Protein bar brand Aloha made a significant shift in Walmart by moving its protein bars out of the sports nutrition aisle and into the center store snack aisle across roughly 2,000 doors in late April – a change the brand says is already driving meaningful gains in velocity.
The transition into center store reflects both evolving consumer behaviors and a strategic push by Aloha to align its placement with where shoppers naturally browse for snacks, according to the company.
While the brand has long been merchandised in center store at other retailers, Walmart’s scale makes the transition particularly impactful where it serves 150 million customers every week online and in store.
Last year, the company relaunched in Target for the first time in seven years after the retailer dropped the brand due to low performance. Aloha’s near triple-digit revenue growth year over year expanded its manufacturing and distribution, re-opening the door to Target.
Meeting consumers in the snack bar aisle
In its conversations with Walmart, Aloha emphasized the opportunity to maximize velocity in center store “where consumers are expected to find us,” said Shawn McLaughlin, chief sales officer at Aloha.
While protein bars have historically been split between sports nutrition and center store, the latter now accounts for the bulk of the category.
“Only about 30% of the share sits over in sports and nutrition – the other 70% is in center store,” McLaughlin said.
The move comes as protein bars are increasingly used beyond traditional workout occasion and toward everyday consumption, according to Julia Shapiro, Aloha’s VP of marketing.
“The overwhelming majority of them are using them for multiple use cases now,” she said, adding that “snacking in between meals is… the number one use case.”
That evolution has also broadened Aloha’s core audience. “Our fastest growing segment is actually Millennial women,” Shapiro said, noting rising interest in protein consumption alongside adjacent concerns like fiber and gut health.
The repositioning also aligns more closely with the brand’s messaging. “We’ve always really led with real food as our… stake in the ground,” Shapiro said. “I actually think it’s just a better fit now.”
Creating the right planogram to drive volume in store
The move into center store required operational and merchandising adjustments where competing in a more saturated aisle means rethinking velocity expectations and shelf strategy, McLaughlin said.
“We needed to change the forecast, our expectations around velocity,” he said, noting that performance has improved significantly (between 30% to 50% increased velocity) since the transition.
At the same time, “you do have to compete for merchandising space with a lot more brands,” he added.
That means creating a planogram that reflects the right shelf presence and investing in visibility tactics in other areas to drive trial. According to McLaughlin more than 95% of Aloha’s bars are sold out of the planogram while the other “5% is us trying to be really creative” using end caps to bring in new consumers.
The Walmart reset is also serving as a blueprint for other retailers, according to McLaughlin.
The brand is currently in discussions with some Northeast accounts that still merchandise the brand in sports nutrition, using a similar argument around consumer expectations, category traffic and performance data.
The shift also aligns with how retailers like Walmart and Target are approaching better-for-you grocery business.
According to McLaughlin, Walmart’s buyer emphasized that “‘this better-for-you thing is not a trend, it’s a lifestyle’” – reflecting Walmart’s initiatives to expand healthy food options, allowing brands like Aloha to compete in center store and across omnichannel.
Delivering on value to stand out in saturated snack bar category
Beyond merchandising, Aloha is also leaning into evolving consumer priorities to stand out in an increasingly crowded snack bar category. Value, in particular, has taken on new meaning.
“People are just being more mindful and purposeful of choosing food that provides multiple benefits,” Shapiro said, adding that taste and functional benefits like protein and fiber are crucial value propositions for consumers.
Fiber, she added, is quickly becoming “the second most considered nutritional fact” for shoppers.
Even as the brand sharpens its positioning, Shapiro emphasized focus over broad appeal. “We try to be mindful of not being everything to everybody,” she said, pointing to Aloha’s emphasis on consistency between marketing and product experience as a driver of its “really high repeat rates.”
