Former bodybuilder Mike Kellett turns treat recipes into multi-million dollar Gold Coast business Macro Mike

A FORMER bodybuilder has turned his recipes for sweet treats for fitness competitors into a business with a multi-million dollar turnover.

A FORMER fitness and bodybuilding instructor who once sold pub crawls on the streets of Surfers Paradise has plans to massively increase sales for his vegan and dairy-free dry mixes and powders.

More than two-and-a-half years ago English expatriate Mike Kellett was spruiking pub crawls on the Glitter Strip to earn a living and in his spare time posting recipes on Instagram under the name Macro Mike (Macro is for macronutrients) for tasty vegan and allergy-friendly treats.

“It got quite a good following on social media. People would ask me to send recipes or create mixes,” he said.

“This was when I was still selling pub crawls and I was pretty well over it.”

Mr Kellett said, at the time, the treat options for fitness and bodybuilding competitors, who did not want dairy or gluten ingredients, was limited.

Mike Kellett at his Macro Mike factory in Burleigh – his dairy and gluten-free mixes and powders are a runaway success. Picture: TERTIUS PICKARD

“I’ve been dairy and gluten intolerant for the past six years,” he said.

“I was prepping for fitness and bodybuilding competitions, and there wasn’t really anything on the market for gluten and dairy-free treats such as brownies, pancakes, and waffles.”

His diet quickly drew ­attention from his peers.

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“People were eating chicken and broccoli six times a day for competitions,” he said.

“I was eating brownies, pancakes, waffles, and everyone was scratching their heads thinking, how is this guy getting into shape for bodybuilding competitions?”

Mike Kellett and Laura Day, of Macro Mike, at the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards for September where the business won the Health and Wellbeing category.

Mr Kellett decided to ask his followers if they were interested in trying some trial mixes for his treats.

“I posted it at 10pm and in the morning found it had an organic reach of 100,000,” he said.

“It went viral.”

Two years ago Macro Mike made a soft launch into the market with two flavours of brownie and two of powdered peanut butters, called protein sauces at the time.

The brand enjoyed solid sales and support from people in the fitness and bodybuilding industry.

Mike Kellett at his Macro Mike factory in Burleigh – his dairy and gluten-free mixes and powders are a runaway success.

However, Mr Kellett said it was the development of a low-fat peanut butter protein powder, rather than the sauce, that proved a game changer for the company.

“One day I was at the gym and I forgot to take my protein shake,” he said.

“I had a jar of peanut butter and decided to use it for a shake.

“It tasted amazing. I thought maybe we can turn our peanut butter into a protein powder. We launched two flavours, cheesecake and original, and it just blew people’s minds. It was a game changer.”

He took the powder to a fitness expo in Brisbane in September last year where it was a huge hit.

Macro Mike is targeting turnover of $2 million this financial year and from January will launch a cafe at its Burleigh base as well as significantly upgrade its production capacity.

The brand is stocked in 750 stores in Australia and has its sights on supermarkets here and in New Zealand.

Its online store processes as many as 200 orders per day.