Earth Fed Muscle looks to expand its national footprint
Berks County company originally born out of frustration — fills a supplement need
Unable to find high-quality protein supplements for themselves and the athletes they were training, three Berks County friends and business partners decided to develop and manufacture their own.
More than a decade later, their company — Earth Fed Muscle — offers more than 30 different products, all manufactured in the United States using carefully selected, highquality ingredients.
“We started out of frustration because we couldn’t get what we needed,” explained Chris Stamm, a company founder whose current title is COO. “We just knew we wanted to make a really good product.”
And so it begins
Stamm joined with Dane Miller, an acclaimed Berks County athlete who owns and operates Garage Strength, an athletic training facility in Maidencreek Township, Berks County and D.J. Shuttleworth, a championship weightlifter who both trained and coached at Garage Strength, to form a company that would do just that.
Having worked as a process technician in an area food manufacturing facility, Stamm was charged in 2012 with coming up with a recipe for a good tasting, healthy supplement.
“I had the food processing background, so I knew exactly what we had to do, but there was still a lot of trial and error involved,” Stamm said.
After much experimentation, Stamm mixed the first test batch of supplement in a food-grade cement mixer in his basement. The product received good reviews from tasters and scored high marks in lab tests.
Earth Fed Muscle products hit the market
A manufacturer was located, and in 2014 the first batches of Earth Fed Muscle protein supplement were sold to clients who trained at Garage Strength. The supplement was enthusiastically received and plans to expand the company’s product line got underway.
Looking to take the business to the next level, the owners in 2019 recruited Dane Miller’s brother, Brooks, to establish a marketing plan that could help the company grow.
Sara Williams started sharing her creative talents with the company at about the same time, and a rebranding of products began. Williams currently serves as the company’s creative director.
“Most supplement brands don’t get real creative with their packaging, but Sara came up with great designs for us,” said Brooks Miller, who owns a farm in Central Pennsylvania and serves as the company’s CEO.
Earth Fed Muscle products stand out with their distinctive packaging and names of protein supplements such as Whey Back Vanilla, Friends with Benefits Peanut Butter Cup and Ol’ St. Ripped Snickerdoodle.
Expanding the brand
Noah Kennedy White, a noted track athlete who has been training with Dane Miller at Garage Strength for five years and is working toward qualifying for the Olympics, serves as Earth Fed Muscle’s sales and marketing director.
The goal, he said, is to increase the company’s social media presence and expand its national footprint.
“We operate nationally now, but we really have a big stronghold in the 100-mile radius around Reading,” Kennedy White said. “That’s great for us, but we’d like to get our product into more locations in other parts of the country.”
Earth Fed Muscle products currently are sold primarily online and in about 400 gyms nationwide, but the aim is to also get them into outlets such as Giant Food Stores or Kimberton Whole Foods stores, Brooks Miller said.
A different kind of company
The company, which in 2022 saw about $4.1 million in revenue, is planning to continue with slow but steady growth.
Its primary goal, said Brooks Miller, is to set itself apart from other supplement manufacturers by never sacrificing quality or misrepresenting its products.
“Some supplement makers are just trying to make stuff as cheaply as they can, without caring much about what’s in it,” he said. “We don’t use junk, we make sure our products taste good, and we promise it’s the highest quality possible.”
Brooks Miller’s four chil
dren regularly drink Earth Fed Muscle protein shakes, as do the children of other company employees.
“We wouldn’t try to sell anything that we wouldn’t be happy using ourselves or giving to our own families,” Brooks Miller said.
The company partners with Truly Grass Fed, an Irish company that produces butter, cheese and other dairy products using milk from cows that are at least 95% grass fed. Earth Fed Muscle purchases whey, a by-product of cheese, from Truly Grass Fed.
“I’ve visited the farms that supply milk to Truly Grass Fed and met their owners,” said Brooks Miller. “The whey we buy is a premium product and we pay more for it than we would a whey commodity, but that’s what we’re known for.”
Earth Fed Muscle also is environmentally conscious, using minimal packaging and sustainable practices whenever possible. The company gives back to the community by supporting athletes and participating in local events, including last Saturday’s Women In Sports Night at the Reading Royals’ hockey game.
“We’re a different kind of company,” said Stamm. “We’re small, with a team that works closely together. And we put the quality of our product over profits, which is something unusual in our industry. We’re looking forward to seeing where the future takes us.”