Walmart Open Call alumnus Muddy Bites, a bite-sized sundae cone snack brand, launched at more than 3,000 of the mass merchant’s locations in April.
The retailer has been hosting Open Calls for a decade to provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to pitch their products. The mass merchant is especially eager to gather exclusives that appeal to younger shoppers.
“Walmart was a big supporter of the brand from the moment we presented,” Muddy Bites head of marketing Jessie Ferraioli told the Path to Purchase Institute. “We presented during Walmart’s Open Call for small businesses. The Muddy Bites sales team secured a ‘golden ticket,’ securing nationwide shelf placement at 3,000-plus Walmart stores. Before we even hit shelves, we made it onto 1,500 endcaps.”
To celebrate the launch, Muddy Bites built an 11-foot-tall ice cream cone outside a Walmart store in Denver. With the help of vlogger Matthew Beem (see video below) at a May 18 event, the 100-pound cone was filled with 300 pounds of chocolate and 1,000 pounds of vanilla ice cream. Attendees received scoops of ice cream topped with Muddy Bites, which are miniature waffle cones filled with milk, dark or white chocolate.
“Walmart has been an incredible partner to launch with nationally,” Ferraioli said. “They believed in us from the beginning and have continued to support us in many ways, including pulling off this event with the world’s largest ice cream cone.”
The event was part of a fully integrated campaign that included paid and organic social media activity, influencer marketing and doling out more than 300,000 samples through Walmart’s click and collect and delivery services. Beyond the endcap, an additional in-store display rolled out in June.
Muddy Bites also gave Walmart an exclusive flavor. “Walmart was eager to launch with an exclusive flavor, so we thought there was no better partner to launch our first chocolate cone SKU with,” Ferraioli said. “The chocolate cone white chocolate SKU is such an exciting flavor for us because of the nostalgic flavor combination of cookies 'n' cream, which feels very on brand for us.”
Walmart was the first national retailer to sell Muddy Bites. The product then debuted at select Target stores in June. The brand now can be found at numerous regional retailers, including Meijer, Kroger’s Harris Teeter and Ahold Delhaize’s Giant.
"In particular, our brand has really resonated with Millennial and Gen Z audiences who see indulgence as a part of a well-balanced lifestyle,” Ferraioli said.
