup, and finishes 5th at the World Championships. His sports career is revived.

2022 was once again an “annus horribilis”: in May, the bank that had lent us a large sum of money as part of the 2016 fundraising round—and which COVID had prevented us from repaying—took us to court. The lawyers were unable to negotiate a rescheduling of the debt. The company was placed under court-supervised restructuring to protect it.

In June 2023, the company was liquidated and then acquired by a private investor, who handed the reins to Grégoire to relaunch the brand. Denis stepped away but remained involved with the brand, particularly to test the new products. The few stores that had kept Mulebar on their shelves after COVID dropped it, so the decision was made to move 100% online (although a few rare stores remained loyal—thank you to them).

2024 marked Mulebar’s major comeback on the market, with a new, high-performance website and the launch of the sports and hydration drinks range, which was an immediate success.

2025 was finally an excellent year of strong revenue growth (+46%), despite changing bar manufacturers, which caused several weeks of stockouts for every product. It was also the year the sports supplements range was launched, which should be a game changer in reducing the seasonality of sales. The ambassador program launched at the end of January and had nearly 400 members by the end of December. Mulebar is also switching to a more affordable and higher-performing logistics provider.

Early 2026 is continuing in the same direction with the launch of the energy cake and protein drink, which are breaking all sales records.

That makes 17 years of ups and downs, with their joys and hardships, summed up in just a few lines. What is certain is that Grégoire is firmly convinced that Mulebar has enormous potential. His little mules (athletes who are Mulebar fans) tell him so every day. It is harder on your own, but with extraordinary motivation, Mulebar is slowly but surely getting back on its feet.

The brand’s best pages are still to be written—with you!

We never give up, our little mules ... ever!