Four founders, one viral food trend: How they broke through in the crowded protein market

“93% of drink businesses fail. I pray for you.”

It wasn't the pep talk most founders hope for.

When Vy Cutting received this text from her mother about her protein soda startup, she did what any savvy entrepreneur would do: she posted it on TikTok. The family drama went viral, propelling Feisty Drinks into Selfridges almost overnight. 

It’s the classic playbook for newcomers breaking into big trends: find what makes your brand unique and go all in.

Vy is part of a wave that's upending the $56 billion protein market. While 70% of US adults actively try to consume protein, the forms they're choosing look nothing like the chalky shakes and dense bars that dominated for years. On Shopify stores alone, protein coffee sales exploded 507%* year over year (YoY) as traditional shakes plummeted 40%. Entrepreneurs are completely reinventing the category with fresh angles in a seemingly saturated market.

Protein is suddenly everywhere: in ramen, ice cream, pizza, and yes, even soda. Celebs are getting in on the niche protein action, too. Just this year, Khloe Kardashian launched Khloud popcorn and Serena Williams signed on as health advisor for wellness brand Ritual.

But beneath this proliferation lies a deeper truth: the brands that are winning focus less on protein quantity and more on differentiation.

The flavor-first philosophy: Ending chalky aftertaste

When other protein brands were focused on cramming as much protein as possible into their products, Aamir Malkani was obsessing over something else entirely: why everything tasted so terrible.

"Protein products have this reputation," he says. "People buy them for what they do, not because they enjoy them." This insight led him to create protein snacks people would actually crave, not merely tolerate.

Aamir, born to an entrepreneur family in India, immigrated to Canada with his own dream, pivoting from organic cotton to functional foods. He launched Plant Up with a line of high-protein plant-based frozen appetizers followed by healthy snack puffs. His approach flips the category on its head: flavor first, health benefits second.

Prepared protein foods are seeing a 194% YoY increase among Shopify merchants and Aamir’s products are riding that trend. But what if the protein mania is just a fad? “We talk about ourselves as a functional foods company, not just protein,” he says. “Protein is selling today, so we're doubling down. Maybe next year it’s creatine or collagen.”

(Even collagen products are up 105% YoY. Maybe he’s onto something.)

Plant Up's protein puffs eliminated the chalky aftertaste that plagued the category. This flavor-first approach has propelled the brand into over 1,600 Canadian stores in three years, with U.S. expansion set for early 2026. 

Though the products are plant-based and protein-packed, the brand chose not to lead with labels that may alienate average consumers. Packaging features big bold food imagery that captures its unique global flavor profiles.

Plant Up's approach to the category gives it a resilience many single-nutrient brands lack, positioning it to ride wave after wave of wellness trends. “We're a small team,“ Aamir says. “We're nimble.”

The viral pivot: Turning family drama into brand gold

Feisty’s viral mother-daughter exchange wasn’t an isolated moment.

“My mom thought I was going through a life crisis and was not on board with this whole project,” says Vy. “She was sending me messages like, 'Why are you doing this?'” These too, she posted to TikTok.

It became a deliberate strategy for a new brand in a noisy space. Vy Cutting, a former fashion designer, transformed personal vulnerability into Feisty Drinks' core differentiator.

“I very hesitantly built my company in public in February,” Vy admits. “I had never used TikTok before. I gave it a go and really hesitated because I'm a bit of an introvert but it's been the one thing that's really moved the needle for me.”

That needle moved all the way to premium retail placement. After her family drama gained traction, she landed buyers from Harrods and Whole Foods UK too. Even Vy’s mother, the brand’s original skeptic, eventually signed on as head scientist to develop the soda’s formula. 

The protein soda concept emerged from Vy's personal frustrations after a knee injury led her to strength training—and the inevitable quest to increase protein intake. She was turned off by the shakes, the dominant protein drink on the market. “The clumps! I didn't really enjoy that,” she says. “And the chewy protein bars were no better.”

This strategy perfectly aligns with market shifts. As traditional protein shakes declined 39.9% among Shopify merchants, Feisty tapped into a growing desire for functional beverages that don't scream “supplement.” 

By embracing authenticity in both product development and marketing, Vy created something extraordinary: a protein brand that doesn't feel like one at all.

The health hack: Crafting sauces that supplement

The sauce aisle was the last place anyone expected to find protein innovation.

But when Nicole Glabman was diagnosed with PCOS and was told to consume more protein—and avoid condiments—she wasn’t interested in compromise. “The nutritionists said, ‘Sauce is an empty calorie. Use it sparingly.’ I was like, ’That’s not gonna happen.’”

Working full-time at Uber while building her side business, she spent two years in R&D developing high-protein, high-fiber sauces that turn any meal into functional food. 

She’s the Sauce launched with a pre-order that sold 400 bottles in 48 hours. “I turned off pre-orders because I was like, holy shit, I don't know if my manufacturer is ready for this.”

While Nicole set out to solve a personal health problem, she found an audience that looked just like her. That audience eventually widened to include those with other health issues. And soon, she found more unexpected customers, namely parents looking for less sugary alternatives for their ketchup-loving kids. 

“Even my grandparents were like, ‘This would be great for us. We're deficient in so many of these things,’” she says. “I was so zoomed in on people like me but there were so many more people out there that this could help.”

Nicole's experience demonstrates how looking where others aren't can uncover untapped opportunities and unexpected audiences.

The gender gap: Filling the void in women's nutrition

While the industry chased mass appeal, Michelle Razavi, alongside co-founder Nikki Elliott, built for someone specific. Her radical insight? Sometimes the biggest opportunity lies in deliberately narrowing your market

As fitness trainers watching women struggle with protein options, Elavi’s founders saw the gap hiding in plain sight. Women make up to 85% of all purchasing decisions and now outnumber men in actively seeking protein-rich diets. Yet the market offered almost no products designed exclusively for their needs.

Their creation—a protein brownie that's vegan, gluten-free, and sweetened only with dates—goes beyond muscle building, focusing on women’s concerns like metabolism, hormone balance, and hair health.

This clarity of purpose gave Michelle the confidence to do something audacious: cold-email the global Whole Foods buyer directly. "I crafted a pitch email about this protein brownie we'd literally just launched," she says. "Within a couple hours, he got back to me." That exchange led to placement in 50+ stores.

Even their packaging breaks industry rules. “People have 0.2 seconds to look at something. They make snap decisions,” says Michelle. Rather than prioritizing the brand name on the product, the packaging clearly states what’s inside—right up top.

But perhaps Elavi's most powerful differentiator is their approach to marketing. "My whole North Star is to storytell, not sell," Michelle says. "Consumers know when they're being sold to. When we allow them to connect with us in an organic, authentic way, they psychologically feel like they want to be part of the brand."

In a protein landscape dominated by faceless muscle-building promises, Elavi's women-first, story-driven approach carved out a profitable niche that larger competitors had overlooked entirely.

Problem solvers win the protein wars

The protein craze shows no signs of slowing. Last month, another founder launched protein in an entirely new format: gluten free and kosher couscous.

Still, trends do come and go. The brands that thrive aren't the ones blindly chasing what's hot. Instead, they're those led by founders solving genuine problems. While protein itself may eventually fade as the nutrient du jour, the principles these nimble entrepreneurs demonstrate remain evergreen.

Long after protein gives way to the next nutrition craze, these brands will endure because they built something no one else could: products born from personal necessity, refined by market insight, delivered with authenticity to the customers everyone else ignored.

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*Year over year data compares category level sales from Shopify merchants between H1 2024 and H1 2025.