What do you want from supplements?

Sparticus!

Hi guys,

Not sure if this is allowed here, if not mod's I apologise. Anyway a friend of mine asked me to post here to ask what people want from their supplements.

To quote him his "head is wrecked paying ridiculous money for supplements"

So, he's looking to set up an Irish website selling supplements, but his little niche is, he's looking to also produce his own products.

He's starting small, only wants a few items otherwise it will not be feasible to have so many lines or something like that...

So, what he first wants is a bit of info.

I recommended asking you guys as you know your stuff...

He was looking to produce 4 items to start with. A low cal protein bar, and a high cal protein bar. A low cal shake, and a high cal shake with creatine mono.

Is flavor important?
Even if it raises the cost?

Do you think any of these products need to be removed in favour of another? He's particularly unsure as to what type of shakes to produce.

He's also looking into the potential to market "other" high protein or health food stuffs.

Any tips or ideas?

(PS i do realise this is a damn ambitious goal, but he's an ambitious guy. He stated he would be happy if he broke even as it would provide cheaper alternatives for a lot of people. Also its a long term goal rather then a short term one)

dave80

Sparticus! wrote: »

Hi guys,

Not sure if this is allowed here, if not mod's I apologise. Anyway a friend of mine asked me to post here to ask what people want from their supplements.

To quote him his "head is wrecked paying ridiculous money for supplements"

So, he's looking to set up an Irish website selling supplements, but his little niche is, he's looking to also produce his own products.

He's starting small, only wants a few items otherwise it will not be feasible to have so many lines or something like that...

So, what he first wants is a bit of info.

I recommended asking you guys as you know your stuff...

He was looking to produce 4 items to start with. A low cal protein bar, and a high cal protein bar. A low cal shake, and a high cal shake with creatine mono.

Is flavor important?
Even if it raises the cost?

Do you think any of these products need to be removed in favour of another? He's particularly unsure as to what type of shakes to produce.

He's also looking into the potential to market "other" high protein or health food stuffs.

Any tips or ideas?

(PS i do realise this is a damn ambitious goal, but he's an ambitious guy. He stated he would be happy if he broke even as it would provide cheaper alternatives for a lot of people. Also its a long term goal rather then a short term one)

Whey protein, creatine, all in 1/recovery drink, weight gainer, taste is important but more so price, bars dont sell to well imo

It's been done before, 2 I can think off hand one is successful and the other not

Mellor

To be blunt,

Sparticus! wrote: »

To quote him his "head is wrecked paying ridiculous money for supplements"

So, he's looking to set up an Irish website selling supplements, but his little niche is, he's looking to also produce his own products.

The peopel who pay ridiculous money for supps generally are buying highly marketed products. They normally don't have a clue what the difference, anybody with a bit of cope on gets the basic raw ingredients where possible as they know they are essentiall the same.

He was looking to produce 4 items to start with. A low cal protein bar, and a high cal protein bar. A low cal shake, and a high cal shake with creatine mono.

He's particularly unsure as to what type of shakes to produce.

Protein bars are useless. The high cal one will likely have a lot of sugar or carbs to be high cal. Not ideal. Anoth option is a oil/protein, like peanet & whey bar, but people can create this themselves.

A low cal shake is protein isolate. Already pretty assessible, can he compete with existing manufacturers.

High cal is protein blend with various clean carbs/fats added, again can he compete with existing. THe basic raw ingredients are free available and a lot mix their own.


Honestly, if he was unuse what to put in the shakes, then he probably isn't ready for this.

He's also looking into the potential to market "other" high protein or health food stuffs.

Like what?
Half the "high protein" foods out there aren't actually very high in protein. They appeal to people who don't know any better, and therefor are over priced. I can't imagine a discounted version doing very well (as it still won't appeal to those who are savvy)

Sparticus!

Mellor wrote: »

To be blunt,


The peopel who pay ridiculous money for supps generally are buying highly marketed products. They normally don't have a clue what the difference, anybody with a bit of cope on gets the basic raw ingredients where possible as they know they are essentiall the same.




Protein bars are useless. The high cal one will likely have a lot of sugar or carbs to be high cal. Not ideal. Anoth option is a oil/protein, like peanet & whey bar, but people can create this themselves.

