Led by RXBar Vets, Feastables Looks to Offer a ‘Ticket to the Carnival’
What do you get when you pair a top YouTuber with seasoned CPG execs? Enter Feastables, a line of chocolate bars with ambitions to become a snacking platform brand.
What is Feastables and Who Is Behind it?
Entering stores last week, Feastables was created by Jimmy Donaldson, akaYouTube superstar “MrBeast,” who regularly attracts over 100 million views of his stunt-based videos. But the executive team is just as well known, with former RxBar president Jim Murray leading the charge as CEO and former RxBar Chief Supply Chain Officer Tom Melcher as COO.
The brand is backed by investors including Springdale Ventures, digital sales strategist Nik Sharma, and Chris Cantino of Color Capital. Murray declined to disclose how much the brand has raised thus far, describing it as a “small raise to get things off the ground.”
Currently the brand has one line of cleaned-up chocolate “MrBeast” bars, which includes Original Chocolate, Almond Chocolate and Quinoa Crunch. The line is sold on the brand’s website for $50 for an 18-pack or at $3-$3.50 for single bars at Walmart or on GoPuff.
In keeping with Donaldson’s on-air persona, the team has tried to make Feastables about more than just the product, gamifying the website and purchasing process with prizes including being a part of a MrBeast video in the brand’s “chocolate factory,” a Tesla, a Seadoo jet ski and free GoPuff snacks “for life.”.
What’s Next?
Feastables plans to expand beyond chocolate bars later this year; though Murray declined to offer details, the brand’s trademark also covers jerky, nut-based or seed-based snacks, cereal, coffee or other chocolate products. Longer-term, the brand also plans to expand into brick and mortar retail, Murray said.
“Jimmy is a big part of the brand Feastables… and Jimmy will be promoting it,” Murray said. “But we also want to build Feastables as a brand that can stand on its own.”
What Makes Feastables Unique?
The brand enters the confection space as many competitors are focused on low-sugar alternatives. Rather than go this route, Murray said, the company is pulling a page from RxBar and focusing on having a short ingredient list; each bar has only four to five ingredients, some of which are organic.
Though a range of clean label options are already on the market, Feastables brings with it a large captive and engaged audience. In order to win a prize, customers have to enter their email and a code on the back of their bar, which will help the company quickly generate an email list of excited fans and track repeat purchases. This group of consumers, Murray said, could also serve as a test audience for new concepts.
“What we’re building with the brand is really centered around gamification, ” Murray said. “[Jimmy’s] content is all about spectacle, fun, contests [and] prizes — all of that is what we want to bring to his audience and beyond on a day to day basis…each time you interact with Feastables, it’s kind of a ticket to the carnival.”
