Nutcase

Chocolate Milk Reimagined

the brief
Overview
Nutcase is an active brand rebuild and growth engagement. Alongside Jo Weinand and a strong group of creator and operator investors, we are rebuilding Nutcase from the ground up. The goal is simple. Take chocolate milk, keep what people love about it, and remove what no longer makes sense. Nutcase is positioned as a better for you chocolate milk. Think modern Nesquik, not an alt milk experiment. Same comfort and nostalgia. Better ingredients and a product that fits how people want to feel afterward. Our work spans brand refresh, packaging, website, lifecycle, acquisition and retention flywheels, and creator seeding. The foundation is built to support DTC growth today while aligning the brand for continued expansion inside big box retail. Nutcase is already on shelves at Whole Foods on the West Coast. The focus now is building a direct relationship with customers while strengthening the story retailers care about.

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the challenge

The real problem

Chocolate milk sits in an awkward place.

The legacy versions are loaded with sugar and additives. Most better for you alternatives overcorrect and forget why people buy chocolate milk in the first place.

Taste, comfort, and habit matter more than claims.

At the same time, beverage brands often split their thinking between DTC and retail instead of designing a system that supports both.

Nutcase needed a rebuild that respected nostalgia while meeting modern expectations around ingredients, branding, and distribution.

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Key decisions

The strategic moves that unlocked growth.

01
We rebuilt the brand to lead with chocolate milk first and better ingredients second. Taste had to win before anything else mattered.
02
We refreshed packaging and visual identity to feel bold, modern, and shelf ready without losing approachability. The brand had to work online and in store.
03
We built lifecycle, acquisition, and retention flywheels early so DTC could become a learning and storytelling engine, not just a sales channel.
04
We invested in creator seeding and cultural relevance instead of traditional beverage marketing. Trust and familiarity scale faster than claims.

the results

The outcome

Nutcase now has a clear category position, a modern brand system, and a DTC growth engine designed to compound over time.

The brand is actively scaling direct to consumer while strengthening its position with major retailers like Whole Foods.

This is not a one channel brand. It is built to win across both DTC and retail.

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Pattern Recognition

The lesson

Most category shifts fail because brands try to change behavior.

Nutcase works because it upgrades an existing one.

When you respect nostalgia, prioritize taste, and design for real use cases, better products do not feel like compromises. They feel obvious.

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