Supermarket success: Macro Mike’s Mike Kellett scores coup with Woolworths taking on his plant-based product line

A Gold Coast protein powder producer is bulking up production in the wake of supermarket giant Woolworths taking on its plant-based products.

Mike Kellett at Woolworths with some of his Macro Mike dairy and gluten-free plant-based products. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

PROTEIN powder producer Macro Mike is bulking up production in the wake of supermarket giant Woolworths taking on its plant-based products.

The Burleigh Heads-based company was started in 2016 by English expatriate Mike Kellett who turned his hand from selling pub crawls on the streets of Surfers Paradise to making brownie, pancake, and waffle-baking mixes for the dairy and gluten intolerant.

Mr Kellett has inked a deal with Woolworths to see his products, including Banoffee Pie and Strawberry Cheezecake plant-based mixes, stocked at 21 outlets, including 15 on the Gold Coast, five in Brisbane and one in Byron Bay.

If the trial goes well, Macro Mike’s “protein print” may be extended nationwide.

Mike Kellett at his Macro Mike factory in Burleigh. Photo: Tertius Pickard.

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Initial sales have been good. Woolworths are testing the waters and if we get to the next stage it will be hectic for the business,” he said.

Mr Kellett, a former bodybuilder, started formulating his own mixes when he couldn’t find any plant-based protein powders to suit his gluten and dairy-free diet that didn’t “taste like sand”. At the same time he wanted to eat treats with his protein, such as cakes and waffles.

The Macro Mike range includes products based on peanut butter protein powder (the peanuts are roasted to remove the oil and then dehydrated and crushed to produce a low-fat powder) with the rest of the range using a pea and rice-based powder.

He said the Woolworths move coincided with supermarkets increasingly seeking to expand their range of plant-based products.

Mike Kellett at Woolworths with some of his Macro Mike dairy and gluten-free plant-based products. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

“It is a niche product going into a mainstream supermarket but the way the industry is going, plant-based and vegan products are on the rise.”

Macro Mike now has 16 staff, up from six a year ago, and has expanded to encompass a warehouse next door to its factory – doubling its operation.

The company’s powder mixer, which can handle 500kg at any one time, is now blending 150,000kg of powder each month.

The capacity has grown so much Macro Mike has moved into contract manufacturing, producing “white label” products for other companies.

Mr Kellett said it managed to obtain a $100,000 loan from PayPal to upgrade its blending machine.

“That loan was due to the amount of online sales we were doing and customers using PayPal to purchase our products. With that we bought the new machine and were able to put the foot on the gas.”

It has also expanded its range to include The Gut Doctor – a formulation of probiotics, prebiotics and vitamins for gut health.

Woolworths Queensland sourcing manager Dan Cashin said there was fast-growing demand for products to cater to the dairy and gluten intolerant.

“Macro Mike has a great range of products and we’re looking forward to seeing how it resonates with customers on the Gold Coast.”