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Hunter
I’m quite into healthy diet stuff and had recently been experimenting with probiotics and probiotics such as green banana and things like cacao powder. So when I came across Ample and found all the ingredients to be legit, I was really excited. Every single ingredient is legit. I reached out to the founder and got connected.
I’ve previously used Soylent and I'm a big big fan of that company, I think they're going to be hugely successful in the future and I'm looking forward to seeing their future products. But in the short-term, I must admit that I haven’t drunk it for a long time. The main ingredient today of Soylent is maltodextrin - a cheap food additive; it also contains an artificial sweetener in sucralose, which I’m trying to avoid.
For now, Ample is ideal for people like me, who are health conscious. I couldn’t make a more ideal set of ingredients, and having tried it recently, I can confirm that it tastes great. Maybe a bit like silent, but more nutty (from the macadamia nuts that are in it).
Here’s a Q&A that they put together because they get asked about how it compares to Soylent so much: http://www.amplemeal.com/soylent...
Ample is already pretty cheap; but the team have been kind enough to put together two special offers for product hunt users, that give you an extra 10% off:
- Secret link for a pack of the 400cal bottles: https://www.indiegogo.com/projec...
- Secret link for a pack of the 600cal bottles: https://www.indiegogo.com/projec...
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@_jacksmith I've tried Ample as well. Great for when your in the office all day
@_jacksmith Flexible funding always worries me. You actually have tried the real thing? They are shipping?
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Hunter
@joshdance yes, I've tried it, packaging looks great and tastes great. They've already manufactured a load of it. Very low risks to shipping vs other Indiegogo/Kickstarter campaigns
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I was in the same batch as Connor and got to try Ample and have had ample opportunities to try it (he he...). For a pre-made meal in a bottle, the taste is great and is packed with optimal ingredients (from someone who cares deeply about nutrition). Worth mentioning that Connor is in great shape himself, and great shapes are made in the kitchen.
@Connor -- any plans to incorporate health plans into Ample at some point? Aka asking people what their health goals are, and recommending the optimal usage of Ample as a meal replacement/supplement?
PS: The IndieGoGo campaign is on track to grab #1 spot for food related products nearing $300k. Go Ample!
Hey @aj_shewki, awesome question! Totally we plan on incorporating customized health plans. In fact, we're actually going to be releasing 4 versions of Ample in very near term.
1 The original Ample.
2) Ample X, which is paleo, vegan, vegetarian, etc.
3) A ketogenic version
4) A higher carb version for most post-workout / bulking
We'll be incorporating actual clinical studies (partnerships already underway) + self-data from QS community to have scientifically validated versions that are proven to be effective for certain use cases. That way, we can say with more certainty what would be your "ideal" version, and at what time based on your circumstances (plus a simple UX so average, non-biohacker people don't get overwhelmed!
At least 3 out of 4 versions should be released in 2016, though the customization part is more involved so it'll be a 2017. Studies are ongoing and will be forever a part of what we do.
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@connor_p_young I'll take a lifetime supply of the higher carb version, thank you very much.
@connor_p_young as a daily Soylent 2.0 consumer, I'm looking forward to trying Ample.
How are you thinking about driving/growing sales, focused on online distribution or through retail as well?
@malaparte Hey Andrei,
We want to stay away from retail for the moment, until our brand is stronger and we can leverage better prices (with, say, Whole Foods).
Instead, we're starting out with just small gyms, small and mid-sized businesses who provide food for their offices (you know... so we could level up the food that we got at 500 Startups ; ) ) and online affiliates who can both help us maintain brand integrity and take a smaller portion of sales. Amazon is an option in like 8-12 months.
But a key to our longterm growth is doing clinical studies. We believe that it opens up a ton of doors that are closed to almost any other food. We're working on a study showing Ample's relation to increased productivity vs. other foods. As the first packaged food proven to improve working productivity, it will massively help both consumer brand, and allow a long term play into corporate wellness, hospitals, military, and schools. I used to sell surgical devices to hospitals, and I know that it's easy to sell something regardless of cost to a hospital if you can establish its real clinical value. Especially with current government pressure with ACA.
