WHY A PROTEIN BRAND IS SUDDENLY SELLING SOUP..
Myprotein spent years teaching customers to think about protein shakes, powders and sports nutrition. Now it wants them to think about soup.
MYPROTEIN IS ENTERING THE SOUP AISLE
Myprotein, one of the UK's major sports-nutrition brands, has launched a five-product range of chilled soups.
The new 375g pots contain 19–23 grams of protein and fewer than 250 calories each. Flavours include Thai Red Chicken, Chicken & Red Lentil Daal, Golden Chicken & Turmeric, Classic Chicken & Veg and Chipotle Chicken.
The range launched in Tesco stores in the Republic of Ireland in September and is scheduled to expand across UK retailers from October 5.
At first, it sounds like a strange category move.
A sports-nutrition company selling soup?
But Myprotein isn't really trying to become a traditional soup company.
It's trying to make protein part of an ordinary meal.
THE PROTEIN SHAKE HAS A LIMIT
Protein powder has traditionally belonged to a particular moment:
gym → shaker → protein → done.
But the protein trend has moved beyond bodybuilding.
Consumers increasingly look for protein in breakfast, snacks, drinks and actual meals.
That creates a problem for a company whose historical expertise is heavily associated with powders, bars and sports supplements.
There are only so many times a day someone wants to drink a shake.
Soup gives Myprotein another eating occasion.
FROM SUPPLEMENT TO LUNCH
The new product is deliberately positioned as a meal rather than another scoop of powder.
A 375g pot containing up to 23g of protein can fit into:
lunch
quick dinner
post-work meal
office meal
convenient weekday food
That means Myprotein can potentially move from the gym bag into the refrigerator.
The strategic shift is:
protein supplement → protein food → everyday meal
SOUP IS A BIGGER MARKET THAN IT LOOKS
Myprotein says the chilled-soup category is worth approximately £271 million.
But the category has another characteristic that makes it interesting: it is established, yet relatively conservative.
According to the company, globally inspired flavours account for less than 15% of the chilled-soup category.
That's the opening.
Instead of trying to convince consumers that they need another traditional chicken soup, Myprotein can bring flavours associated with modern convenience food and sports nutrition into the category.
LOOK AT THE FLAVOURS
The range isn't built around five variations of classic vegetable soup.
It includes:
Thai Red Chicken
Chicken & Red Lentil Daal
Golden Chicken & Turmeric
Chipotle Chicken
Classic Chicken & Veg
That gives the product a different identity from the traditional soup aisle.
The brand is effectively saying:
Soup can be convenient, high-protein and modern.
THE COMPANY IS FOLLOWING A PATTERN IT ALREADY TESTED
The soup launch follows Myprotein's existing Lunch Pots partnership.
According to the company, the Lunch Pots have generated £22 million in retail sales value since launch and helped attract younger shoppers.
That matters because Myprotein isn't entering grocery retail completely blind.
It has already tested a different kind of product:
sports-nutrition brand → convenient ready-to-eat food → supermarket shelf.
Soup is the next extension.
WHY SUPERMARKETS MATTER
A protein powder is often purchased deliberately.
You search for it.
You visit a sports-nutrition website.
You compare flavours.
You reorder.
Soup behaves differently.
It sits in the supermarket next to hundreds of other possible lunches.
That changes discovery.
Someone who has never visited Myprotein's website could see:
MYPROTEIN SOUP — 21g PROTEIN
and suddenly encounter the brand in a completely different context.
The supermarket becomes customer-acquisition infrastructure.
MYPROTEIN IS BORROWING THE SUPERMARKET'S HABIT
This is perhaps the most important part.
The brand doesn't have to convince someone to develop a new protein routine.
It can insert itself into an existing routine:
go to supermarket → choose lunch → see Myprotein → buy soup.
That is easier than asking someone to completely change how they eat.
PROTEIN IS BECOMING A PRODUCT LANGUAGE
“Protein” increasingly functions as more than a nutrient.
It has become a marketing signal.
A snack can become a “protein snack.”
A cereal can become “high protein.”
A coffee can become “protein coffee.”
And now:
soup → protein soup.
