What Myprotein’s iced lattes with Caffè Nero reveal about the rise of the ingredient brand
The most interesting name on Caffè Nero’s new menu belongs to a brand that does not make coffee. Myprotein, the THG-owned nutrition brand, has partnered with the chain on two iced protein drinks, now in more than 600 UK stores, each carrying around twenty-five grams of protein for under 160 calories. Co-branded products are suddenly everywhere, and most will be forgotten by spring. This one is worth studying, because it shows a supplement brand turning itself into something far more durable: an ingredient other businesses want on their label.
A Brand That Lives Inside Others
Look at Myprotein’s recent moves together, and a pattern emerges. A Krispy Kreme Original Glazed-inspired protein milkshake sold at Boots. A licensing deal with Mars Wrigley for Snickers, Mars and Bounty flavoured protein products. Now an iced latte at Caffè Nero. In none of these is Myprotein the format. It is the guarantee inside someone else’s.
That is a significant strategic shift. A supplement brand on the gym shelf competes for a narrow, well-informed customer who already buys protein. An ingredient brand reaches everyone who buys doughnuts, chocolate or coffee and gives them a reason to believe the protein claim. The gym shelf was always a ceiling. Partnerships are how Myprotein is breaking through it.
Why Collaboration Is Everywhere
For the host brand, the appeal is as clear. A collaboration is the fastest, lowest-risk way to test a new occasion without building a product line from scratch. Caffè Nero did not need to guess whether demand existed. Iced drinks now account for 14.7% of its drink sales, up from 8.1% five years ago, and iced sales rose 52% in its last financial year. Neil Mistry, chief executive of THG Nutrition, points out that protein lattes “have already taken off in the US” and that customers already add protein to their coffee at home.
Seen that way, the partnership is less a creative leap than a well-evidenced bet. Each side borrows the other’s credibility for a trial that would cost far more to run alone. That is why so many businesses are reaching for collaborations now: they shorten the distance between spotting a trend and being part of it.
Passing the Gimmick Test
The harder question is what separates the collaborations that last from those that fade with the window display. The first test is whether the guest brand changes the product, not just the packaging. Here it does. Skimmed milk, sugar-free vanilla and Myprotein powder deliver a specification a customer can build a weekly routine around. A gimmick is bought once for the novelty. A functional product is bought again on an ordinary Wednesday.
The second test is whether there is a plan beyond launch. These are the first products under the partnership, with more recipes planned for January. A single limited edition is a campaign. A sequence of releases is a relationship, and that is where co-branding starts to compound.
What Comes Next
Strip away the coffee, and the mechanism transfers to any consumer category. Find the habit your customers already have. Partner with the brand whose name makes your claim believable. Make the product earn its second purchase, then plan the third before the first one lands. The quieter lesson concerns the people behind it.
As ingredient brands and co-branded ranges multiply, MacGregor Black sees partnerships and licensing specialists moving from a supporting role to a strategic one, because choosing the right partner and structuring the deal now shapes growth as much as the product does. The collaborations will keep coming. The ones that last will be led by people who treat them as a discipline.