Kind Snacks founder invests in egg white chips brand Quevos

Kind Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky announced via the popular show Shark Tank that he is making an investment through his family office Equilibra in the egg white-based chips company Quevos. The deal is reportedly for a $200,000 investment as well as a $200,000 line of credit in exchange for 10% ownership in the company.

In a release, Lubetzy said he plans to help the duo behind the Quevos brand “bring the nutritional value of egg whites to new forms of satisfying snacks.” In an interview with Forbes, he said he intends to increase the brand's market share by encouraging the founders to cultivate mainstream appeal rather than building a brand by following fads. Quevos has a dedicated keto line in addition to its principal products of high protein, high fiber, low carb snacks.

As a brand, Quevos protein chips have grown rapidly, increasing its sales over three times between 2019 and 2020. The brand now has its six flavors in over 1,000 retailers in the U.S. and expects to have a similar growth trajectory over the course of 2021. Although the brand has seen significant expansion in brick and mortar retailers, co-founder Nick Hamburger told Food Navigator that the brand’s primary channel of growth was e-commerce.

Last year brought the importance of e-commerce into stark relief. However, although it was clear that direct-to-consumer channels were growing rapidly, only 17% of brands said they were ahead of the curve or leading in that space, according to a March study by Profitero and Kantar. Those that were leading the way were more likely to be nimble startups that were reliant on the digital ecosystem to grow their brands. Quevos’ was well positioned to take advantage of this shift in consumer patterns from shopping in person to buying online. Early in the pandemic, Brick Meets Click and ShopperKit found 31% of American households said they had purchased groceries online in the last month. Of those, 30% of the people who hadn't bought groceries online in the previous month said they intended to continue buying groceries online.

Another advantage that is working in Quevos’ favor and that undoubtedly help propel its growth is the increase in snacking among Americans. By November of 2020, 88% of adults saying they were snacking more or the same as compared to their eating habits prior to the pandemic. And while indulgent options were high on the list of choices that consumers were reaching for, several industry reports showed salty snacks were the top choice among consumers. Quevos, with its Honey Mustard, Cheddar, Sour Cream & Onion, Sweet Barbecue, Quevos Rancheros, Dill Pickle and Mesquite BBQ flavors fits into that category.

Furthermore, the brand positioning as a better-for-you product further ingratiates it to customers that are increasingly concerned with the health and functionality of their food choices.

Lubetzky, who sold Kind Snacks to Mars Wrigley in November in a reportedly $5 billion deal, has clearly given his vote of confidence to the upstart egg white snacks brand. In the release, Lubetzky said, “They have created a very cool and differentiated product with huge mainstream appeal.”