What is innovation?

It's 2021. Consumers are really well informed when it comes to healthy lifestyle and nutrition. Information abounds and it's not that difficult to know which filters to use to separate what's worth it from what's complete and utter BS. As a result, the average "clued up person", i.e. not even the "super savvy", is likely to know more about diets, workouts and supplements than a freshly qualified nutritionist. With a market appetite this big, businesses - be it big time brands or small, independents or startups - have caught on. As a result, there are now thousands of nutrition companies competing for your money, all promising things like "this is the only supplement you'll ever need" or "this wonder 12-in-1 capsule sorted out my 10-year insomnia, as well as my anxiety, my bad skin, my gut, my energy and my erectile dysfunction." [enter LOLz emojis here if it's allowed 'cos this is LinkedIn after all?] Regulatory issues around what can and cannot be said about natural health products like vitamins, minerals and botanicals - aka "nutrition health claims" - are complicated, so let's leave those for another article.

Nutrition and the brain

The interest in the mental health <-> brain health <-> brain ageing / anti-ageing <-> cognitive performance <-> mental wellbeing space has been growing consistently throughout the last decade. I've worked in new product development since 2009, and I keep seeing iterations of products with ingredients that have been used by various different companies for years, repackaged and sold as the next best thing since sliced bread. Add a bit of B12 so you can stick a brain logo on the label and say that your product supports cognitive function as well as the function of the nervous system and "job's a good'un." Every day I'll see a product just like that, nothing special, just quite an ordinary formulation, with a bit of added B12 or vitamin C for that obligatory EFSA health claim and I ask myself "how is this new? Surely your customers deserve better than that?"

Mental energy without the double espresso ??

Back in 2017 I met for a coffee with Joe Welstead and Charlie Matthews, Co-Founders and now CEO / COO (respectively) of nutrition startup Motion Nutrition. We talked about the brain and about how to keep it fuelled with sustainable vitality that enabled you to think clearly during the day, mitigating energy slumps mid-morning / mid-afternoon, and helping with overall cognitive performance whilst building up with use so as to contribute to thing cute thing called neuroplasticity that we've all heard about and that, basically, means the brain's ability to remain resilient by adapting quickly to the circumstances that it faces daily. There are nutrients with good clinical evidence of supporting all of those processes, some of which have been used in traditional natural medicine systems like Ayurveda for centuries.

As a result of this conversation, I formulated a product called Power Up, which launched in 2018. As Victor Hugo once noted, “an invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” The flip side of that beautiful insight is that the kind of ideas that lead to innovative products or processes don't materialise everyday, and that the process of generating innovation depends on meeting of creative minds at a time that enables the practical facets of product development to come together as a perfectly fitting jigsaw.

Fast-forward to June 2020 to find Motion Nutrition amongst the top 100 startups (number 54 to be precise) according to Startups.co.uk. Is innovation one of the "secret" ingredients of their success? I would think so. Being ahead of the curve and taking risks is never easy, but it provides a creative mind like mine with a whole load of satisfaction when ideas materialise into tangible products that people love.

Reflective writing or a shameless plug

I have been a Scientific Advisor to Motion Nutrition for a while now, so it'd be absurd not to admit to the supportive nature of this post. However, I didn't wake up this morning with a task to write this, I was just thinking of the wonderful video that Joe did (see above) about Power Up and how there are now 100s of variations of this product out there, whereas when we made it, it was absolutely unique. Frankly, I still believe it is, and I'm dead proud of it.

Hope you enjoy the read. Have a wonderful Easter! ??