The Feed

The Feed operates an e-commerce marketplace for endurance athletes covering nutrition, hydration, supplements, recovery products, gear and wearables used before, during and after training and racing. Its catalogue spans energy gels, chews, bars, drink mixes, protein, creatine, vitamins and supplements, superfoods and training gear, sourced from more than 150 nutrition brands selected out of roughly 400 brands the company says it has tested. Brands carried include Skratch Labs, Maurten, Science in Sport, Enervit, PILLAR Performance, SaltStick, Amacx, Precision Fuel and Hydration, Tailwind Nutrition, Momentous, LMNT, SwissRX, Garmin and Clif.

Alongside third-party brands, The Feed sells its own labelled products, including The Feed Lab whey protein, creatine and high-carb drink mix, The Feed Musette Bag, and a paid membership product listed as "Feed 1st" at $99 per year. The storefront is organized around use cases such as race-day fuel, hydration, performance and recovery, and gear and wearables, and includes editorial-style "Top 10" product rankings, a proprietary "Feed Score" sort option, and nutrition-based filters (sodium, sugar, carbohydrate and caffeine content). A distinguishing merchandising choice is selling products as single servings and configurable bundles ("build your own" gel, chew and hydration packs) so customers can mix flavors and brands rather than buying full boxes.

The company also offers free access to "Feed coaches" who respond by email with fueling guidance based on a customer's sport, training goals and flavor preferences. Operationally, the company runs a warehouse in Boulder, Colorado, where it developed proprietary warehouse software and invested in robotics to increase picking speed and capacity, with a stated goal of shipping at a pace comparable to Amazon.

Founding story

Founder Matt Johnson raced bikes as a youth in Europe, then in the mid-to-late 1990s started a venture-funded e-commerce business selling college textbooks online, which he describes as growing from zero to about $30 million in revenue in 18 months. He later helped launch and run the business and marketing side of a World Tour cycling team, Slipstream Sports — known publicly over time as the Garmin, Garmin-Cervélo, Cannondale and later EF Education First team — for roughly a decade. While running the Tour de France team he observed that improved nutrition gave riders measurable advantages in training and in the final portions of races, and distilled this into a simple before/during/after fueling formula. The Feed began around 2013 as a side project intended to make elite fueling knowledge accessible to everyday marathoners and triathletes; Johnson has said the early unit economics (selling roughly $1 gels and bars at about a $35 average order value) were poor, and the model evolved from a "box of the month" concept toward single servings and a broader performance-nutrition assortment. After EF acquired the cycling team, Johnson transitioned out and focused on The Feed.

Business model

Direct-to-consumer online retail. The Feed resells curated third-party sports nutrition, supplement and gear brands, sells its own private-label products under The Feed Lab and The Feed brands, and offers both one-time orders and recurring subscriptions delivered every four weeks. It also sells a paid annual membership ("Feed 1st", listed at $99/year). Free shipping is offered on orders within the contiguous United States, with paid expedited FedEx options; subscription renewals ship free at $49 or above.

Revenue comes from product sales margin across third-party and own-label products, recurring subscription orders, and a paid annual membership. In 2022 the founder described revenue as solid and predictable, growing 60-70% per year.

Traction

The site states it is trusted by more than 1,000,000 athletes and shows an aggregate 4.8 out of 5 rating from more than 100,000 reviews. The company's About page references feedback from more than 200,000 athletes fed by The Feed. In a September 2022 interview the founder said the business was scaling 60-70% per year and that its bottom line was unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latest developments

The storefront currently features own-brand and exclusive products including The Feed Lab whey protein, creatine and high-carb drink mix, a "Foundation" all-in-one morning pouch combining creatine, collagen, gut support and PeptiStrong peptides, Dream Shot sleep servings, Nomio broccoli-sprout shots, the Kyoku Superfood Shake, and a pre-order for the Garmin CIRQA smart band. Merchandising programs include build-your-own gel, chew and hydration packs, a summer gear sale and Tour de Feed animal bottles as a gift with purchase.