Former Shark Tank entrepreneur Zack Schreier, who captured national attention with egg white chips company Quevos he cofounded alongside Nick Hamburger, and subsequently sold their business at age 24, has embarked on a new journey of reinventing coffee creamer with a functional twist.
Enter Lifestacks, the latest mental health-focused coffee enhancer that leverages the power of premium MTC, nootropics, and adaptogens to help reduce brain fog and support metabolism.
“We view ourselves as a foundational brain health supplement, similar to a multivitamin, fish oil, or Ag1 but for cognitive performance and health,” Schreier recently told me during an exclusive interview. “We want to become a ritual that our customers look forward to each day.”
Jumping On the Functional Coffee Creamer Bandwagon
Piggybacking on the growing $28 billion coffee category while providing extra nutritional benefits seems to make functional creamers an easy sale. “We entered the coffee creamer space more as an intuitive way to deliver daily energy support rather than an alternative coffee creamer, similar to collagen creamers and other functional additions to coffee,” Schreier explained.
According to Modor Intelligence, the U.S. coffee creamer market size was estimated at $26 billion in 2023, and it anticipates a 3.82% CAGR between 2024-2029, reaching $32.57 billion at the end of the forecast period.
Brain supplements are also ramping up rapidly, with the total U.S. market size projected to reach more than $11.4 billion by 2031, Transparency Market Research showed, driving a slew of traditional grocery brands to take on mental health as their primary focus, including MOSH, B.T.R. Nation, and Recess.
More specifically, various CPG brands have also joined the fray by offering functional coffee creamers, including Laird Superfood, Vital Proteins (acquired by Nestlé Health Science), and Four Sigmatic.
Schreier, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumn, noted how he became obsessed with supplements that help sustain long-term health while working at Quevos. After proving out their concept in 2021, Schreier raised $500,000 from an extended network, including Boost Oxygen’s founder Rob Neuner and Rob Ward, partner of Meritech Capital, to bring Lifestacks to fruition.
“Supplement appealed to me as a way to boost performance and bolster health,” he said, “so I decided to infuse a potent stack of brain-boosting nutrients in a delicious and healthy coffee creamer. Consumers already get their daily energy from coffee, so this was a perfect opportunity for introducing a premium and balanced blend of energizing supplements.”
Lifestacks, currently available through its direct-to-consumer website and Amazon, comes in three different flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and hazelnut. All products are sweetened with stevia leaf extract to replace sugar and artificial ingredients.
Key Lessons From Operating Quevos
Commenting on key lessons learned from operating Quevos and transferable knowledge that can apply to Lifestacks, Schreier stressed how a clear path to profitability and the ability to scale are more important than a founder’s passion.
“From Quevos, I learned the value of pricing the product in accordance with the cost of goods: excessively wishful thinking about costs coming down over time can lead entrepreneurs to develop businesses that can never work,” Schreier explained.
Additionally, laster focusing on certain channels to better understand the core audience will help a brand move more efficiently in the market versus burning cash to build a ubiquitous presence.
“At Quevos, we sought opportunities in every direction, and this led to having lots of different things going on, including a presence in retail, online sales, and even an appearance on Shark Tank. It was great to try all sorts of things like this, but it was also overwhelming,” Schreier added.
“At Lifestacks, we’re trying to take a more focussed approach, which requires more patience but allows us to see the core of the business more clearly and scale what’s working.”