My son brings a protein bar to school often, and I have noticed that other kids at his school eat the same one. What struck me first was the wrapper. It looks like candy, bright and cheerful, nothing like the grey, serious packaging I associate with gym supplements. I assumed it was a passing craze. Then a friend asked me a question I could not answer: would this bar work in Korea? I have been chewing on that ever since. The bar. It is a Barebells , a Stockholm brand launched in 2016 and part of the Vitamin Well Group . By its own count it sells in around forty markets. The pitch is candy flavor, real protein, no added sugar: 20 grams of protein in the original bar, 16 in the soft one, both at 55 grams. The company says its soft bars are bestsellers in many European countries. The New York Sun reviewed a soft bar in August and compared it to a favorite chocolate bar, which is not a compliment protein bars usually earn. The Food Stack newsletter calls Barebells Europe's market lea...