Welcome back to another episode of The Curious Consumer! Today, Jenna is joined by Mike Messersmith, CEO of Lasso Labs—a Harvard-born food tech startup using a patented fiber spinning platform to create high-protein, high-fiber foods with cleaner labels and no compromise on texture or taste.
Mike shares his journey from legacy CPG to Chobani and Oatly (both at their peaks) to food tech founder, how the tech actually works, and why he believes the future of food will be won by changing the process, not just the recipe.
Then, we get into the protein reckoning unfolding across the grocery store right now—why the whey shortage is a symptom of a much bigger industry shift, how Lasso’s tech could meet that demand, and combatting fear-mongering around processed foods. Let’s get into it!
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Lasso
1:47 Mike’s background: PepsiCo, Chobani, and Oatly
3:58 From dairy to oat milk: category creation and disruption
11:49 What is Lasso and how the technology works
13:59 Inputs, outputs, and product applications
23:38 Building a brand vs. a B2B food tech company
26:28 Why big food companies haven’t cracked this yet
27:14 The whey protein shortage and what it really signals
34:02 Ultra-processed foods: separating fear from facts
38:47 Food physics vs. food chemistry
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