With a base of organic kefir, the new probiotic gut shots contain 50 billion live and active cultures and 12 live and active strains. In a 3.4oz size, each bottle contain functional ingredients like collagen, matcha, turmeric and chaga.
Jesse Merrill, co-founder and CEO of Good Culture, told DairyReporter that after struggling with a chronic illness and prescription drugs, he changed his diet to nothing but real foods that helped to reduce inflammation in the body, with a major focus on probiotics.
He said that after two months of living on the diet, all his symptoms went away without taking the drugs. Now Merrill is a ‘big believer’ in food as medicine, and that was brought into founding the Good Culture business in 2015. Its mission is “to make healing real foods available to the masses without hurting our planet or our animals.”
Good Culture already sells clean label cottage cheese and probiotic sour cream products. They are high in protein and available in a range of low-fat, whole milk, double cream and low sugar options.
Probiotics on-the-go
Merrill said his customers are mainly those with an active lifestyle, and they are increasingly looking for real food products with added functionality. The Good Culture team decides on new flavors and varieties based on what’s trending and ‘super relevant’ to their consumer.
“We are focused on becoming a platform brand that continues to drive disruptive innovation across several cultured foods categories,” Merrill said.
“We are certainly more than a cottage cheese brand and look forward to putting out more nutrient-dense foods that heal.”
The Wellness Shots are available now at nationwide Whole Foods in Pineapple + Turmeric (for brain function and joint health), Vanilla + Collagen (to strengthen hair, skin and nails), Chai + Matcha (for calm, focused energy) and Chocolate + Chaga (to boost energy and immunity).
They are lightly sweetened with sweet potato juice and coconut sugar, and contain no synthetic hormones, preservatives, gums, or anything artificial. Good Culture describes the pasture-raised kefir base as a unique cultured dairy product that’s like a tart, drinkable yogurt. It supports digestive health and boosts immunity, while rebalancing gut flora and improving digestion.
“Probiotic shots are an emerging category, and we saw a void in the space with an opportunity to merge functional ingredients with probiotics. As we looked to expand our portfolio of pasture-raised cultured dairy products, we wanted to offer an easy on-the-go way to get your daily dose of gut-friendly probiotics,” Merrill said.
The shots contain between 80-90 calories, 2.5-3g of fat, 8-9g of sugar and 4-10g of protein. By comparison, its cottage cheese range contains at least 14g of protein per serving and up to 160 calories.
“We are still 100% focused on cultured dairy, but would look to cultured foods more broadly if that met a consumer need that aligned with our values and mission.”