Huel: How a Powder Nobody Asked For Became a £200m Powerhouse

Huel turned a deeply unglamorous idea — nutritionally complete powder — into one of Britain's standout DTC success stories, with revenue north of £200m and pre-tax profit tripling.

The company

Founded in 2015 by Julian Hearn, Huel sells nutritionally complete food — powders, ready-to-drink bottles, bars and hot meals designed to give you everything your body needs in a convenient format. In its most recently filed accounts, for the year to July 2024 and its ninth year of trading, revenue hit £214m, up 16%, while pre-tax profit tripled from £4.7m to £13.8m. Its products now sit in around 70% of UK supermarkets.

What they got right

Huel's first win was category creation. Rather than fight in protein or meal replacement, it framed a new one — complete, convenient nutrition — and owned the language around it. That gave the brand a clear enemy (wasted time and bad food decisions) and a clear promise, which is far easier to market than a me-too product in a crowded aisle.

The second win was community over discounting. Huel built a vocal base of regulars, leaned on subscription for predictable revenue, and used bold, slightly divisive branding to stay distinctive rather than blend in. The UK remained its fastest-growing market, up 17% to around £110m, even as the US grew to roughly a third of sales — proof the model travels.

The lesson for your business

Huel is a reminder that an unsexy product with a sharp story beats a sexy product with none. If you can name a new category and own its language, you escape price comparison. And the quiet engine underneath — subscription plus a genuine community — is what turns a one-off novelty purchase into a compounding, predictable business.

Huel sells powder. On paper it should be impossible to make exciting, and that is exactly why it works. They did not win on the product; they won on the story, the category they named and the habit they built. Any founder with an unsexy product should take heart: clarity and community beat glamour every time. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing

An unglamorous product with a sharp category story and a subscription habit will out-compound a glamorous product with neither.

Could you name and own a new category — or are you fighting for scraps in one that already exists?

If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk

Sources: The Grocer, Companies House filings, ECDB, Huel.

Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute