Answering consumer demand for more caffeine-free products, mushroom supplement maker Four Sigmatic is widening its functional brand platform with the release of Super Powders, a three-SKU line of enhanced powdered mixes.
Upon launching in 2012, California-based Four Sigmatic was an early pioneer in the functional mushroom market with its line of enhanced coffees and creamers. Since then, competition in the category has rapidly proliferated, highlighted by names such as publicly traded Laird Superfood — which is also heavily invested in powdered products — and a slate of mushroom-added products across categories from energy drinks (G.O.A.T. Fuel, Odyssey) to coffee (Pop & Bottle) to nutritional shakes (Remedy Organics, REBBL). According to Future Market Insights, the global functional mushroom market is growing at a CAGR of 9.1% and is on course to reach $22.3 billion in the next decade.
Yet with the brand already firmly established in mushroom-enhanced, powdered coffees (as well as whole bean), creamers, protein drinks and elixirs, Four Sigmatic is looking to take its flagship ingredients into more day parts with Super Powders, which are available on FourSigmatic.com for $20 per 30-serving tub.
“Our audience has also been asking for more caffeine-free products next to our caffeinated coffees so they can consume more of our goodness every day,” said founder and CEO Tero Isokauppila.
Like its existing products, each Super Powder SKU contains functional mushrooms tied to a specific benefit: Perform (Raspberry Pomegranate) for caffeine-free energy, Gut Health (Apple Celery) for digestion, and Chill (Blueberry Lavender) for sleep. Each also contains adaptogens and botanicals. With a long track record in the category, Isokauppila said. Four Sigmatic is aiming to make slight tweaks based on consumer feedback — more benefits, more flavor, cleaner ingredients — rather than any dramatic departures from its existing set.
Across its retail partners — which include Whole Foods, Target, Sprouts, Wegmans, H-E-B, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Amazon and Thrive Market — Isokauppila is aiming to breathe fresh air into a somewhat dated supplement set at retail with “better flavor and cleaner supplement facts panels.” But that doesn’t mean going into RTDs, bars or other supplement types, like Laird has, anytime soon, Isokauppila said. Rather, innovation will be centered around the core ingredient; so far, the brand has focused on Chaga, Reishi, Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps, but is now looking into “new” mushrooms like Tremella and Turkey Tail.
“Luckily there’s much more space left in coffees and functional drink mix powders,” said Isokauppila. “For example, we’re only recently started selling whole bean coffee and coffee pods. Both are already successful and much bigger opportunities than the instant coffee market where we started.”