"Walmart’s tremendous presence and reach makes them a great customer for us,” Crowley said. "Walmart’s leadership team has been a huge supporter of what we’re trying to accomplish, and we look forward to collaborating with them to continue to expand our reach.”
In April 2018, Soylent rolled out to 450 Walmart stores and five months later, the brand expanded to 1,850 Walmart stores. Since making the jump from its robust e-commerce business (where it was the #1 grocery product on Amazon in January 2017), Soylent’s meal replacement drinks will be available in more than 20,000 brick-and-mortar retail locations across the US "with zero signs of slowing down," the company said.
According to Walmart senior buyer, Todd Wetmore, Soylent RTD meal replacement drinks have "become the center of the functional beverage set that Walmart is spearheading," which features "up-and-coming brands of all sizes" that are launching in Walmart stores across the US.
"Soylent can be an aspiration for many emerging brands, as they show how this model can work successfully,” Wetmore added.
“By mapping out our growth plan, monitoring results in real time and partnering with Walmart to react quickly to our performance, we have been able to drive sales in a way that has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Soylent SVP of sales Melody Conner. “In January 2018 we had just a handful of retail locations in Southern California and our incredible success in Walmart, especially among a young, health conscious, on-the-go population, has been a great proof of concept for us as we expand our channels.”
Soylent has driven foot traffic to Walmart stores as well was online sales in untapped markets through Walmart's direct-to-consumer online business, noted the retailer.
Soylent's rapid path into online and physical retail has allowed it to expand distribution to untapped markets and appeal to a broader set of consumers living an on-the-go lifestyle with new flavors and products such as its 'in-between meal' beverage called Bridge launched earlier this year, according to the brand.
“In January 2018 we had just a handful of retail locations in Southern California and our incredible success in Walmart, especially among a young, health conscious, on-the-go population has been a great proof of concept for us as we expand our channels,” added Conner.
