After a decade of growing the brand, extending product line and reformulating recipes, Iconic Protein’s founder and CEO Billy Bosch believed its products had accumulated too many “things” on front-of-pack. Today, the nutrition brand unveiled new packaging with the goal of engaging the consumer with the functionality and ingredients of each product through a new minimalist look and green-centric color scheme.
Iconic’s new look will be carried through its existing product lines including its collagen-infused coffee, protein powders, ready-to-drink offerings and kids protein shakes. The refresh comes less than a year since the company reformulated its product lines, eliminating added sugar across its portfolio. According to Bosch, the new look is a major element of the brand’s post-pandemic strategy and believes it will differentiate Iconic among the sea of other blue and white bottles that have cropped up in the protein shake aisle since the brand’s launch.
“We have a ton of claims to make with Iconic – protein and no sugar, calories and all of these certifications,” said Bosch. “The label just gets progressively more full of information so we said: what would the opposite approach look like if we went really minimalist? That really resonates with the people that buy our products and it also accurately reflects the simple ingredients of our products.”
The refresh also comes with the introduction of a new product line that marks the brand’s debut in the plant-based protein space. Having long championed its use of 100% grass-fed dairy milk,
Iconic is now using 10 grams of pea protein in its Immunity Coffee line, which also features 200 mg of caffeine, 100 mg of MCT oil, zinc, and vitamins C and D3 for immune support. Immunity Coffee comes in a powdered and RTD format in Vanilla and Mocha flavors and will begin to roll out next month at retailers such as Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Market and H-E-B.
The development of a product with immune-support claims comes not only from the pandemic’s impact on consumer habits, but also as Iconic’s first step toward their new strategy to embracing multi-functional nutrition, Bosch explained.
“We understand that the consumer wants a solution for the challenges they face in their day and obviously immunity is going to stay front of mind,” he said. “Coffee consumption has gone up and remains a strong trend. We now understand that the products we create – not only with this immunity line, but also with other lines – need to serve a functional purpose and be a problem-solve for people.”
“We have found that our consumers are looking for more and more,” added Iconic’s COO Mariah Nguyen. “They no longer want just a coffee – they want a coffee with 18 other things and we want to be that brand that gives it to them.”
Bosch and Nguyen said that Iconic already has plans in the works to expand beyond collagen protein and immunity once the new line gains some footing. Although the plan is to create lines of protein products that cover an array of functions, they have ensured that Iconic’s flagship grass-fed protein line will remain as, just with an upgraded look on shelf. According to Bosch Iconic’s mission to empower personal health journey’s has grown the brand into a larger nutritional platform which drove this shift in strategy to begin looking at the different ways to innovate alongside the evolving needs of their consumer.