Grenade Oreo Protein Bar Changed EVERYTHING! | Mondelez International Snack Bars Strategy

Did Mondelez International “swallow a grenade” 3.5 years ago…or has its most significant UK investment since the hostile takeover of Cadbury seen explosively positive results? Being a protein bar company in the summer of 2019 was arguably one of the most valuable things you could be in the growing functional food space…and Mondelez got the party started by announcing it was purchasing a majority stake in refrigerated protein bar brand Perfect Bar in June 2019. Then, two months later…The Simply Good Foods Company acquired Quest Nutrition and The Hershey Company acquired ONE Brands (maker of the ONE bar). Yet, the world was about to drastically change…and just as suddenly the value propositions of protein bars would no longer make them the “fun person” at the convenient nutrition party. With the bar format of convenient nutrition being strongly tied to consumer mobility, the “Great Shutdown” caused a sharp decline in consumption. And the categorical struggles continued into the next year, as restrictive living situations (and work-from-home adjustments) became normal, along with the fact that most “health and fitness” and weight management goals weren’t prioritized by a lot of consumers during that period. Though, many of us industry strategists looked past the near-term categorical struggles and pointed to the fact that underlying drivers (feeding long-term secular trends) were unchanged, and the inevitable reorientation of consumer behaviors would continue to support growth within the bar format of convenient nutrition. And it seems that Mondelez International was also aligned with that in March 2021, as they acquired a majority stake in Grenade, a UK-based sports nutrition brand that was best known for its protein bar Carb Killa, reportedly valuing it at $277 million. Now…I didn’t have a problem with Mondelez doubling down on the nutrition and protein bar segment, as I’ve been this broken record over many years stating that consumers are moving closer towards this four-way intersection of taste, convenience, nutrition, and functionality. My issue is more around the valuation paid by Mondelez…considering just how different the marketplace was in March 2021 (compared to the summer of 2019). Regardless, even as the bar format of convenient nutrition continued to bounce back slower than consensus expectations, Mondelez “tripled down” on its strategy to reshape its snacking portfolio by announcing it would acquire CLIF Bar in June 2022. But in terms of operational performance, Grenade did a relatively excellent job against the still weak categorical backdrop of 2021 and 2022. But in 2023, Grenade had an outstanding year…growing its net sales 56.5% YoY to around $120 million. So, what happened? In January 2023, Grenade Oreo protein bar was born...quickly becoming the top-selling protein bar in the UK market. But despite Grenade currently being a revenue “rounding error” impact to Mondelez, I’d assume Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put has keenly recognized the under-the-radar long-term potential in Grenade. And since Mondelez International wants to own substantial market share within the protein snacking space...don’t get caught letting short-term ROI financial metrics cloud your vision because Grenade has a lot of explosive growth opportunities ahead. FOLLOW ME ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKEDIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TWITTER⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