Khloud, the protein snack brand co-founded by Khloé Kardashian, is launching Khloud Plus Collagen Protein Chips exclusively at Walmart starting August 10, retailing at $3.48 per bag. The move elevates the brand's existing Protein Chip line with a new functional stack: 17g of total protein per 1.6 oz. serving, including 2g of hydrolyzed collagen — positioning the SKU squarely in the fast-growing intersection of functional snacking and wellness retail.
The Retail Strategy
Walmart exclusivity at launch is a deliberate distribution play, not a limitation. Walmart's VP of Wellness Merchandise, Kristin Piper, confirmed the chain is actively growing its wellness category, and an exclusive SKU — the Jalapeño flavor — gives the retailer a differentiated assortment reason to merchandise Khloud Plus prominently. For operators and buyers watching how functional CPG brands enter mass retail, this is a clean case study: lead with an exclusive flavor, anchor the variety pack ($9.99 for Nacho, Buffalo, and Sweet Heat), and let the retailer's wellness growth narrative carry the launch story. It mirrors tactics used by other celebrity-adjacent snack brands that have used Target or Costco exclusives to establish velocity before broadening distribution.
What Operators and Buyers Should Note
The collagen-plus-protein format is the more instructive signal here. Hydrolyzed collagen has historically lived in powder supplements and beauty drinks; embedding 2g per snack serving into a tortilla chip format lowers the barrier to functional consumption without requiring a behavior change from the shopper. Olivia Weihe, Senior Director of R&D at Khloud, framed the formulation goal clearly: deliver complementary functional benefits without relying on pills, powders, or supplements. That framing — snack as delivery vehicle for what used to be supplement stack — is a positioning shift foodservice and hospitality buyers should track as they evaluate grab-and-go and wellness-forward snack programs.
For hotel F&B directors, airport concessionaires, and gym-adjacent operators building protein-forward retail sets, SKUs like Khloud Plus represent a category that shoppers are already primed to reach for. The clean-label credentials — gluten-free, non-GMO, no seed oils — clear most wellness-program procurement checklists without negotiation. The $3.48 price point is aggressive for a functional chip and creates margin pressure downstream, but it also signals the brand is prioritizing trial volume over margin optimization at this stage of distribution.
Distribution Outlook
Walmart-exclusive launches in functional snacking rarely stay exclusive for long. Once velocity data validates the format, brands typically move to secondary retail within two to four quarters. Operators building private-label or co-branded snack programs — a growing focus area covered in our brand launch intelligence coverage — should track Khloud's distribution cadence as a benchmark for how fast celebrity-backed functional SKUs transition from exclusive retail into broader foodservice and hospitality channels. Buyers evaluating the broader protein snack landscape can also reference recent operator intelligence on functional beverage and snack procurement trends for category-level context.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
