How Chomps is marketing itself to convenience store shoppers

Chomps, which is best known for its high-protein meat sticks, has been around since 2012 and has been slowly expanding. Its first major retail deal was with Trader Joe’s in 2016. The company was small and, at the time, most sold online. But it knew that a major wholesale partnership could take it to the next level.

“That was a game changer for us,” co-founder and co-CEO Pete Maldonado said on the Modern Retail Podcast. “I mean, literally overnight, you’ve got millions of new customers and people trying the product for the first time — and it really just snowballed from there.”

Maldonado spoke about Chomps’ growth over the years as well as its new approach to convenience stores. It recently launched in both Wawa and Sheetz and is figuring out how best to showcase its products to those shoppers. Currently, its products are available in over 30,000 retail doors.

“We just want to make sure that when customers see it — especially in a new channel — they can see it and, within two seconds, they understand what it is,” he said. A lot of that requires smart packaging as well as in-store displays that explain Chomps’ products.

While C-stores are now a big focus, Maldonado said that product isn’t perfect for every type of store.

“We’re a premium product,” he said. “It’s got to be an area where people actually understand the value proposition and are willing to pay for it.”

Here are a few highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

Reaching everyday customers
“What we want to be able to do is say this product is for the everyday person that wants to wake up in the morning and crush life. And it doesn’t matter what you do. We want to be there to support you. So if you think about the influencers that we started partnering with, it was less about professional athletes. Actually, I wanted to steer clear of that. I’d rather partner with and feature a mommy with three kids that’s working a side job and running from soccer practice to tutoring to wherever. And we’re there in the van. And she’s not only feeding herself but she’s feeding the kids. That’s who we want to serve.”

Getting people to try Chomps in convenience stores
“We usually have a pretty substantial trade budget and trade strategy. So what we want to make sure is we’re getting off-shelf. We want to make sure we are able to get in front of customers. But then also have some sort of messaging — whether it’s like… shelf talkers; try to get as much messaging out there. Because we just want to make sure that when customers see it — especially in a new channel — they can see it and, within two seconds, they understand what it is — the value proposition — and decide: is this for me or no? And we hope that they would try it once. Once customers try it, though, our repeat rates are so strong — they’re in the high 40% range — that the business usually just builds from there. So it’s a matter of getting food in people’s mouths. And convenience, unlike, Costco — like, we could do demos and hand out samples at a Costco. We can’t do that in C-store, so it makes it very difficult.”

Being selective about retail expansion
“We’re really going to be very selective. We were selective in other channels, with the retailers that we work with, for a number of reasons. But [with C-stores] in particular, we need to be very picky, choosy on who we work with — especially regionally. I think location-wise, it’s very important for us to think about that. But then also: who’s that shopper? Is it in affluent areas? It has to make sense. We’re a premium product. It’s got to be an area where people actually understand the value proposition and are willing to pay for it.”