A low cal shake is protein isolate. Already pretty assessible, can he compete with existing manufacturers.

High cal is protein blend with various clean carbs/fats added, again can he compete with existing. THe basic raw ingredients are free available and a lot mix their own.


Honestly, if he was unuse what to put in the shakes, then he probably isn't ready for this.


Like what?
Half the "high protein" foods out there aren't actually very high in protein. They appeal to people who don't know any better, and therefor are over priced. I can't imagine a discounted version doing very well (as it still won't appeal to those who are savvy)

Hi guys, not to sure if I was very clear before.

The raw materials (or at least the critical ones) have been sourced, and packaging estimates have been obtained. The stuff is ready to be put into action. At the moment he is fooling around with various and mixes.

The protein bars were an idea due to the fact they actually taste quite good tbh! i don't know whats in them (ill get more details later)

Basically, even looking at the cheapest protein he can source from say the UK, he reckons he can do it alot cheaper. He was also looking to cut out the middle man and use his own website. Basically this would enable him to reach the market at a significantly cheaper price.

Regarding the "other health foods" i've no clue, just know hes a bit of a health freak and has a few recipes etc he thinks are delicious (again ill enquire)

His goal isn't to end up competing globally, its just to produce a cheaper alternative in Ireland. It wont be for everyone, but maybe for some?

Hanley

Sparticus! wrote: »

Basically, even looking at the cheapest protein he can source from say the UK, he reckons he can do it alot cheaper. He was also looking to cut out the middle man and use his own website. Basically this would enable him to reach the market at a significantly cheaper price.

There is absolutely no way he can match bulkpowders or myprotein on price and quality....

Sparticus!

Hanley wrote: »

There is absolutely no way he can match bulkpowders or myprotein on price and quality....

again, only the middle man here... ill show him the thread. I dont know a huge amount of topic. I buy them, I don't make them.

Hanley

Sparticus! wrote: »

again, only the middle man here... ill show him the thread. I dont know a huge amount of topic. I buy them, I don't make them.

K well make sure he has a look at their websites cos they're basically doing everything he's trying to do.

Mellor

Sparticus! wrote: »

The raw materials (or at least the critical ones) have been sourced, and packaging estimates have been obtained. The stuff is ready to be put into action. At the moment he is fooling around with various and mixes.

My point was that the raw materials are all that are really important. It pretty cheap for me to buy plain whey, they comes in a plain white bag.
If the price of his product is raw ingrenidents, mixing, packaging, shipping + profit, I don't think it will be cheaper.

The protein bars were an idea due to the fact they actually taste quite good tbh! i don't know whats in them (ill get more details later)

If they are anything like a chocolate bar and taste good, then they are likely pretty crap.

I'd love to see ths nutritional info on the above,

Basically, even looking at the cheapest protein he can source from say the UK, he reckons he can do it alot cheaper. He was also looking to cut out the middle man and use his own website. Basically this would enable him to reach the market at a significantly cheaper price.

Where did he look.
Maybe he should come on this thread, honestly I hope he can do what he says, but I reckon he didn't check the market properly.
Just because he can be some overprice crap doesn't mean he will be cheap.

Hanley wrote: »

K well make sure he has a look at their websites cos they're basically doing everything he's trying to do.

and doing it on a pretty big scale,

marathonic

Agree with everyone so far. There's nothing in the OP's 4 products that someone wouldn't be able to get by ordering, for example, Whey, Creatine and Dextrose from myProtein.

An order of 5kg Whey (200 servings), 500g Creatine Monohydrate (100 servings) and 5kg Dextrose (100 servings) from myProtein would cost €79.32 including delivery.

From what I see, a protein shake in the morning (or pre-workout) and then a protein shake with a serving of Creatine and a serving of Dextrose post-workout is a pretty good mix of supplements to take. In taking this, the above order would last the user over 3 months for €79.32. It'd last longer if the person stopped, or reduced, supplementation on rest days.

I wouldn't exactly call this expensive and if your friend can beat this, hats off to him - and to be honest, unless there was a significant difference in price, I'd continue using myProtein until I heard lots of good reports about the new company.