@malaparte So regarding your initial question about driving growth/sales right now, post Indiegogo, we'll be basically just building the community with content, starting the initial study, and growing social media so that when we launch September, we have a strong enough community. Better community = higher LTV and lower CAC.
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Hey Connor,
thanks for taking the time for our questions. As somebody from Europe I feel a little left out, because I'd like to give Ample a shot. I dont blame you, Id do it the same way and start with one market at a time. I feel a little shi**y even asking this, but are there other nutrition complete foods you'd recommend? You clearly know what youre talking about. I want to make myself familiar with the matter without reading 10 different books about it or starting out with a bad product. if you have any recommendations just until i can order some Ample myself, that would be great.
@gopietz hey man, great question! Well, I really respect @ambronite, (@mikkoikola, @suoheimo), and they ship to Europe currently--they are from Finland. If I didn't create Ample, I'd be drinking Ambronite. Their nutrition knowledge is good, and give a shit about their customer's health. A bit higher carbs than I personally like, but the ingredients are stellar. So if you're looking for solid complete nutrition, go with them. www.ambronite.com. And we'll try to get Ample to Europe ASAP as well!
I bought a case of Ample as soon as Jack told me about it.
I've been drinking Soylent for breakfast and occasional snacks for a while now but have always been disappointed that it's so high in carbs, and low in fat and protein. Plus all the processed ingredients and no Paleo options.
I'm really excited for Ample and can't wait for my first shipment!
@iamjakestream there will be a low-carb option when it ships for everyone backing now. In the future they'll have a keto option, which will have moderate/low protein, very low carbs, and high fat
Seems like a lot of double standards on the science side. Firstly to say that theres a lack of evidence for GMO safety (which is false), but then to include lots of saturated fat (which has a similar lack of evidence for safety). Then to include loads of antioxidants, which have a growing body of research pointing in the direction of them being potentially harmful. If they were really being science based and conservative, they may want to be consistent. Especially when much of their organic ingredients have been drastically modified over time.
@sam_sexton hey Sam, (I'm the founder of Ample). Thank you for bringing up a couple interesting points!
Regarding GMOs:
I think the important thing is to remember that absence of evidence ≠ evidence of absence. Something that’s new bears massive burden of proof so “no evidence GMOs are unsafe” doesn’t prove they are safe, but they haven't been around long enough to know for sure. For comparison, consider that soy crops were introduced in 1996, were 90% of our soy before 2004, but the soy genome hadn't been sequenced until 2008!
Nutrition studies take time, and our engineering ability often outstrips our ability to understand the underlying science. The dangers of smoking and sugar took decades to uncover, and for these, we had the benefit of knowing who smoked or ate sugar. With GMOs, we have no idea because they’re not labeled.
Another issue is that the risks are unknown and unknowable. If after decades, they turn out to be harmless, then I took a needless precaution. But if they are harmful (even if the probability is low), then we’ll have subjected ourselves to decades of harm needlessly. The term “GMOs” is a catch-all term. Each year, new genetic modifications are added to our food. By saying “yes” to one, even if they are harmless, we’d open the door to future modifications that may be more extreme and harmful. And regulations companies aren’t required to say which genetic modification was used. The opacity of GMO industry and policy makes me feel uncomfortable trusting the quality of food, or potential geopolitical issues.
I often probably eat GMO stuff (because how could I not?) but as a food company, I feel like I've got a responsibility to every single consumer, and have to be more conservative. I'm willing to subject myself to biohacks. No my customers! : ) (replying shortly to your antioxidant question)
@sam_sexton hey Sam, let's talk antioxidants!
While you're totally right that there's been studies that show exogenous antioxidant supplementation being either negligible or potentially harmful (1-3), I think it's important to point out that all of the studies that I know of only implicate exogenous supplementation, not antioxidants coming from vegetables themselves.
