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 everything
- Why the Harvard Chan School nutritionists told her to throw out the legacy products entirely and start from scratch
- How Lucille's formula compares: higher protein, higher fiber, higher calories, less sodium, less sugar — and zero shared core ingredients with existing products
- Why taste and texture were always the leading indicators — and how reformulating for better ingredients naturally improved both
- The strategy behind centering older adult influencers as the main event, not the exception
- How the hero campaign video of grandmother Lucille became something bigger than a brand asset
- The Wise Awards series and Lucille's vision for celebrating and preserving the stories of older adults
- DTC first: what's working on Amazon and direct-to-consumer ahead of retail
- The retail strategy for next year — and why placement next to legacy products creates a powerful consumer choice moment
- What 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:
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- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
