Shnack's co-founders Andrew Trembath and Kelsi Boocock (not pictured: Will Deane). Photo / Supplied
Shnack's co-founders Andrew Trembath and Kelsi Boocock (not pictured: Will Deane). Photo / Supplied
Kelsi Boocock, co-founder of Shnack, talks to Tom Raynel about how she saw a gap in the market, and the potential for growth as her protein shakes hit the shelves.
What is Shnack?
Shnack is New Zealand’s first canned protein shake. We wanted to create something that’s just easy andgood for you, something convenient that you can have on the go.
I have quite a big food blog and I’ve found that people want to be healthy, it’s just hard. So I wanted to create something convenient for people to have that still tasted delicious.
It was way back when I started my food blog, my protein smoothies would go viral online, and I was getting asked so much about protein powder, so that’s when I started the protein powder business, Second Nature.
Then we lived in London on and off for a couple of years, and I realised with grab-and-go, meal deals etc, everyone is just busy, wanting things on the move. New Zealand’s always just a couple of years behind with such things and I was like, we should create something that’s actually nutritional.
I don’t know where I had the idea to put it in a can, but I was so shocked that no one had done it. After doing a bit of research, I thought this seems like everything New Zealanders love.
Shnack, New Zealand's first protein shake in a can, is set to shake up the market with its new form factor.
How did you come up with the flavours and what was the process like?
It’s pretty much just our protein powder, and I wanted to make it as simple as I possibly could. Keeping a shelf life and all that is something that I’ve had to learn. Retorting cans, I didn’t know this existed until six months ago. I said to someone the other day, I didn’t ever think I’d say the word retorting so many times in my life. It’s basically heating the protein shakes to a certain temperature so it’s food-safe.
We focused on making it taste good, but that’s quite a hard thing to navigate. We trialled and tested a bunch, our original mix was actually pretty good. We refined as we went and learned what’s going to last in a can and what’s not. was a really rewarding process.
You grew your following through social media, what has that experience been like?
Yeah, I never thought I’d be the protein girl. It’s really interesting. Like I said, I just have never been much into research, even just the health and wellness market; all of those things that are on the rise which is really cool. I think I set it up roughly four or five years ago, which is crazy.
When I went into the lockdown, I thought what am I going to do with my life? I just finished university and we couldn’t go travelling, which was my plan. I did business at university, but weirdly I wasn’t that into owning my own business.
I just really fell in love with food a few months before and I thought, okay, I’ve got a bunch of time, I might as well set this up. The growth from that has definitely helped in this instance, setting up this business.
Shnack co-founder Kelsi Boocock wanted to create something nutritious and convenient, leveraging her experience with her other brand Second Nature Supplements.
I think gyms are a massive one. We do a lot of tastings at gyms, which are awesome. I don’t have a weekend ever again, I’m just out there getting people to try it.
Even just e-commerce is something we weren’t thinking about, which is silly because our protein powder business is pretty much an e-commerce brand. We were so focused on the supermarket side of things.
We’re also definitely chatting about Australia, so it’s really exciting. I love that part, I love the bigger picture part of the business. I get so excited about it.
What would be your advice to other budding entrepreneurs?
I think just finding the thing you’re passionate about because there’s no way I would enjoy every single day if I was doing something that I didn’t care about. There’s no way it would be successful because I wouldn’t be doing it 24/7.
I think it’s finding that thing that you love and then just starting, the cool thing these days is with social media, you can just start anything whenever you want.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business and retail.
