How IQBAR Accidentally Rode The Keto Wave Into Costco

LeadershipCMO NetworkHow IQBAR Accidentally Rode The Keto Wave Into CostcoByDave Knox,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Dave Knox is a writer focused on startups, tech, innovation, and CPG.Follow AuthorMay 07, 2026, 01:00pm EDTWill Nitze, founder and CEO of IQBAR, built a 15-person brain nutrition company that accidentally rode the keto wave into Costco and has compounded at over 100% annual growth for eight years.IQBARWill Nitze designed IQBAR’s formulas for brain health: low net carb, low sugar, low glycemic. It was a total accident that the rest of America then got obsessed with the same profile for weight loss, making his one of just three keto-compliant bars on Amazon at the time. That lucky overlap was the first of several step-change moments that took the 15-person brand onto the shelves of Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Target, with over 100% compound annual growth across its first 8 years.A Brain Food Brand Born From His Own Bad HabitsDave Knox: Let’s start with the founding story. What led you to launch IQBAR?Will Nitze: It was a confluence of so many things, but the long and short of it is, I was obsessed with the brain. I studied psychology and neuroscience in college, and then had failings in my own brain right out of school. I was working long hours, had a terrible diet, and was getting headaches and mental fog on a daily basis. I quickly learned that my bad diet was the root of most of those issues.My fascination with the brain evolved into a fascination with the intersection of nutrition and cognition: how what we eat impacts how well our brain operates today, and if you eat a bad diet for 30 or 40 years, what’s going to happen to your brain down the line. I went down that rabbit hole to the point where I wanted to launch a brain food company. It didn’t hurt that I was not passionate about my day job, and that I always wanted to be an entrepreneur.Knox: The nutrition bar aisle is one of the mos...