Gregory Sewitz, Magic Spoon: Feeling Like a Kid Again – Well Made E99

At first, Magic Spoon may sound like a tough sell, but there are a few reasons why people are buying it. Nutritionally, it's more in line with a protein bar than a cereal. It's made for adults, but aesthetically it channels a childlike nostalgia. And even at $10 a box, per gram of protein, it's a pretty good deal.

This isn't the first time Greg Sewitz and his co-founder Gabi Lewis have taken a gamble on a tough-sell protein. With their first company, Exo, they sold cricket flour protein bars. They learned a lot about regulatory challenges and supply chain complexities, then sold that company and tried their hand at cereal. High protein, low sugar, delicious, brightly colored cereal.

As Greg plans ahead for a future on grocery store shelves, he's sharing everything they've learned in the first six months since launching.

“It really is not a question of objective expense. It's a question of what do people value and what's the relative worth that they associate with these things.”

On this episode, Greg shares the impetus for Magic Spoon and why they're focused on direct-to-consumer right now (2:07). He takes us back to the days of Exo and shares the lessons they learned about supply chain and regulatory challenges (8:50). Going from cricket flour to cereal, Greg shares the hit list of things he didn't want to face in his new business (14:50). He dives into the ingredients list and shares the sweetener trifecta that they're using to replace sugar and high fructose corn syrup (14:50). The FDA only recently made way for one of their three sweetener components, allulose. Greg explains how his regulatory challenges from Exo helped guide this part of the process (22:26).

Spending $1.40 per bowl of cereal isn't an easy conversion for consumers, especially since it's something they've eaten their whole lives. Greg shares how they're explaining the cost to consumers and educating them about the ingredients (28:41). As they plan for the future, he shares how and why he and his co-founder Gabi decided to start a second company together (37:28). Finally, he shares what they're looking for in new hires as they look to grow their team (44:16)

You can find this and all future episodes on iTunes, Google Play, and here on the Lumi blog. This episode was edited by Evan Goodchild.