Solar Foods brings Solein to US consumers through Ambrosia Collective protein powder

Solar Foods’ Solein has entered the US consumer market for the first time through a ready-to-mix protein powder launched by sports nutrition and health supplement company Ambrosia Collective.

• Ambrosia Collective introduced a Planta protein powder made with Solein for test marketing in the USA.
• The salted caramel coldbrew product contained 20g of protein per serving and 0g of sugar.
• Solar Foods reported that Ambrosia planned to follow the test launch with a nationwide rollout this summer.

The product, launched under Ambrosia Collective’s Planta brand, is available in a salted caramel coldbrew flavor and contains 20g of protein per serving with 0g of sugar. It is being sold through Ambrosia Collective’s website and on Amazon.

Solar Foods described the launch as the first consumer product made with Solein to become available in the USA. It also reported that the Planta product was the first Solein-powered protein powder available anywhere in the world.

“Since 2018, Ambrosia has sat on top of the market in the plant protein space with the best tasting, best mixing, most optimized amino acid plant protein on the market, not to mention crazy assortment of flavours. To stay on top, you have to stay in touch with what is the latest and greatest. We are very proud to be working with Solar Foods to incorporate Solein into our Planta formula and to bring this innovation to consumers through Planta. It is going to be the biggest innovation in the protein space in the last decade, and we look so forward to continuing this process of developing new flavours with Solein,” said Sean Torbati, co-founder of Ambrosia Collective.

Ambrosia Collective develops and produces performance-focused, vegan-friendly products, including protein supplements, health and wellness products, performance products, and weight management products. The company stated that it also educates consumers on approaches to improving health and performance.

For Solar Foods, the US launch forms part of its commercialization strategy for Solein in the health and performance nutrition market. Before entering the USA, Solein-powered products had already become available to consumers in Singapore.

“Solein offers a completely new harvest for humankind: it’s an ingredient unlike anything seen before, and we are delighted that consumers in the United States will now be able to experience it. We are also very excited about how Ambrosia Collective has incorporated Solein into its Planta product line and brought it to market at remarkable speed, demonstrating a rapid and effective integration of Solein into a finished consumer product. While product development timelines vary across companies, we continue to work closely with our customers to support their product development efforts to bring more Solein-powered products to consumers,” said Godert Zijlstra, Chief Commercial & Product Officer of Solar Foods.

The launch gives Solar Foods a consumer-facing foothold in one of the world’s largest sports nutrition markets while also marking another step in the company’s effort to expand the commercial reach of Solein beyond its initial launch market in Singapore.

Solar Foods is first targeting the US health and performance nutrition category, where protein powders remain a major sub-category. According to the company, the health and performance nutrition market in the United States is worth approximately US$10 billion.

“Solein excels as an ingredient in the Health & Performance nutrition category. The size of the market in the USA alone is approximately US$10 billion, and ready-to-mix protein powders are a major sub-category in the protein space, with ever growing consumer demand driven, among other things, by the health trend. Protein products are shifting from boosting performance to mainstream across product categories, and they are not just for gym bags, but increasingly used throughout the day to support an active lifestyle,” Zijlstra said.

The launch also reflects broader shifts within the protein market, where products once aimed primarily at athletes and bodybuilders are increasingly being marketed to mainstream consumers seeking convenient sources of protein throughout the day. Companies across the nutrition sector have responded by expanding protein offerings into beverages, snacks, meal replacements, and wellness-focused products.

Ambrosia Collective has introduced the Solein-containing Planta powder as a test-market product and aims to follow with a nationwide rollout this summer. The product is currently available directly through the company’s website and Amazon, giving US consumers their first opportunity to purchase a food product made with Solar Foods’ novel protein ingredient.