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Built on Ranveer Singh’s irrepressible energy and aimed at India’s everyday snacker, SuperYou, is rethinking how protein looks. Launched in the wafer chocolate bar format, they’ve now expanded into savoury chips. And they’re not looking to compete with the heavy-duty bars or powders but looking to expand further into formats that “India already knows and loves,” Aditi Jain, their head of marketing, tells us.
In this interview with BrandSutra, she goes on to explain what it takes to build a standout brand and gain trust from the masses.
Edited excerpts…
Tell us about the idea behind SuperYou. What was the gap in the market the brand was looking to fill?
Our founders Nikunj Biyani and Ranveer Singh were on the basketball court when Nikunj pitched the great idea to Ranveer. The idea was to create a protein offering for the masses. This also meant that we had to take away the burden of being in the protein category that is seen as heavy-duty and supplements-first. We had to move away from the jargon that the masses don’t understand.
What have been your top priorities in shaping SuperYou’s brand narrative?
When you’re talking to the belly of the market and not just the gym bros, the key was to make it approachable. That also means that you offer a product that’s more familiar and do it in the way India likes it. So if India is familiar with the taste of chocolates and snacks, then that’s where we wanted to add protein.
And I find that very interesting because our moms have been doing this since we were children, right? Putting beetroot into something while not taking away from its taste. And we wanted to do that because the moment something starts tasting synthetic, it’s not something that you will reach out for every day.
From your understanding, what does it take to build consumer trust in a category like this?
Our single-minded focus is that we’re not out here to compete with the hardcore protein supplements. So what that really means is that we’re not trying to be everything to everybody. And as it turns out, gym bros also have a sweet tooth.
Our angle is that you don’t need to give up on life just to get fit. Also being content first, as a brand, gives us the opportunity to put this information out very regularly. We can talk about the idea behind SuperYou wafer, what goes into it, we show people the factory, the team… so that level of transparency is very effective.
How would you describe today’s consumer and their understanding of protein and health? Were you surprised by how much they know or how much they don’t know?
I am fully on the protein algorithm right now, so I see a lot of that kind of information. But there are also people I’ve spoken to in the age group of my parents who say things like, “If you eat too much protein, it sticks to your bones.” Our aim is to change those myths by integrating our products in fun ways in their lives.
We show off the use cases—having our products on the go, at a concert, at a party—all without any guilt. We’ve done the Pickleball league, the Mood Indigo festival and a bunch of other on-ground events. There’s nothing like getting people to experience the product and then using that as content.
There is talk about how protein brands will be the next calling for celebrities. In that situation, what do you think will be a key differentiator for brands?
One big one for us is Ranveer Singh. He really lends his personality to the brand showing that we’re not talking as protein gurus but consumers of protein. Many brands are entering the space, including a legacy brand like Amul. And I think the more, the better because it builds up the category and creates more awareness. Another one of our biggest differentiators is taste. Because, more than anything else, the product needs to deliver. It needs to be something that you can put in front of people’s eyes on a daily basis.
What channels for sale have proven most effective for your target audience?
Quick commerce, for sure, because this is a convenience category. For wafers specifically, a lot of our initial sales were coming in from the website because people wanted to try out all of the five flavours that we had launched. But convenience in everyday snacking is big because there’s nothing like ordering something and having it delivered to your office in 10 minutes, right in time for your 4 pm snack. So about 50% of our sales happen on q-commerce and then the rest of the 50% is D2C marketplaces and retail.
Can you talk about some of the initial challenges you faced with consumer perception, and how they were overcome?
A lot of our initial naysayers have come back to us saying this has totally replaced chocolates on a daily basis. So in addition to the product getting experienced, it is also the entry point. Rather than benchmarking it against a protein bar, which will create a conversation about how it doesn’t have the same macros, we used chocolates as our starting point.
We have a fun brand, a fun team, and we’re very open about what we’re building. We are constantly talking to people and responding to them. That feedback loop we’ve created has been extremely valuable to us.
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