Founder Feature: The First Better-For-You Nutrition Company for Older Adults with Jess Haghani of Lucille

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Jess Haghani, founder of Lucille — the first better-for-you nutrition company specifically designed for older adults, named after her 92-year-old grandmother. Lucille is reimagining what senior nutrition looks like from the ground up: better ingredients, better taste, better packaging, and a brand that finally gives older adults the dignity, care, and innovation they deserve.

Jess started her career in senior housing before attending Harvard Business School, where she partnered with nutritionists at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health to completely reformulate nutrition shakes from scratch. The result? A product with zero ingredient overlap with legacy brands — except water and salt — and dramatically better macros, micros, taste, and texture.

Together, Caitlin and Jess dig into what it really took to blow up a category that hasn't meaningfully innovated since the 1970s, why taste was always the leading indicator for success, and how Jess centered older adult influencers as the main event rather than the exception. They also get into the realities of launching DTC first, what retail looks like next year, and what it's like raising capital as a newly launched brand with a deeply personal mission.

Listen in as they cover:

The personal moment that sparked Lucille — and what Jess saw on the hospital shelf that changed everythingWhy the Harvard Chan School nutritionists told her to throw out the legacy products entirely and start from scratchHow Lucille's formula compares: higher protein, higher fiber, higher calories, less sodium, less sugar — and zero shared core ingredients with existing productsWhy taste and texture were always the leading indicators — and how reformulating for better ingredients naturally improved bothThe strategy behind centering older adult influencers as the main event, not the exceptionHow the hero campaign video of grandmother Lucille became something bigger than a brand assetThe Wise Awards series and Lucille's vision for celebrating and preserving the stories of older adultsDTC first: what's working on Amazon and direct-to-consumer ahead of retailThe retail strategy for next year — and why placement next to legacy products creates a powerful consumer choice momentWhat fundraising really looks like as a newly launched brand — and what it took to close their round

Episode Links:

🌿 Lucille Website: https://lucillehealth.com 

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucillehealth 

🔗 Jess Haghani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-haghani-40917bba

🔗Lucille on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lucillehealth/

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Show Links:

Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)Follow @startupcpgVisit host Caitlin's Linkedin Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.comEpisode music by Super Fantastics