Yahoo Finance Behind the brand: Warrior protein bar fuels global expansion for KBF Enterprises
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Kieran Fisher once harboured dreams of becoming a film producer. Yet, the Manchester-based entrepreneur could one day have a movie made about his multi-million pound sports nutrition brands, given the £100m turnover aspirations by 2026 and growing into a billion-pound business.
With its 50,000 sq ft of premises at Trafford Park and 90 staff, KBF Enterprises make 1,200 different products — the Bodybuilding Warehouse and Warrior brands being its two most recognised — is on track for £40m ($50.8m) in turnover this year and ships to over 30 countries.
“We are probably the most successful of the 100% independently owned sports nutrition businesses in the UK,” says Fisher.
The company’s success has been achieved with no private equity or shareholders — and without an original business plan. “You have to plan some things, but to some degree planning is a form of procrastination,” adds Fisher. “What this business is really has been the sum of lots of calibration.”
Fisher, who launched in 2008 after leaving management consultancy firm Accenture (ACN), had originally tried selling functional foods with an impact on the body before drop shipping adult toys. At the time he was also practicing martial arts and consuming supplements, which set him on a path to sell non-UK third party brands.
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The early years presented several challenges before multi-year growth was realised, not least with the hot food ‘pasty tax’ in 2012. Fisher’s business was seen as a food producer in sports nutrition and when the UK government instilled VAT change, KBF Enterprises lost £50,000 in one month.
Having sold his sports cars and remortgaged his house, Fisher set about building the company’s own production factory, a decision which saw KBF Enterprises regain its margins.
“Whatever you envisage you can create,” he says. “We focused on being lean, agile and responsive.”
Fisher says the Trafford Park premises gives the business more capability, having been supply constrained for the last two years. It had previously rejected £200,000 per month in sales opportunities on a protein bar order due to being unable to make enough. The new factory can now produce from 81,000 tubs of pre-workout to 48 million protein bars annually.
KBF Enterprises, with its 350,000 registered customers, places its gateway product protein bars at the top of the company funnel.
“They are low sugar, high protein, it’s a healthy option and tastes nice,” admits Fisher. “It’s a healthy market where traditional confectionery is dying. When you see someone eating a Mars bar it's like someone is smoking a cigarette.
“We touch more customers through our protein bars and convenience products than any other. The funnel comes when a customer may search online and buy a box and come across the company’s other products such as our powders. We’re really good at managing people in the funnel the deeper they go."
To underline their savvy retail approach from the front end, KBF sells 81,000 tubs of pre-workout powder a month, while the company’s agility is highlighted by a Joe Rogan podcast where one guest said that Turkesterone helps muscle growth. Within a week, Fisher’s staff had a product launched and sold 3,000 units a week on the back of it.
“Often we do ourselves down in the UK, and politicians always talk in this morbid sense,” says Fisher. “There are no aspirational conversations to help people win on a global scale. The fact is that most British businesses aren’t global.
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“Fifty years ago you had to be a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and cover loads of product categories. Now, in order to be big, you can cover a small category in every country in the world.
“That finessing of focus means you can be the best in the world. You need to look internationally if you want to be a large business.”
Fisher’s products are now seen from Canada and Singapore, to 1,200 petrol stations in Israel and multiple locations in Dubai Mall. The Warrior’s universal name has helped in this regard, as has KBF’s sales team in building international relationships. Their latest international listing has also seen 100 supplement stores in Peru stock their Warrior products, which yielded 227% in growth last year.
Fisher predicts £40m in turnover this year (up from £23m in 2022) as it readies for US expansion and, he hopes, more Hollywood-style business storylines.
“It’s about applying scientific concepts and making them more convenient,” he says of the future in the sports nutrition market. “You have to focus on taste otherwise it will have a low level of compliance in purchase rate. People will justify anything in order for it to taste nice.”
Kieran Fisher on entrepreneurship
“My dad passed away two years ago but we spoke every day. He was a great people person and had more emotional intelligence than me and was a great help when I sought advice. Almost all our business problems are people related and as an entrepreneur you need to be good at understanding people, motivating and inspiring them.
Ultimately that’s your leverage. Once you have an idea that works, you need that leverage. It might be capital or people, but your head is only so big and if you hire the wrong people or unable to manage them in the right way it won’t work. To be a good entrepreneur you need to be a good salesperson. You want everyone around you — banks, employees, teammates, investors and yourself — to believe in the business as it will bring good opportunity. After all, everyone wants to be part of a winning team.”
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