What's Happening
Protein Pints, the high-protein ice cream brand now stocked in more than 15,000 retailers nationwide, has launched Protein Pops, its first move into the frozen novelty category. The new bars are creamy, high-protein ice cream dipped in a rich milk chocolate coating studded with crispy quinoa, a notable twist on the usual rice-crisp inclusion.
Protein Pops come in four flavors: Caramel Crunch, Vanilla Crunch, Peanut Butter Crunch, and Mint Crunch. Each bar delivers 10 grams of complete protein with all nine essential amino acids, 180 to 190 calories, 5 grams of net carbs, 3 grams of fiber, and just 4 grams of total sugar (only 3 added), at least 75% less sugar than traditional ice cream and with no artificial sweeteners. The bars are gluten-free and made with natural ingredients.
Sold in packs of three, a limited quantity is available now at ProteinPops.com. The bars roll out to Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide on June 29, with Harris Teeter following in late July and additional retailers planned for this fall. The launch represents the brand's first major format expansion just two years after its retail debut. Protein Pints, founded by two childhood friends during their college years and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, sells its signature pints with 30 grams of protein each.
Why It Matters
The move into bars is a smart format play. Protein Pints built its following on the pint, but the frozen novelty category, individually portioned, grab-and-go treats, is growing faster than the broader frozen dessert market, projected at nearly 9% CAGR through 2035. By entering that space, the brand taps a different consumption occasion: the poolside, post-workout, or on-the-go moment when a whole pint isn't practical. As CEO Paul Reiss framed it, the bars offer what people love about the pints in a format that fits busy lives.
The quinoa coating is a clever differentiator. Most chocolate-dipped novelty bars use rice crisps for crunch, so swapping in quinoa gives Protein Pops a distinctive, slightly more premium and nutrition-forward hook that fits the brand's ingredient-conscious positioning. In a category about to get crowded with protein entries, small points of differentiation like that help a product stand out on the shelf and in social media buzz.
Bigger Picture
This is the protein-everything trend colliding with the nostalgia of the classic ice cream bar. The flavors, Caramel Crunch, Vanilla Crunch, Peanut Butter Crunch, and Mint Crunch, are deliberately styled after the familiar combinations long found in the freezer aisle from brands like Häagen-Dazs and Klondike, reimagined with macros that actually fit a fitness-minded diet. It is the same playbook driving high-protein versions of cereal, candy, and oatmeal, now applied to the frozen novelty.
The competitive heat is rising fast, though. Protein ice cream is no longer a niche, with legacy players like Blue Bell rolling out their own high-protein lines and Häagen-Dazs comparisons now table stakes. Protein Pints expanding into bars just two years after launch is a bet that moving quickly into new formats can keep it ahead of both the legacy giants entering the protein space and the wave of newer challengers chasing the same shelf. For a young brand, format expansion is how it grows from a single-product success into a broader platform, and the bars are its first real test of whether that loyal pint following will follow it across the freezer aisle.
Sources
PR Newswire - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/protein-pints-expands-beyond-the-pint-with-debut-of-new-protein-pops-302807031.html