🚀 Your Weekly Slice of UK Consumer Startups #19

Majic is protein that tastes like dessert… because it is. Real dessert, with benefits. We wanted to make eating healthier feel like a treat, not a punishment…so we brought the magic back.

Ben and I grew up in Grimsby as best mates, always obsessed with the gym and snacks. But every “high-protein” dessert we tried was disappointing; either bland, bad texture, or had barely any protein in. So we became our own first customers, determined to create something better.

It started with my (Aidan) mum’s cookie dough recipe, which I reworked with protein and better nutrition. I shared it on my fitness Instagram page and it started to blow up. Ben jumped in to help turn it from a side hustle into a real brand.

We started Majic with nothing, just a slightly delusional “whatever it takes” attitude. Our first week of production was in my parents’ kitchen, making 15 orders, running to the Co-op for chocolate, and dragging IKEA bags to the post office minutes before closing. The staff hated us. We were still working full-time jobs, so life was office days, and then midnight kitchen shifts until we dropped. It was chaos, but when a couple of videos we made went viral in January 2024 and orders exploded, we realised this was more than a side hustle.

We’ve dealt with supply chain chaos, burnout, and imposter syndrome, and we still make the product ourselves, which is rare and time consuming. Running a business as best mates adds another layer: we’re similar in some ways, total opposites in others, which helps us think differently but also means we clash heads at times. We’ve had to learn when to leave the friendship at home and let the business talk, and even how to take turns burning out so one of us is always standing.

But the wins make it worth it, seeing day-one customers still ordering, reading DMs from people who love what we do, launching collabs like our latest with EHPlabs. Quitting our jobs was the best decision we’ve ever made.

The shipping container wasn’t part of some clever brand strategy… it was pure necessity. Our first lease fell through, we found our little blue box that same day, and just went for it. It’s tiny, it’s chaotic, but people loved seeing the behind-the-scenes. That container became part of the Majic story. This month we’re actually leaving it behind, which is bittersweet, but trust me, the glow-up announcement is going to be huge.

Content has been everything for us. We’ve never wanted to look or act like the big corporations, we don’t follow the rules, we like to make our own. Majic content is intrinsically us - inspired by films, TV, music, art, all the things we love.

Our breakthrough moment was the “filthy protein addict” video. I recorded that voiceover after a 15-hour shift, completely delirious, and it just came out suggestive and Nigella Lawson-esque. People loved it because it captured exactly what we’re about: indulgent desserts for the filthiest of protein addicts, not bland chicken and broccoli. It blew up, and the community really found us from there.

The best part is that our community genuinely shapes what we do. People feel like they’re on the journey with us. It’s real, it’s ours, and it’s built with our Majic circle at the centre.

The gym has always been home for us. It’s where Ben and I became best mates, where we pushed through tough times. So when we thought about giving back, gyms were the obvious place, they’ve given us so much, it only felt right to return the favour.

We wanted to flip it and just give. Stock a gym for free, let their members try it, and shine a light on gyms that mean something to their communities as a space to improve both physically but also mentally.

The best part is, the gyms are chosen by our community. People nominate their local spots, tell us what makes them special, and we pick the ones that resonate most.

At the same time, this is also the first step towards something bigger. We’re building out Majic wholesale later this year, and this programme is our way of kicking it off in a way that feels true to us - community first.

The next chapter is shaping up to be massive. In September we’re finally dropping one of our most requested products - single-serve Majic tubs. They’re snack-sized, on-the-go, lower calorie but still with all the protein and indulgence. Beyond cookie dough, we’ve got whole new product lines in the works… Last, we launched our first official collab with EHPlabs: a limited-run millionaire shortbread flavour made with their OxyWhey protein, available on our site and TikTok shop.

We’ve also got our “Road to Retail” series coming (with a catchy jingle). For now we’re starting with gyms and independents, but the work to take a product all the way to supermarket shelves is huge, but we’re underway. We’ve got one big partnership in early talks with a brand we love that’s on a similar mission.

Immediate future wise: we’ve just secured a tenancy at Foodworks South West. That means saying goodbye to our tiny blue container and moving into a facility where we can scale, develop new products, and prep for retail entry. (that’s actually an inside scoop - we haven’t announced it yet to anyone).

Long term, the vision is clear: we want Majic to be a household name. The go-to better-for-you dessert, the Willy Wonkas of protein. That means more products, more collabs, more experiences, more in-person events and eventually, our very own chocolate factory. We’ve come a long way from IKEA bags at the post office, but truthfully, this is just the start.