Redcon1 expands distribution in military channel

04-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 04-Jan-2019 at 16:51 GMT

Photo: Redcon1

Roughly 38% of sports nutrition brand Redcon1’s core consumers are active or former military members, “so they play an important role in our business,” said company founder and CEO Aaron Singerman.

The company announced this week that Redcon1 products will be available at Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) stores starting April 2019. A growing portion of revenue for these stores come from sports supplements, energy drinks, and protein bars, Singerman told us. There are already Redcon1 products sold at Nexcom (Navy) and the Marine exchanges.

"From the inception of Redcon1, one of our goals was to be available for servicemen and women. We have always offered big discounts to active and former military personnel, but the ultimate goal was to be sold on base,” he told us.

Catering to the military consumer

The military member market has 37 million consumers who spend $1 trillion annually, according to data from SheerID, a company that specializes in ID verification technology.

Sales potential aside, the military consumer has been an important target audience for Redcon1 as it incorporates a lot of military-inspired imagery in its branding. In fact, ‘Redcon’ is a US military term, which, in short, means a unit is fully alert, ready to move and fight.

Singerman believes the military-inspired branding will help Redcon1 products stand out in the crowded supplement aisles of commissaries and other military retail stores.

“The brand is a military themed brand, utilizing a color palette that is in line with colors used by the US Military, as well as distinct military constructs such as digital camo, and product names that are all military names, lingo and jargon,” he explained.

The company also frequently features former members of US Special Forces in their online marketing content, and over 30% of its 7,000 brand ambassadors are current or former US soldiers.

This should be a boon for the military consumer—SheerID’s data revealed that 94% of present and past military personnel notice when companies are ‘military-friendly,’ and that they have a strong overall trust of those companies.

“Roughly 38% of our consumers are active or former military, so they play an important role in our business,” Singerman said. “We feel it is important to have our products readily available in the places that they shop at regularly.”