by Matt Weik
Depending on where you live, you probably get at least one season during the year that brings some cold or chilly weather (if not, please invite me to live with you from October through March each year). Should this be true, you may lean on warm beverages to keep you toasty during those cold mornings or frigid evenings. Sure, you could make yourself a warm cup of coffee, but what if you had the ability to warm yourself up with a nice hot beverage while also feeding your muscles some high-quality protein at the same time? Well, now you can with the Ghost High Protein Hot Chocolate Mix.
High Protein Hot Chocolate
You don’t need to tell me twice. You probably already know that I’m a sucker for functional foods and beverages, and over the last few years, we have seen some of the coolest products come to market to fit these categories and give us all something to be excited about.
Ghost Lifestyle seems to continually be coming out with cool new product ideas and flavors to keep their customers engaged with the brand. Honestly, this is a great strategy and one that many other brands should model if they would like to grow their business or even stay in business.
The idea of high protein hot chocolate is one of those things that when you hear about it, you sit back and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” For those who are fitness enthusiasts or someone simply looking for an easier way to meet their protein requirements for the day, this high protein hot chocolate mix is the perfect solution to do just that.
Looking on the Ghost website, they are selling a box of six packets for $14.99, and the only flavor available at this time is milk chocolate.
Here’s what one serving (35.5g) of Ghost High Protein Hot Cocoa Mix contains:
- Calories: 130
- Protein: 20g
- Carbohydrates: 7g (3g sugar and 2g fiber)
- Fat: 2g
What Makes This Product Unique?
Let’s be honest, there’s nothing new about protein or hot chocolate. Could you take your own hot chocolate mix and simply add some of your protein powder to it? Sure, you could. But depending on the temperature of the liquid, the heat could damage the protein and yield you less than what you would assume you’d be getting by dumping some powder into your cup.
To maintain the quality of the protein content, Ghost is using what is known as ProTherma® Protein. Truth be told, I’ve never heard of ProTherma Protein in my life, but it definitely sounded interesting. This particular type of protein is a heat-stable hydrolyzed whey protein concentrate. Interestingly enough, ProTherma Protein is made by none other than Glanbia Nutritionals. Sound familiar? It should. It’s the parent company of brands like Optimum Nutrition, BSN, Isopure, Slim Fast, and many others.
I did a little more research on the ProTherma Protein used in this high protein hot chocolate, and it’s quite interesting. If you’ve ever tried to dump a scoop of protein powder into your coffee, tea, or even hot chocolate mix, you may have noticed it doesn’t mix all that well. In fact, you’re probably left with a clumpy mess that you end up chewing more than sipping and enjoying. ProTherma Protein mixes quickly and easily to help provide you with a smooth beverage you can enjoy anywhere. The Glanbia website claims ProTherma Protein is great for hot coffees, teas, chocolates, malts, soups, oatmeal, coffee creamers, and coffee pods.
Another selling point with the Ghost High Protein Hot Chocolate Mix is that it’s gluten-free for those who are looking for that specific callout on a label to meet their nutritional preferences.
If you were to flip the packaging around and view the nutrition facts, they would read as follows: 130 calories, 2g of fat, 7g of carbohydrates, 2g of dietary fiber, 3g of sugar, 3g of added sugars, and 20g of protein. Overall, that’s a fantastic profile considering it also uses real mini marshmallows in the mix (you need to have those in your hot chocolate or what even bother – am I right?).
Here’s something that I thought was super interesting as you don’t see many brands out there being this transparent, but Ghost is actually breaking down the protein content on the label. They have a dedicated section that says, “Full Disclosure Protein,” and then continues to explain how everything breaks down. The ProTherma Protein is stated at 22.54g and yields a total of 19.2g of hydrolyzed whey protein concentrate. They then describe and show that the cocoa powder has 4.8g and yields a total of 0.8g of protein per serving. I think it’s really cool that they show this and break everything down for the consumer to see and understand. That’s transparency at a whole new level.
Will This Product Sell?
I can only provide my opinion here, but I think this high protein hot chocolate mix will definitely sell. I went to the Ghost website, and at the time of writing this article, they are completely sold out – so it is either a solid mover for them right now, and they’re out of stock, or the sales sucked, and they pulled the product once they sold through the inventory. Personally, I think it’s out of stock because it’s actually selling.
Ghost has a huge following, and this kind of product only adds to the uniqueness the brand brings to the market. While it may only be a hot mover during the colder months of the year, it’s well worth having in the portfolio and giving consumers yet another option to fulfill their daily protein requirements.
Is this high protein hot chocolate mix something you would purchase and use? Are you currently using a whey protein powder you have at home in your hot beverages? How has that been working, and do you find it clumps quite easily? Let us know down in the comments.
