The New SKUs
IQBAR is rolling three bakery-style additions into its Protein Bites line — Cinnamon Roll, Cookies 'N' Creme, and Cookie Dough Chip — landing exclusively at Costco in 30-count variety packs across Texas, Los Angeles, and the Pacific Northwest. Cookie Dough Chip is also available online in 10-count bags for a limited window.
The format pairs a crunchy, icing-style coating around a soft dough core. Each bite comes in at 100 calories and delivers 5g of plant-based protein, 5g of fiber, 1g of sugar, and 2g of net carbs. The functional stack includes magnesium, lion's mane, vitamin E, MCTs, and flavonoids. All SKUs carry Clean Label Project certification, Non-GMO Project Verification, Certified Vegan, and Certified Gluten-Free status.
Why the Format Is Moving
Protein Bites debuted in a PB&J variety at Costco in March 2026 and have since expanded to national distribution across thousands of doors, making the line IQBAR's fastest-growing product in company history. The Costco rollout of refreshed brand packaging in June 2026 produced first-two-week sales averaging 88% above IQBAR's 2026 weekly baseline — a meaningful velocity signal for warehouse club buyers evaluating reorder depth.
For c-store operators and retail buyers tracking the better-for-you snack and nutrition bar segment, the IQBAR trajectory illustrates the continued consumer appetite for permissible indulgence formats — products that read like a treat on taste but carry a functional nutrition panel. That positioning competes directly with the high-protein snack sets expanding in foodservice and grab-and-go cases at chains from convenience to club.
Channel and Operator Context
Will Nitze, CEO and Founder of IQBAR, framed the expansion around the convergence of craving and function: "We packed functional ingredients into decadent flavors to not just satisfy a craving, but fuel consumers through their busy days."
The Costco-exclusive launch strategy reflects a pattern common among emerging functional snack brands: use high-volume club distribution to build household penetration and velocity data before broadening into convenience and drug channels. IQBAR's broader retail footprint already includes Sam's Club, H-E-B, Publix, Sprouts, Target, and Walmart, giving the brand cross-channel credibility that category managers at convenience chains will recognize when evaluating the protein-snack planogram. The 100-calorie, single-bite format and clean-label certifications also align with the demographic increasingly driving impulse purchases in the convenience channel — health-conscious commuters and younger shoppers who want portability without compromising on nutrition.
For single-store operators watching what scales at club before it hits the convenience cooler or front-end rack, the 88%-above-baseline Costco velocity is the kind of number worth tracking.
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.
