Explaining super-strong coffee’s ‘secret ingredient’

There are trade secrets, and then there are the key ingredients that give a beverage its power. Some additives are needed to be kept secret, but some might be intended to give consumers the confidence to trust in their product more.

With coffee labels, it shouldn’t be difficult to find the amount of caffeine content. This is for more than just consumer transparency, though: it helps solidify your brand. And if you’re producing a beverage making special claims, those claims need to be backed up.

One brand of coffee mentioned recently in Men’s Journal is being called “Bulletproof,” designed by a tech professional named Dave Asprey and supposedly based on the heavy cream present in Tibetan tea. The source of what allegedly makes this so energizing is a special oil that Asprey’s company produces.  

On the official site, Asprey describes how this product fits into a general philosophy of “biohacking,” which translates into manipulating food, beverages and body chemistry for increased energy. As a coffee producer, the brand clearly needs to balance describing these benefits to the target audience while also keeping it recognizably close to the coffee that customers will be most interested in.

But Men’s Journal points out that the energy-enhancing qualities of MCT don’t seem to have been completely proven, and the beverage may only be considered a supplement when consumed in moderation.

Because there are so many ways your customer base might be misled, the creation of good prime labels is a means of facilitating these things and reaching toward one coherent brand message.