Students ‘nailed it’ with plant-based protein powder
Three Kiwi students spotted a gap in the market for plant-based protein, so decided to do something about it using a special ingredient – broad beans, also known as fava beans.
Tom McGuinness, Jack Carrick, and Tom Ogg, co-founders of Nailed It Nutrition, have created a new plant-based protein powder that they hope will dominate the market.
According to Carrick, it began in year 13 at King’s College in Auckland.
“We were all in the gym together and were sick and tired of the chalky and grainy texture you get from your traditional protein powders,” he said.
“We knew the demand for the product would be there from the knowledge we had built up from our market research, identifying the common want for a more creamy and smooth textured protein.”
They did more research and discovered fava beans (also known as broad beans) had a smooth and creamy texture, “which we liked”.
It also avoided issues with acne and digestive complaints that were common in other powders, he said.
McGuinness and Carrick are now students at the University of Canterbury (UC), while Ogg studies at Lincoln University. McGuinness said UC’s Summer Startup Programme, run by its Centre for Entrepreneurship (UCE), was where their side hustle dream became possible.
“After a quick interview we found out we were accepted into the programme and were gifted the scholarship to be down here over the summer in our first year.”
UCE innovation lead Lisa Martin said the programme “provides a unique opportunity for students to explore what their business or social enterprise could become”.
“Alongside making a real difference on your CV and the cohort-based learning, it truly is a life-changing experience. [And] just like Tom, Jack, and Tom you have a lot of fun along the way,” Martin said.
The Nailed It trio pitched their idea to 300 people, alongside a panel of four industry-based experts.
They worked with the chemical design facility at UC to make samples, then connected with a food ingredient manufacturing company, which gave them access to a food technologist who helped develop the initial recipe.
McGuinness said the five months since launching had been “pretty hectic”, and their vanilla-cinnamon protein powder had already sold out.
Nailed It now had several distribution centres, including Carrick family home in Auckland, where she helped the trio with their North Island orders, “which we are really grateful for.”
The South Island stock was held at Carrick and Ogg’s shared flat in Canterbury, as well as at Davis Food Ingredients.
Brand partnerships have been beneficial to the business.
“We worked with F45 training Remuera in Auckland. This was a great opportunity to get involved with potential consumers who were trying our products,” Carrick said.
“We managed to get a few sales, which was really awesome, and we also gained some great social media content through the collaboration.”
So far, feedback has been positive. Personal trainer Mackenzie Sim said she was drawn to Nailed It Nutrition protein powder because it was “dairy-free and it didn’t have the chalky taste of other powders”.
But there have been some hurdles. McGuinness said the lack of prior experience in the food science industry posed a challenge.
“There were a lot of legal obligations and requirements that we had to learn when developing our products”.
The company planned to expand its product range in New Zealand, focusing on more health and wellbeing products such as collagen and super greens powder, before tackling overseas markets.