‘Living soda’ with probiotic and prebiotic
In the UK, a new soda is coming to market containing both probiotics and prebiotics. FHIRST aims to create a new high-growth category of ‘living sodas’.
Founder Steven Van Middelem observed a gap in the market for functional, ‘healthy’ sodas free from sugars and artificial sugars. His solution is a ‘science-backed’ health drink that combines the benefits of probiotics and prebiotics into one drink with a ‘popular soda taste profile’ and ‘maximum kerb appeal’.
The probiotic strain in FHIRST is one of the ‘most studied’ in the world. Each serving offers two billion live cultures microencapsulated for stability and allowing controlled release in the gut
FHIRST also contains 5g of prebiotic dietary plant fibre as well as zinc. The range – available in Cherry Vanilla, Passion Fruit, and Ginger Mandarin – is free from sugar, artificial ingredients and sweeteners.
“The global pandemic encouraged us all to think again about our immunity. 70% of our immune system lies in our gut, and gut health has been linked to the health of many other organs, including the heart and the brain,” said Van Middelem. “This has created huge demand for pro- and prebiotic products.”
According to the founder, there is nothing like FHIRST on the market. The start-up hopes to become global leaders in the space.
“We wanted to create a drink that can support immunity, brain health and overall gut health without compromising on taste, and without the sugars or artificial sweeteners, and that’s exactly what we’ve been able to do.”
Image source: FHIRST
