A love of sports has inspired father and son, Mark and Josh Belinsky, to keep trying new fitness challenges: from basketball, to golf, to a rowing tournament and eventually the gritty, gut it out B.I.G. Engine class at CrossFit Boston Iron & Grit. Mark, who has over 10 years experience in CrossFit, enticed his son to give CrossFit a try. Last year Mark was referred to Iron & Grit and, since then, has become a regular at our noon class and the B.I.G. Engine class on Sundays. Mark says, “the second I walked in there and met Miguel, Tina and Brian, I couldn’t imagine going any other place.” 

Up for any physical challenge, Josh was eager to join to keep pace with his dad. Josh, the founder of Slate Milk, also has a newborn on the way. Getting time for himself is not an easy task, but showing up to workout with his dad has become a fun ritual they both look forward to. 

Josh Belinsky founded the protein-drink company, Slate Milk in 2018. He and his co-founder, Manny, both grew up playing sports and loving chocolate milk. Unfortunately, they both developed lactose intolerance at an early age and not being able to have their favorite post workout drink inspired them to start their own company. As athletes they knew the importance of having protein post-work out to get the benefits of this important macronutrient but there weren’t any “healthy” lactose free chocolate milk options. So, The Chocolate Milk Guys, founded Slate. The goal was to create a post workout drink without the harmful effects of high sugar substitutes.  Josh and Manny decided to “create a ‘better for you’ chocolate milk” and they launched their business and even appeared on the television series, Shark Tank. With the idea of creating a healthy chocolate milk option, the brand started to take shape and the rest is history as they say.  

Slate’s protein chocolate milk can be found in about 20,000 stores across the country. It is carried by every major grocery store that you can think of, including Shaws, Market Basket, Whole Foods, Roche Brothers, Wegmans and online at Amazon. 

Even though Slate Milk is recognized across the nation, the company is Boston-based and Josh likes to stay connected with his community. Slate has sponsored many events and they will be the primary sponsors of Squid Game: Westie Challenge on June 7th.  The event is sure to be an epic community event and the Iron & Grit team is busy organizing the event to simulate the Netflix show! And and just like in the show, participants will receive childhood snacks with a twist, Slate Milk will be the main feature. What the rest of the snack will include remains under wraps but owner, Tina, can’t wait to partner with Slate and roll out the chocolate milk for competitors to try out!

Slate’s protein chocolate milk is designed for everyone yet formulated with a fitness focus in mind. Since the launch, Slate continues to grow and expand, introducing a line of caffeinated drinks as well as an increased-protein line. Up until recently, all drinks included 20 grams of protein. Now, they’ve been able to launch “a 32 grams of protein nutrition shake and also a 42 gram option based on what people want. So now we’ll kind of have three tiers of right around 20 grams, 30 grams, and 40 grams of protein for different consumers and different drinking occasions.” When looking at the market, the founders observed that there were all “these little kids chocolate milks with cute bunnies, cows and bright splashes of color – full of sugar.”  Slate Milk was made for a more diverse audience. Says Josh, “you had these protein shakes that were like very intense bodybuilding, very masculine, that typically were full of a bunch of artificial crap. And so for us, we said, could we give chocolate milk a clean slate – hence the name – and change the way that people think about chocolate milk.” 

Says the co-founder, “now so many more women, so many more people are trying to get into fitness and incorporate protein into their diets. And there just hasn’t been a brand for them until right now. We’re now broadening that audience to where women and children and families and people that are older can now enjoy protein shakes without feeling like a meathead.” 

Slate stands by their motto, “get cans in hands” and we are happy to have Slate Milk sponsor the Squid Game competition on June 7th~