Function Meets Flavor: Martin Gratzer Of Biogena On 5 Things You Need to Create a Successful Functional Foods Brand
An Interview with Wanda Malhotra
Taste: taste is non-negotiable. You can have the healthiest product in the world, but if it doesn’t taste good, nobody will consume it. That was the biggest challenge and ultimately our biggest success.
As the appetite for foods that offer health benefits beyond basic nutrition continues to grow, the market for functional foods has exploded. Consumers are no longer just asking for delicious flavors; they demand that their foods also support their lifestyle, health, and well-being. This intersection of function and flavor is not just a trend; it’s a movement towards a future where every bite counts towards better health. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Martin Gratzer.
Martin Gratzer is the Co-Developer of Biogena-One (Company) — (with mission for health and well-being accessible) , former Austrian champion for Shot Putt, personal trainer of Gen Pop and Olympic Athlete, Biohacker since the 90s, and educated by the most successful strength coach of all times, Charles Poloquin, and Green Business entrepreneur with his success tied to Biogena-One.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I need to expand a little here, as this history will also be of interest for some follow-up questions. I have spent more than 20 years of my life as a competitive athlete (athletics/shot put). At a young age, I unfortunately had to come to the realization that my body was not genetically 100% suitable for shot-putting and began to look into the subject of biohacking in the 1990s. This is also how I got to know Charles Poliquin, the most successful Strength & Conditioning Coach of all time — responsible for over 30 medals at major international events such as the Olympic Games and often quoted in books/podcasts from Tim Ferris to Andrew Huberman.
He became a mentor and friend and I started working as a personal trainer alongside competitive sport (normal population to olympic athletes). Many thought that because of my passion, I would end up in the sports/nutrition field after my competitive sports career, but it turned out differently. After studying economics, I started out as a banker and worked my way up to become the manager of a regional bank in Austria at a young age. So in the first decade of my professional life, my focus was on “financial fitness”. However, I have always remained in the health sector part-time as a coach, and now the exciting part begins.
In 2019, I enjoyed a vacation in Egypt with my family and a good friend who was with me as a training partner (we trained twice a day and visited the pyramids in between 😊). Over dinner, I told him about the problem I have with many of my fitness clients. They all know that they need to eat more fruit and especially vegetables (and thus improve their energy levels, sleep and much more), but they usually don’t, and if they do, it’s only for a short time. The alternative of taking at least some of the missing micronutrients via supplements is also too complicated for many people or simply not possible because they can’t or don’t want to swallow capsules. (My wife is the best example)
He then said to me, “don’t complain, find a solution”.
As a result, we developed a canned solution during the Covid period, all this happened alongside my main job as a bank manager. In the end, however, I had to realize that the necessary investment costs were not manageable for me alone and the project was put on hold. At the same time, the search for a partner/investor began and I found one in Albert Schmidbauer, the founder and CEO of Biogena, a very renowned family-owned food supplement manufacturer. He liked the idea, but he suggested that I incorporate this idea into the “next generation green drink” project that he had already started. After a year, in September 2023, Biogena One was ready and he made me the offer to bring Biogena One to the world as managing director. After careful consideration, I left my comfort zone of banking after more than 14 years and dared to take the step into a new industry.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
I also have to come back to my competitive sports career here. Even at a young age, I had to deal with a lot of injuries due to my poor genetic condition and at the age of 18 I seriously injured my knee, which resulted in a surgery and a one-year break. My doctor and good friend advised me to stop doing sport on a high level at the time as I was too prone to injury. I would never make it to national titles and would only ruin my body completely.
My stubbornness, or let’s call it perseverance, would not accept failure and so I continued my career as a shot putter. In the end, I did not achieve all my goals, but with 12 national titles I am still not entirely dissatisfied. In addition, without my stubbornness I would probably never have met the late and great Charles Poliquin and would probably never have ended up in the healthcare industry and with you here in this interview.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I would be happy to, although I would like to start by saying that I have a very team-oriented management style and that the best achievements are made in a team.
