AFS News
Mapping the Shift: Bringing the Feel to Non-Alcoholic and Functional Beverages
MAPPING THE SHIFTBringing the Feel to Non-Alcoholic and Functional BeveragesApplied Food Sciences (AFS) is introducing a new way to think about functional beverage innovation: Start with the feeling. For years, functional beverage innovation has often followed a familiar model: list the trending ingredients, tick the...
Three Tips To Master the Non-Alcoholic Market
The non-alcoholic (NA) beverage category is maturing quickly. Driven by younger generations who drink less and sober-curious consumers of all ages, the opportunity for innovation in the NA space is abundantly clear. But so too is the path to sustainable success. Our collective mission is to build a formula that creates an...
Train Hard. Recover Clean. Why CelluThrive™ Belongs in Every Sports Nutrition Stack
Recovery isn’t just protein. Exercise creates toxins. CelluThrive™ supports liver detox for cleaner muscle recovery. Learn why it matters.
Biohacking with Guayusa: Dave Asprey Features AmaTea® Max on The Human Upgrade™ Podcast
What happens when “The Father of Biohacking" and award-winning podcast host Dave Asprey is introduced to an Amazonian super leaf with clinically studied nootropic benefits? In this special episode of The Human Upgrade™ podcast, we take a deep dive into guayusa (ilex guayusa) and its benefits in cognitive performance and...
How AFS Brought the Feel to Functional Beverages at IFT FIRST
At IFT FIRST Expo this week, Applied Food Sciences showcased a new way to think about functional beverage innovation: start with the feeling. For years, product development has often begun with the ingredient list. Add caffeine for energy. Add adaptogens for stress and mood. Add a vitamin for wellness. Those...
Supporting Hormonal Changes in Women’s Wellness
Perimenopause is shaping the way a lot of women are looking at their health. As awareness grows and the stigma fades, the life stage of perimenopause is revealing a significant market opportunity for brands to focus on hormone balancing to help better support women in their wellness journey. Occurring roughly...
Lion’s Mane: The Latest Standout in Functional Beverages
The next time you walk down the beverage aisle at your grocery store, watch out! You may be caught in awe as you pass by the functional drinks, which are teeming with innovation as of late. From gut health to skin health to cognitive boosts, consumers are thirsty for anything that can deliver tangible benefits and help...
Raising the Standard for Lion’s Mane Supplements
Lion’s Mane is one of the most recognizable mushrooms in cognitive health, but not all extracts are built the same. See how MycoThrive™ Lion’s Mane is helping raise the standard through better sourcing, advanced characterization, clinical research, and quality control.
Supporting Hormonal Changes in Women’s Wellness
Hormonal balance isn’t just about production—it’s about elimination. Discover how CelluThrive™ supports the liver’s ability to metabolize excess estrogen, offering a science-backed solution for your next women’s wellness formulation.
AFS and KÄÄPÄ Biotech Expand Partnership with State-of-the-Art Cultivation Facility
Applied Food Sciences is thrilled to announce the expansion of its strategic partnership with KÄÄPÄ Biotech, marked by the opening of a new state-of-the-art cultivation facility in Finland. This expansion comes as a response to the growing global demand for premium functional mushrooms.
Stay Connected with AFS on X
Want to be the first to know about our latest ingredient launches, industry trends, and groundbreaking research? Follow us on X! We’ll keep you updated on the latest news from AFS, including exciting new clinical study findings, company press releases, and upcoming events where you can meet our team. Join the conversation today!
Introducing MycoThrive™ Lion’s Mane: A Clinically Studied Ingredient for Cognitive Performance
In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study, 40 healthy adults were evaluated on the acute (single-dose) response to 1000 mg of lion's mane, examining its effects on mental acuity and mood. The study introduces MycoThrive™ Lion's Mane, a premium organic lion’s mane extract and the newest addition to a series of innovative functional ingredients...
Boosting Immune Health by Protecting Against Toxins with Glucarate
Maintaining our immune health is crucial for the prevention of illness. While people are familiar with “boosting the immune system” by taking vitamins to fend off cold & flu, it is equally important to defend the body against harmful toxins, chemicals, and other pollutants that can cause an immune response. Every day we are exposed to a myriad of...
