TWISP Notes: This Week in Store Pics – Proteinification at Costco, Wegmans, and Amazon

By David Schick and Jonathan Feeney and David Katzman and Jack Hermann Published on July 9, 2026 PDF

Highlights of our regular weekly store walks looking at execution, innovation, shelves, endcaps, and pallets. This week we tracked the proteinification of the store across three channels: Costco, Wegmans, and Amazon.

Summary: (1) protein is now the default focus across every channel we visited, from club pallets to grocery endcaps to Amazon search results; (2) at Costco, premium David bars at 36% below DTC price, the brand highlights 28g of protein and 0g of sugar per bar, macros and clean-label as the pitch, (we also note Boulder Canyon leads with beef tallow and no seed oils); (3) at Wegmans, the chain premiumizes its private label, with whey protein powder shelved alongside, and often under, national brands such as Levels; (4) bars, chips, and cookies have now outgrown a single shelf, with KIND, Quest, and dedicated protein-cookie tags claiming their own aisle space; and (5) Amazon’s protein options and snack results mirror the physical set, the same brands ranked by sponsorships and review volume rather than shelf position, showing how discovery and merchandising now converge online and in store.

Source: Optimal Advisory for all images

David, Protein Bar Endcap at Costco

The David bar, marketed at 28g of protein and 0g of sugar, anchors the protein bar stack, priced against Nature Valley protein bars and Kirkland Signature’s own protein bar to the left. The on-box pitch, “the most effective portable protein on earth,” reinforces the latest – macros and taste.

Boulder Canyon, Beef Tallow Chips at Costco

Boulder Canyon fronts a pallet of kettle chips with “cooked in beef tallow” and “no seed oils” flagged in tape across the bin. Seed-oil-free and clean-label messaging, once confined to natural-channel shelves are now on the high-volume snack sets of the club floor.

Wegmans, Protein Powder Aisle

The main supplement run stacks national and private-label protein side by side: Quest and Levels tubs and Slate and Lumen ready-to-drinks above Wegmans’ own Organic Plant Based and Pasture Raised Whey. The own-brand line reads as the value anchor, undercutting Levels whey.

Wegmans, KIND and Quest Bar Endcap

A KIND “breakfast protein” tower fronts an aisle given over to Quest options including bars, protein chips, and protein cookies. The protein snacks category is a fast-growing trend and we note Quest with an advanced market positioning advantage.

Amazon, Protein Search

A search for protein options returns a wall of heavy protein per serving branding and ready-to-drink shakes; Huel, Ensure, Levels, and BPN sponsored badges highlight brands in the first row. Other products include Frog Fuel’s gel shot and Oikos’s shakes offering alternative protein sources for consumers.

Amazon, Protein Snack Search

The protein snack query surfaces Quest across chips, crackers, and cookies alongside Chomps meat sticks, Lenny & Larry’s protein cookies, RXBAR nut-butter bars, and Wonderful Pistachios. The online set mirrors the Wegmans endcap, the same brands, ranked here by sponsorships and review count as a complement to in-store shelf promotion.

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