Functional Foods & Drinks: The Future of Wellness, CPG & Grocery | GroceryPulse Podcast

<p>Makor Coffee founder Eli Mash joins GroceryPulse to share how he built a functional organic coffee brand on the side, going from Shopify to 42 grocery doors and Amazon while still working full-time in tech.</p><p><br></p><p>Host George Goodwin (4th-generation grocer and founder of Kōbu Kombucha Powder) sits down founder-to-founder with Eli to taste each other&#39;s products and talk honestly about building in the functional food space. Makor Coffee is 93% organic coffee blended with organic cacao, turmeric, Ceylon cinnamon, ginger, chaga, and cayenne, and it&#39;s on shelves at Kowalski&#39;s and Lunds &amp; Byerlys in Minnesota.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode you&#39;ll learn:</p><p>- Why new CPG brands should know their customer acquisition cost and repeat purchase rate before scaling paid ads, and why reviews and social proof should come first</p><p>- How to use online customer feedback to pick and pitch the right retailers</p><p>- Why Makor prices its retail bag below online and cut down to three SKUs</p><p>- How retail, Meta, and Amazon work together as one discovery-to-repurchase cycle</p><p>- Why third-party testing and ingredient transparency are becoming a real edge with today&#39;s label-reading shoppers</p><p><br></p><p>Chapters:</p><p>00:00 Introduction to Functional Coffee and Wellness</p><p>03:03 What&#39;s in the Makor Coffee Blend</p><p>05:58 The Rise of Functional Foods and Beverages</p><p>08:55 From Tech to Coffee</p><p>12:14 Online Launch and Retail Expansion</p><p>15:00 Navigating the Retail Landscape</p><p>18:09 Testing and Quality Assurance in Coffee</p><p>21:01 Why Organic Certification Matters</p><p>25:12 Transparency in Consumer Products</p><p>29:06 Building a Brand: Advice for Emerging Founders</p><p>32:14 Retail Challenges and Customer Feedback</p><p>37:12 The Future of Functional Foods</p><p>39:08 Fire Round: Brewing Methods and Favorite Ingredients</p><p>42:16 The Heart Behind the Brand</p><p><br></p><p>Grocery buyers: Eli wants to hear how you evaluate functional brands. Reach him at [eli@makorcoffee.com – CONFIRM]</p><p><br></p><p>Try Makor Coffee: [makorcoffee.com – CONFIRM]</p><p>Try Kōbu: https://enjoykobu.com</p><p><br></p><p>Full episodes: https://www.innovaragency.com/grocerypodcastgrocerypulse</p><p>Be a guest: https://www.innovaragency.com/grocerypulse-podcast-guest</p><p>Innovar Agency: https://www.innovaragency.com/</p><p>Pitch the show: Podcast@InnovarAgency.com</p><p><br></p><p>If this episode resonated, shar