7 healthy ingredient disruptors to watch
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The natural products industry is home to lots of healthy ingredient innovation. Here's a look at some of the companies that are creatively spicing up their product categories, and even creating new ones, with superfood ingredients from the tropics, insect protein and Nepalese spices from the Mount Everest Base Camp.
Pecans, chia seeds and garbanzo beans have found a new calling. The founders of neat foods discovered that these ingredients can be whipped into a tasty, shelf-stable, plant-based protein source that can take the place of animal protein in any dish. All that's needed for preparation is water, eggs (or the neat egg made out of chia seeds and garbanzo beans) and a stove. In addition to easy preparation, eating neat instead of animal protein has enormous health and environmental benefits. Co-founder Phil Lapp says: "The neat carbon footprint is a fraction of beef's footprint, which means it creates a win/win long-term solution for a sustainable planet."
Kuli Kuli's founder, Lisa Curtis, discovered the Moringa oleifera tree while working with the Peace Corps in Niger. Moringa is native throughout the tropics, and its leaves are highly nutritious and jam-packed with protein, calcium, iron, vitamin C and vitamin A. Kuli Kuli sells a nutritious moringa powder as well as moringa superfood bars and tea products, and while the company is finding success with its new products, it's still tough to introduce a virtually unknown superfood to the U.S. market. Curtis says, "It's exciting to be the first to market and rewarding in the sense that we tend to get a lot of attention for it, but also means that we have to spend a lot of time and resources educating the general public on the nutritional benefits of moringa."
The ingredients in cocokind skincare products might not be what you'd expect. Rather than add superfluous or potentially harmful ingredients, founder Priscilla Tsai creates products with simple, clean, organic ingredients. For example, what you'll probably notice first about cocokind's Organic Facial Cleansing Oil is all of the ingredients that aren't on the label. What you will find are organic virgin coconut oil, organic virgin avocado oil, organic tea tree oil and organic lavender oil. That's it! On her decision to become USDA Certified Organic, Tsai says: "There are a lot of products that tout organic in the personal care products space. I wanted to make sure our consumers knew that we were organic and that our products have integrity."
Chapul cricket bars are helping to launch a new food category in the U.S. Once consumers get past the yuck factor they realize insects really aren't so bad, which is something most civilizations have known for centuries. Crickets contain 15 percent more iron than spinach, twice as much protein as beef and as much vitamin B12 as salmon, all with a much smaller environmental impact. To further sing the cricket's praise, a recent Wall Street Journal article found that "ten pounds of feed yields one pound of beef, three pounds of pork, five pounds of chicken and up to six pounds of insect meat." This efficiency paired with a much smaller water footprint makes cricket protein appealing, especially if it can relieve the stress agricultural powerhouses like California are suffering because of drought.
Temple Turmeric has found a new, delicious way to increase turmeric consumption in the everyday diet. This is great since turmeric has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine and contains curcumin, an anti-inflammatory that can improve joint, cardiovascular and immune health, as well as improve mood and digestion. At the time of the company's inception, founder Daniel Sullivan said, "Turmeric was predominantly expressed in VMS [vitamins, minerals and supplements]... Launching a turmeric-based beverage brand five years ago was perfectly timed for a marketplace which was primed to move from a capsule format to a beverage format."
Earthkind's do-it-yourself pest control products use essential oils and plant fibers to keep rodents, moths, spiders and ants at bay without killing them. The ingenious use of simple ingredients also prevents people and the environment from being exposed to the toxic ingredients found in many traditional pest-prevention products. In the Stay Away Rodent product, for instance, the essential oils are too overwhelming for a rodent's sense of smell. While the scents smell great to humans, rodents won't nest anywhere, like your house or office, where they can't smell predators coming to protect themselves and their offspring.
Matt D'Amour and Adrian Reif are taking a sluggish food category, nut butter, and livening it up with the introduction of Yumbutter potions, "concoctions mixed from wholesome, life-giving ingredients, goodness and love." The inspiration? In 2009, while Reif trekked toward Mt. Everest Base Camp in Nepal, he "spread some spices on my generic peanut butter and crackers and it was one of the most magical combinations I’d ever sank my teeth into. I was also slightly oxygen deprived. When I got back to the States, I set out recreating that spice blend and began selling those early Yumbutter potions at farmers markets." D'Amour and Reif's love for nutrition, paired with their adventurous spirits, has led them to create a new variety of nut butter potions with superfood ingredients like cranberry, coconut, chia, hemp seeds, cayenne, turmeric, cumin and goji.
Matt D'Amour and Adrian Reif are taking a sluggish food category, nut butter, and livening it up with the introduction of Yumbutter potions, "concoctions mixed from wholesome, life-giving ingredients, goodness and love." The inspiration? In 2009, while Reif trekked toward Mt. Everest Base Camp in Nepal, he "spread some spices on my generic peanut butter and crackers and it was one of the most magical combinations I’d ever sank my teeth into. I was also slightly oxygen deprived. When I got back to the States, I set out recreating that spice blend and began selling those early Yumbutter potions at farmers markets." D'Amour and Reif's love for nutrition, paired with their adventurous spirits, has led them to create a new variety of nut butter potions with superfood ingredients like cranberry, coconut, chia, hemp seeds, cayenne, turmeric, cumin and goji.
7 healthy ingredient disruptors to watch
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