Food Matters Live Podcast · Food Matters Live

NPD opportunities in functional nutrition

·36 min·2 clips

"People don't buy prebiotics. They don't buy probiotics. They buy breakfast. They buy lunch. They buy dinner."

1. The Food Matters Live podcast records a live Dublin session in November on new product development (NPD) in functional nutrition, opening with a solo talk and moving to a three-person panel. 2. John Corr is Culinary Nutritional Lead at Sodexo with over 25 years in food, and the panel comprises Eimear Connolly of Future Nutrition, Michelle Butler of Good For You, and David Hartigan, CEO and co-founder of Blink Drinks, with Anthony Zahra moderating. 3. Corr's thesis is that "real food always wins": he argues NPD should feed the gut microbiome through food diversity and fibre instead of adding isolated ingredients, a practice he calls "nutrient reductionism." 4. Corr says only around 1 in 10 adults get enough fibre, and Sodexo kitchens hydrate vegetable scraps and blend them into powders used as chicken bouillon replacements and as the base for savoury granolas. 5. He runs an internal Chef Academy to train Sodexo chefs in culinary nutrition and wants chefs involved early in NPD, not only at the final tasting, while noting that younger consumers want ingredient lists that read "like a recipe in a cookbook." 6. Connolly says Future Nutrition has made functional products for 15 years, that energy and focus remain steady briefs, and that protein, hydration and creatine are moving from sports nutrition into everyday products, with her development order running from science to stability to sensory to commercial viability. 7. Butler traces Good For You from a sprouted seed product in 2004 to an energy ball in 2015, says about 85% of its business is exported to the UK, and recalls that parents in her research cared less about added calcium or vitamin D than about low sugar. 8. Hartigan says Blink's "beverages with benefits" lead with taste because "no one's going to buy it a second time" otherwise, and he plans Circa K shelf talkers reading "discover the magic of functional mushrooms." 9. Connolly also flags microencapsulation, nanoparticles and liposomes as emerging delivery formats whose growth depends on regulation, cost and consumer understanding, and she expects GLP-1 users to drive demand for tailored supplements. 10. Suited to food and drink product developers, ingredient suppliers and brand marketers.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Food Matters Live Podcast