Wonderbelly is seeking to disrupt the antacid aisle with its clean, talc-free formulas, because it launches at 650-plus Goal doors. 

This announcement marks the primary major retail expansion for the brand, which was founded by brothers Lucas and Noah Kraft. Currently the antacid market, expected to succeed in greater than $8 billion globally by 2027, in keeping with The International Market Evaluation Research and Consulting Group, is dominated by several heritage brands. 

The genesis for the brand was borne out of necessity. Lucas Kraft had handled an eating disorder growing up — while he recovered in his mid-20s, the Wonderbelly chief belly officer was left with lingering digestive issues for which he needed to take an antacid every day. 

Within the midst of COVID-19, with health top of mind, antacid recalls and swirling conversations around the hazards of talc-based products, the Kraft brothers got down to develop a healthier alternative that really tasted good. The formulas are freed from talc, dyes, parabens and artificial sweeteners and supply relief for heartburn, acid indigestion, sour stomach and upset stomach. 

“I got form of outraged because, of all things, medicine is something I’m presupposed to trust. Inherently it’s presupposed to profit my health. I shouldn’t need to worry that it’s doing the precise opposite,” said Lucas Kraft. “It got here all the way down to, ‘Is that this something that we could potentially create?’”

Now, three years later, the brand, formulated with the FDA-approved monograph calcium carbonate, goes mass, which in keeping with the brothers was the goal all along. 

“Now we have all the time checked out ourselves as a retail brand. Medicine takes a certain level of credibility, and we never thought that somebody goes to go to a primary party website,” Noah Kraft said, the brand’s chief executive officer. “A number of what we’d like to do is be disruptive as a brand but in addition be trusted and so we’ve all the time checked out ourselves as an organization that’s going to lie on shelf next to the leading brand.”

The brand will launch in-store and online at Goal with two of its signature flavors — Strawberry Milkshake and Watermelon Mint — and a brand recent one, Fruity Cereal, all $11.99. 

For the Kraft siblings, flavors are a key differentiator, together with the clean formulas. 

“Historically, it hasn’t really been a really enjoyable experience. Flavors are frequently like medicinal flavors,” Lucas Kraft told WWD. “It’s best to really enjoy relief…so flavors are something that we’re really promoting.” 

Together with candy-like flavors, Wonderbelly’s vibrant, sustainable packaging is one other aspect the brand is harnessing to make the experience more enjoyable. To best introduce the brand, Wonderbelly might be featured on side caps and end caps at Goal with marketing materials denoting the ingredient story. The brand didn’t share expected projections, but industry sources estimate the Goal launch could generate $3 million to $5 million in retail sales.

When it comes to core customers, the brand is taking a look at “a 24- to 39-year-old female-leaning, based in the town, in search of higher for you products” market, in keeping with Noah Kraft. Lucas Kraft seconded this, as Millennials are experiencing gut issues at higher rates than another generation, in keeping with data from 3Gem. Nevertheless, the duo expects older generations to eventually hop on the bandwagon, as well. 

“People like trying things which might be higher for them and particularly in the event that they see their kids using it, we definitely consider that that can filter up,” said Noah Kraft. 

So far as further retail growth, the brothers noted they plan to expand more with Goal this 12 months in an effort to dominate the digestive health market. 

“Our goal is to own the digestive OTC aisle. It’s not only heartburn meds and so for us, this is absolutely the beginning of, hopefully, a much greater push to modernize how people take into consideration medicine,” said Noah Kraft. “We would like to concentrate on the stomach. It’s a large enough market from a business perspective, but in addition from a brand perspective. It makes it so it’s very clear what we do. It’s called Wonderbelly for a reason.”