Distribution Roundup: Solely Adds Over 9,000 New Doors; KPOP Foods Brings Sauce to Fresh Thyme and Fresh Market
Solely Expands Retail Footprint to 18,000
Organic dried fruit brand Solely has added over 9,000 stores since June, growing its total distribution to over 18,000 retailers. After debuting in Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Foods and CVS earlier this summer, the brand’s newly announced partners include Bay Area Costco locations, Fresh Thyme Market and Harmons.
The new gains in August follow the addition of retailers such as Sprouts, Market Basket, Speedway and Hudson News earlier this year. In ecommerce, the company recently debuted its own ecommerce site, where consumers can shop its full 25 SKU portfolio, and also debuted on GoPuff this month.
Solely CEO Simon Sacal said the company has adopted an omnichannel strategy that has taken the brand into new channels with placements across natural and specialty, grocery, convenience and travel retail. Upon launching in 2017, the brand developed in natural, he said, and the channel continues to “gather steam” with larger accounts. Sacal also said the brand has begun to gain momentum in convenience, and expects Solely to “hit our stride” in that channel by mid-2022.
“The market has validated our hypothesis that consumers are looking for delicious, convenient and affordable ways of consuming organic, plant-based products while on the go,” Sacal said. “We are confident that we will continue seeing very robust growth for years to come at a growing number of retail chains across the spectrum.”
With products ranging from pantry staples like dried spaghetti squash “noodles” to more on-the-go items like fruit jerky and gummies, Sacal said Solely’s product assortment caters to the needs of each channel depending on price point and form factor. The brand plans to continue to launch new products across categories, he said, with innovations in family-oriented pantry items as well as more convenient impulse items planned for the near future.
As a subsidiary of Mexico City-based food company Fruitex, Solely is able to leverage the company’s supply chain, manufacturing and R&D capabilities to “quickly and deeply penetrate the market.”
“We always try to exceed expectations,” Sacal said. “We are growing our team to address this immense opportunity and we are also focusing on the quality of sales and on fine-tuning our supply chain to be able to maintain our steep growth trajectory into 2022 and beyond.”
KPOP Foods’ Sauces Hit Shelves at Fresh Thyme and The Fresh Market
Korean snack and condiment brand KPOP Foods has expanded distribution to Fresh Thyme Market and The Fresh Market, with both retailers carrying the brand’s Original Korean Chili Sauce, Kimchi Mayo and Honey Glaze. The addition of the two retailers brings the brand’s current store count to 1,500, with its sauces also sold at Bristol Farms, Lowes Foods, Hy-vee and other independent retailers.
Launched in 2017, KPOP Foods aims to “make Korean flavors more accessible” by combining Korean ingredients with familiar American foods, offering a line of sauces featuring gochujang, a Korean chili paste, along with Organic Seaweed Snacks.
KPOP Foods co-founder and CEO Theo Lee said Fresh Thyme and The Fresh Market were “key retailers on our list” due to the retailers’ interest in Asian and ethnic flavors and “willingness to support early-stage brands,” he said. He added that the retailers’ stores are also located in areas where the company knew it had existing ecommerce consumers.
“The pandemic has shifted consumers’ relationship with food; desiring more authentic ethnic flavors as well as preferring the convenience of cooking restaurant-style meals at home,” Lee said.
After focusing largely on ecommerce throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, KPOP Foods has grown its distribution nearly 400% year-over-year and plans to continue to add to its store count this year. Lee said the company expects to be in over 2,000 locations by the end of 2021, launching its sauces at Giant Foods, Safeway/ACME and Albertsons South division in the fourth quarter.
“While we were hoping to expand into more retail locations in 2020, we ended up growing more online through our website and Amazon, allowing us to learn more about our customers,” Lee said. “We’re excited to continue growing our retail locations before making the jump to large club wholesalers, such as Walmart and Costco.”
Barebells Launches at GNC
Protein bar brand Barebells this month debuted its Cookies & Cream, Caramel Cashew and Chocolate Dough flavors at health and wellness retailer GNC, both online and at the retailer’s 400 locations nationwide.
“We are so excited to introduce our bars to GNC in store and online shoppers, and make Barebells more readily available to our existing consumers,” Barebells CEO Ben Jones said in a press release. “As we experience increased consumer demand, we look forward to expanding our reach and leveraging growth opportunities in the future.”
The distribution expansion comes after the brand secured placement in 850 QuikTrip convenience stores across 11 states earlier this month.
Barebells, which debuted in Sweden in 2016, is currently sold in over 40 global markets, according to the company. In the U.S., its bars are available at retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Harmons Grocery and Gelson’s Markets along with gyms nationwide and several health-focused online retailers such as Bodybuilding.com and Muscle & Strength.
The brand also recently expanded its product offerings with the launch of a vegan protein bar line available on Amazon and its ecommerce site. Offered in Salty Peanut and Hazelnut & Nougat varieties, the bars contain 15 grams of protein from a blend of soy, pea and rice proteins and no added sugar.
Other distribution news includes:
- Good Catch’s Plant-Based New England Style Crab Cakes are now available at BJ’s Wholesale Clubs nationwide, sold in 24-packs for $13.99.
- Simply Gum’s Peppermint and Cleanse gums have hit shelves at Target, sold at registers nationwide.
- High Road Ice Cream’s Mexican-inspired brand Helados La Neta grew distribution to Vallarta Supermarket, Northgate Market and Cardenas Markets in California.