#194: Katie McCammack - Build Beverages at LaCore Nutraceuticals

Welcome back to Episode #194 of the PricePlow Podcast, where we tour LaCore Nutraceuticals in Van Alstyne, Texas with Kaitlyn McCammack, their Manager of Research and Development. Fresh off running the CREATEA Mighty Mango beverage — the collaborative innovation featured at SupplySide Global 2025 — we explore LaCore’s impressive manufacturing capabilities and discuss why creatine belongs in functional beverages. LaCore represents a rare breed in supplement manufacturing: a facility offering everything from personalized nutrition packs to 12-ounce cans, stick packs to tetras, all while maintaining startup-friendly minimums. Katie walks us through their two Texas facilities, including a nostalgic former Johnson & Johnson building housing their can line with the biggest tanks we’ve seen. The conversation ranges from creatine for kids to liposome technology, proving that manufacturing innovation drives ingredient innovation. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform and sign up for LaCore Nutraceuticals alerts on PricePlow before we dive into this facility tour. https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/lacore-nutraceuticals-194 Video: Behind the Scenes at LaCore Nutraceuticals in Van Alstyne, Texas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQi2MBma9RM Detailed Show Notes: Manufacturing Innovation with Kaitlyn McCammack (0:00) – Introductions and LaCore’s Multi-Format Capabilities (1:45) – Tour of the Van Alstyne Facility (3:30) – Production Scale and Startup-Friendly Philosophy (6:15) – The CREATEA Project: Bringing Creatine to Functional Beverages (8:00) – Katie’s Personal Creatine Protocol (10:45) – Creatine Dosing Strategy and Overages (13:15) – Creatine Research Beyond Muscle Growth (15:30) – Bringing Creatine into the Cognition Space (17:15) – Can Size Preference and Industry Trends (19:00) – Energy Drink Preferences and Market Positioning (21:30) – Personalized Nutrition and Pack Customization (23:45) – Multi-Serve Liquids and Format Innovation (26:30) – Gel Packs, Liquid Sticks, and Novel Delivery Systems (30:30) – Liposome Technology and Particle Size (33:00) – Homogenizers vs. Sonicators (35:15) – Emulsion Technology and Novel Applications (38:30) – Clean-in-Place (CIP) Procedures (41:00) – Rev7 Ketone Beverage Sampling (43:30) – Arjuna’s Shoden Ashwagandha Innovation (45:30) – Facility Capabilities and Industry Positioning (47:00) – Katie’s Industry Journey and SupplySide Preview (48:30) – Closing and SupplySide Innovation Stage Where to Follow Kaitlyn McCammack and LaCore Nutraceuticals Kaitlyn McCammack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-mccammack-37656a178/ LaCore Nutraceuticals on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lacorenutra/ Sign up for LaCore Nutraceuticals alerts: https://www.priceplow.com/lacore-nutraceuticals Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on any platform, sign up for LaCore Nutraceuticals alerts on PricePlow, and leave us a great review on iTunes and Spotify! All PricePlow Articles Mentioning LaCore Nutraceuticals