Episode 49 | How NeuroGum and MCT Co. are Leading the Functional Ingredient Revolution,
with MCT Co. CEO Matthew Trimner and NeuroGum co-founders Ryan Chen & Kent Yoshimura
Functional ingredients seem to be all the rage. But what’s behind the functional ingredients craze in CPG these days?
To find out, we spoke to two companies and three entrepreneurs who are leading the functional ingredient revolution – MCT Co.’s Matthew Trimner and NeuroGum’s Ryan Chen and Kent Yoshimura.
It turns out, functional products are all about aspiration – consumers are increasingly looking for products that aren’t just clean, convenient, and taste amazing, but that actually make their lives better. They want products that move them a little bit closer to that ideal version of themselves.
A tall order for sure. Luckily we’ve got a few of the people who are leading the charge.
Here are our main takeaways from this episode:
- Aspiration drives everything. It’s all about what consumers want to do more of, who they want to become. The ingredient is really just a means to move the consumer closer to that aspiration.
- Think of the product as a delivery system. The product is a means to deliver the ingredient – but also has to conform to the context of the use case – and has to be clean and taste great. (That’s a tricky needle to thread.)
- Brand ties everything together. The brand delivers these messages, and helps create the community that communicates and amplifies the aspirations.
Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.
