“it’s Not All About How Much Protein Is In The Product” – The Protein Ball Co. Sees Opening As Consumer Scrutiny Rises

Credit: The Protein Ball Co

The Protein Ball Co. group up successful 2015, markets macromolecule snacks from its guidelines successful confederate England – and has managed to build a customer guidelines crossed much than a twelve countries.

Founded by husband-and-wife squad Matt and Hayley Hunt (who stay mostly shareholders), nan institution counts nan US and Germany among its awesome markets. It is eyeing turnover of £5m ($6.6m) this twelvemonth and is forecasting astatine slightest £8m successful income for 2026.

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The business has precocious relaunched its flagship product, which it markets arsenic a much earthy replacement to macromolecule bars, pinch “no junk” – nary added sugar, sweeteners aliases emulsifiers and “made pinch elemental earthy ingredients”.

Just Food sat down pinch Matt Hunt to talk nan rebranding of its Protein Balls, his plans to turn exports and really consumers’ knowing of macromolecule claims whitethorn beryllium changing.

Eszter Racz (ER): How do you guidelines retired successful this very competitory conception of healthier snacks? Is nan caller rebranding a portion of that effort?

Matt Hunt (MH): Standing retired is very difficult. Our tenth day coming to ourselves was to rebrand our full merchandise line. Our branding looked a small spot neutral and didn’t really guidelines out. We made nan logo dynamic. We looked astatine nan reside of sound and nan wording.

We wanted to put our names connected nan backmost of nan packaging pinch Hayley, my woman and business partner, truthful that group realise that Protein Ball isn’t tally by a big, multinational organisation. We’re a husband-and-wife squad pinch 2 children who employment friends and friends of friends successful our section area, truthful we thought that it’s really important group commencement to understand who we are.

We worked connected nan reside of nan voice, worked connected nan colours and I deliberation that’s really you guidelines retired but that’s only half nan job. Now we person to spell and make a batch of sound and disrupt nan market, which is afloat of nan bigger bars and nan bigger players. We really request to get group to understand it’s not each astir really overmuch macromolecule is successful nan product. It’s astir a earthy merchandise pinch macromolecule that your assemblage tin digest.

ER: Which channels do you chiefly usage for advertising?

MH: We are conscionable astir to commencement connected TikTok. I consciousness for illustration we are not attracting nan younger procreation because we’re not connected TikTok. We person budgets for Facebook and Instagram. We do rather a batch pinch LinkedIn. We still look astatine newspapers and magazines and editorials and nonstop retired samples successful nan station because it’s really bully erstwhile you get a write-up by 1 of nan large magazines, for illustration Runners Weekly aliases thing for illustration that.

LinkedIn has been beautiful bully for america because we person buyers that we prosecute pinch and, erstwhile we station astir a caller flavour aliases a caller conception aliases a caller win, it gets a batch of engagement. The adjacent fewer months for america are going to beryllium astir learning TikTok and TikTok unrecorded and trying to get our connection to nan younger generation. We besides person advertisements going done Amazon but Amazon is its ain benignant of beast. At nan extremity of nan day, it doesn’t matter really overmuch you turn connected Amazon; you still person rather a limited, mini percent of profit astatine nan end.

ER: Do you spot differences successful user behaviour from younger generations compared to older customers?

MH: I deliberation now nan younger procreation is really reference nan backmost of nan packs, looking astatine ‘what goes successful my body’? I cognize this generation, I’ve sewage a niece and a nephew and a batch of group successful nan institution don’t portion truthful overmuch alcohol, don’t eat truthful overmuch bad food. They vape. I deliberation that seems to beryllium a commonality crossed this property group but they are reference nan backmost of nan battalion and are not falling for nan trading bullshit that says this has 20 aliases 30 grams of macromolecule and this is ace healthy.

They’re reference nan packaging and saying: ‘What are immoderate of these ingredients? What is this emulsifier? What’s this sweetener? What’s this glycerol that they’re putting successful it? Is this bully for your body?’ I deliberation it will each move nan nutrient manufacture astir and nan companies that are utilizing earthy ingredients will commencement to emergence again and person their day. It won’t beryllium each astir wide marketing, large budgets and 100-million-dollar aliases billion-dollar companies. It will beryllium astir patient food, picking nan correct brands that resonate pinch you and picking nan correct companies that person nan correct ingredients that are bully for your body.

The caller packaging for The Protein Ball Co.’s flagship product.
Credit: The Protein Ball Co.

ER: The Protein Ball Co. has precocious expanded its footprint successful nan US. What has driven your maturation truthful acold there?

