M2 Ingredients, the largest vertically integrated functional mushroom grower and ingredient supplier in the Western Hemisphere, today announced the launch of the M2 Center of Innovation, a state-of-the-art food, beverage, and supplement R&D application lab designed to accelerate innovation and elevate industry standards for functional mushroom product development.

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M2’s new Center of Innovation will help support the rapidly growing mushroom coffee and functional beverage industry. The M2 team has developed new solutions to reduce settling, enhance bioactivity, and deliver a more neutral flavor profile. The team is ready to partner with coffee, beverage, and food brands of all sizes, supporting them from ideation through production.

The M2 Center of Innovation brings together the most experienced functional mushroom R&D teams in the industry with a purpose-built facility to support brands developing next-generation functional foods, beverages, and supplements across formats including RTDs, ready-to-mix powders, gummies, capsules, shots, bars, and more.

“This is a major step forward not just for M2, but for the entire functional mushroom industry,” said Jeff Rogers, CEO of M2 Ingredients. “Brands have historically had to choose between ingredient suppliers and true innovation partners. The M2 Center of Innovation eliminates tradeoff by combining deep scientific rigor with real-world formulation and application expertise. This will be a powerful asset for our partner brands and a catalyst for faster, more confident innovation.”

Unlike traditional application labs, the M2 Center of Innovation is fully integrated with M2’s cultivation, processing, and scientific research teams. This vertical integration allows common formulation challenges such as solubility, suspension, flavor pairing, and sensory performance to be addressed at the ingredient level.

The Center of Innovation will be led by Jay Schmalz, R&D Innovation Manager at M2 Ingredients, and supported by M2’s in-house team of food scientists, formulation experts, and researchers with decades of experience developing functional foods, beverages, and supplements for leading consumer brands.

According to Dr. Sandra Carter, Founder of M2 Ingredients, the launch represents a defining moment for the category.

“This Center of Innovation reflects the infrastructure the functional mushroom space has been missing,” Dr. Carter said. “It is designed to help brands move beyond concepts and into market-ready products that deliver on both efficacy and experience. We believe this will fundamentally change how functional mushroom products are developed and commercialized.”

Chief Science Officer, Dr. Julie Daoust, noted that the Center was shaped by her own experience leading R&D and innovation teams on the consumer brand side earlier in her career.

“This is the partner I always wished I had when I was responsible for bringing new products to market,” said Dr. Daoust. “A team that understands ingredient science, formulation realities, scale-up challenges, and commercialization timelines all at once. The M2 Center of Innovation allows brands to innovate without having to build a full internal R&D infrastructure, while still delivering products that truly work.”

The M2 Center of Innovation is now open and actively collaborating with food, beverage, and supplement brand partners.

About M2 Ingredients

M2 Ingredients is leading the future of functional mushrooms as the most clinically supported functional mushroom ingredient supplier for food, beverage, and supplement brands. Vertically integrated, M2 organically grows and ships from Southern California and is backed by the industry’s largest scientific and R&D team. Visit M2 Ingredients to get samples and create products backed by real science and credible claims.

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“This Center of Innovation reflects the infrastructure the functional mushroom space has been missing,” Dr. Carter said. “It is designed to help brands move beyond concepts and into market-ready products that deliver on both efficacy and experience. "