Food Matters Live Podcast 593: NPD opportunities in functional nutrition
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Jan 19, 2026 
David Hartigan, CEO of Blink Drinks, builds tasty functional beverages. Michelle Butler, Innovation Director at Good For You, designs plant-forward, clean-label snacks. Eimear Connolly, Head of Technical and Innovation at Future Nutrition, focuses on evidence and stability. John Corr, culinary nutrition lead at Sodexo, champions fibre-first, chef-led gut health. They discuss taste-first drinks, dehydrated veg in granola, GLP-1‑aware NPD and functional mushrooms.
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Gut Health Wins Over Isolated Probiotic Claims
- Gut health is central to wellness and product impact, with diet diversity and fiber more important than isolated probiotic claims.
- John Corr uses dehydrated vegetable powders and whole-plant diversity as practical ways to feed the microbiome and add flavor in NPD.
Hide Function Inside Familiar Delicious Formats
- Make functional benefits invisible inside familiar, delicious formats rather than clinical-sounding products.
- John Corr developed a savoury granola from dehydrated veg powder paired with yoghurt and kefir to normalise gut health at breakfast.
Savoury Granola Made From Dehydrated Veg Scraps
- John Corr described making savoury granola from dehydrated kitchen vegetable scraps to add flavor, fiber and sustainability.
- He pairs it with thick drained yoghurt plus kefir and poached eggs to create a gut-friendly savoury breakfast.