Clean Simple Eats (CSE) has secured a placement in 100 Costco warehouse locations across the Southwest region for its Frosted Lemonade Clear Protein Soda, the Salt Lake City company announced May 22. The SKU is also live on costco.com, giving the brand simultaneous brick-and-mortar and e-commerce exposure inside the club channel as of May 13.
The Frosted Lemonade variety is positioned as CSE's best-selling item within its Clear Protein Soda line — a category that blends functional protein content with a carbonated, soda-like format the brand markets as a "clean" alternative to conventional soft drinks. Costco's Protein Department serves as the designated shelf home, placing CSE directly alongside established sports-nutrition and functional-beverage brands competing for the same health-oriented warehouse shopper.
The club-channel move reflects a broader trade-up dynamic in the functional beverage segment, where brands are prioritizing high-velocity, high-visibility retail accounts to drive trial volume at scale. Costco's average warehouse footfall and bulk-pack economics allow emerging brands to reach a concentrated base of repeat purchasers — a meaningful advantage for a challenger brand still building national awareness. The Southwest footprint aligns with CSE's regional strength before any potential expansion into additional Costco markets.
For foodservice-adjacent observers, the clear-protein-soda format is worth tracking as a potential daypart opportunity — the light, carbonated profile positions it as an afternoon or post-workout occasion driver, categories that have drawn interest from fast-casual and health-focused QSR operators exploring branded beverage partnerships. Whether CSE pursues foodservice distribution or licensing alongside its retail buildout remains to be seen, but the Costco placement establishes a proof-of-concept volume benchmark that would be relevant to any operator conversation.
CSE did not disclose financial terms of the Costco arrangement, projected AUV per door, or expansion timeline in its announcement. Additional regional rollouts or an expanded SKU assortment within the club channel would represent the logical next step as the brand evaluates sell-through data from the initial 100-store wave.
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.