Campbell's launched five soups in the US in July 2026 containing 20g of protein per can, showing that the same trend is spreading through established food categories.
Goldfish also launched a protein version in September, with 6g per serving.
The unusual part isn't that protein brands are expanding.
It's that almost every food category can now be reframed around protein.
MYPROTEIN IS MOVING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TOO
Traditional food companies are adding protein to their products.
Myprotein is doing something slightly different.
It already owns the protein association.
Now it is adding traditional food formats around it.
So the direction is:
Campbell's → soup + more protein
while:
Myprotein → protein + soup
Both companies meet in the middle.
THIS IS CATEGORY CONVERGENCE
The old supermarket structure separated categories:
sports nutrition
soup
snacks
ready meals
supplements
But consumers don't necessarily think that way.
They think:
“I need something quick that will fill me up and give me enough protein.”
That need can be satisfied by a shake, yoghurt, bar, meal or soup.
The category boundaries belong to retailers.
The consumer need doesn't.
GLP-1 ALSO CHANGES THE OPPORTUNITY
Myprotein explicitly points to changing eating habits and the demand for high-protein, lower-calorie, convenient food as part of the opportunity.
That matters in a market where consumers taking GLP-1 medications may prioritize smaller portions while still trying to meet nutritional needs.
Soup fits naturally into that conversation because it can provide a defined portion in a relatively low-calorie format.
It gives Myprotein another product for people who aren't looking for a huge meal.
THE PRODUCT ALSO CHANGES WHERE MYPROTEIN CAN BE SOLD
Sports nutrition traditionally lives in places like:
specialist websites
gyms
health stores
supplement retailers
Soup lives somewhere else:
supermarkets.
That creates a much larger physical distribution opportunity.
And once a sports-nutrition brand has supermarket distribution, it can theoretically introduce more products around the same customer.
Soup today.
Lunch pots yesterday.
Perhaps other ready-to-eat meals tomorrow.
THE BRAND IS BUILDING AN “EVERYDAY PROTEIN” POSITION
There is a subtle difference between:
“I take protein.”
and:
“I eat protein.”
The first sounds like supplementation.
The second sounds like a lifestyle.
Myprotein's soup launch pushes the company toward the second idea.
Protein doesn't have to come from a shaker.
It can come from lunch.
THAT MAKES THE BRAND MORE FREQUENT
A supplement might be purchased once every few weeks.
A meal can be consumed several times a week.
That potentially changes customer frequency.
If Myprotein becomes part of someone's lunch routine, the brand isn't dependent on the customer identifying as a gym enthusiast.
The target customer can simply be someone who wants a convenient high-protein meal.
THE BUSINESS MODEL IS REALLY ABOUT OCCASIONS
This is the deeper strategy.
A company doesn't necessarily need to sell more of the same product.
It can create more moments when the customer can buy something.
Morning → protein breakfast
Gym → shake
Afternoon → protein snack
Lunch → soup
Evening → convenient meal
Each new format gives the brand another potential occasion.
That's how a niche category can become an everyday food business.
MYPROTEIN IS ALSO TESTING HOW FAR ITS NAME CAN STRETCH
There is a branding risk here.
“Myprotein” strongly communicates sports nutrition.
Would consumers believe the brand makes good soup?
The company is effectively testing whether its existing brand equity can travel from supplement to food.
If consumers accept the move, the name becomes less about protein powder and more about protein itself.
That's a much larger territory.
AND THAT IS WHY SOUP MAKES MORE SENSE THAN IT FIRST APPEARS
Soup is inexpensive to understand.
You don't need to explain what it is.
You only need to explain why this particular soup is different.
It's soup.
It's convenient.
It has 19–23g of protein.
It stays under 250 calories.
The category already exists.
Myprotein simply adds its strongest brand attribute to it.
MAACAT PERSPECTIVE
Myprotein isn't really leaving sports nutrition behind.
It's trying to make sports nutrition less visible.
The old model was:
protein → supplement → gym.
The new model is:
protein → lunch → supermarket → everyday life.
And that's why soup is interesting.
The company doesn't need consumers to become more obsessed with protein powder.
It needs them to stop thinking of protein as something that belongs only in a shaker.