1. perseverance: In the initial phase of our green drink, we encountered numerous setbacks, be it in the procurement of high-quality raw materials or in finding the right recipe. However, we were convinced that our product could make a difference and this gave us extreme motivation not to give up. Many people in working life often miss the meaning/content of what they do, apart from earning money, this is very different at Biogena. Our employees know that their work makes an important contribution to health and well-being, which is particularly relevant in times when the number of people with health problems is constantly increasing (e.g. metabolic syndrome).
2. empathy: In order to successfully offer a product or service, you have to understand the needs of the consumer. This was very crucial in the development of Biogena One, but also in my banking career, whether it was direct advising of customers or in communication with my employees. “Fun fact”: I was often criticized by my managers for my cooperative management style, but in the end my approach turned out to be the right one. In my view, the next generation in particular can no longer do much with authoritarian approaches.
3. innovativeness: In an industry as dynamic as functional foods, it is crucial to be open to new ideas and approaches. For example, we were early adopters of the addition of adaptogenic ingredients, even before this trend really took off.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
Frankly, we are currently in the process of further improving our new all-in-one product Biogena One and launching version 2.0. Here I am relying heavily on the Kaizen principle, which has also contributed to the great success of a world-famous Japanese car brand.
In addition, we are already working on other all-in-one solutions for different needs that complement our greens drink perfectly.
The topic of biohacking is becoming increasingly popular, but in my view this means offering customers simple and convenient “hacks” in the area of nutritional supplements. There are only a few people (like me 😊 ) who can or want to swallow 20–40 capsules a day to improve their health and performance.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. To begin, let’s start with a definition so that all of us are on the same page. What does Functional Food mean to you?
For me, functional food means that food not only fills you up, but also actively contributes to your health and well-being. It’s about integrating nutrition into everyday life that supports the body and offers enjoyment at the same time. That’s exactly what we wanted to achieve with our greens drink — a functional solution that is not only healthy, but also tastes great.
What inspired you to get involved in the functional foods industry? How does that relate to your personal life and values?
Many people who want to eat healthily fail due to a lack of time or knowledge, something I have often experienced in my work as a personal fitness trainer. The idea of developing a functional product that helps these people fits in with my personal values of making health easily accessible to everyone.
Can you share your insights on the growing demand for functional foods in today’s market? How has this demand evolved over the years, and what do you attribute this change to?
The demand for functional foods has literally exploded in recent years. More and more people are realizing that they can actively influence their health and performance with their diet. In my opinion, this trend has been driven by the increasing number of health-conscious people as a result of the pandemic and the growing availability of information. Today, consumers want products that go beyond simply providing nutrients and help them improve their quality of life. In addition, functional foods are benefiting from the general “biohacking” trend. Let me give you an example: Cryo chambers are growing in popularity because they offer a similar effect compared to an ice bath with significantly less time spent and basically more convenience/less overcoming.
Can you discuss the process of balancing taste with nutritional value in product development, ensuring that flavor does not take a backseat to function?
That was one of the trickiest parts of developing our green drink. No matter how healthy a product is, if it doesn’t taste good, nobody will buy or take it. We worked for a long time to find a balance between taste and nutritional value. We have carried out numerous tastings and our team has done a really great job to ensure that our product is both functional and tasty. Incidentally, this was recently clearly confirmed by testers in a blind taste test, where we came out as the clear winner against the major competitors (one also has a 1 in its name 😊).
What innovative ingredients are you most excited about in the functional foods market, and how are they transforming consumer health and wellness?
I am particularly enthusiastic about the latest research into mushrooms and wasabi. These active ingredients have a long tradition in Asia and have the potential, among other things, to help the body adapt better to stress and promote general well-being. We have already integrated some of these ingredients into our greens drink, as they help us to support the body holistically. A major advantage for us as a company is that we can already produce some of the active ingredients, such as wasabi, in a company in which the Biogena Group also has a stake, using innovative indoor farming. This saves long transportation routes (wasabi comes primarily from Japan) and production does not require any pesticides and is CO2 neutral thanks to our photovoltaic systems. A healthy environment is a fundamental focus for us as a health company, because the root of many diseases are the many pollutants that we humans produce — we are practically swimming in a sea of toxins, to put it more succinctly.
