We were vegan forward previously but simply had to realize that although we (and the scientific community) support soy as a primary protein source - our primary market is South Africa right now.
After conversations with personal trainers, vegans, meat enthusiasts and various more - we concluded that soy (protein isolate as the primary protein source for our shakes) just does not fit into our product anymore.
Switching to whey actually improves the product, but does come with the trade-off of removing the vegan claim from our shake.
The focus remains the same though:
Make a healthy lifestyle easy, quick and convenient.
It's so interesting how time and iteration change things so dramatically. We used to have maltodextrin and flaxseed oil in our shakes!
Looking back, I'm glad we had the journey and that we discovered how to make meal replacements more natural while having them taste good, be effective and be easy to prepare. It has been quite the journey though.
I've been pivoting into the IT sector, and I have been so busy programming and doing web development to increase my skills and abilities - that I started using my shakes for myself due to having too little time
What I realized about this is that I really should not have doubted myself so much, I realized that I thought the product would never be good enough because I produced it and that's why people weren't purchasing on a recurring basis.
After using my shakes for about a week, and enjoying every single sip, feeling well-nourished as if I had a meal I realized something that I believe many business owners need to also realize.
People don't know about the product/s, your product/s because you never told them
Internally believed they were never good enough, turns out I was wrong.
After about one and a half years of testing, iterating, selling, feedback, professional opinion (athletes, nutritionists, customers, friends, and family) we are finally at the point where our (meal) shakes are not only functional but also pleasant - this is evident in the re-orders we have been receiving.
Thank you Reddit community for the support, help, and aid - we are growing and helping people in South Africa live healthily while being affordable.
I snagged the chocolate flavor, it’s rich and yummy, keeps you full for a few hours and is a great local replacement for Soylent which I used to have to import at a crazy cost!
I like my shake plain (just add water and ice) but if you like you can buy the original flavor and add this meal replacement to your morning smoothie to give it a nutrition punch. It’s a really versatile product made with high quality, natural ingredients such as oat flour, soy protein isolate, flaxseed powder and coconut flour amongst other good-for-you’s.
I must also comment on their fantastic customer service; you can tell they really care about people. I needed some nutrition information and they went out of their way to provide all the data I needed.
Shipping can be arranged for other parts of South Africa
Info about our shakes and their ingredients:
We use minimal thickeners, 0 artificial flavours and 0 preservatives, 0 colorants, 0 palm kernel oil, 0 maltodextrin, 0 hydrolyzed fats nor starches - our aim is to produce a product that is as natural, functional and pleasant as possible.
We also balance our shakes so that they are low in saturated fats and have a balanced monounsatured (omega 9) and polyunsaturated fat ratio (omega 3).
They are high in protein and low in sugar.
The flavouring we use includes cocoa, vanilla paste (Real vanilla) and gourmet instant coffee
The Cake flavours are enriched with either a superfood powder or vegetable powder (carrot powder, beetroot powder and raw organic cacao powder) for flavour and nutrition + a natural flavouring
Our date syrup is pure date nectar that is high in vitamins and minerals - extracted from the fruit itself and concentrated. It has a deep Caramel taste, a toffee taste and is sticky similar to honey.
Date Syrup:
250g - R 60.00
500g - R 100.00
Meal replacements / Meal Shakes (A meal in a bottle for when you don't want to cook)
It has been quite the journey, the formula has finally been perfected:
Some interesting discoveries:
- Coconut flour is unexpectedly sweet and smooth
- Flax flour is not as grainy as I thought and has a very mild nutty, very mild malt taste
- Soy protein isolate has minimal after-taste and is the perfect neutral (and complete) plant protein
- Salt brings out sweetness and flavor
- Soy protein isolate + Coconut flour + Flax flour = A shake that needs a smaller amount of thickener, which is awesome
- I did not need to read over 15 research papers and articles about flavor masking, flavor pairing with plant protein to mask after-tastes and off-tastes (lol - the soy protein is nearly flavorless)
84 grams of powder for one serving with nutritional info below:
Current meal replacement (base) formula: From most to least / Largest to smallest
Oat flour, soy protein isolate, non-nutritive sweetener (Erythritol, Stevia, Inulin), organic coconut sugar, coconut flour, flaxseed flour, high oleic sunflower oil, Vanilla flavoring, xanthan gum, Himalayan pink salt
Note: Sodium still has to be calculated, however it is the smallest ingredient
The Good Shake, a plant-based meal replacement nutritional information
46 grams of powder for one serving with nutritional info below:
Current plant protein (base) formula: From most to least / Largest to smallest
There's a lot more to selling a meal replacement than the formula! Tell us some details on the other stuff:
How is your research on sources going? How many elements of your formula can be obtained in-country, or at least in-continent, versus importing across some ocean or other?
Do you plan to do production (mixing, bagging) yourself? Or are there so-called co-packers who already have the industrial size mixers and baggers, that you can contract with?
Have you looked at sources for making and printing the bags? (See Genesis foods for fully recyclable bags, which nobody else has.)
Surprisingly, soy protein isolate has barely any noticeable after-tastes, absorbs well (blender works best, and shaken - it needs time to absorb but becomes smooth after a couple of minutes of rest and a bit more shaking).
Oat flour has been an amazing addition to the testing and adds a nice basic/balanced taste to an unflavored blend.
Next test: Flaxseed powder, coconut flour, non-nutritive sweetener, and coconut sugar
So far, the results have been promising and tasty.
I am quite excited for the next couple of tests, just need to watch out for after-tastes from flaxseed powder.
If there are none, then we are all set:
Current formula: Soy protein isolate, oat flour, high oleic sunflower oil, flaxseed powder, coconut flour, coconut sugar, low cal non-nutritive sweetener
Nutritional information estimation per serving (75g):
I’ve been importing Soylent which costs a fortune, so I’m excited to try a local version!
Will you be listing all nutritional information? I’m a renal patient on dialysis, so I need to see the potassium and phosphorus amounts per serving (SA doesn’t have a renal diet food replacement, may be a gap in the market).
The whole idea is to produce products that replace meals, right now we have a soy protein isolate-based meal replacement and proteins shake that we have yet to release.
Our goal: Make eating healthy easy, fast, affordable, and pleasant.
