YouTube’s most subscribed individual MrBeast has launched direct-to-consumer sales of his snack range in the UK.
MrBeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – launched the Feastables range in January last year in the US. The range was initially exclusive to Walmart and online, but last month became available in 7-Eleven.
There are now two products available via the Feastables UK website: the chocolate and peanut butter bar Deez Nuts, and the puffed rice chocolate bar Crunch.
However The Grocer also understands Asda will list products in MrBeast’s Feastables range in the coming weeks.
Independents in the UK and specialist retailers have been selling imported product for some months. The US bars are also for sale on Amazon through third party sellers, and offered by individuals on social media. Demand for the products has seen single bars being sold for £8 and more.
Fulfilment of official UK sales is being handled by Lancashire-based Icon Foods. The bars are only available in packs of 10 on the Feastables site, at a cost of £29.99 with delivery in up to five days by Yodel or Royal Mail for £4.
Donaldson has the second-highest subscriber count on YouTube, and the most of any individual. He launched his channel in 2012 when he was 13 years old. The channel is known for running expensive stunts and challenges, such as a rock, paper, scissors competition with a $250,000 prize, and a video in which Donaldson awards a Lamborghini to the person that kept their hand on it the longest.
Feastables is not Donaldson’s first venture in food. In late 2020 he launched virtual restaurant brand Beast Burger. The brand sold franchise rights to serve the burgers to restaurants across the US, which were available on major delivery platforms. A physical restaurant opened last summer.
Last month, in now deleted tweets, Donaldson said he was “moving on” from burgers, complaining that working with restaurants he didn’t own made it “impossible to guarantee the order quality” and the sub-par burgers were “terrible for my brand”.
In March, Donaldson asked his followers to “clean up the presentation” of Feastables products in stores. Fans who sent a before and after “shelfie” of their work were entered into a draw to win $5,000.
Asda was the first UK supermarket to stock last year’s viral hit drink Prime Hydration, founded by two YouTubers: KSI, a rapper who is also CEO of a boxing business, and Logan Paul. The exclusive UK distribution deal saw queues of customers outside stores and three-bottle purchase limits.
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