Alternative protein from industrial emissions, canned fizzy drinks to boost your social skills, collagen-based beauty snacks. Feel like being on a Sci-Fi movie set yet?

If all that got you curious to know more, welcome to Forward Fooding’s Foods & Drinks of the Future Series, where we will explore a list of 3 ingredients to watch in 2020.

What’s on the plate?

Are you one of those FoodTechies who never miss a beat on the Food & Beverage sector’s latest trends? Do you love to stay on top of what’s hot when it comes to startups shaping the future of food? At Forward Fooding, we sure are. Stay tuned and keep reading, as this list of ingredients to watch in 2020 will literally fry your brain!

Adaptogens and Nootropics

Ever wished to be one of those superhumans like Bradley Cooper in the film Limitless? Well, the future of food is bringing to you natural, plant-based, mind boosters that will enhance your memory, energy, creativity, and even social skills — happy days!

Their fancy names might not yet ring a bell, but adaptogens and nootropics have been out there for a long time, possibly for centuries. As a matter of fact, adaptogens (usually herbs, roots, and mushrooms) are normally associated with Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. As for nootropics (a word which literally means ‘mind-shapers’), I’m quite sure you’ve already consumed your daily dose, if not more than one, just today: I’m talking about caffeine.

However, nootropics are not limited to caffeine. Another very popular nootropic is l-theanine, mostly found in certain types of green and black tea leaves, and in some species of mushrooms. These amino acids are said to help your organism with stress-relief and relaxation.

So where have these marvelous, nature-made substances been hiding? Time to look into some game-changing FoodTech startups that are ready to literally blow our minds with their nootropic-based CPGs.

Meet Kin-Euphorics for Humankind. After starting in 2018, these New York guys have already raised funds from Canaan Partners, Female Founders Fund and KBW Ventures (CB Insights), and they are ready to revolutionize the way we consume drinks with their ‘All bliss, no Booze’ claim.

Kin produces premium functional drinks based on adaptogens and nootropics such as reishi mushrooms, passionflower, melatonin and l-theanine, and various botanicals. Their $3.54/serving nootropic drink, Dream Light, is promised to gently walk you through a night of intense sleep and perfect morning regeneration. Among other Kin’s products is a social boost, High Rhode, and a Kin Spritz, designed for a whole new party experience. Pretty intriguing, if you ask me.

Time for a European champion operating in the world of nootropic-based functional beverages: London startup Brite Drinks. Started by Simas Jarasunas and his co-founder Andrius Ratkevicius in 2016, Brite manufactures a nootropic beverage that comes in two flavors — Pinapple & Mango and Raspberry & Mint — called Focus, and it helps you do precisely that.

The two millennials developed the idea of a concentration beverage finding themselves needing a non-caffeinated drink to keep up with their workload. After studying the work of leading neuroscientists and collaborating with food technologists and nutritionists at University College London, they came up with the official Brite formula.

Distancing themselves from the market of mere relaxation drinks, Brite is thus working on boosting human mental activity and improving cognitive functions, enhancing concentration and productivity.

As well as fruit juice from concentrates, herbal extracts, and organic tea, each serving of Focus contains equal parts of caffeine and l-theanine, for a total of 300mg nootropic substances.

They call it Performance Drink, and it is intended to drastically transform your idea of berry juice. New Zealand company Arepa has just stepped into the market of Adaptogens and Nootropics, creating a performance drink for the mind.

Arepa’s secret recipe uses 100% natural, locally sourced ingredients such as an extract from the bark of New Zealand grown pine trees, blackcurrant extract and, of course, l-theanine from Japanese green tea leaves. It is, as they define it, ‘Brain Food for the Modern World’.

Just like other FMCG companies operating in the Nootropic sector, Arepa’s formula is the result of a series of studies and collaborations with the world’s top neuroscientists and food technologists. After 5 years of research, this fantastic kiwi startup has successfully filed a patent for their new v2.0 formula, bringing to the market a product that is promised to give you mental clarity and keep your head in the game.

L-theanine it is, then! Just keep this little sidekick in mind (pun intended) and you’re all set for a future of enhanced executive functions, boosted memory and great creativity.

See you in the next edition of Foods & Drinks of the Future Series, where you’ll learn more about Edible Collagen and Air-Based Food!

We really hope you appreciated the insights we shared about the 3 ingredients to watch in 2020. At Forward Fooding, we’re lucky enough to be able to see (and to some extent foresee) some of these trends thanks to our data intelligence platform from the global AgriFoodTech ecosystem, The FoodTech Data Navigator. If you wish to know more about it or are interested in giving this amazing tool a go and take advantage of our 7-day free trial, you’re welcome to book a free demo: just leave your details here.

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This article was written by Lorena Mastromatteo, Marketing Associate at Forward Fooding.