Enhancing Nootropics: New Study Shows Acute Cognitive Benefits from Guayusa and Lion’s Mane
Effects from Guayusa and Lion’s Mane were evaluated on 40 healthy adults in attention, working memory, mental processing speed, and mood.
The Next Move in Organic Vitamin C
While vitamin C is naturally found in many fruits and vegetables, most beverage applications use artificial vitamin C. Yet, as new organic ingredients emerge, beverage producers are finding value in branding around “organic vitamin C.”
Five Functional Ingredients that Stand Out on the Shelf
What draws people to certain products over others? Brands only have seconds to grab a consumer's attention on the shelf, and added functionalities only help influence their purchasing decisions. Consumers want to thrive with the products they love, and as a result, just about every food group is trying to enhance what it...
Winning in the Early Stages of Craft Spirits
While many beverage brands will succeed or fail within their first two years, whiskey will be slowly aging in barrels. To have success in craft spirits, a now nearly four-billion-dollar industry, it is worth the wait. For up and coming Longtucky™ Spirits,...
Growing Demand for Nootropics and “Wholesome” Energy
Recently, Mintel teamed up with a leading functional ingredient supplier, Applied Food Sciences (AFS), to gather insights on nootropics in what many are calling “the future of caffeine.” Their research highlighted the immense potential for beverages to capitalize on this emerging market. Furthermore, an innovative...
Five Functional Food & Beverage Trends
The natural products landscape is rapidly evolving as consumers demand innovative, health-focused ingredients. From functional mushrooms that boost cognitive health to organic energy solutions that enhance focus without the jitters, these emerging trends are reshaping the food and beverage industry. At Applied Food Sciences (AFS), we’ve identified five key trends that will lead the way in delivering functional benefits, clean labels, and cutting-edge solutions.
Read on to discover the ingredients driving these trends and how they can elevate your next product offering!
Solving the Caffeine Paradox
Caffeine helps us stay alert and focus but can also cause anxiousness that makes it hard to… well, focus – a contradiction that has inspired further research.
Tech Experts Launch Free-Flowing Curcumin
Downtime… The Struggle is Real Working with traditional curcumin ingredients can be a manufacturer’s nightmare because turmeric causes caking in production lines and stains equipment. In fact, due to the drastically lengthier cleanup times, some companies refuse...
Don’t Sleep on Organic, Soluble Turmeric
PurTurmeric™, an innovative, superior quality turmeric extract, yields a complex flavor and full solubility for simple formulation. Look for this new ingredient from Applied Food Sciences (AFS) at BevNET Live and IFT, 2018. Trending TurmericOrganic Certified & Non-GMOHighly Water SolubleShelf StableSaves Time &...
Ingredient Manufacturer Announces Non-GMO Project Verified Caffeine Ingredient
Austin, TX – Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS) takes the next step in demonstrating complete transparency by getting four of its core ingredients Non-GMO Project Verified. The company’s PurCaf® organic caffeine headlines a list of innovative and sustainably sourced offerings by AFS. PurCaf® Organic Caffeine – a 95%...
Supporting Hormonal Balance for Better Health with CelluThrive™
Hormone balance plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health for both men and women – impacting mood, energy levels, metabolism, and more.
The Story of Guayusa
We want to share our story about the broader impact that sourcing botanicals can have on communities. This article tells the story of a novel Amazonian tea and its incredible impact on the indigenous people that produce it. What is Guayusa? Guayusa...
Five Notes from Vitafoods Europe 2019
Europe has a lot to offer the natural products industry and at the Vitafoods Europe Show held every year in Geneva, Switzerland, many of the latest EU innovations are on display. For Applied Food Sciences (AFS) participating in this show is an important avenue to connect with customers from all over the world. While it...
Promera Sports announces new and advanced formulas for the only natural product line in sport nutrition.
ProMera Sports, arguably the sports nutrition industry’s most innovative company with its history of molecular development and new category creations (e.g. Patented Creatine HCl®, Alpha-GEE®, ALPHA RECOVERY PLUS™ for the treatment of DOMS and exercise induced inflammation and other significant innovations), has become the...
Applied Food Sciences Gains Non-GMO Project Verification
Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS) has taken the next step in demonstrating transparency by getting four of its core ingredients Non-GMO Project Verified. The company’s PurCaf organic caffeine headlines a list of sustainably sourced offerings. PurCaf Organic Caffeine – a 95% caffeine extract from organic green coffee beans...
