Return of the Mac: 8 Myles Rebrands, Puts Comfort Food First

Fresh from raising seven-figures for its line of frozen clean-ingredient mac and cheese, 8 Myles has rebranded to Myles Comfort Foods and relaunched its flagship product with a new look and new SKUs that capture current flavor trends and place an emphasis on protein.

The move is supported by $1 million in growth financing secured in April from TxO, Virginia Impact Partners, Bronze Valley Accelerator and Philadelphia Enterprise Center, among others.

“We are thrilled to have the support of such a prestigious group of investors as we rebrand and launch our new line of clean Mac & Cheese,” said Myles Powell, co-founder and CEO. “We are on a mission to become a leader in the frozen food category- by creating a category of clean comfort, with a focus on recognizable ingredients and premium taste.”

Under its new name the brand will sell three varieties of mac and cheese including Homestyle, Philly Steak and Cheese and Buffalo Style Chicken, each of which can be prepared in the oven or microwave. The product has also moved to a 10 oz. tray from its previous 8 oz. format, with the MSRP also increasing slightly from $5.99 to $7.99.

Alongside the relaunch, the recipes have been reformulated to add more “decadence” (also known as “cheese”) and include protein for the first time. 8 Myles sold a Buffalo flavored dish that did not include any chicken, but, citing consumer demand for meal solutions, Powell said by adding protein to Myles Comfort Foods, the products have been elevated from a side dish to main course.

These moves also brought the brand to a new USDA organic-certified co-packer, based in Elmsford, New York, that Powell believes will be able to better meet demand and growth projections in the coming years. Myles has also signed a distribution agreement with Green Spoon to bolster its presence in the Northeast, the Midwest, Mid Atlantic and the Southeast regions.

According to Powell, who pitched on an unaired episode of Shark Tank last October, appearing on the show helped him put much of the company’s current strategy and growth efforts in perspective. At the time, Powel was still a one-man show and first-time founder having moved into the CPG food space from an engineering background.

“It was a very pivotal moment because we had just decided to start to rebrand and there were a lot of unanswered questions,” said Powell. “But I think it pointed me in the right direction in terms of how to think about things from a funding standpoint, from a branding standpoint, even team building.”

The new capital will also go towards hiring a sales and marketing manager who will become the company’s first full-time employee. Last November Zhanna Godkin, formerly VP of Operations at Outstanding Foods, joined the company as co-founder and operations director.

With additional sales and marketing support on the horizon, Powell said Myles Comfort Foods is on track to quadruple its revenue by the end of the year; the new hire will be tasked with increasing the brand’s retail support efforts, including executing social media initiatives and marketing around in store promotions.

Currently, the company is sold in over 1,000 stores including Target, Sprouts and Whole Foods. As it looks to expand its efforts, Powell believes there is a significant opportunity to grow in the conventional channel. He said as retailers in that channel increasingly build out natural sets, this product is well positioned to stand out among the “mega brands” and give consumers something to feel connected to.

Beyond retail, the brand will also begin exploring the food service channel by the end of the year with a focus on hospitals and college campuses. Though the brand has “aggressive growth” aims for the next year, Powell said those efforts will also be “aggressively smart” citing that he felt a “slap on the wrist” last year when the company tried to scale beyond its means. Now he aims to pace distribution growth while keeping the consumer in mind with every new partnership.

But Myles Comfort Food faces a range of competition in the better-for-you frozen mac and cheese set, spanning conventional, legacy, natural and startup brands. Amy’s Kitchen sells a wide range of frozen mac and cheeses including diet specific offerings like gluten-free and vegan as well as novelty flavors such as Chili Mac. Additionally, plant-based frozen food brand Tattooed Chef, a relative newcomer to the frozen aisle as well, sells a lineup of cauliflower-based mac and cheeses and other natural brands like Strong Roots and Kevin’s Naturals have also recently debuted their own better-for-you takes on the childhood classic.

“The ultimate goal is to really create this new category of what I call clean comfort, which, if you think about frozen now – clean is like the antonym,” said Powell. “When you’re typically shopping in the aisle [right now] and you’re picking up items that you can’t pronounce half ingredients and our approaches you should feel comfortable shopping in frozen and you should be able to enjoy it.”