trusource expands retail presence, launches new energy range

The company is also expanding its range of products with the launch of its Anytime Energy range of caffeinated products, which will only be available initially in Giant Eagle stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Indiana, and HEB in Texas.

“We’ve done well in Kroger, and based on consumer feedback we think we have something and want to make is more available to more consumers, so we’ve expanded the retail footprint,”​ Nabil Wanna, senior brand manager for trusource. “Our goal for the next 12 months is to build consumer awareness with more retail outlets.”​

Awareness is being built using a lot of different approaches including in-store sampling, TV, social media and digital, he explained.

The brand was created to address an “unmet need” in the sports nutrition market, said Wanna. “This is a brand for the everyday athlete, with easy-to-mix protein powders and delicious ready-to-drink products for anyone with a fitness goal.”​

So what is the “everyday athlete”? “You could say our consumer base is broad demographically but they are not broad from a personality profile standpoint,”​ Wanna told us. “Our consumers want to get into sports nutrition, they just ran a 5K in 30 minutes and want to get down to 28 minutes or they we want to score more points in their rec league, and they could be 20, 30, 40 years old and male or female.”​

Energy​

The new Anytime Energy range is also targeting everyday occasions for an energy boosts, from combating mid-afternoon fatigue or to ramping-up for a workout.

The new energy range is available in easy-to-mix powder and in ready-to-drink bottles, said the company, each delivering a 100 mg dose of caffeine, which is equivalent to the caffeine in a cup of coffee.

The trusource product portfolio now includes: Anytime Protein (protein powder); Protein+Energy (protein powder); Protein Water (a RTD protein beverage); Protein Java (RTD iced coffee beverage); and Anytime Energy (powder or RTD form).

The products are distributed by Optimum Nutrition.