KLS presents "Together Talks" feature #54 with MALK and VP of Sales, Adria Campbell
KLS - Klimson Logistics Solutions
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Some Background on MALK
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the privilege to interview MALK and the VP of Sales, Adria Campbell. At MALK, they like to KEEP IT SIMPLE! From ingredient sourcing, to recipe and packaging design, MALK believe in transparency. Their products are dairy-, gum-, filler-, gluten-, oil-, GMO- and lactose-free. No carrageenan. No binders. No colors or sweeteners Mother Nature wouldn't recognize. Made with six ingredients or less and an abundance of organic nuts or oats in every bottle, using the whole nut or oat to retain all the nutrients without losing any of the flavor. They're easy to pronounce, easy to count, and easy to love: MALK ingredients are certified organic whole foods sourced with care for you, your family, and the environment.
Their Commitment:
Go ahead, turn that bottle around and see what they we're made of. We’ve got nothing to hide. #turnitaround
We love our logo, but the back of the bottle is where the real action is. Our ingredient information isn’t a legal disclaimer, it’s a full-on brag. When you’ve got nothing to hide, it’s easy to show ‘em what you’re made of. Not sure other plant-milks will be bragging much about gellan gum and dipotassium phosphate.
They find joy in discussing detailed nutritional specifics, which helps them make the world’s finest plant-based milks. Ingredients are their singular passion. From Organic Vanilla Extract to Himalayan Pink Salt, they are committed to sourcing only the cleanest ingredients, and using few enough at a time that that you can count ‘em all on one hand.
At MALK, they pour every ounce of energy into creating the best tasting plant-based milk on Earth. So splash it in your coffee, dress up your smoothie, or turn your next bowl of granola into a bowl of greatness. Making healthy choices never tasted so good.
MALK is also committed to supporting our customers on their personal wellness journey. That means they will always be 100% transparent about their ingredients and processes — now and forever. Refreshing, right?
No cheap ingredients. No marketing half-truths. No oils, no gums — no artificial anything. And no cutting corners. Ever. That’s a lot of no’s, but saying no is why so many people say yes to MALK. It’s not easy saying no all the time. If it were, everyone would be making MALK. And trust us, they’re not. Just look at their labels.
Plant Based
MALK was founded in 2014 and is currently found nationwide with a few of their partners including: Whole Foods, Sprouts, Publix, HEB, and Kroger. MALK's competition is in the plant-based milk segment. Where MALK separates themselves is through their commitment to focusing on ingredients. As Adria shared with us, "Our hero sku is our unsweetened almond milk which has 3 ingredients: Organic almonds, filtered water, Himalayan salt." Every product is certified-organic and clean ingredients. MALK never strays away from being health forward which is validated by their commitment to never add anything that will impact their clean label. The clean label is what has MALK stand above the competition and they aren't afraid to show it!
The company has a great presence with their social platforms. In our chat, Adria shared, "When I joined our TikTok was around 500 followers, it is over 90,000 currently!" Recently they have made a splash with their influencer partnerships, which have proven to be fruitful. The company last year started their #turnitaround campaign, which has been incredibly productive for MALK!
Adria told us, "MALK has come a long way since refreshing their branding in late 2021. The new packaging proudly brings to the forefront MALK's commitment to quality, while connecting with the consumer in a refreshing way. Getting the packaging right was extremely important to MALK as they looked to disrupt the highly competitive Plant-Based Milk Category Leaders." They followed that up in Q1 of 2022 implementing their new campaign, #turnitaround.
Example 1, courtesy MALK's Facebook, click here.
A shout out in Forbes, for the new MALK campaign, click here!
How about MALK's Instagram content, click here.
We mentioned MALK's TikTok growth, this was a big part of it, click here.
Labels matter and MALK is all about showing them off! Adria shared with us that this campaign helped contribute to the growth of the company in distribution as well as the number of stores doubled. She also shared, "We knew we were on to something because we were seeing competition in the space trying to emulate what we were doing with marketing." But quite possibly the most impressive feat was the marketing campaign that was completed blind.
Earlier this year, MALK went to a farmer's market to operate a blind taste test for consumers. The set up was simple, each brand was completely covered and the patrons were asked which milk they wanted to try based simply off of the ingredients listed. But there was a catch...MALK didn't have any advertising, that's right they did it undercover. Watch the YouTube clip below!
Pillars
Never anything artificial. EVER.
Adria told us that the transparency of the ingredients is the core of MALK. It all ties together, their marketing, their ingredients, their presentation, their product. Everything comes together to promote their goal of providing simple, true, reliable, and clean consumption. The commitment to displaying and echoing their purpose of being the premier clean option for plant-based milk. The transparency displayed by MALK doesn't only apply to output, but also internally as well.
