Consumers attracted to high-protein products have historically skewed strongly male, but a new US start-up targets female consumers – a segment of the market that hundreds of brands have unsuccessfully tried to appeal to for decades. Named Aider, the brand offers a range of ice cream with added grass-fed whey protein and prebiotics and claims to be “built for busy, health-minded women”.

Launched at Newtopia Now (formerly Natural Products Expo East) in August 2025, Aider was founded by Mikaela Moss with the aim of making it easier for women to meet their protein goals while offering a “guilt-free” yet indulgent snack. Moss comes from a background in interior design and was struggling to eat enough protein to fuel her busy life of being a mother, having a career and doing weightlifting as a hobby.

“At Aider we have changed the way in which women snack and their relationship to food. We provide nutritionally sound, crave worthy foods for guilt free consumption,” reads a statement on the brand’s LinkedIn page.

Labelled “frozen protein treat”, one 474ml tub of Aider contains less than 500kcal, less than 1g of sugar and between 39 and 44 grams of protein delivered by grass-fed whey protein. While the protein content is dominant on Aider’s packaging, the brand also flags up the lack of added sugar along with the “gentle prebiotic fibre” that is found in each SKU.

The company is still in the brand-building phase, yet to do its first production run, but is in talks with retailers and hopes to launch in stores soon. In the meantime, it places significant focus on building a community and raising brand awareness through social media, where it talks a lot about the importance of self-care.