Archive News
Organic, functional innovation essential for energy drink and shot growth
During the past decade or so, the energy drinks and shots category has experienced solid growth. In 2016, wholesale dollar sales for energy drinks grew 7.3 percent to $7.8 billion, according to Roger Dilworth, senior editor at New York-based Beverage...
Three Steps to Achieve Transparency in Beverages
When it comes to beverages, the full concept of “clean" goes beyond incorporating natural ingredients into a formula. It aligns more with demonstrating the transparency of the product as a whole. This is because the premise behind “clean label" is consumers are...
AmaTea® Guayusa Tea Extract
Guayusa or ‘Ilex guayusa’ as it is commonly referred to as in the amazon rainforest, is a species of tree from the family of the ‘holly genus’ plants. In terms of specific regionality, the leaves are naturally found as well as cultivated in upper Amazonian regions of...
Applied Food Sciences Secure Patent for Producing Guayusa Extract
Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS) has announced it is now the exclusive owner of a process patent that covers the production of enriched natural guayusa, from a single source plant, containing antioxidants, amino acids and caffeine. Guayusa is a caffeinated leaf of...
AFS issues Patent for Producing Guayusa Extract
AFS is pleased to announce it is the exclusive owner of U.S. Patent #9345707, a process patent that covers the production of enriched natural guayusa, from a single source plant, containing antioxidants, amino acids and caffeine. The purpose of this process...
Applied Food Sciences Joins the UNPA as its Newest Executive Member
Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS), an Austin, Texas-based ingredient supplier of novel organic and functional extracts designed for food, beverage, and nutritional supplements, is pleased to announce being accepted as the newest Executive Member of the UNPA....
Applied Food Sciences Opens State-of-the-art Innovation Center
Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS) demonstrates a commitment to innovation in food, nutrition and life sciences with the grand opening of a Midwest-based Innovation Center in Iowa City, Iowa. The Austin-based company, Applied Food Sciences, is a natural ingredient...
AFS Opens State-of-the-art Innovation Center
Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS) invests in the University of Iowa choosing its BioVentures Center (BVC) to be location for the company's newest branch for plant-based ingredient innovation. AFS demonstrates a commitment to innovation in food, nutrition and life...
Beverage Expert Applied Food Sciences Makes Breakthrough With Two New Organic Ingredients
Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS) has taken the next step in their organic offerings, introducing two new organic ingredients PurGinger™ organic ginger extract and Pur-C™ organic vitamin C extract at the upcoming BevNET Live conference...
Three Reasons Energy Drinks Will Continue To Dominate The Shelf
In 1987, an energy drink was sold for the very first time in its home market of Austria. The original beverage, at the time called Krating Daeng, was actually a Thai energy drink marketed to truckers, farmers, and construction workers. It wasn’t until...
(Even Better) Better-For-You Extruded Snacks
Most of us can't help but occasionally surrender to the addictive convenience of grabbing a crinkly bag off the snack aisle. If you are like 95% of Americans, who snack at least once a day, you will likely have had the delight of trying the puffy, crunchy, airy treats...
Hemp Seed Protein Gives Rise to Healthy Pizza Dough
Dough formulation is no easy feat, especially when working with plant-based or allergen-free ingredients. Protein from hemp seeds is an innovative solution that checks the right boxes.
Green Tea Extract Makes A Splash in the Energy Drink Market
Energy drinks are big business. And, despite setbacks in recent years, are still popular among Americans, with projected growth of 52% from 2014-2019, according to data from market research firm, Mintel. In 2015, energy drinks took up 6.2% of the total US soft drink...
Mastering Plant-Based, Gluten-Free Baking With Hemp Protein
Protein plays a substantial role in baked goods. Beyond adding nutritional value, protein conditions dough, provides structure, retains moisture, and enhances texture. Therefore, as newer plant-based ingredients take the place of traditional proteins like animal...
How Applied Food Sciences’ Green Tea Extract is Unlocking Organic Energy Drinks
According to a recent Mintel report, energy drinks are not slowing down, in fact, they are expected to have excellent growth through 2019. Part of the reason energy drinks remain one of the only categories in beverage to continue sustained growth is that they are...
