Juspy

Juspy is a lifestyle brand which is in the process of launching its first product, Juspy Original. This is a readymade chocolate orange flavoured health drink. Juspy was founded by Irish entrepreneur Leonie Lynch.

As Leonie explained, the idea behind Juspy formulated in 2015, shortly after she welcomed her first child. “I was ten months into my postnatal recovery and was weaning my baby around that time.

One day, written on a bottle of baby formula I saw the line “everything your baby needs in one bottle”. I thought to myself,“mothers need that too”.

Leonie set about creating a product that could nourish new mothers quickly and effectively. While it started its life as a postnatal drink its reach has developed over time. Juspy is now aimed at a much wider customer base which encompasses anyone with a busy day to day life looking to nourish themselves quickly.

Leonie Lynch has a PHD in Branding and has been working as a movement coach specialising in Pilates for over ten years. Although her background is steeped in health and wellness, Juspy is her first venture into food production. Like many companies in a similar position there have been unforeseen challenges in terms of food labelling.

To produce the product, Leonie engaged with a well established food development company. At the end of an 18-month development process, Leonie was left with a product with which she was extremely happy, both in terms of taste and nutritional content. From a functional viewpoint, there were a number of boxes she wanted to tick with her ingredients and had managed to do so. As it was developed with postnatal mothers in mind she wanted it full of healthy fats, antioxidants, protein and other nourishing benefits.

Having a product that Juspy, and Leonie, was proud of was only half the story. For food producers, from a marketing, legal and health standpoint, what appears on the labelling is critically important. Leonie spoke about the importance. “If you are a food producer, you have to print thousands of labels at once in order to save on costs. However, if you make one mistake on the labelling, you have to throw them all out.”This, of course, would be a major setback for any company but especially an early stage start-up.

The biggest challenge that Juspy had to overcome presented itself when Leonie sent her label to the recommended resources for evaluation. Unfortunately, the feedback she received, provided her with unforeseen obstacles to overcome.

“The results I received were very concerning. It turned out that almost none of the claims we made could be accepted. I wanted the product to have anti-oxidants and healthy fats and so we used specific ingredients for that purpose. Now I wasn’t allowed to mention them. I couldn’t use the words ‘healthy’, ‘nourish’, ‘energising’ or ‘filling’. Fibre was added to improve gut health and Omega-3 for its anti-inflammatory qualities. Neither were ‘authorised claims’ according to the industry advisors.”

Leonie continued, “My only objective in making Juspy was to create a healthy product. Suddenly, I couldn’t make any claims on the bottle to support the fact that it is healthy. I have a great product but it feels like a complete waste not being able to shout about it”.

After months of seeking assistance and guidance regarding the issues she faced, Leonie found Nutritics. Leonie initially entered her ingredients into the Nutritics platform and quickly followed up, seeking consultative advice. Leonie described the frustrating intermediary period in the lead up to finding Nutritics and the initial consultation that followed.

“I spent months banging my head off a wall, trying to find out what I could and couldn’t say. Largely, I was only being told what I couldn’t say, without any feedback on what I could. I sent my labelling to industry advisors on several occasions with no constructive feedback. Those that had any opinion, unfortunately, couldn’t point me to exact legislation or regulations that confirmed their point of view.”

“Nutritics was the first company that gave me a definitive answer. Their team was able to analyse my product and suggest alternatives that I could make regarding its nutritional value. They went above and beyond at all times. Not only did they highlight parts of the label that needed amending but they gave added feedback about issues that no one in three years of production had ever notified me of.”

At Nutritics, we have the utmost understanding of just how big a challenge labelling can be for those that are new to the area. There is a minefield of regulations that must be negotiated with. For food producers, we know the severe consequences of making a mistake on a large labelling order. We take extra care to analyse products comprehensively.

“Nutritics helped me to understand the important nuances on a label. Juspy Original does not contain nuts but does contain sunflower seeds. Because there is a possibility that seeds could come in contact with nuts, it was important to highlight that. Other things like legally having to round down nutritional values were important aspects that I wouldn’t have been aware of prior to speaking with Nutritics.”

With Nutritics, Leonie and Juspy were able to get answers to questions that had proven difficult to come by. As well as having deep, comprehensive and reliable information on nutrition, product labelling is something we have vast experience in. This is an area that is particularly difficult to comprehend for first time producers. We are extremely empathetic to the stress and pain that it can cause.

For Juspy, the story is ongoing but huge strides have been taken in the right direction. Understanding the regulations is the first very important step. Having subscribed to Nutritics, Leonie now has access to a wealth of knowledge and brings any queries she has to the Nutritics team. With support from Nutritics, Leonie can now make informed decisions regarding her packaging. Thankfully, Leonie has been able to put her labelling difficulties behind her and has found a solution to future challenges.

“One of the greatest lessons I have learned was to have someone like Nutritics on your side.“