Day Out Snacks lands in 2,000 Target stores with plant-based protein balls
Day Out’s protein balls landed in 2,000 Target stores, a major test of whether dessert-flavored protein has become a mainstream snack habit.
Day Out Snacks pushed its dessert-style protein balls into 2,000 Target stores and Target.com, giving the Red Bank, New Jersey brand its first permanent national retail placement and its largest expansion to date. The move puts a once niche, wellness-coded snack into one of the country’s most familiar mass retail lanes, where protein is increasingly treated as a grab-and-go format rather than a specialty diet cue.
The Target assortment includes Brownie Batter and Cookie Dough, an exclusive multi-pack, along with Peanut Butter Cup and Cinnamon Bun. Each box sells for $10.99 and contains four single-serve pouches, a format that leans hard into convenience and away from the bulk tubs that still define much of the protein aisle. Target’s product pages list 12 grams of plant-based protein and 4 grams of fiber per serving, with gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, soy-free and non-GMO positioning, plus zero additives, gums, seed oils or sugar alcohols.
That clean-label pitch has been central to Day Out since Becky Dheri founded the company in 2019 after working as a pharmacist and struggling to find nutritious on-the-go snacks. The brand said the balls are built from pantry-friendly ingredients such as nut butter and dates, paired with a plant protein blend that includes pea protein, chickpea, sacha inchi and chia seeds. By June, Day Out said it was already in more than 3,000 retail locations nationwide, including Costco, ShopRite and Dierbergs Markets, so the Target rollout looked less like a debut than a confirmation that the brand had cleared a bigger distribution bar.
The timing also fits a broader protein-snacking shift that has been building for several years. The International Food Information Council found in its 2024 Food & Health Survey that 71% of Americans were trying to consume protein, up from 67% in 2023 and 59% in 2022, and its 2025 protein spotlight still showed 70% in 2025. Target already carries a wide protein-snack mix, including bars, popcorn, chips and protein balls, which makes Day Out’s entry feel like part of a crowded but growing shelf set where flavor, format and ingredient story all have to work at once.
Day Out is betting that dessert cues can help protein feel less clinical and more habitual. With end-cap support planned in about 800 Target locations from June 14 through July 25, the brand now has a real test: whether plant-based protein bites can move from better-for-you novelty to a repeat purchase in the mainstream snack cart.
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