In Episode #125 of the PricePlow Podcast, Ben and Mike welcome Michael Alfaro, the founder and CEO of Master Foods Lab, a specialty contract manufacturer in the supplement industry that focuses on functional foods and high-protein snacks.

The focus of the podcast is on functional foods, specifically baked goods, which we delve into after a tour of the Master Foods facility and some flavor tastings. But first, we get into Michael’s business background, which started in CrossFit, and eventually learn why he’s called the “Head Rhino”.

This is a long episode, so we dive heavily into a lot of ingredient science. It will explain a lot of common questions that brands have when attempting to create a new functional food. For instance, Michael answers why you can’t just easily make a collagen protein bar that has 100% collagen protein.

Things also get spun when Michael asks Ben and Mike a question that takes the podcast into a different direction regarding the success of supplement businesses and the role of influencers.

It’s an all-around great episode, and more content will be coming out, so make sure you subscribe to PricePlow’s Master Foods Lab news alerts at the end so you don’t miss out on the other parts!

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/michael-alfaro-master-foods-lab-125

Video: Michael Alfaro of Master Foods Lab in Miami, FL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1tWGp4A7o

Detailed Show Notes: Michael Alfaro, Master Foods Lab

Where to Follow Michael and Master Foods Lab

And of course, sign up for Master Foods Lab news alerts on PricePlow – we have a whole lot more coming, including a plant tour, tasting panel, rapid-fire Q&A series, and a cool product ideation and creation session in the lab!

And if anyone wants some support making functional foods, hit us up for unique ideas — we’ll give our opinions and help you beta-test.

Thanks to Michael for having us, this trip was a total blast!

As always, subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, and if you enjoy it, leave us a great review!

After a 50+ episode hiatus, Maximus founder and CEO Dr. Cameron Sepah is back on the PricePlow Podcast for the first of two new episodes to give us the update on what’s going on in the pharmaceutical world of performance enhancement.

For Episode #124, we talk about the Maximus Blood Flow Protocol, which is a potent synergistic combination of Tadalafil and Vardenafil to boost blood flow in ways that dietary supplement formulators could only dream of.

Dr. Cam was previously on episode #062, where he introduced Maximus and talked all things testosterone, and episode #070, where he introduced us to the science behind tadalafil. The “Maximus Lover Protocol” discussed in #070 has been upgraded to the Blood Flow Protocol that’s discussed today, however, which is why he’s back to talk about the reformulation.

We joke that this is a “prescription pre-workout”, and while that phrase can be used, but the science is showing that there’s a lot of data supporting cardiovascular improvements and potential longevity plays with the drugs used in this protocol.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dr-cameron-sepah-maximus-blood-flow-protocol-124

Video: Dr. Cameron Sepah Combines Two Drugs for a “Prescription Pre-Workout”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FANq-_eEUTk

The Maximus Blood Flow Protocol: Show Notes with Dr. Cameron Sepah

Where to Follow Dr. Cam:

Thanks for joining once again – get ready for the second part of this two-part series!

Until then, subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, and please leave us a great review!

For Episode #123, PricePlow welcomes guests Raza Bashir of MuscleTech and Shawn Wells of NNB Nutrition and Ingenious Ingredients back on to the PricePlow Podcast to discuss MuscleTech’s new muscle-building supplement, Peptide 185 (pronounced “Peptide One-Eight-Five”), which is made from a new leucine dipeptide (dileucine).

Understanding the Dileucine in MuscleTech Peptide 185

Launched in early 2024, the powerful amino acid has repeatedly sold out on MuscleTech’s website, but when it’s been available, we’ve received countless inquiries about it, so we worked to get this episode live to help answer many of the most frequently asked questions.

Raza and Shawn both also appeared on Episode #072, where they explained paraxanthine enfinity to the world. After we finish discussing the dileucine in Peptide 185, we recap the key takeaways and experiences from the enfinity introduction, learning about new data coming.

