Blended Greens, Billion-Dollar Dreams—The AG1 Growth Story
The Origin: R&D in a Blender (2010)
In late 2010 Chris Ashenden, a New Zealander living in Los Angeles, was stuck with chronic gut issues that medicine couldn’t solve. He scoured PubMed, ordered raw spirulina, chlorella, enzymes and adaptogens in bulk, and blended a bright-green “v0.1” powder in his kitchen.
After blending his gut-fix greens powder, he set up a bare-bones Shopify page and pitched it through his “Kiwi Chris” blog, a Mailchimp newsletter called Greens Lab Notes, and private Facebook groups like Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solution.
The Tim Ferriss Spike (2011)
Ashenden sent the refined mix to Tim Ferriss. One blog + podcast mention tied to The 4-Hour Body sent monthly sales from 500 to 5,000 tubs in eight weeks (10×). With every click tracked through Tim’s affiliate link, AG1 saw positive CAC/LTV in real time and doubled down on influencer sampling.
Flip the checkout to “Subscribe & Save” (2012)
Ashenden replaced the one-time “Buy Now” button with an auto-ship offer—”Subscribe & Save 20%, never miss a scoop.” Overnight, seven in ten newcomers chose the recurring plan, refunds fell, and AG1 finally had predictable cash flow to pay for bi-annual formula upgrades (better flavor, added enzymes).
The Podcast Flywheel (2013)
With Ferriss proving podcasts could mint money, AG1 bought inventory on Joe Rogan, Ben Greenfield, and Barbell Shrugged—each with a trackable URL. Profitable shows kept their budgets; under-performers were cut within a week.
The flywheel pushed revenue run-rate past $10 million ARR and lifted six-month retention from 48% to 62% after “formula v1.3.” They also expanded operations with global 3PL hubs in the US, EU, and NZ enabled shipping to 170 countries.
Sweeten the pot with the Essentials Kit (2019)
When churn crept back up, AG1 tackled the experience gap. New subscribers now unboxed a polished 30-day canister, a branded shaker, and travel sachets—the “Essentials Kit.” The spill-proof bottle kept counters clean, single-serves made TSA checks painless, and first-month stickiness jumped.
Affiliate URLs made it easy to A/B-test: conversions held steady while repeat-order rates climbed, transforming sporadic podcast spikes into a compounding MRR engine that still powers AG1’s nine-figure business today.
Funding Rounds
AG1 Now
Their checkout experience shows a bundle highlighting the value of the ‘Free Gifts’ and gives a significant discount for subscribe & save.
Current Meta Ads
At a glance, the ad account looks like it’s being managed well at scale given these indicators:
- Launching new creative weekly, 36 ads launched already in the first week of August.
- Fewer ads running in previous weeks / months · indicating they’re turning off the non-performers.
- Older ads: Ads running for a few months indicates they are running profitably.
Potential Headwinds
After a November 2024 investigation revealed AG1 had shifted most production from its longtime partner Alaron in Nelson, New Zealand, nearly 180 factory jobs were cut and the brand’s “Made in NZ” story took a hit Newsroom.
Internally, Glassdoor reviewers over the last couple of years describe a string of reorganizations in which entire teams—reportedly including much of the in-house marketing group, are axed and replaced, saying colleagues are now “running on fumes” as leadership races to trim costs Glassdoor.
Meanwhile, price-sensitive fitness communities are turning sour: the top replies in a recent r/HubermanLab thread label the $90-per-month powder a “waste of money,” with multiple users dropping the subscription after seeing little benefit and recommending cheaper DIY stacks instead Reddit.
Together, the factory exit, head-count cuts and value skepticism suggest AG1 is shifting from hyper-growth mode to margin preservation while its consumer halo fades.
We'll see how this plays out, but let's recap…
Key Takeaways
- Kitchen R&D → 74% reorders — 50 CrossFit friends paid $60 and came back for v0.2 eight weeks later.
- Tim Ferriss Spike — One blog + podcast mentions 10×-ed monthly orders (500 → 5,000).
- Flip the checkout to “Subscribe & Save” – 7/10 new buyers hit “Subscribe & Save,” funding nonstop formula tweaks.
- Podcast Flywheel — Rogan, Greenfield, Barbell Shrugged; The flywheel pushed revenue run-rate past $10 million ARR.
- Essentials Kit - close the experience gap.
This is the last of our 3 week series on Health companies @ Scale
✅ Week 1: Levels — turning a medical device into a cult movement
✅ Week 2: WHOOP — the growth path from niche to $3.6B valuation
✅ Week 3: AG1 — Blended Greens, Billion-Dollar Dreams—The AG1 Growth Story]
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Additional AG1 Resources
https://www.headwestguide.com/athletic-greens
https://www.optimonk.com/athletic-greens-marketing-breakdown
https://ampifire.com/blog/athletic-greens-podcast-ad-strategy-scripts
https://fortune.com/2025/01/24/ag1-athletic-greens-supplements-green-powder-bryan-johnson/