I also find the area of probiotics very exciting. My mentor Charles Poliquin said 20 years ago that “it doesn’t matter what you ingest, it matters what you can assimilate”. The latest research shows that a healthy microbiome is very important for a fit immune system, mood, sleep (neurotransmitters) and much more. This is also the reason why we have integrated it into Biogena One.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Functional Foods Brand”?
1. Consumer understanding: understand what your target group needs and wants. Our Greensdrink was born out of a desire to fill a gap we saw in many people’s diets — the need for a simple but effective way to supplement their diet. The best product is useless if the benefits are not understood. Of course, you can also try to educate people about this, but it takes a lot of patience and money.
2. The quality of the ingredients: use high-quality ingredients that have been proven to be effective. From the outset, we have been committed to using only the best ingredients in our product to provide real benefits. We deliberately don’t go down the “shareholder value model” route here but rely on our people, planet, profit model. Frankly, not all of our customers are experts in the field of nutrition, so the high quality of our ingredients (e.g. we use the expensive but extremely bioavailable form of ubiquinol for coenzyme Q10) is certainly not the most important buying criteria at first. In the medium and long term, however, our customers will notice the difference and quality will win through. Apart from that, we have been working with over 20,000 doctors worldwide for many decades, who also recommend our functional drinks and food in addition to our Classic Line. This means that we cannot make any concessions to the usual Biogena premium quality.
3. Taste: taste is non-negotiable. You can have the healthiest product in the world, but if it doesn’t taste good, nobody will consume it. That was the biggest challenge and ultimately our biggest success.
4. Transparency: Be open and honest about the ingredients and their effects. Consumers today are informed and critical. Transparency creates trust and supports long-term customer loyalty. Especially in the food supplement sector, there are always “scandals”, i.e. the list of ingredients does not match the contents. I still remember my time as a competitive athlete, when there was a big scandal because sports nutrition was contaminated with hormones or prohormones. This is of course the worst thing that can happen to a clean competitive athlete. For this reason, it was also important to me that each of our batches is tested by an independent institute and we are also on the Cologne list, i.e. our products are tested for doping substances.
5. Innovation: stay curious and open to new developments. The functional food industry is constantly evolving and it is important to recognize and respond to trends at an early stage. It is not without reason that we are already working on version 2 of Biogena One in order to integrate the latest research results from our collaboration with universities and partner doctors and biohackers into the product.
How do you navigate the regulatory challenges associated with health claims on food packaging, and what advice would you give to new entrants in this space?
Legal compliance is critical to gaining consumer trust and avoiding legal issues. I am grateful that at Biogena we have one of the largest teams in the industry to ensure that our claims are accurate and valid. My advice to new entrants is to study the legal framework carefully and, if in doubt, seek professional advice, as there are also major national differences depending on the country.
In what ways have consumer preferences shaped the evolution of your product offerings, and how do you stay ahead of the curve in such a dynamic market?
Here we benefit greatly from our loyal customers, with whom we are in close contact and who are happy to give us regular feedback. Our cooperation with the many doctors, nutritionists, biohackers and fitness trainers around the world also helps us to stay 1–2 steps ahead of the competition.
I would also like to highlight our large scientific team in this context. This is of course a great advantage over smaller start-ups, which may only have one or a few people available to research the latest study results. The Internet and the amount of information are a curse but also a blessing if you have sufficient personnel and intellectual capacity to process all the information in existing and new products.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Unfortunately, my influence is far too small, but most movements start with a vision. In Europe, especially in Austria, because of our still very good and mostly “free” healthcare system (the free is under “, since we all pay for it indirectly through a higher tax burden), we live a bit according to the “fully comprehensive” principle →me or my doctor takes care of my health when I get sick. Prevention is therefore an issue that I would place much more emphasis on, with a mix of incentives and penalties. A private insurance company in South Africa, for example, lowers the insurance premium if the customer demonstrably consumes more vegetables. Biogena supports the topic of prevention in that we pay a lot of attention (both in the media and financially) to the topic of osteoporosis. We bring free testing opportunities directly to the people with our own large campaign bus because we (especially our founder and CEO Albert Schmidbauer) are very concerned about combating unnecessary bone fractures and years of suffering.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
Our readers can follow us on our official website (www.biogena-one.com and www.biogena.com) and our social media channels, where we regularly share updates on our products, new developments and tips for a healthy lifestyle.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
