Steve Young on Investing in Health and Nutrition Pioneers

An interview with Steve Young is the managing partner of Manna Tree, a growth equity investor in the food and beverage industry, about his company is presented. Young mentions "We're big believers in the protein space, and we think reducing added sugar will be strong too. We're in the second inning of nine-inning games in those areas, where there's lots of innovation. Out health and the microbiome is another important area. such as with Olipopand poppi. I like our investment in Health-Ade (which makes kombuchas]. Manna Tree is focused on improving human health through nutrition, so what it (hat involved deploying capital in different ways to help consumers try to live belter, longer lives - so people don't spend the last 10 years of their life in some sort ot health decline? Our belief is 75% of that is foods and beverages; you can't out-exercise a bad diet. He adds "Anyone writing that space off and saying this isn't going to be anything, and that consumers just regain the weight anyway, or it's too expensive at $1,000 a month - I'd preach to take it a little more seriously than |most] large food companies seem to be. Look, the societal cost of obesity-related issues is immense, and the reality is that insurance companies will look at it and |try to help) people's body weights get to a belter spot. What if instead of being injectable, it becomes a pill that the masses could lake? It will have a massive impact on our food system. Protein will become super important. If you're on a 01,1' I (weight-loss drug], lean muscle mass can really get eroded. So what can we do lo make more prolein-rich offerings? Ihe craving for processed snacks goes way down. So how do we make healthier snacks? We're really bullish about that as an investment opportunity ID."