Soylent: Coming To A Walmart Near You

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Today Soylent announces that it will be sold in 450+ Walmarts nationally. The meal replacement beverage which initially sold directly to consumers online is looking to retail to expand from its cult following to broader audiences.

Soylent: programmer drink of choice, controversial meal replacement of the future and... Walmart's newest product.

You read that correctly. Soylent, the maker of convenience products including its infamous meal replacement drinks, announced today that its Cacao, Vanilla Latte and Coffiest drinks will be sold across the country at 450+ Walmarts, the leading grocer in the United States. Many may be confused as to how Soylent's seemingly made-by-and-for Silicon Valley image meshes with that of Walmart's egalitarian "Everyday Low Price" messaging. But for anyone taking notes of the company's winding history, this growth strategy makes complete sense.

Despite Soylent's difficult origins, mired by a series of product recalls which seem to have halted as of April 2017 and an unflattering viral 2013 VICE-product short documentary featuring former Soylent CEO and cofounder Rob Rhinehart, Soylent garnered a cult following soon after its inception. The company initially sold its beverage products solely online and in 12-packs. For a relatively unknown beverage product, this is a very bold strategy--and investors took notice.

"I was stunned to see how large Soylent's business had become entirely online. And frankly with a high barrier to even try it," explained GV's Andy Wheeler who led Soylent's $50 million Series B financing round in May 2017. "You couldn't buy it anywhere--you had to go online and buy an entire case with 12 bottles. Many people would not buy a case of a product they had never tried."

Following this funding less than a year ago, Soylent began retailing at 7-Eleven in over 2,500 locations. It has since also solidified its status as the #1 meal replacement drink on Amazon. During this period of growth, its branding narrative took a more noticeable shift away from its programming-centric origins and towards one more aligned with the normative, mission-driven branding seen across much of the food and beverage space today.

When commenting on the public's perception that the brand has a uniform demographic, in May 2017 a Soylent spokesperson stated, "While young, educated, tech-savvy, urban males still make up the majority of our customer base, our growing suite of products provides us with the opportunity to reach out to a wider range of consumers. As the Soylent brand continues to mature, we’re confident that we’ll see ongoing expansion into additional key demographics."

Soylent: programmer drink of choice, controversial meal replacement of the future and... Walmart's newest product.

You read that correctly. Soylent, the maker of convenience products including its infamous meal replacement drinks, announced today that its Cacao, Vanilla Latte and Coffiest drinks will be sold across the country at 450+ Walmarts, the leading grocer in the United States. Many may be confused as to how Soylent's seemingly made-by-and-for Silicon Valley image meshes with that of Walmart's egalitarian "Everyday Low Price" messaging. But for anyone taking notes of the company's winding history, this growth strategy makes complete sense.

Despite Soylent's difficult origins, mired by a series of product recalls which seem to have halted as of April 2017 and an unflattering viral 2013 VICE-product short documentary featuring former Soylent CEO and cofounder Rob Rhinehart, Soylent garnered a cult following soon after its inception. The company initially sold its beverage products solely online and in 12-packs. For a relatively unknown beverage product, this is a very bold strategy--and investors took notice.

"I was stunned to see how large Soylent's business had become entirely online. And frankly with a high barrier to even try it," explained GV's Andy Wheeler who led Soylent's $50 million Series B financing round in May 2017. "You couldn't buy it anywhere--you had to go online and buy an entire case with 12 bottles. Many people would not buy a case of a product they had never tried."

Following this funding less than a year ago, Soylent began retailing at 7-Eleven in over 2,500 locations. It has since also solidified its status as the #1 meal replacement drink on Amazon. During this period of growth, its branding narrative took a more noticeable shift away from its programming-centric origins and towards one more aligned with the normative, mission-driven branding seen across much of the food and beverage space today.

When commenting on the public's perception that the brand has a uniform demographic, in May 2017 a Soylent spokesperson stated, "While young, educated, tech-savvy, urban males still make up the majority of our customer base, our growing suite of products provides us with the opportunity to reach out to a wider range of consumers. As the Soylent brand continues to mature, we’re confident that we’ll see ongoing expansion into additional key demographics."

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