Medici Brands Enters Salty Snacks with New Tortilla Chip Label Rowdy

Originally reported by Stack3d.

Medici Brands, the parent company of protein bar label David Protein and lower-calorie confectionery brand HallPass, revealed a third consumer brand in September 2026: a tortilla chip line called Rowdy. Stack3d, which first reported the news, noted that the company had not yet shared product imagery, a logo or even a teaser at the time of initial disclosure.

Peter Rahal, who leads Medici Brands, confirmed the category direction to Inc., telling the outlet the new brand is "about chips," per Stack3d. A subsequent Stack3d report described Rowdy as a better-for-you tortilla chip delivering 80 calories per serving. Retail partners and an exact launch date have not been detailed publicly, though the company said at the time of the reveal that Rowdy was set to arrive later in 2026.

The expansion is backed by a $250 million Series B round that Medici closed in September 2026 at a reported valuation of $2.25 billion, per Stack3d. The company indicated that a portion of that capital is earmarked for the infrastructure needed to launch and scale future brands, Rowdy among them. HallPass, the second Medici brand to reach market, launched at Walmart, though no comparable retail commitment for Rowdy has been announced.

Why it matters

Medici's move into salty snacks underscores a broader category trend: better-for-you brands testing whether consumers will trade familiar snack formats for improved nutrition profiles. HallPass demonstrated that Medici is not locked into a single nutrient story. Rowdy extends that logic into a space long controlled by large incumbents, where tortilla chips are sold on deep brand loyalty, price and flavor rather than nutritional positioning. For a company operating at a $2.25 billion valuation, the category bet signals confidence that a better-for-you template can disrupt shelf sets well beyond health specialty retail.

The capital base matters here. A $250 million Series B gives Medici the manufacturing and trade-spend firepower that earlier better-for-you chip entrants lacked, and that scale may prove decisive in a category where logistics costs and retailer requirements have historically squeezed smaller challengers.

What to watch

The key open question is distribution strategy. HallPass landed at Walmart at launch, suggesting Medici has the retailer relationships to move new brands into mass-market doors quickly. Whether Rowdy follows the same path, enters specialty or club channels first or launches direct-to-consumer will shape its early consumer profile and competitive positioning. Shelf placement decisions in salty snacks tend to define category perception from the start, and the wrong channel can be difficult to course-correct.

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Sources

• Stack3d: Medici reveals Rowdy as its third brand and it's all about chips