MH: We’ve been successful nan US for 5 years because we’ve been supplying Whole Foods Market stores for that long. Now we person 2 aliases 3 much of nan apical 10 supermarkets and now we’re talking pinch much customers complete there. There’s decidedly a large request successful nan US, I think, because a batch of their products person GMOs and ingredients which aren’t clean. They really for illustration UK companies, because we tin proviso them a cleanable merchandise that has existent earthy ingredients, and I deliberation they spell down really good successful nan US.

It’s chiefly backstage explanation successful nan US but we’re speaking to a supermarket concatenation astir nan Protein Ball brand

It’s chiefly backstage explanation successful nan US but we’re speaking to a supermarket concatenation astir nan Protein Ball brand, which will beryllium really large if it happens. So far, we’ve gone done each nan sampling and nan pricing, and we’re conscionable speaking to them now astir nan commercials, really that will activity pinch nan last price. But we usually activity pinch backstage label.

As a business, we would for illustration to conscionable person our ain marque but sometimes backstage explanation will bring opportunities successful different countries, particularly successful Germany and nan US, wherever you person immoderate beardown supermarket brands aliases health-and-wellness brands and they want to pivot and usage their ain brands because they are really trusted by their consumers. It opens up a full caller market, whilst we proceed to turn our marque successful different places.

The US marketplace is really absorbing because location are 350-400 cardinal consumers, and they person money – and Americans really snack. Once you person a merchandise and you get a loyal following, it’s easy to expand. You could spell into location for illustration Texas mand you could beryllium into 300 supermarkets conscionable successful Texas. It’s that big. Once you person a merchandise that’s starting to summation momentum and there’s a nationalist rollout crossed each nan states, past you tin really spot measurement summation dramatically.

ER: Was location a conscious determination astatine nan commencement to attraction connected exports?

MH: Our first-year turnover was £500,000 and £250,000 of that was export. From time one, during almost nan first 3 months, we were trading into Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. There is simply a existent appetite for these patient snacks location successful my opinion. What usually happens is that these wellness trends will travel from California. Then astir 1 aliases 2 years later, they will make their measurement to nan UK, and past aft nan UK, they will caput complete to Europe, usually starting successful Scandinavia aliases Germany aliases nan Netherlands and moving down to confederate Europe, truthful we were very early.

We went straight into bluish Europe wrong nan first fewer months and we’ve maintained it but we still spot that nan caller trends, for illustration nan collagen mushrooms, aliases nan gut patient fibres, aliases nan precocious fibre that’s coming successful from nan US would return a small spot of clip earlier it hits nan UK, and a small spot much clip earlier it hits Europe. We were conscionable rather early to nan marketplace pinch Protein Ball.

ER: What challenges are you facing successful your different geographical markets?

MH: Whilst we person [strong business in] nan US, we besides person to beryllium somewhat cautious, because pinch nan Trump authorities and pinch tariffs, and now pinch a autumn successful dollar, we get paid little than erstwhile we first group up nan contract, we’re besides starting to hedge and we’re really pushing Europe again. We are talking to a ‘number one’ supermarket concatenation crossed Holland. We are successful talks pinch a supermarket concatenation crossed Scandinavia and we’re very adjacent to closing both. We already person supermarket chains successful Germany and Switzerland and we’re starting to hedge our bets and effort and push Europe because nan US does person immoderate uncertainties astatine nan moment, until things stabilise a spot more.

We’re starting to hedge our bets and push Europe because nan US does person immoderate uncertainties astatine nan moment

ER: Are you readying to participate caller markets?

MH: Yes, nan Middle East. I deliberation nan Middle East is simply a very powerful marketplace for nan macromolecule conception and for earthy ingredients, particularly if it’s British-made. My adjacent focus, which will commencement successful January, will beryllium trying to find immoderate awesome importers successful countries Kuwait, Dubai and Qatar. We are trying to get nan Protein Ball Company to person immoderate contacts retired location to commencement expanding nan business. If you person a earthy product, it tin almost spell astir nan world.

ER: How do you spot your beingness successful nan UK currently?

MH: We are a UK institution and we are starting to ore much connected our home marketplace because location are a batch of businesses, a batch of points successful nan UK, that we are still not servicing and we could work better.

There are much gym chains that we tin spell after. There are much supermarkets successful nan UK that connection earthy products now but location seems to person been a really large shake-up nan past fewer months. I deliberation [fitness coach and TV personality] Joe Wicks was portion of this; he had a TV programme that said astir utilizing unnatural fillers, emulsifiers and ingredients successful macromolecule bars that weren’t arsenic patient arsenic they should be. People are looking astatine what’s successful their macromolecule barroom and if it is patient for their body, and it is bully for them.