In 2012, Peter Maldonado and Rashid Ali launched Chomps with a clear vision: Create a healthier version of Slim Jims for the CrossFit crowd. They began their journey on Shopify as a niche ecommerce brand offering high-quality, grass-fed beef jerky sticks and have transformed into a provider of family-friendly snacks stocked in major retailers across the US. Chomps’ journey from idea to Target shelves is a master class in pivoting a brand based on data, personal growth, and strategic decision making.
As Chomps evolved from a CrossFit-focused product to a mainstream snack, Peter and Rashid had to revamp their packaging, marketing strategy, and distribution channels. Here’s how the founders adapted their business to changing market conditions.
Listen to data, not your assumptions
When Chomps first hit the market, its branding featured cowhide backgrounds and rusted-look logo.
The product was marketed to CrossFit enthusiasts. The strategy had Peter and Rashid going door to door offering samples at local CrossFit gyms across Chicago. However, when they invested in proper market research in 2018, they discovered something surprising. “We learned for the first time that our customers were about 70% female,” says Peter. “Early on, Rashid and I created something that we thought was good for ourselves. All the branding, the product, all of that was really made for us.”
This revelation came from investing in third-party panel data and surveys, which provided a more accurate picture of their customer base than their Google Analytics and Shopify data had shown. The founders learned a lesson in launching a product: Don’t assume you know your audience. Invest in proper market research, even if you think you understand your customers. A data-driven approach can reveal surprising insights about who’s actually buying your product.
Evolve your brand with your life
Let the product grow with you and your changing priorities. As Rashid and Peter started families, their perspective on their product changed dramatically. “We start looking at labels and we start realizing that a lot of the food that our kids are eating is garbage,” says Rashid. This lightbulb moment led to a significant shift in how they thought about their company and culture.
The founders decided to move on from creating a product for CrossFit enthusiasts to developing a healthy snack option for families. This shift was about more than changing their target market. It was about aligning their product with their evolving values and priorities.
Soften your image, but don’t lose your edge
Peter and Rashid found ways to soften the brand’s image while maintaining its core essence. Recognizing their primarily female audience, Chomps needed to change their branding. “We needed something more female-friendly,” says Peter. “And when I say ‘female-friendly,’ that’s not feminine. You’re not going to have a bunch of pinks and purples and all of those types of feminine colors, but we want it to be female-friendly.”
Appealing to a broader audience doesn’t mean completely changing your brand identity. To walk this tightrope, Chomps redesigned its packaging, moving away from the cowhide and rusted logo to a more colorful, eye-catching design. It maintained its core essence while appealing to a broader audience. This delicate balance allowed it to attract new customers without alienating its existing base.
Build a community who cares
Before venturing into retail, Chomps spent four years building a brand on Shopify and social media. “We had such an advantage over any other brand that we compete with in the space, because we spent over four years building a brand using Shopify, using social media,” Peter explains. “When we finally landed on the shelf, we were able to actually use our community that we already had.”
Chomps engaged with customers directly, responding to emails, comments, and DMs, and building relationships with repeat customers early on. This community-first approach laid the groundwork for its retail success.
Leverage content strategy for brand building
In today’s digital landscape, Chomps relies heavily on its social media channels to evolve its messaging and set its brand up for growth. If you have a strong founding story, it’s important to include it in the branding of your company and build off of those foundational ideas. Chomps uses social listening tools to understand how people perceive the brand, and adjusts its content strategy accordingly. This approach has allowed it to connect with its audience on a deeper level and stand out in a crowded market.
“If we’re able to put out really good creative content that people actually want to consume, that could allow us to build a brand much bigger than we ever could without leveraging that,” says Peter.
Peter and Rashid let the brand transform from a niche product to a household name. Their journey from a CrossFit-focused Shopify store to a national brand is a reminder you can always pivot and tap into more growth. Tune into the full Shopify Masters episode interview to hear how the team took grocery stores by storm.
Chomps FAQ
Who founded Chomps and when did it launch on Shopify?
Peter Maldonado and Rashid Ali founded Chomps in 2012, and the brand earned its first sales on the day it launched its Shopify website in early 2013 as a direct-to-consumer beef jerky business. The founders kicked off selling meat sticks direct-to-consumer through Facebook ads out of Maldonado's spare apartment bedroom before scaling into a nationwide snack brand.
What retailers carry Chomps snack sticks today?
Chomps sells across more than 20,000 retail locations nationwide, including Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target and Walmart. The brand's retail breakthrough came in 2016 when Trader Joe's placed an order for 1.1 million sticks, prompting other major chains to follow.
How did Chomps grow without raising outside funding?
Chomps operated as a bootstrapped, direct-to-consumer brand for nearly a decade before accepting its first outside investment — an $80 million minority investment from private equity firm Stride Consumer Partners in 2021. That capital helped fuel distribution as retail sales grew from around $45 million in 2020 to nearly $250 million in 2023.
Where does Chomps source its beef, and what standards does it follow?
Chomps sources its grass-fed beef primarily from hundreds of farms in Australia, especially Tasmania, to help meet non-GMO Project verification standards as production scaled. The company does not use synthetic sources of protein, relying on pure animal protein in every stick.
What Shopify apps did Chomps use to build its early online store?
Chomps used apps like Customer Pricing to set different pricing levels for wholesale customers, Retail Tower to feed products to other syndicated sites, and ShippingBee to push orders directly to its fulfillment partner. This lean app stack let a small founding team run direct-to-consumer sales before the brand expanded into retail.