As in, taking vitamin C, A, and E tablets is useless. They usually use the least bioavailable form. Consider vitamin A for instance. Your body wants retinol, but the "vitamin A" you get in supplements is almost always beta-carotene which can build up and cause issues. And supplements rarely add a carrier--which is why your pee is yellow when you take vitamin B. You're not absorbing it.
But there's a difference between this supplementation and getting antioxidants from the vegetables themselves, which have been shown to actually have benefit (4-5).
See, most of the argument against antioxidants is usually less an argument against antioxidants in general and more the fact that we're not getting them from the right sources. It's a case where we know that, in the body, they DO have benefit (especially glutathione). But we haven't been able to extract them from vegetables and spices and put them into pill form. Which is why things like turmeric and cinnamon continue to have massive (and growing) bodies of evidence to support their efficacy.
As you so well put, shoving us full of shitty vitamin A and C doesn't do good. But shoving us full of straight up vegetables wins every time. I'l totally concede though, that measuring vegetables based on on their antioxidant capacity may or may not be the best way to measure their value.
So in the marketing aspect of Ample, maybe I should've said "It's got vegetables! Vegetables are good for you. We don't understand why yet--maybe its the polyphenols, or magnesium, or the thousand other phytonutrients, but they just freaking work! Another case here where, to protect from our ignorance and overconfidence, I've chosen to get the nutrients from vegetables where we know they work, rather than from supplements where we THINK they do.
For more on the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, feel free to check out my Soylent vs. Ample blog, with the quesition starting: "Soylent 2.0 delivers exactly 20% of daily recommendations [...]" here: http://www.amplemeal.com/soylent...
References:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cont...http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubm...http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/c...http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S...http://ajcn.nutrition.org/conten...
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@connor_p_young Hey Connor thanks for your reply, 4 and 5 aren't really evidence but I agree with you on the whole. Veg is best!
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@connor_p_young You're right that GMO is a catch all term. Which is why "absence of evidence ≠ evidence of absence" is not relevant here. In fact agriculture has genetically modified all crops, even the organic ones you're using. Clearly then, choosing whether to include of exclude something based on it being part of a vague category of "GMO" is akin to me choosing not to eat anything that is red because it's not been proven that all red things are safe. Just like with foods that are red, you should judge each GMO on it's own merit. Theres plenty of overlap between GMO and nature.
this looks great, and connor sounds pretty up to speed and knowledgeable here. worth a shot at least. looking forward to trying it.
Also seems pretty well priced... even if Solyent is cheaper (as it is designed to be). If I peruse the shelves of Whole Foods or similar stores, there's tons of $5-$8 ready to drink craftsy products... usually some kind of cold pressed juice. This obviously should compete well with those nutritionally, and be similar price wise. Will have to see how it tastes!
One question Connor: what are your thoughts on the product for kids? Particularly young kids/toddlers, 2+?? I'm not thinking about it as a regular meal replacement, but on face value, if I could get my kids to use it (taste issue), I could see it as a pretty useful alternative a couple times a week to some of the other stuff they like (eg. Kefir, protein heavy yogurt shakes, green smoothies, etc.).
@jeremyz123 Thank you so much Jeremy! I'm super impressed that you've raised your kids to not only eat but LIKE kefir and green smoothies. Sounds like they've got a good dad.
From a physiological standpoint, Ample would be awesome for them. I just stay with the original, or Ample X, and stay away from the keto version for a bit though until there's just a bit more data on how ketogenesis effects kids, and the high carb version (which won't be relevant until they're doing intense exercise). It also seems like you're raising your kids to value real food which I think is awesome, so I would just make sure they still get in their veggies from time to time : )
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@connor_p_young well, i'm trying... there's plenty of crap food mixed in there... any way to get more good nutrients in them is a plus! i'll let them try it for sure. thanks
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