Alan Barratt

Barratt left school early and worked for the minimum wage at a gym in Birmingham, and in 1999 he set up his own sports nutrition distribution business.⁠[1]

On August 3, 2009, Barratt became a director of GRENADE (UK) LIMITED. In 2010 he and his wife, Juliet Barratt, founded Grenade, whose original mission was to create an iconic weight-loss product, the Thermo Detonator, and to become a sports nutrition brand appealing to high-performance athletes, weekend fitness enthusiasts, and the military.⁠[2][2][3][4]

Barratt has recalled that the couple started out from their spare bedroom with a budget of $700. The company’s headquarters are in Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull.⁠[3][5]

In 2015 Grenade launched its Carb Killa protein bars, which, helped by a distribution network spanning supermarkets, coffee shops, petrol stations, and airports, became the brand’s flagship product; a year later it launched Carb Killa protein shakes, and it subsequently expanded into high-protein, low-sugar products such as cookies and spreads. Carb Killa has been a top seller since 2016.⁠[4][4][3][3]

On March 22, 2021, Mondelēz International announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Grenade for an undisclosed sum; the market estimated the deal’s value at about £200 million, but the figure was not officially confirmed. It was Mondelēz’s first acquisition in the UK since it bought Cadbury in 2010.⁠[3][4]

After the deal Grenade operated separately from Mondelēz, which provided resources and international scale; the senior leadership, including Barratt, continued to run the business from its UK headquarters and retained a minority equity interest. Barratt said the partnership with Mondelēz gave Grenade access to enormous resources and capability to help realize its aspiration of building a globally iconic brand.⁠[3][3][3]

On August 3, 2021, the Solihull Chamber of Commerce held the online event “In Conversation with Grenade,” aimed at young professionals and entrepreneurs, at which Barratt, then Grenade’s co-founder and chief executive, spoke about his entrepreneurial experience; the Q&A was hosted by Future Faces vice-presidents Kasim Choudhry and Sabah Hussain.⁠[6][6][6][7]

On May 10, 2024, Barratt resigned as a director of GRENADE (UK) LIMITED, a position he had held since 2009.⁠[2]

On May 18, 2025, The Venture Room released an interview with Barratt filmed at the London Heliport. In the program he said that he founded Grenade in 2010 with a £500 start-up loan from UK Trade & Investment’s “Passport to Export” program; that for the first four years he never took a day off or drew a salary; and that before the product launched he had spent about 20 years as a distributor in the sports nutrition industry, using his industry contacts to secure 60 to 90 days’ credit from suppliers.⁠[8][8][8][8]

He recalled that in May 2010 the couple borrowed a 17-ton Abbot self-propelled gun from a friend and drove it into the BodyPower fitness show to announce the brand’s arrival; the company later moved from a single weight-loss product into protein bars, and he said he had been advised at the time not to launch them. In the program he said Grenade sells about 120 million protein bars a year and that its next plan was to repeat the protein-bar approach with protein shakes.⁠[8][8][8][8]

“Stick to what you know, leverage your personality, and add unbelievable hard work.” He advised entrepreneurs to start from an industry they understand and to look at whether existing products could be made better (at 11:24 and 14:27 in the video).⁠[8][8]

“Personality is free.” He believes a founder’s enthusiasm is infectious to retailers, and that personality is a valuable asset that people often waste (at 06:55 in the video).⁠[8][8]

“Disrupt ourselves before someone else disrupts us.” Every year he re-examines whether the product is still the best one that can be made, believing that a brand is never finished (at 06:35 in the video).⁠[8]

“Protect the downside.” He advised facing and managing the worst outcome that could happen before committing fully (at 12:05 in the video).⁠[8]

“The first step is to make sure you’ve got the very best product you can make.” He warned against solving problems that do not exist and stressed giving consumers a reason to buy your brand (at 12:49 in the video).⁠[8][8]

Grenade: Official website: https://www.grenade.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[9]