How a pre-diabetic diagnosis led to an entrepreneur developing his snacking brand
Niclas Luthman has been an entrepreneur all his career and frequently needed a quick meal or snack on the go.
“I was always going from one meeting to the next, always on the go, and so I was eating a lot of energy bars. I thought I was pretty healthy, you know I would exercise a lot, until my doctor told me that I was pre-diabetic, right on the edge,” he said to Food Dive in an interview.
That was 2014 when the Swedish business owner started taking his health more seriously.
A mechanical engineer by trade, Luthman used his scientific background and embarked on an extensive research mission to find a treatment for his condition through food.
“I read everything I could, and besides controlling my diabetes through an anti–inflammatory diet I was able to get rid of knee and back pain,” he said, “I am living proof that eating this way works.”
From there, Luthman engineered Nick’s, a better-for-you snacking brand that produces ice cream, candy bars, nut bars and protein bars.
The company’s Lighter Ice Cream features Epogee Foods’ fat-replacing ingredient EPG, which is a rapeseed oil-based fat substitute that can reduce fat calories by 92% because the oil cannot be absorbed by the body.
Instead of traditional sugar, the pints are sweetened with natural substitutes, including stevia, monk fruit, erythritol and xylitol. This means that Nick’s products have much fewer calories and sugar than conventional ice cream.
Permission granted by Nick’s
Standing out by leading with taste and smart partnerships
With consumers increasingly prioritizing health and wellness through food and beverage products, the better-for-you space has become inundated with startup brands and novelty products.
Even CPGs known for candy bars and chocolate have taken note of this consumer trend. Nestlé, for example, vowed last year to boost sales of better-for-you products by as much as $27.3 billion by the end of this decade.
And Unreal snacks is looking to make its mark in the space using whole, clean ingredients to make candy and confectionery products.
Luthman said Nick’s intends to stand out from the crowd in two key ways: leading with taste and smart, relevant partnerships.
The company officially launched in the U.S. in 2020 and is now in 13,000 stores nationwide including ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Harris Teeter, Acme, among others.
“If you taste our ice cream versus Halo Top, for example, there’s no question that ours is better, it’s creamier and gives the feeling of real ice cream,” said Brittany O’Brien, senior brand manager at Nick’s in an interview with Food Dive.
The key to Nick’s marketing strategy as a brand has been avoiding exhausting the consumer with health information.
“We have to make this an attractive brand for all people, and keep it a sexy brand that tastes good. And all the other benefits just come along with it.”
Luthman said he knows that a diet that is low carb and anti-inflammatory has many health benefits, but that shouldn’t be the number one reason why people reach for his product in the store.
“A lot of people don’t have the time that I have to read scientific articles and really understand all these things. We have to give it to them in the form of a very understandable brand,” said Luthman.
Though diets such as keto, paleo, plant-based, et cetera have had their 15 minutes of fame, Luthman said that ignoring the shifting popularity around these fads will force the company to stay its course.
“We try to really be on top of what real science is. And there are fads going on left and right, some that last and some that don’t, but we’re not adjusting to the fads. We adjust to what the best science is out there.”
Luthman and the marketing team at Nick’s have also been laser-focused on key brand partnerships they think can help them further expand into the U.S.
The company recently landed a partnership with The Kardashians after sending them products to which they had a positive reaction.
“We were excited to partner with the Kardashians because we want to take [the brand] beyond being diabetic friendly, but we want everyone to have the option to eat sweets how they want, no judgment, and both versions of our products taste delicious.”
“As we look to raise our awareness in the U.S., who better to do that with than the Kardashians? And it does fit their lifestyle, as they like to eat better and find different products.”
Nick’s carries a line of both Light Ice Cream and Ice Cream Novelties, which have different calorie ranges and sugar content.
Luthman said the company has a lot of “surprising” things on the docket for 2024, but for now, the brand is keen on making its splash with U.S. consumers and maintaining its brand integrity.