Clean Simple Eats (CSE), the Salt Lake City-based health and wellness brand, has secured placement for its Frosted Lemonade Clear Protein Soda in 100 Costco warehouse locations across the Southwest region, the company announced May 22. The product also became available simultaneously on costco.com, broadening the brand's addressable consumer base beyond its existing direct-to-consumer channel.
The rollout, which began May 13, positions CSE's best-selling SKU in Costco's dedicated Protein Department — a shelf placement that signals category legitimacy for a functional beverage competing against legacy soft drink brands. Financial terms of the retail partnership were not disclosed.
The move into Costco reflects a broader structural shift in the functional beverage segment, where brands that once relied primarily on e-commerce and specialty fitness retail are aggressively pursuing high-volume club-store distribution to drive unit economics at scale. Costco's membership base, estimated at more than 76 million households globally, offers CSE exposure to a health-conscious consumer demographic that skews toward premium-priced, better-for-you packaged goods. Brands navigating similar big-box expansion strategies have increasingly leaned on club channels to compress customer acquisition costs.
The clear protein soda category has attracted mounting investment from both legacy nutrition companies and emerging challenger brands as consumers seek low-calorie, high-protein alternatives to traditional carbonated soft drinks. CSE's entry into Costco at a competitive price point — a hallmark of the warehouse model — tests whether the brand can sustain margin integrity while meeting the volume commitments that large-format retail typically demands. Pricing pressure in the functional nutrition aisle has been a recurring theme as distribution scales.
"Clean and delicious" positioning has been central to CSE's brand identity since its founding, and the Costco launch extends that message to a retail environment where value and volume purchasing are primary consumer motivations. The company, which operates across protein powders, snacks, and functional beverages, did not provide forward guidance on additional regional Costco expansion or revenue contribution from the new channel.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.