“Stress has many faces, and we all deserve our own solution"

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Tell me about your journey into food tech and what excites you about food technology.

My journey in the food industry started 20 years ago when I worked for Nestlé in Brazil, and when I discovered the world of food, I fell in love immediately. Back then, our KPIs were more about taking out all the baddies, like oil, salt, and sugar. We talked about quality instead of quantity. And when I worked for Nestlé, for example, I had these KPIs from the snacks. So, I needed to make some healthier snacks. That was the first generation of food. The second generation of food was more about functional food, food that works for me and adds value, like probiotics and protein bars. The third generation of food is personalized food. The consumers are so smart, and they understand each one of us is different and one size does not fit all. Each one of us deserves a different and precise solution for his own body. This is what we are working on at myAir food tech, “food for mood,” which is based on personalized nutrition.

What insights have you gained over the years about the food space?

My main insights about food came when I worked as VP at Teva Pharmaceuticals. I understood that opioids and drugs are not a good solution and good health starts with what we eat and that plants could be the best medicine. If you give your body the right fuel, which is the food you eat, it can heal itself. Plants can be that right fuel because super plants are the first technology of the world. And the new trend in super plants is adaptogens. Adaptogens are the way that plants adapt to their environment and heal themselves, and the most famous of the adaptogen in the world is caffeine. So, what we are doing at myAir is we crafted and researched formulations of different adaptogens coming from super plants and how each different formulation created a different effect on our mood.

What's happening today, and what are some interesting trends that you're observing?

People are beginning to understand that they should take fewer drugs and instead eat healthier food and functional foods that are precise to their own body. Now all of our consumer decision-making processes are based on big data. Five years from now, each one of us is going to get a food that is relevant to our biomarkers, and it might be DNA or physiological data derived from wearables, for example, and psychological parameters. So we are combining all that data and we’re leveraging AI to make decisions about everything. But at myAir, we are focusing on a big unmet need, which is stress management. We understand that we can empower millions to control their stress through personalized nutrition. Because chronic stress is something that you should manage as if it was your dietary routine or your sports routine.

Before myAir, you were vice president of marketing at revered companies like Tava and Tambour. Why did you decide to venture out and build your own company?

I had a stressful career as VP of marketing at Teva and as CEO at this next division at Nestlé, As a business leader, executive manager, being a mother, and being a caregiver to my parents, stress became a messy part of my life. I tried to manage my stress through meditation and mindfulness, but I failed until I understood there is one thing we all love to do, which is eating.

Rachel Yarcony-Goldstein. Photo: MyAir

How is myAir using plant-based nutrition to help people manage stress, and what are some of the processes that I would go through as a consumer if I were to want to take part in myAir?

So, we developed an algorithm with Professor Daniela Kaufer from Berkeley that’s based on physiological and psychological markers. Everything is research-based, patented, proven to reduce stress, and based on profound clinical research that we conducted with Garmin Health. To use myAir, you go myAir.ai and do the first cognitive assessment, a very short questionnaire. After a few minutes, you're going to discover the main stress effects that are relevant to you. Then you are going to order customized myAir bars, and you’re going to get the box and your personal table of useage. We also invite you to connect your wearable to gain more insights that are based on physiological data. And the algorithm is working all the time because learning never ends. We leverage big data to help us get the best personal box of super plants for each consumer.

What is our food experience going to be like in five, ten years? What are some of the big shifts that you are anticipating in this industry?

The first big shift is going to be replacing our drugs with super plants. The trend of natural ingredients and this trend of moving to plants and understanding that all these artificial ingredients are bad for our body will be even bigger. Another big trend in the food industry is e-commerce. Covid has been an accelerator; e-commerce and food grew from 11% to 30% in six months, so e-commerce is going to help us all in the food industry to gain more personalization because all the big food corporations are looking for the best way to meet their consumers and to understand them better. The future of health is digital healthcare. Each one of us is going to be connected to his/her doctor with a device to send his own private file and gain his own personal solution on time and on demand, even preventive. The food is going to help us through that and going to be based on your body’s needs.

Where do you see the “food for mood” industry going in the future?

So, myAir is focusing on one huge unmet need, which is chronic stress, but food can help us with dealing with other mood conditions as well. The food for mood industry is something that is only starting, but all the big corporates are investigating that area deeply. And I'm sure that in the future, we are going to choose good food and plants as a source of cognitive effects as well because our body has the right receptors and our cognitive system is built for that. “We are what we eat” is not just a sentence, it's truly a strong belief.

Which three words would you use to describe yourself?

With passion, to dare, and to win.

Michael Matias. Photo: Courtesy

Michael Matias, Forbes 30 Under 30, is the author of Age is Only an Int: Lessons I Learned as a Young Entrepreneur. He studies Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University, while working as a software engineer at Hippo Insurance and as a Senior Associate at J-Ventures. Matias previously served as an officer in the 8200 unit. 20MinuteLeaders is a tech entrepreneurship interview series featuring one-on-one interviews with fascinating founders, innovators and thought leaders sharing their journeys and experiences.

Contributing editors: Michael Matias, Amanda Katz