Functional food startup launches Ayurvedic honey

HERMOSA BEACH, CALIF. — Functional food startup You Again is introducing a range of raw wildflower honey blended with herbs and botanicals to support digestive health and immunity. Packaged in single-serve pouches, Your Daily Honey expands the brand’s mission to incorporate ancient nutrition into modern lifestyles, said founder Priya Mulvihill.

Inspired by Ayurvedic principles, the lineup includes wild spiced, featuring ginger, amla and papaya; chocolate, with raw cacao, passion flower and ashwagandha; and turmeric, with goji berry and maca. The company partners with family farms in Southern California to source honey that is ethically produced, glyphosate-free and non-GMO.

“As a kid, when I was visiting India, my grandma would put turmeric and ginger and anything else I needed on honey if I got there and had a cold or stomachache,” Ms. Mulvihill recalled.

Following years of struggles with disordered eating and fad diets, Ms. Mulvihill, a certified public accountant who earlier held finance roles at several consumer packaged goods brands, embraced functional medicine, seeking guidance from a practitioner to incorporate herbs and spices into her routine. She began adding ingredients such as maca and ashwagandha to home baking and shared batches with friends.

Last year marked the debut of You Again baking mixes, each formulated for a specific benefit. The products, which are sold in specialty grocers such as Foxtrot, Central Market and Erewhon, are organic and free from dairy, gluten, refined sugars and flours, additives and preservatives.

The launch of Your Daily Honey, a year in the making, builds on the traction of the baking mixes while paving the way for new distribution and partnerships, Ms. Mulvihill said, citing endurance events and corporate offices as examples.

“We really wanted to bring something to the market that can be consumed every single day,” Ms. Mulvihill said. “That’s something we learned with our baking mixes and why we decided to go with a single-serve over a jar.”

She pointed to the versatility of the product, which may be drizzled on food, stirred into tea or consumed directly from the pouch for a pre-workout boost. Additionally, she noted, honey is linked to various nutrition and health benefits.

“The interesting thing about honey is more than 50% of US consumers consume honey, and of that almost 70% do it because of health benefits, so that part’s already there,” she said. “Now it’s taking people to the next step.” F