Bucked Up adds Protein Popcorn and Cotton Candy Energy in carnival drop

Bucked Up is pushing protein out of the shaker bottle and into impulse-buy territory with a Carnival Drop built around Protein Popcorn and Cotton Candy Energy. The move gives the brand a louder entry into snack aisles and checkout coolers, where a bag of popcorn can feel more natural than a conventional sports-nutrition product.

Protein Popcorn is the more important piece because it is not a one-off stunt. Bucked Up is selling it as an ongoing product in Garlic Parmesan, Jalapeño Cheddar, White Cheddar and Kettle Corn. Each 2-ounce bag delivers 12 grams of protein from milk protein isolate, 150 calories per serving and 300 calories per bag, with no added sugar in three of the four flavors. Bucked Up set the price at $5.99 a bag, a number that puts it squarely in the premium snack lane rather than the diet-food aisle.

The framing matters as much as the formula. Bucked Up is calling Protein Popcorn a bold category expansion, and that is exactly what it is trying to do: stretch from performance supplements into a broader snacking platform. Ryan Gardner has made that pivot explicit by presenting the product as “real popcorn” for people who do not want snack time to feel like a setback. In practical terms, popcorn gives Bucked Up a better shot at convenience stores and gas stations than a protein product that looks too much like homework.

Cotton Candy Energy handles the novelty side of the drop. The 16-fluid-ounce can is zero sugar and has zero artificial colors, with 300 milligrams of natural caffeine plus TeaCrine, Dynamine, AlphaSize, Beta-Alanine and Huperzine A. Bucked Up says it is a single production run with no restock planned, which is the kind of scarcity play that can turn a drink into a short-lived social object before it disappears.

The launch landed on May 28, 2026, and Bucked Up said the products were available immediately at convenience stores, gas stations and on buckedup.com. That distribution makes sense for a brand that says it was founded in 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah, now sells in more than 75,000 retail locations including GNC, Vitamin Shoppe and Walmart, and claims over 100,000 stores worldwide on its own site. A 2024 Utah Business profile tied that growth to Gardner and his twin brother Jeff, who built their earlier business in affiliate marketing and lead generation before turning that playbook toward Bucked Up. The Carnival Drop shows how far the brand has moved from clean-lined pre-workout branding toward carnival-style snacking that treats protein as entertainment as much as function.