68 | FORBES INDONESIA JULY 2019
ENTREPRENEURS
FORBES INDONESIA
THE KEITHS
As their father lay dying, the 13 Keith siblings
took his recipe for a snack no one could
sell—a refrigerated protein bar—and built it
into a $300 million startup.
Bittersweet
Success
PHOTOGRAPH BY TIM PANNELL FOR FORBES
L
eigh Keith is taking her time
flattening a mound of pea-
nut butter, honey, cranber-
ries and chocolate chips
with a wooden rolling pin, before
cutting it into 4-inch rectangles. She
used to do this at race speed, when she
and her siblings worked through the
night to fill orders for their peanut-
butter bars 14 years ago, when they
were starting Perfect Snacks. “We
didn’t even have the recipe written
down,” the 33-year-old says, her wavy
hair—blond, like nearly all the Keiths—
fastened securely by a hair net. “We
started out with a whole lot of ambi-
tion. The harder we worked, the more
BY CHLOE SORVINO
Food Fighters - From left: Leigh, Zane,
Bill, Heather and Charisse Keith in their
San Diego headquarters’ kitchen.