Interestingly, we’re told that the two ingredients are synergistic, so we hope to see more about that in the coming years.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/raza-bashir-shawn-wells-muscletech-peptide-185-dileucine-123

Video: Raza Bashir and Shawn Wells Return to PricePlow to Explain Dileucine in MuscleTech Peptide 185

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udPM3UG8M7E

Raza Bashir and Shawn Wells Explain Peptide 185 (Dileucine) and Recap enfinity Paraxanthine

You can find the published research on dileucine in our Peptide 185 article.

Where to Find Raza, Shawn, and MuscleTech

Thanks once again to Shawn and Raza for supporting the PricePlow Podcast and coming on to discuss your new ingredients.

As always, subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your platform of choice, and leave us a 10-star review!

On Episode #122 of the PricePlow Podcast, Team PricePlow welcomes Jake Powers, the Director of Community at MTN OPS – a brand focused on outdoor performance supplements.

MTN OPS, located north of Salt Lake City, Utah, recently celebrated its nine-year anniversary and does phenomenal business on Amazon (see the MTN OPS page on Amazon).

As “Director of Community”, Jake humorously describes his role as a mix of various responsibilities, from being the “loudest voice in the room” to working with events, ambassadors, and manufacturing partnerships.

MTN OPS: Supplements for Hunting and Outdoors?!

This episode is fun and different because the brand has a different purpose — supplements for outdoor enthusiasts. This pulls the conversation into the direction of hunting, where we talk about the training, hydration, diet, and supplementation to succeed.

MTN OPS of course has protein bars and hydration supplements for these purposes, but one interesting supplement discussed is one made for adaptation to elevation, which plays a major role for those heading into the mountains.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/jake-powers-mtn-ops-122

Video: Jake Powers Brings MTN OPS Supplements on the Hunt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmyxMTwvziw

Where to find Jake and MTN OPS

You can head back to the main PricePlow Podcast page — as always, please subscribe on your favorite app and give us a 5-star review!

It’s a new year, and you know what that means! It is now time for PricePlow’s annual Supplement Industry Awards ceremony, where we take a look at the past year and decide the coolest and most interesting supplements and brands that hit the market.

PricePlow’s 2023 Supplement Industry Awards

This year, we have quite a few awards, similar to prior years past. The list are as follows:

Without further ado, let the ceremony commence! This is posted as Episode #121 on the PricePlow Podcast. Video and audio versions are below, with the details after that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xL-NVZ5sd8

See our Raw Nutrition news page for the full listing.

Mike points out that Raw Nutrition’s success is due in large part to their partnership with influential figures like Chris Bumstead and their ability to combine high-quality products with effective marketing and community engagement. They discuss how Raw’s approach contrasts with previous industry partnerships with big names that did not pan out successfully.

2023 Brand of the Year: Raw Nutrition.

What a great year! Congratulations to everyone named, and good luck in 2024 – we know it’ll be a wild one, at least if Merica Labz’ first launch (Orange Man Bad) is any indication.

As always, subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast and leave us a review on your platform of choice.

Doug Kalman joins the PricePlow Podcast to talk about his experience co-founding the ISSN and how he helps professional fighters prepare their diets.

We run through everything from regulatory, Doug’s appearance on the UFC reality TV show, macro breakdown, hydration and electrolytes, nutrient timing, the ISSN’s position stands, and so much more — most of it geared towards performance.

This episode was so good, it spanned the course of two days because the first hour just wasn’t enough. Enjoy!

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/doug-kalman-120

Video: Doug Kalman Explains Diet and Nutrition Prep for Combat Athletes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgeuG8jTKTI

Show Notes: Doug Kalman on Diet and Nutrition for Fighters

How to Follow Doug and the ISSN

A few other links:

In October of 2023, we made our annual trip to the “mecca of ingredientology” – SuppySide West 2023 in Las Vegas, NV.

This is a major trade show that includes basically every component of the dietary supplement and nutrition industry’s supply chains, from ingredient developers to flavor houses to machine manufacturers to distribution experts. If you’re active in this industry, it’s the one to be at.

We kept our tradition strong by recording a new podcast with Katie Emerson of Nutrition21, who’s their Manager of Scientific Affairs and an event sponsor.

This is a follow-up to two previous PricePlow Podcast episodes, #075 and #085, continuing the conversation but with some new updates, and a few things never before mentioned on PricePlow.

nooLVL is for everyone… and what is Lustriva?

