Slate Milk is now an official marketing partner of mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) signing a multi-year deal to integrate the high-protein beverage brand into competition events.
The deal marks the largest partnership to-date for Boston-based Slate and includes the promise of “prominent branding” in the UFC arena (The Octagon) at select Pay-Per-View and Fight Night events as well as all episodes of “Dana White’s Contender Series” and all episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter” season 32.
In addition to the partnership, the brand had secured an additional $5 million in funding from mostly existing investors. The new capital comes on the back of a $10.5 million Series A announced at the beginning of the year. In total, the shelf-stable, ultra-filtered milk brand has raised over $20 million since it launched in 2019.
In a Wednesday evening video posted on social feeds, UFC President Dana White said he has been a fan of the brand for about a year after a friend introduced him to Slate’s Classic Chocolate flavor.
“There’s nothing better than that: When you actually really like the product and then they become a sponsor,” he said. “Welcome to the UFC, Slate.”
Speaking with BevNET today, co-founder Manny Lubin said once the brand became aware that White was a customer, shortly thereafter, it began speaking to the UFC team. Slate joins a multitude of beverage brands that have partnered with the UFC including long-time sponsor Monster Energy as well as Modelo, PRIME, Monaco Cocktails and Wildcard canned vodka.
For now, Slate does not have any individual partnerships with UFC fighters but the brand will be offered to fighters at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas as part of the marketing partnership.
“For us, it’s just becoming more and more clear that we are selling strength,” Lubin told BevNET Wednesday. “That’s why we’re so excited about this partnership with the UFC. A lot of people drink Slate for recovery or for fuel, and UFC fighters are some of the top athletes in the world. Now they’re gonna have access to Slate and be able to use it for fuel and for recovery.”
Initially, Lubin and co-founder Josh Belinsky positioned the brand as a lactose-free, better-for-you chocolate milk for adults, but later found that Slate’s 20g of protein was resonating with a core market of fitness-oriented consumers. Unlike category competitors like OWYN or Muscle Milk who market themselves as high-protein shakes and nutritional supplements, Slate takes a slightly more nuanced approach to fitness enthusiasts. It sees itself as a protein beverage that can just as easily be used as “breakfast, a midday pick me up, post-workout, or the guiltless pleasure right before bed,” Lubin said.
“When I was growing up, fitness was 80g of protein shakes and Arnold Schwarzenegger lifting and bodybuilding,” he added. “Nowadays, fitness is not about appearance, but just about a healthy lifestyle. It’s about a routine that keeps you feeling good.”
In light of that, Slate has tried to meet consumers where they are in taste and use occasions. It launched two new flavors – French Vanilla and Vanilla Latte – late last year as well as a powdered version of its product that are currently only available on its website.
As part of its fitness-oriented strategy, Slate has aligned with a number of athlete-investors including NBA players Duncan Robinson and Terance Mann, former Olympians Josh Dixon and Lauren Gibbs, and Miami Marlins coach and former MLB player Jon Jay. On the recent bridge round, Hollywood trainer MackFit joined as a partner and investor.
Drew Harrington and Amanda Klane – the founders of frozen yogurt brand Yasso, which recently sold to Unilever – also contributed to the recent raise.
Slate plans to focus its new capital resources on scaling production further as it pushes the brand further west. The brand is currently located in over 12,000 locations with distribution in Albertsons, Safeway, Publix, Market Basket, Wegmans and Meijer. It also can be found in select regions of Kroger, Whole Foods, 7-Eleven and CVS. Lubin noted that Slate’s retail presence is heavily skewed on the East Coast and expects the new funding will help expand nationally by supporting marketing and sales teams.
“As a business like Slate grows, just because we’re adding new retail doors doesn’t mean that we’re taking any resources away from what’s already working,” he said. “In this growth phase, we want to make sure that we’re supporting not only new business, but also existing business.”