We asked Adria to describe the culture of MALK and her response was surprising, "The best I have ever been a part of, hands down." What makes that such a powerful response is Adria's time with MALK, she has been there a little under two years, and her history in the dairy industry. She previously worked with Dean Foods for over 12 years where she worked with emerging brands. That is where she realized her passion in the space was working with companies that were kicking at the door ready to knock it down.
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Adria's Jump
We asked what brought Adria to MALK, she explained, "Dean possessed such a large portfolio of brands, in my last five years there they were heavy in M&A. But I found working with these emerging brands it brought a sense of fun and newness. The opportunity for MALK came about and it was a perfect fit and match. I believed that MALK was in the right spot to start this meteoric rise, with leadership and a supporting team that were both really strong. The chance to jump aboard and run with this brand, I couldn't pass it up". One year and eight months later, Adria was full of pride for how well the company has been doing and is even more excited for what is to come in 2024.
In speaking with her about the transition we asked if there was any fear or concern, she said naturally there always is when you go to something new, but in her career she has learned one valuable piece of advice, "let the data tell a story". She used that analysis to review the opportunity MALK possessed. She said the first core element was the fact that MALK was #1 at Whole Foods, "Simply put, they were dominating there", she told us. In addition to that success, their other three top stores all showed strong velocities. This led Adria to believe that MALK was on the right path to get into more points of distribution and the data was again supporting this. Adria told us, "Like I said, it was the perfect fit and match. MALK needed someone to put gas on the fire."
Current Support + Future Adaptions
Adria commended the strength of the culture and said it started with at the top with CEO, Jason Bronstad (check out the podcasts at the end of the article, Jason is featured a few times!). She stated the company believes in work life balance with both being intertwined and harmonious. That mindset trickles down leadership and throughout each team of MALK. The goal is for the efforts at work to provide energy boost for the aspects of life and vice versa, as Adria explained, "Rarely do you experience the Sunday Scaries at MALK". Sounds like the dream!
We asked Adria her favorite part (she said this is tough), but after some contemplating she said outside of the sheer winning of MALK as a whole, they participate in a Slack Channel called MALK My Day. Companywide the agenda is to post the wins and it pings frequently throughout the day per Adria. But the interactions, common goals, and overall winning of the company is one of the aspects that is most fun for Adria. The autonomy and trust to complete whatever challenge is presented gives the ability to feel like you own the day. Adria said this is so critical and fulfilling.
Adria informed us the coolest aspect of the #turnitaround campaign is the different iterations that are planned by MALK. Like the blind test at the farmer's market, they are excited to continue to peel back the curtain for consumers to make sure they fully know what they are consuming at any moment. That is the entire goal of the #turnitaround campaign to flip your favorite food around and understand exactly what is in it. The education of consumers will continue to be a challenge, but one that is so important to MALK's continued brand awareness and growth.
With so many wins we were curious if Adria had a favorite one in her time at MALK, she said one that maybe isn't favorite but was pivotal was when the company found out all 6 skus would be placed in Sprouts. "That was a really good moment that was validating. And it happened so fast. Almost overnight we became Sprouts #1 brand." She told us the journey with Sprouts took a little over a year, where little by little expansion was happening and then it was like boom, the flood gates opened. She also celebrated how the various teams have worked together when things didn't go to plan. Rather than it serving as a setback, they find ways to adapt and make a positive impact in other channels which just strengthens the foundation of the company.
Check out Adria's LinkedIn post about the recent success of MALK at Sprouts!
Our conversation ended with Adria asking her two questions.
First, we asked her to crystal ball it for us, what is the goal for MALK and she told us that hopefully one day MALK is accessible anywhere consumers shop. Their consumer base shop in multiple outlets and they'd love to be accessible and available for their base.
Second, with all of her experience in sales, we asked Adria for one piece of advice she'd give, she explained, "Grow slow, accelerate fast. Don't move on from a channel or retailer you're focused on. It is so easy to want as much distribution as possible, but if you get it too quickly and prior to building the brand awareness or velocity in the location you should be winning, it can set you back. That failure could take years to come back from and it will be difficult to get another opportunity to tie back in." And if you remember MALK had that core relationship with their success at Whole Foods.
One last special treat for everyone who has made it this far, coming soon will be the seasonal holiday nog from MALK. True to form it will be almond milk with still only 5 ingredients!
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In Closing
KLS wants to thank Adria Campbell, VP of Sales, of MALK for today's "Together Talks" feature.
Keep up to date with MALK's blog, here!
Follow along for the MALK journey with their social handles below!
Also check out where MALK has been featured in the following publications below!
MALK has also been on the following podcasts:
Plant Based Diet / The Firebelly Social Show / Then What / Hipcast / Essential Ingredients / Wake Up and Read the Labels