The big news is that Nutrition21 retargeted nooLVL for nootropics, and isn’t just targeting gaming supplements anymore. Katie also updates us about her recent presentations and research, and we finally get to ask the question, “What is Lustriva?!”

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/nutrition21-ssw-2023-119

Nutrition21’s Katie Emerson Talks nooLVL and Lustriva

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVYd385veJI

Where to Follow Katie and Nutrition21

At SupplySide West 2024, one of the biggest events was a panel discussion held at the Kyowa Hakko USA booth, featuring a star-studded cast of influential industry advocates:

The topic of the panel was The Growth of Branded Ingredients, with an initial focus on Cognizin Citicoline, an ingredient used by everyone listed above.

The episode offers fresh and unique perspectives from each member, who have different reasons and purposes for various ingredients. When you’re as big as these brands, you have to rely on trusted and legally compliant inputs, and few in this industry are as trusted as Kyowa Hakko!

Embracing branded ingredients and collaborative competition

This was a hallmark moment for the dietary supplement industry — one that we call “collaborative competition”. To put it bluntly, a panel like this simply wouldn’t have happened 5+ years ago.

But with a growing industry where all good players can win, and companies like PricePlow and Kyowa Hakko here to bring a network of forward-thinking industry advocates together, it’s now a reality. With this, we get more information, less duplication of mistakes, and the consumer is ultimately the beneficiary.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/kyowa-branded-ingredients-ssw-2023

Video Version: Watch Dan, Joey, and Chris Talk Branded Ingredients

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjpmO_3nsk0

Audio Version available for download

Detailed Show Notes: Embracing Branded Ingredients with Kyowa at SSW 2023

Where to Follow Everyone

Thank you to Kyowa Hakko for al…

Read more on the PricePlow Blog

Taylor Knox of NutraMedia is back for his second installment of the PricePlow Podcast. This time, we met early in the morning before SupplySide West 2023, where we had a great conversation about energy drink labels.

Taylor already explained their label design process and “brand therapy” on Episode #087, but this episode is almost entirely about energy drink design and the business surrounding it.

If you want an epic energy drink label — nearly on par with what the geniuses at GHOST have been able to do — but don’t want to pay the extreme amounts of money it takes to make it, then TK and his team at NutraMedia are your team.

Video Version on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWYROJfiXYQ

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/taylor-knox-energy-drink-labels-117

(Apologies for the audio, someone lost the memory card with the microphone audio so we had to use the camera’s backup audio)

Show Notes: Going to Brand Therapy with Taylor Knox

Where to follow Taylor and NutraMedia

Thank you TK for coming to our incredible BNB in Vegas before heading to the SSW Expo.

As always, subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast and leave us a 5-star review on your platform of choice!

Ghost Lifestyle founder and CEO Dan Lourenço is back for the fifth time on the PricePlow Podcast, in an episode that’s becoming an annual tradition – a pre SupplySide West show!

We last saw Dan in Episode #088, where he gave us Ghost’s Plans for 2023 and celebrated the 2022 PricePlow Brand of the Year award.

In this episode, Dan explains what Ghost’s been up to in 2023 — besides Cinnabon and Legend V3 going global, it’s been all about scaling. But he’s also happy to give a sneak peak of Ghost Hydration RTD, trialing out the Strawberry Kiwi flavor that’s a fan favorite in the Hydration powder as well. He also teases a few other flavors.

This was also a major year for Ghost Energy Drink, which not only took advantage of the scaling, but had new marketing pushes into music festivals and sporting arenas.

As for 2024, Dan’s extremely excited to state that he’s very confident in a new “food item” coming to Ghost. We can’t make guarantees, but when Ghost enters a new arena, they do it their way, so we’re hoping for something extremely innovative. Same goes for Ghost Sleep, which is also mentioned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spcEgeWAtTQ

Show notes at https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dan-lourenco-ghost-lifestyle-116

“Back in Vegas”: Show Notes with Dan Lourenço

And as always, you can sign up for PricePlow’s Ghost Lifestyle news alerts so that you never miss a drop – and there are a lot of them to cover!