Koia has built its reputation in the cold box, but in order to achieve its next stage of growth the company is breaking onto the dry shelf with this month’s launch of Koia Nutrition Shakes, its first shelf-stable offering.
Though similar in some respects to the brand’s core, refrigerated protein shake line, the Nutrition Shakes come in 11 oz. Tetra Pak cartons and feature 20 grams of protein, 3 grams of sugar and 21 vitamins and minerals per serving, as opposed to the core’s 12 oz. plastic bottles with 18 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. The Nutrition Shakes come in three flavors – Vanilla Bean, Cacao Bean and Chocolate Banana – and are sold only in multipacks for $44.99 per 12-pack.
The launch marks Koia’s first significant push into ecommerce, with the shakes now available on Amazon and direct-to-consumer, as well as an added multipack option for consumers, which CEO Chris Hunter said has been a long time coming for the eight-year-old beverage brand.
Due to the complicated logistics and high costs of shipping cold chain products online, Koia’s ecommerce channel business had previously been limited to platforms like Instacart and Amazon Fresh that could facilitate immediate delivery, but it lacked a shipping option like standard Amazon. While the company did temporarily offer direct-to-consumer for its refrigerated shakes during the pandemic, Hunter said it was an unprofitable endeavor and the option was ultimately discontinued.
Despite this, the brand was netting roughly 6,000 searches on Amazon per month, with no option to generate sell-through, and Hunter said his team would often discover resellers offering unauthorized products online at a markup.
“As we looked at the core of what Koia is all about, it’s kind of centered around delicious, plant-based protein that’s low sugar,” Hunter said. “And so combining all of those insights, we came up with the nutrition shakes; just a different offering, a way to buy in bulk and a way to serve our customers that shop on Amazon.”
The company launched the shakes on Amazon a week prior to its official announcement on June 6. Hunter said that even without promotion there were “immediate” sales and after an email blast and social media campaign began those sales jumped 10x.
“There’s clearly some pent-up demand,” he said.
Koia’s core protein shake line is sold primarily as a single-serve product in grab-and-go coolers, but the Nutrition Shakes also add a new multipack option for brand loyalists. Hunter said around 50% of Koia’s consumers tend to purchase four or more bottles per trip, indicating demand from daily users.
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That insight is also driving the brand’s next iteration: a 32 oz. multiserve bottle.
Koia initially tested the larger format around 18 months ago in Sprouts stores, Hunter said, but the business was in the process of transitioning to a new company-owned manufacturing facility and didn’t have the capability at the time to produce a full run of 32 oz. bottles. That line will be launching this year in Sprouts with Vanilla Bean and Cacao Bean flavors – the top two sellers for the core Koia shakes.
While protein shakes tend to be associated with single-serve packaging with use occasions like post-workout and meal replacement, Hunter said Koia has found that many of its consumers are using the drinks as an ingredient as well – from mixing with coffee for a caffeine kick to using it as a base for smoothies, puddings and overnight oats.
The mix of Koia with coffee has been bolstered by the brand’s launch into Starbucks stores nationwide earlier this year, and by collaborations with the cafe chain on social media marketing built around a rising “protein coffee” trend on platforms such as TikTok.
Koia previously launched an “enhanced” coffee line in 2019, but that offering, which Hunter characterized as “always in a long tail from a velocity perspective,” failed to catch on and was later discontinued. However, around nine months ago he said sales of the brand’s Cold Brew flavor for its refrigerated shakes rose to become its number four best-selling SKU. There’s no immediate plans to relaunch that line, but Hunter said it is an option the company may consider in the future.
The Starbucks expansion has also helped Koia expand in foodservice and, including those accounts, Hunter said the brand is now sold in around 30,000 doors nationwide across all channels.
“Opportunistically, we’re already set up in distributors and in places like Dot, so the product is available [in foodservice] from a distribution standpoint, and we’re working with Vistar and Compass and others to expand on that,” he said. “It’s not our primary focus, but is a nice awareness building opportunity that we’re continuing to pursue.”
The brand has also grown its footprint in convenience in chains like 7-Eleven and Wawa, the latter of which recently added its top four flavors.
Hunter said Koia surpassed $100 million in sales last year and is now on a “clear path” to double that. According to Circana, annual U.S. retail dollar sales of Koia’s refrigerated shakes in MULO and c-store were up 12.4% to around $35.2 million in the 52-week period ending April 21, 2024.
With Nutrition Shakes and a multiserve option now underway, Hunter said that looking forward the company has several more innovations it’s looking to launch by the end of the year, including new additions that go beyond just new flavors.
“They’re real innovations that will broaden the Koia offering and really emphasize Koia as a plant-based protein platform,” he said.