MrBeast’s viral chocolate brand Feastables gained its first supermarket listing in Asda just weeks after its UK direct-to-consumer launch. But how is the brand going to grow and which retailers will stock it next?
Tipped as the UK’s ‘next Prime’ influencer-backed fmcg sensation, chocolate bar brand Feastables is the brainchild of MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) – YouTube’s most subscribed individual, boasting 166 million subscribers.
Having launched his channel in 2012 when he was just 13 years old, Donaldson has become known for his unorthodox online stunts and cash giveaways. Past videos have seen him spend 50 hours buried alive, pay for 1,000 blind people to have eye surgery, and give $250,000 to the winner of a rock, paper, scissors competition.
The YouTube star has, however, also courted controversy along the way, with critics condemning his content as “charity porn”. But his clickbait videos have converted a legion of gen Z followers to the cult of MrBeast.
Consumer appetite for MrBeast was immediately apparent
An engaged audience brings with it the opportunity for capital gain and in late 2020, Donaldson brought MrBeast’s brand power to the food industry, launching virtual restaurant brand Beast Burger. Amid frenzied interest, Donaldson sold franchise rights to serve MrBeast branded burgers to restaurants across the US before opening its own physical restaurant last summer.
MrBeast then expanded his repertoire into confectionery in January 2022, launching a range of chocolate bars – called Feastables – in the US. Consumer appetite was immediately apparent, resulting in Donaldson’s website crashing during a giveaway promotion and Walmart signing a deal with the YouTuber to list his sweet treats in September 2022.
Read more:
- YouTuber MrBeast launches Feastables snack range in the UK
- Spar to stock MrBeast chocolate bars in exclusive convenience deal
- Asda lists MrBeast chocolate bars tipped as ‘the next Prime’
Independent retailers in the UK sniffed a Prime-esque opportunity and began importing the bars and selling them at marked-up prices. The US bars also appeared for sale on Amazon through third party sellers, with demand for the product seeing single bars being sold for £8 and more.
In June 2023, MrBeast launched direct-to-consumer sales of Feastables in the UK, with two bars – the chocolate and peanut butter bar Deez Nuts, and the puffed rice chocolate bar Crunch – becoming available to order.
Putting the pressure on Hershey’s and Mars
Just weeks later, Spar listed the same two Feastables chocolate bars in an exclusive convenience deal and Asda added a four-strong lineup of 60g tablets: Deez Nutz, Crunch, Milk Chocolate and Original. The supermarket also confirmed it would list a smaller 35g format later in 2023.
While further UK retail listings are yet to be confirmed, MrBeast is trying to “take up as much shelf space as possible” in the US. The YouTuber took to his channel in July 2023 to complain about Hershey’s and Mars dominating the category in America.
“These guys just own all the chocolate space, and they don’t innovate… no one’s really threatening them. To me it’s fun to put pressure on them and try to take up as much shelf space as possible and try to figure out what they’re doing but do it better.”
An expansion into new categories could be on the horizon. Donaldson’s company Beast Holdings, the parent company for the business dealings of the YouTube star, has applied to register the ‘MrBeast’ brand name as a trademark with the Intellectual Property Office under several classes, including gummy sweets, cookies and soft drinks.
Next stop: world domination.
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