Chris Kanik, CEO and Founder of Smart Cups, joins us on the latest episode of the Nutrastrong™ podcast. Listen in as he shares how he went from being a young chemistry wiz to stand up comedian to founder of the innovative and sustainability driven technology company, Smart Cups. In this candid interview, learn how the Smart Cups technology was established, and how it’s making an impact not only in the health and wellness space, but also in humanitarian and eco-friendly applications. Plus, get an inside look at what’s to come with new Smart Cups prototypes and product applications including CBD and cannabis.

_____

Chris Kanik is the CEO and Founder of Smart Cups, a sustainability-driven technology company whose flagship product, an energy drink, hit the market in 2018 as the World's First Printed Beverage. Smart Cups utilizes a patented delivery system technology that allows flavors and active materials be printed on substrate surfaces. These applications can be used in a myriad of industries, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and more, allowing for a reduction in storage and transportation requirements resulting in a reduction of the world’s overall resources. Today, Chris oversees Smart Cups' 23,000 square foot manufacturing and R&D facility in Mission Viejo, CA.

Born and raised in Union City, New Jersey, Kanik’s creative and entrepreneurial spirit can be directly attributed to being the first generation born of immigrant parents. Having experienced first-hand the struggles and inequalities that exist among socio-economic classes, Chris has always been drawn to disrupting the status quo and designing better solutions to systems.

He first entered a lab at age 12 to study the chemical degradation of aspartame in diet sodas over extended storage periods at room temperature. At 14, he joined a research team in the Nutritional Sciences Department at Rutgers University to study adipocyte metabolism in adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) knockout mice (aP2-/-) after short-term high-fat feeding. His work contributed to the discovery of a functional compensation by the keratinocyte-FABP. From there, Chris went on to join a research team working on a NASA-funded project developing biologically based nano-robots at Rutgers in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Rather than pursuing the conventional path after graduating from Cornell University with a BA in Economics, Chris blazed his own trail and pursued his passion for stand-up comedy on the New York circuit. His quick wit and even quicker ability to handle audiences made him a regular on the New York comedy scene. He has toured nationally at the Improv opening for some of the most popular and well-known acts. Chris has also headlined internationally and performed in front of large stadium crowds.