MM LinkedIn post27 Jun 2023 08:18
“As a kid growing up, I didn’t imagine owning a brand in the ice cream sector. For starters, hot days in Lancashire were as a rare as hens’ teeth, and so the appeal of ice cream was limited.
On the days we did have ice cream, the market was sewn up by a plethora of Mr Whippy ice cream vans, driving around the terraced streets. They were like the mafia, with an agreed “patch” that each could operate without competition. They would occasionally sell their patches to the highest bidder, like landing slots at Heathrow.
Fast forward a few decades and things couldn’t be more different. As a kid, I still remember the excitement of Mars Ice cream bars launching. It was an early memory of seeing a global brand expand across multiple categories, winning in each one. Seeing the progression of the Mars’ brand through the years has no doubt influenced our strategy for Myprotein.
After Mars' arrival, the ice cream sector swiftly developed into an all-year category, competing with confectionary as a daily treat. Global brands saw this trend early, and began dominating the category with ice cream versions of well-known chocolate bars.
But like confectionary, ice cream is high in sugar, fat and carbs. Several new brands have recently emerged, bringing healthier ice cream treats. But given Myprotein is the World’s No1 sports nutrition brand, we can lead the healthy eating market, including ice cream.
We’ve seen incredible success with Myprotein in the healthy frozen foods market through an initial partnership with Iceland. From a standing start, the Myprotein brand should take a c£30m share of the U.K. market in the first year. Not too shabby given the limited initial range and only being available at Iceland to date.
Following the frozen meals success, today is the U.K. launch of Myprotein’s healthier and protein rich ice creams products. The initial range is just 3 flavours, each very low in both sugar and fat, while importantly high in protein. Compared to the global leader in low calorie ice cream, the Myprotein range has 3 x more protein, 70% less sugar, and less fat and carbs.
We launch in Iceland today, before expanding to other major U.K. grocers and internationally later this year. In September, we are also launching a range of protein rich ice cream bars as healthier alternatives to the Mars-style products.
10 years ago, people thought protein products were just for serious bodybuilders. Today, there’s rapidly growing awareness of the importance of daily protein levels. More and more research proves the critical role of protein consumption in anti-aging and longevity.
This uniquely places Myprotein as the authority in the space, however we define it 💪 We are seriously focused on moving into other categories, working in partnership with other major global brands. Keep an eye out for Myprotein branded cereals, yogurts, cheese appearing appear on grocery shelves sometime soon 😉
(Pic is me, c
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