Jun 10, 2026 · 39 min · 12 segments
What happens when ancient remedies meet modern branding? In this episode of Food Rebels, AJ Sharp sits down with Andrew Salter, co-founder and CMO of DIRTEA, to explore the rapid rise of functional…
Andrew SalterGuest
AJ SharpHost
It's like habit stacking, isn't it? The premise behind atomic habits of if you attach a new behaviour to something that you have already pre-established, you're much more likely to adopt it, which this does absolutely perfectly, doesn't it? The knowledge and awareness of functional mushrooms, of adaptogens, has massively been growing in the general consumer space over the last couple of years.
I think there's multiple tailwinds all driven around the idea that people are a lot more in touch with their health and wellness, a lot more conscious and aware of what they consume and a lot more disciplined in that way.
I think as we went into lockdowns and we were hidden away, I think we found these new behaviours, these rituals, these more positive healthy habits and that has helped kind of create the seven trillion dollar health and wellness market that we're seeing growing today.
We're seeing people changing themselves from toxic habits such as consuming alcohol and all sorts of other things and getting like you know earlier nights waking up in the morning and the morning is becoming a bigger part of people's days.
I So from that, obviously, social media plays a huge part to how people get information, not necessarily just from conventional media such as the news.
So people are finding, you know, you know, doctors, professors, nutritionists all online who are proactively promoting and educating about functional ingredients and other wellness principles.
you know, namely things that are also ancient, right, and won't necessarily be discussed in modern society.
And then we're kind of seeing science starting to catch up with more research, more studies, more clinical trials that's helping to sort of validate these ingredients and these new behaviours.
So I think it's a combination of like a consumer desire and need to want to be healthier and fitter.
I think there's a lot more awareness around like longevity and prolonging life, particularly around older age groups, maybe 60, 65 plus.
And I think, you know, consumer spending is now being pushed more onto health and wellness, you know, particularly amongst women.
And, you know, I think a lot of women spend a lot of money on beauty products.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised soon if that's matched by what their monthly spend is on wellness products.
It's like habit stacking, isn't it? The premise behind atomic habits of if you attach a new behaviour to something that you have already pre-established, you're much more likely to adopt it, which this does absolutely perfectly, doesn't it? The knowledge and awareness of functional mushrooms, of adaptogens, has massively been growing in the general consumer space over the last couple of years.
I think there's multiple tailwinds all driven around the idea that people are a lot more in touch with their health and wellness, a lot more conscious and aware of what they consume and a lot more disciplined in that way.
I think as we went into lockdowns and we were hidden away, I think we found these new behaviours, these rituals, these more positive healthy habits and that has helped kind of create the seven trillion dollar health and wellness market that we're seeing growing today.
We're seeing people changing themselves from toxic habits such as consuming alcohol and all sorts of other things and getting like you know earlier nights waking up in the morning and the morning is becoming a bigger part of people's days.
I So from that, obviously, social media plays a huge part to how people get information, not necessarily just from conventional media such as the news.
So people are finding, you know, you know, doctors, professors, nutritionists all online who are proactively promoting and educating about functional ingredients and other wellness principles.
you know, namely things that are also ancient, right, and won't necessarily be discussed in modern society.
And then we're kind of seeing science starting to catch up with more research, more studies, more clinical trials that's helping to sort of validate these ingredients and these new behaviours.
So I think it's a combination of like a consumer desire and need to want to be healthier and fitter.
I think there's a lot more awareness around like longevity and prolonging life, particularly around older age groups, maybe 60, 65 plus.
And I think, you know, consumer spending is now being pushed more onto health and wellness, you know, particularly amongst women.
And, you know, I think a lot of women spend a lot of money on beauty products.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised soon if that's matched by what their monthly spend is on wellness products.
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