Changes Coming to Näak’s US Business

This paragraph Matt Trappe shared in his TrailCon wrap post made me want to do some more digging:

Something is up at Näak. Talk on the floor at TrailCon was that their US operations are no more. Another nutrition brand even seemed to call into question whether they might be able to fulfill their UTMB commitments. Huge yikes and opportunities abound for Precision, Never Second, Skratch, GU, etc.

I found CEO William Walcker’s LinkedIn post from just before TrailCon:

To better support our continued brand growth and scale effectively in the US, we are transitioning our B2B operations from a direct-sales & delivery approach to an indirect, distributor-led model.

So it seems (as it so often is with these stories) there’s some truth to Matt’s rumor: Näak is winding down its direct US business and transitioning to a distributor model. Essentially the business will be outsourced to a third party. Not uncommon for international business to struggle trying to get a foot on the ground in the highly competitive and very large US market.

What seems to be debunked (based on some stories I hear) is that Näak has larger problems and is struggling with their UTMB partnership. I suppose they wouldn’t tell the media if this would be the case, but they seem to be committed to continue this relationship.

Näak announced their sponsorship of trail mega superstar Courtney Dauwalter just a few month ago. This came shortly after – friend of Courtney – Mike Ambrose (who had left NNormal in February of 2025) took on the US country manager role for Näak. That job will now wind down in a couple of month according to CEO Walker’s post.