Harnessing the Magical Metabolic Power of Mushrooms with Jim Ellis, Chief Revenue Officer, MYCO Technology and Thaddeus Thorne, The Natural Food Expert

Episode 108.  Jim Ellis, The Chief Revenue Officer of MYCO Technology, is commercializing the metabolic engine of mushrooms, known as  🍄 mycelium 🍄, with naturally transformative ingredients to help solve the food industry’s biggest challenges.  Listen in as we dive into the magical world of mushrooms.

Connect with Jim Ellis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sillemij/

MyCo Technology: https://www.mycoiq.com/

Trends: 

• Plant-based foods are not in decline: food service providers are actually increasing their plant-based offerings by 2030 compass shifting to almost 40% of alternative proteins. 
• Food Service Standpoint: Menu offerings grow by 35% by 2020 
• Supporting these trends: backing out as an industry, getting away from over sensationalizing, over-relying on a small subset of data from one company, and extrapolating it to an entire industry.

Manna Tree Investors portfolio:

• On an expedition discovering new things through the power of mycelia; what makes us different, better, special is just that: they are on an expedition that nobody else is pursuing like they are, especially at this scale. 
• For us, it's about how nature can work its wonders, to help them better meet consumer demands. Harnessing the power of mushrooms to enrich lives around the world, all through mycelia. 

 Mycelia: root system of mushrooms that spans the entire floor of the forest. fuels the entire fermentation process. makes up a communication network, supply chain network, transfers water, nitrogen, and other elements all throughout the forest. In addition, it breaks down toxins, indigestible material 

 Provide solutions across the spectrum, tackling the most pervasive challenges of the industry: 

1. Salt and Sugar Epidemic: the overuse of cheap ingredients to make products taste better 
   1. Discovered @SPECIAL solutions in nature that deliver the same, if not better, unique and great flavors, without loading products with salt and sugar. 
   2. No need to sacrifice nutrition OR taste. 
2. How do we feed a growing population? If our population grows from 8 to 10 million people, as it's projected to do so, we'll need 70% more food. That means we need sustainable solutions. 
   1. “Fermentiq,” MyCo Technology’s mushroom fermented protein: a solution that enables advances in the plant-based space that consumers crave, while also enabling better nutrition. (facilitating digestion, the breakdown of toxins, and fueling your body)   
   2. Right now in the US, undoubtedly the richest country in the world, Only 12% of people get the required daily nutrition.
3. Benefits of Fermentation → Alternative to Soy
   1. MyCo Technology provides complete proteins: a great alternative to soy, which is an allergen for many people. 
   2. Mushroom extract: Functional and great-tasting - an important component of reducing bitterness, clarifying flavors, and driving people to repeat purchases. 
   3. Has all the amino acids your body needs, just like beef or soy, but not an allergen. 
4. Meaningful and Genuine Story: Stand for causes greater than simply just corporate profitability. 
5. Consumers truly enjoy it, tell their friends, and this leads to more sales. 

Market Strategy: 

• Focus and Responsibility. Partnership. 
• Incredible growth strategy and innovation team: 
  • Focus on the most critical areas
  • Unique commercialized ingredients
  • Targeting areas where you want to make the best impact: 
    • Leveraging protein and meat alternatives 
    • Enabling different functionality and performance in dairy alternatives. 
    • Helping seafood alternatives taste better. 
• Sustainability: 
• Balance improvements across supplementation, wellness, functionality, through consistent performance and continued development
  • 55 patents, 30+ pending patents. 
• Impacts in both retail solutions & food service. 

What’s next? MISSION STATEMENT:

• Alternatives → 
• Promote Story and Cause: 
  • Generation that chooses to buy from companies that support a cause that they believe in. 
  • Dedicated to making a difference in not only plant-based space, but impacting the economy, food scarcity, and protecting our planet. 
• Price parity and Inclusion: Upcharge for plant-based alternatives. 
  • Prices are already decreasing, lowering retail and foodservice prices by 15-20% over 20 months for plant-based food, while meat prices are increasing. 
  • Challenge of prices of raw materials impacting the supply chain. 
• Technology Advancement and Big Business Involvement: 
  • Large multinationals have a deeper knowledge of market demands, broader and more advanced distribution networks. 
  • Help propel products and sales forward, further facilitating technological development, and helping to realize the economies of scale and reducing price gaps, increasing accessibility. 
• Corporate Social Responsibility & Working with Big Business: Brandon CPG Partners → striving for realizing the next level of differentiation, unlocking what consumers want and what that requires, an ingredient that enables products to perform differently. 
• Exploration: Brings Excitement, Fun, Passion, and Complexity into a newer stage company.

 

Co-Host and Natural Products, Foodservice expert Thaddeus Thorne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thaddeus-thorne/

About your Host Tony Moore and the Winning at Work podcast:

LinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/in/differentbetterspecialbrands/

• Are you looking for a fun and light-hearted podcast to stay current on the trends shaping the $6 trillion food and beverage industry? My totally awesome brands featured here take us deep into the world of sustainability, plant-based, food tech, CBD, and good for you. Want to learn how to grow a brand? Scale a brand? I've got you covered. 
• Hi, I’m Tony Moore, expert  F&B/CPG headhunter, and I interview the best heads in business. Discover how these executives are #winningatwork.
• Episode 106 is sponsored by: Joynus Search - National Food and Beverage headhunters for sales, marketing, innovation, operations. https://www.joynussearch.com/
• Contact: Tony Moore. 404-904-9235. Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/differentbetterspecialbrands/

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