Functional benefits brewing in coffee innovation

KANSAS CITY — Make room, cream and sugar. Ingredients like mushrooms, collagen, fiber and adaptogens are bringing functional benefits, including sleep and digestion, to coffee.

While the Ryze brand and others are becoming more available at retail, the number of coffee shops offering functional benefits continues to increase.

Black Sheep Coffee continues to open cafes in the United States with coffee featuring lion’s mane mushrooms, collagen and prebiotic fiber.

“From a functional perspective, lion’s mane is widely associated with cognitive support, focus and mental clarity,” said Eirik Holth, who co-founded Black Sheep Coffee along with Gabriel Shohet. “Coffee naturally enhances alertness through caffeine, so combining the two creates a great combination.

“From a sensory standpoint, lion’s mane has a relatively mild, slightly savory flavor compared with many other functional mushrooms. When properly extracted and formulated, it integrates well into coffee without significantly altering the beverage’s flavor profile.”

Black Sheep Coffee also offers a collagen latte and a prebiotic latte.

“Both work well in coffee because they blend easily into drinks without overpowering the flavor or affecting the texture, while still adding a functional boost,” Holth said. “Collagen supports skin, hair and overall vitality, giving customers an easy way to incorporate those benefits into something they already enjoy as part of their daily routine, while our prebiotic latte focuses on digestive wellness, helping support gut health and balance.”

A liquid pump format gives the coffee chain an advantage over competitors, he said.

“Unlike many coffee shops that use powdered functional ingredients, which can limit how and where they’re used, our pumpable range works much like a standard flavor syrup,” Holth said. “In the same way a barista might add a pump of vanilla to a drink, our functional shots dissolve and blend seamlessly into beverages.”

Holth and Shohet, college roommates, founded Black Sheep Coffee in the United Kingdom in 2013. An international brand now, Black Sheep Coffee is expected to have over 200 locations by the end of 2026 across the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, Holth said. The chain has US locations in Dallas and Austin in Texas and in Miami.

Black Sheep Coffee features coffee with lion’s mane mushrooms, collagen and prebiotic fiber at its cafes in the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates.

| Photo: Black Sheep Coffee

Ryze’s Super6 organic mushroom blend delivers natural energy, mental clarity, digestion support and immunity benefits, all without jitters or afternoon crashes, according to the company. Mushrooms in the blend are lion’s mane for focus, king trumpet for vitality, reishi for mood support, cordyceps for stamina, shiitake for immunity and turkey tail for gut health.

Other Ryze products target specific functional benefits such as a prebiotic fiber blend with acacia fiber, inulin fiber and tapioca fiber. Ryze’s mushroom hot cocoa contains a sleep blend of 1,000 mg of glycine, 300 mg of organic reishi extract, 200 mg of L-theanine, 15 mg of zinc citrate and 3 mg of melatonin.

More innovation brewing

M2 Ingredients, Vista, Calif., has launched a center of innovation that will help support the mushroom coffee and functional beverage industry as well as manufacturers of food, gummies, capsules, shots and bars, according to the company. M2 Ingredients is developing ways to reduce settling, enhance bioactivity and deliver a more neutral flavor profile in formulations.

“This center of innovation reflects the infrastructure the functional mushroom space has been missing,” said Sandra Carter, PhD, founder of M2 Ingredients. “It is designed to help brands move beyond concepts and into market-ready products that deliver on both efficacy and experience. We believe this will fundamentally change how functional mushroom products are developed and commercialized.”

M2 Ingredients already has introduced M2Brew, an ingredient specifically engineered for drip, pod, pour-over and foodservice coffee formats. M2Brew delivers up to 100 times more beneficial mushroom compounds into the finished cup compared to other brewed mushroom coffee formats because competitive products do not make it through the filter and into the cup, according to M2 Ingredients.

All-in-one format

Young professionals and students are turning to high-protein, ready-to-drink coffee as meal replacements and to combine energy, satiety and nutrition in a convenient, all-in-one format, said Micah Greenhill, senior marketing director for beverages at Chicago-based ADM.

“While whey has been a traditional staple for high-protein beverages, demand for plant-based alternatives is growing,” he said. “Soy protein, for example, delivers complete amino acid profiles to support recovery and muscle maintenance.”

Collagen in functional beverages provides protein and supports beauty-from-within attributes for skin, hair and joint health, he said.

“There is also emerging inclusion of adaptogens in both RTD and brewed coffee formats to address growing consumer demand for solutions that support stress management and mental focus,” Greenhill said. “While caffeine provides stimulation, many consumers perceive adaptogens as helping moderate jitters and deliver a more balanced energy experience.”

When adding protein, dependent on the source and inclusion level, formulators need to manage flavor, mouthfeel and solubility, he said. Higher protein levels may introduce off-notes, grittiness or sedimentation challenges in RTD systems.

Tapioca benefits

Soluble tapioca fiber, another functional ingredient option for coffee and other beverages, primarily consists of resistant starch and soluble fibers, both beneficial for digestive health, according to Icon Foods, Portland, Ore. The soluble fibers, when dissolved in water, form a gel-like substance that has been shown to contribute to fat emulation and various food textures for enhanced mouthfeel.

“Tapioca-based soluble fiber is one of the most versatile functional tools in the modern beverage toolbox,” said Thom King, chief innovation officer for Icon. “It is not just ‘fiber for a claim.’ It is architecture.”

He gave several benefits for soluble tapioca fiber. It offers mouthfeel and body without added sugar. It also provides light sweetness and rounding, bulking in reduced-sugar systems, humectancy, improved freeze-thaw stability, and calorie reduction when compared to sucrose or syrups. More benefits include digestive support when consumed at effective levels, a neutral flavor and low in color. Soluble tapioca fiber also performs cleanly across a wide pH range.

“That makes it unusually beverage-friendly compared to many other fibers that bring haze, sediment or off-notes to the party,” King said.