From battlefield to business: Marine veteran’s meal solution finds success with Amazon

Former Marine transforms sniper platoon challenges into a thriving outdoor nutrition business that’s giving back to first responders and military personnel across the world.

3 min
November 6, 2024
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In the rugged terrain where U.S. Marine snipers operate, every ounce of gear matters. You need to be able to live for days at a time with what you can carry on your back. There’s no room for cooking supplies, and no time to make a meal. It was in these austere conditions, leading a platoon of snipers, that Deed Ziegler, a former Marine Corps officer, conceived the idea for RecPak, an ultralight complete meal solution designed specifically for adventurers who love the outdoors.

“I realized there was a gap between freeze-dried meals that require preparation and simple snacks that lack complete nutrition,” said Ziegler. Years of research and development culminated in his solution: a powdered meal in a flexible pouch that transforms into a 700-calorie liquid meal, packed with nutrients, that can be consumed on the move.

Launched in late 2022 amid lingering supply chain disruptions, the company initially struggled to gain traction with their own website. Ziegler said that everything changed the following year, when RecPak launched in the Amazon store and started using programs like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Amazon Ads.

“Amazon is foundational to our business,” Ziegler explained. “Our Amazon sales are paying the bills, which means I can now focus on building my business across other sales channels on and off-line.”

Ziegler isn’t doing it alone. He’s hired a husband-and-wife team in Salt Lake City to manage his products in the Amazon store and two part-time employees to help with social content and marketing. They’re a team of five outdoor enthusiasts who understand the space and their customers;

“To contrast it with our regular D2C ecommerce, where I am always stressed about all the other stuff. Amazon is the one thing that I’m just not stressed about,” said Ziegler. “Everything [at Amazon] is geared towards the customer, and ensuring that brands can sell effectively and easier than anywhere else.”

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RecPak is formulated in three flavors: coffee, vanilla chai and chocolate. Each one packing more than 40 grams of protein and a proprietary mix of nutrients designed for high endurance outdoor activities.

As an example, Ziegler said he could spend $20,000 on a Meta ad that drives people to his website. “But, if it’s an election year, where things are super expensive, or maybe the algorithm just doesn’t like you that month, you may only get $15,000 in sales.” Contrasted to Amazon, where the ads are less expensive and better targeted to reach the right customers, RecPak’s return on ad spends (ROAS) are in the double digits. “With Amazon Ads, the ROAS is far above anything that we’ve done with Google and Facebook,” he said. “We’ve been able to grow our Amazon sales 20% month-over-month.”

Looking ahead, Ziegler plans to expand RecPak’s presence on Amazon, leveraging video content and influencer partnerships. He’s also eyeing traditional retail channels, though he acknowledges the multi-year sales cycle can be challenging for a young company.

“I’m just starting to focus on the outreach to larger regional and national chains. What Amazon has provided is time and resources to do that. And, how we do in the Amazon store is also providing a lot of feedback and validation of the concept that allows us to go elsewhere,” he said.

As the outdoor recreation industry continues to grow, estimated to be worth over $1.1 trillion in the U.S. alone, niche products like RecPak are finding their footing with Amazon. More than 60% of sales in the Amazon store are from independent sellers—most of which are small and medium-sized businesses. In 2023, hundreds of millions of customers purchased from these businesses that sell in Amazon’s store, fueling their growth and directly benefiting their communities.

Sales numbers are just one metric to RecPak’s success, as Ziegler’s military background continues to influence RecPak’s mission. The company offers significant discounts to active-duty military, first responders, and veterans. They’ve also donated thousands of RecPaks to first responders and frontline efforts in Ukraine.

“If we’re not going to support those folks, then what’s the point of doing this?” Ziegler reflected. “The sense of purpose I developed in the Marines drives everything we do at RecPak.”