Baze receives Personalized Nutrition Initiative of the Year Award
With access to big data, digitalization, cutting-edge research and innovations, the award celebrates the best new initiatives in personalized nutrition. Differences in biochemistry, metabolism, genetics, and microbiota all contribute to the numerous responses to nutrition. In order to tailor dietary recommendations to specific biological requirements, Baze provides supplement recommendations based on an individual’s blood micronutrient status. The Baze Marketplace is an extension of the program, which allows consumers to identify food options that address their micronutrient needs.
Additionally, the Baze Food Guide offers foods and ready-to-eat meals that meet strict nutritional criteria set by the company's team of registered dietitians. In a new partnership with Performance Kitchen, Baze now offers nutrient-dense meal recommendations as well.
“Winning the Personalized Nutrition Initiative of the Year further validates the growing opportunity we are seeing for personalized nutrition brands to think more broadly beyond supplements to meet consumers’ needs for more holistic solutions. We truly believe that a solution that provides both targeted foods as well as personalized supplements will set the strongest foundation for optimized micronutrition,” said Baze CEO Philipp Schulte. “We hope that receiving this award both shines a spotlight on the benefits of our blood-based approach to identifying and resolving micronutrient deficiencies as well as opens the door for more cross-industry partnerships (and awareness) around personalized food and supplements.”
Advancing personalized nutrition
The judges commended Baze’s in-home blood test capillary cuff system as well as their meaningful effort to personalize through food as well as supplements, which could further advance personalization inside the nutrition industry.
Like many start-ups, the work is both rewarding and challenging.
“Determining the micronutrient content of the meal or food was our biggest challenge among the criteria by far. Only vitamin D, potassium, calcium, and iron are required on the current nutrition facts panel. Food brands, unless it is a fortified product, typically don’t state what the Percent Daily Value (%DV) is for most of the essential nutrients we test and provide recommendations for. This is not only a gap in the food industry, but also a gap in health and wellness across our country. Micronutrients form the foundation for a wide array of metabolic processes necessary for survival such as growth and development, energy production, blood clotting, immunity, and cognitive function but this information is not readily available to customers,” explained Baze Content and Growth Operations Manager Alex Lewis, RD, LDN.
Gabrielle McGrath, MS, RD, LDN, said the experience has been especially rewarding because their dietitians envisioned and created this new offering from the ground up. The Baze business development associate added the product offering and additional direction has allowed them to open up new doors and strengthen existing relationships with partners across the industry.
“We hope this award provides a call to action for the health, wellness, and food industries to pay more attention to the micronutrient and mineral content in their food products. We’re excited to be a leader and liaison in making this possible,” said Lewis.
The big business of personalized nutrition
Traditionally, nutrigenomics were only used in specific medical situations. Today, personalized nutrition uses affordable, self-administered tests that are easily accessible.
The nutrigenomics field is rapidly developing and as we learn more about how people react differently to various foods, the idea of making more personalized nutrition choices is catching on. With such potential to contribute to health and wellness, the personalized nutrition market is forecasted to reach upwards of $11.5 billion by 2025 .
