Small Business Spotlight

Small Business Summer Spotlights: Building a Strong Brand With Slate Milk

Instacart

Instacart

May 5, 2023

​​This summer, Instacart is celebrating small businesses with our Small Business Summer Spotlights series. We know small businesses are the heart of their communities, and we’re proud to help them thrive and grow. Every Friday, we’ll introduce you to one of our many small business partners, so check back each week for the latest installment. 

Slate Milk is on a mission to make people, and our planet, stronger. To celebrate National Small Business Week, we sat down with the company’s co-founder, Manny Lubin, to learn more about Slate’s origin story, the ways Instacart has helped support their growth, and the ways they are giving back to their community and the planet.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Slate creates high protein, lactose free chocolate milks and lattes with zero added sugar. All of Slate’s products are Certified Plastic Neutral, meaning for every pound of plastic used in their packaging, the brand funds a pound of plastic removal from the world.

In late 2017, Lubin and co-founder Josh Belinsky teamed up to begin building a better-for-you chocolate milk company. After a successful Kickstarter, an appearance on Shark Tank, and two years of research and development, Lubin and Belinsky launched Slate in 2019.

“Josh and I grew up drinking chocolate milk to refuel after our sports games. As we both got older, started drinking coffee, and had different experiences with lactose intolerance, we started exploring how to make our favorite beverages healthier,” says Lubin. “If we could help give chocolate milks and lattes – both known for being high in sugar and low in protein – a clean slate, we could create a business.”

Strengthening Partnerships

The two started by reaching out to professionals across the dairy, coffee, and manufacturing industries on Google and LinkedIn.

“As an entrepreneur, you have to be a little bit shameless when asking for help and be willing to say, ‘I don’t know the answer to this.’ It’s different for everyone, but we’ve been very fortunate that a lot of people we’ve reached out to in the CPG industry really want to help up-and-coming founders. Many attribute their success to learning from people who found success before them, and are open to sharing their knowledge,” says Lubin.

Setting up an operations process to make physical, tangible goods requires relying on many people to come together. For Lubin, this has been the most challenging and rewarding part of the Slate journey. It takes a lot of time, trial and patience to see the brand come to life. 

“As a business, we work together with people and partners all the time, and we prioritize building those relationships on a foundation of trust and respect,” says Lubin. “When we’re looking for trustworthy partners, we’re looking for honesty and reliability. Sometimes an imperfect answer is actually the perfect answer – we’d rather be told no, or that something isn’t certain, than get a yes that falls through the cracks later on.”

Instacart is one of those trusted partners, bringing new opportunities to the table and helping Slate grow their business.

“At Slate, we love how Instacart can bring the on-the-go purchase experience for single serving products and beverages online. Once people try Slate, they come back for more. What’s great about Instacart Ads for us is the ability to leverage technology to translate the impulse purchase experience online, and engage with our customers where and how they’re shopping.”

In 2022, Slate was the fastest-growing emerging brand on the Instacart Marketplace, and the team expects to continue this growth as they pursue an expanded retail footprint this year. 

On the process of expanding retail distribution, Lubin says, “We understand that there are a ton of amazing products and brands out there for retail buyers to choose from. You can’t take them all – we have a lot of respect for the buyers and what they do. What we can control is doing everything we can to create amazing products, and telling our story and vision the best we can, while also trying to be thoughtful about the buyers’ time.”

Slate products are available through direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels as well as through Instacart’s retail partners. Lubin says “the best kind of ability is availability” and shares that Instacart is a key part of their strategy to make sure their products are accessible and discoverable for consumers shopping from the comfort of their homes, on their phones on the go, or wherever they are. 

Stronger People, Stronger Planet

“Our consumers inspire us and help push the brand forward,” says Lubin. “The Slate brand has evolved from a healthy chocolate milk company to a strength-focused brand. This organic shift happened over time as consumers reached out to share how and why they’re drinking Slate products. Your consumers are who you’re selling to, and their feedback is invaluable in shaping the brand, and the way you talk about the value of your products.” 

The team is also inspired by their goal to increase sustainability in the protein beverage category. Slate’s products are 100% plastic neutral, and to-date have removed the equivalent of over 500,000 plastic bottles from landfills and oceans. 

Lubin shares, “Our mission is to support stronger people, and a stronger planet. Every time a consumer drinks Slate instead of a high-sugar beverage, it’s better for their health – and every time a consumer chooses Slate instead of a plastic bottle, it’s better for the Earth, too.”

Today, Slate is available direct-to-consumer as well as in over 10,000 physical retail stores including Publix, Wegmans, Stop and Shop, Giant, Harris Teeter, Market Basket, Albertsons and Safeway. Learn more about Slate Milk here, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about Instacart Ads and our work with emerging brands, visit https://www.instacart.com/company/ads.  

Instacart

Instacart

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.

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