Key takeaways:
- Clio unlocked fast progress by shifting from single bars to multipacks, remodeling its economics and scaling from $23m to a projected $120m enterprise.
- The model is betting on refrigerated snacking as the subsequent frontier, regardless of the added complexity of cold-chain logistics and instore merchandising challenges.
- McGuckin believes long-term success will come from profitable trial and constructing a brand new class round indulgent, protein-rich snacks reasonably than competing in crowded ambient aisles.
John McGuckin doesn’t attempt to rewrite historical past. When he talks about Clio’s early days, he goes straight to the uncomfortable fact. “We have been bleeding money,” he says.
It’s a stark admission for the CEO of a model now projecting $120m in income and 150 million bars in 2026, however it additionally units the tone for the way he thinks about progress. For McGuckin, scale isn’t about momentum or buzz – it’s about fixing what doesn’t work after which transferring rapidly as soon as it does.
Clio’s proposition now feels neatly aligned with the place customers have landed. The model sits on the intersection of protein, indulgence and comfort, providing a refrigerated Greek yoghurt bar that eats extra like a dessert than a purposeful snack. However when Clio launched, that positioning was removed from apparent.
Protein bars have been booming, however they have been overwhelmingly ambient. Refrigerated snacking, in contrast, remained underdeveloped – much less due to shopper demand and extra due to trade reluctance. Chilly-chain logistics, shorter shelf life and thinner margins have lengthy made it a more durable, riskier house to scale, at the same time as customers more and more appeared for brisker, much less processed choices.
“Snacking was rising dramatically, however what was lacking was one thing refrigerated that delivered indulgence whereas nonetheless providing protein and satiety,” McGuckin explains. That hole has widened as shopper behaviour continues to shift in Clio’s favour. The worldwide protein bar market was valued at greater than $14bn in 2024 and continues to develop steadily, whereas high-protein claims are among the many fastest-growing in snacking extra broadly. Greek yoghurt, in the meantime, has moved from area of interest to mainstream, notably in North America and Europe.
Clio’s reply was to lean into what others weren’t doing. “What lacked was flavour efficiency,” McGuckin says. “Bars delivered perform, however not at all times enjoyment.” The model’s Greek yoghurt bar, with a cheesecake-like texture and chocolate coating, was designed to shut that hole. It performs immediately into ‘permissible indulgence’ – one thing that looks like a deal with however nonetheless suits inside a extra protein-led, satiety-focused weight loss plan. That positioning, he says, has solely been bolstered by the rise of GLP-1-driven consuming habits, the place customers are consuming much less however considering extra fastidiously about what they eat.
How Clio nearly misplaced its footing
If the product unlocked the chance, the enterprise mannequin almost killed it.
“Once we began, we have been solely promoting single bars,” McGuckin says. “They have been round $1.79, and we had good velocity, however we weren’t producing the income to assist the expansion.” The model was transferring product, however the economics have been damaged. It’s a well-recognized downside for rising CPG manufacturers: robust shopper curiosity, however not sufficient margin to maintain enlargement.
The turning level got here with a choice that, on paper, appeared dangerous. Clio shifted from single bars to multipacks, promoting 4 bars for $5.99. “The wager was that shopper takeaway would keep the identical,” he explains. “We’d get the identical unit motion, however at 4 or 5 occasions the retail worth.”
It labored. “It modified the economics for us in a dramatic method,” he says. The transfer unlocked the flexibility to spend money on the enterprise, scale manufacturing and increase distribution. When McGuckin joined in 2023, Clio was doing round $23m in gross sales. Three years later, the New Jersey-based firm is focusing on $120m. “That progress speaks to the patron, it speaks to the commerce, and it speaks to our group’s capacity to execute,” he says.
However the greater shift was strategic. Clio stopped considering of itself as a product and began considering as a class builder. That has meant working carefully with retailers to outline the place refrigerated snacks sit instore, and the way they’re offered to customers. “At first, we’d be within the yoghurt aisle with two SKUs subsequent to string cheese. The buyer didn’t know the place to search out us.”
Now, the main focus is on making a vacation spot. “We’re working with others within the house to construct a refrigerated snacking set. When the patron walks in, they should know precisely the place to go.” Family penetration stays comparatively low, which McGuckin sees as a chance reasonably than a constraint. “There’s nonetheless an enormous runway,” he provides.
Why chilled snacking is tougher than it seems
Scaling a refrigerated product isn’t only a query of demand however it’s a query of infrastructure.
“You need to construct your provide chain in a really deliberate method,” says McGuckin. “You want the correct individuals, the correct companions, and alignment throughout the board.” Clio has invested closely in operations, together with increasing capability at its 86,000 sq ft facility in Piscataway, the place a brand new manufacturing line is coming on-line.
That funding is already feeding into innovation. The brand new line will assist a kids-focused vary, focusing on what McGuckin sees as an underserved section. “The 2 to six-year-old class is nicely coated, however six to 12-years is a niche,” he says. The brand new merchandise are barely smaller, somewhat sweeter and designed for comfort. “No spoon, no bowl. You may put it in a lunchbox or eat it on the go.”
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Past that, Clio is growing a higher-protein line with added texture. “Customers need crunch. We’re taking a look at round 15g of protein with out sacrificing flavour.” It’s a stability many manufacturers nonetheless battle to strike and one McGuckin believes is greatest confirmed by trial. “We consider getting individuals to style the product is important,” he says, after distributing half one million bars by meal package partnerships, together with HelloFresh. “Most individuals strive it and determine they adore it. That’s an important place to be.”
Nonetheless, not each resolution lands. An early yoghurt-coated bar failed to achieve actual traction. “We thought it might enchantment to oldsters who didn’t need their children consuming chocolate within the morning. It did okay, however not nice.” Even so, the concept wasn’t wasted. “It led on to our children line,” he provides. “You’re taking the educational and also you construct from it.”
What comes subsequent for Clio
Clio’s fast focus is on execution, however the longer-term ambition is obvious. “I believe we could be a $300m to $330m enterprise inside 5 years,” McGuckin says. That progress will come from a mixture of deeper US penetration and worldwide enlargement. The model is already gaining traction in Canada, the place yoghurt consumption is considerably greater per capita than within the US, and has begun constructing out its presence in Mexico.
However scale, he argues, will depend upon staying disciplined. “We have now to remain on prime of shopper wants and proceed to innovate. That’s what’s going to maintain driving the enterprise.”
Key perception
For founders watching from the sidelines, Clio CEO John McGuckin is “by no means assume you’ve all of the solutions. Lots of people assume as a result of they’re the founder, they should make each resolution. That’s the place they go unsuitable.”
As an alternative, he argues, scaling a enterprise means letting go of that intuition. “You need to usher in individuals who know the way to do issues higher than you, and you must belief them.”
It’s a philosophy formed by expertise. Earlier than Clio, McGuckin helped scale Sabra from a $15m enterprise to almost $500m – a journey that also informs how he leads at this time. “Success lifts all people. It lifts the corporate, it lifts the individuals, and it creates alternatives for everybody concerned.”
For Clio, the subsequent few years will take a look at whether or not a product that after struggled to earn cash can anchor one thing a lot greater. Not only a model, however a class that retailers and customers take severely.
“We’re not a large model but,” McGuckin says. “However the retailers who’ve leaned in, who’ve listened to the story and constructed the house correctly, they’re profitable.”
If he’s proper, refrigerated snacking should still be in its early innings. And Clio, having discovered its footing the arduous method, is now positioning itself to outline what comes subsequent.
