Direct-to-consumer sports nutrition giant Myprotein is to make its debut in UK grocery this month.
The 15-year-old brand will roll three snacking SKUs into Co-op from 18 November: 60g Layered bar in Birthday Cake flavour, the Double Choc & Caramel variant of 75g Gooey Filled Cookie, and 64g Carb Crusher bar in Fudge Brownie flavour (rsp: £2.50). The trio provides between 27g and 36g of protein per 100g, while sugar content is no more than 4g per 100g.
The launch into Co-op would mark Myprotein’s first major presence on the high street, said the Cheshire brand, which already had “small distributions in a couple of other territories”. This month’s move was only “first of several potential rollouts in the retail space, with further formats also being developed”.
Founded in 2004, the DTC sports nutrition supplier was acquired in 2011 by The Hut Group and now has eight million customers across 70 countries. Meanwhile, take-home sales of sports nutrition in UK grocery are up 18.6% to £155.6m, with snack bars having risen 21.7% [Kantar 52 w/e 19 May 2019].
The category had “experienced considerable growth over the past three years as high-protein bars and snacks have diversified beyond their core audience” said The Hut Group CEO Matthew Moulding.
“This change in consumer behaviour is something we have seen through our online audience, and the demand for our bars and snacks in an easily accessible on-the-go format is higher than ever as people see them playing a role as a healthy alternative to traditional confectionery.”
Launching to grocery presented “the perfect opportunity to cater to those consumer demands” Moulding added.
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