Applied Food Sciences is a Silver Sponsor of SupplySide Global 2026. Stop by Booth 5730 in Bayside C from October 28 to 30 to talk PurCaf®, AmaTea® Max, Oligen®, and the new PurTea® family.
Heading to SupplySide Global? Applied Food Sciences is at Booth 5730, October 28 to 30. Ask about the three PurCaf® grades (one carries 45% chlorogenic acids), the new PurTea® family, and AmaTea® Max. Then grab a Sunset Stamina or Mocha Mindset at the sample bar.
SupplySide Global's expo hall opens Wednesday, October 28 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and for the first time, it stays open for three full days. If you're building an energy drink, pre-workout, functional beverage, or joint health supplement, one booth belongs near the top of your list: Applied Food Sciences (AFS), a Silver Sponsor of this year's show, at Booth 5730 in Bayside C.
AFS has spent more than 25 years supplying botanical caffeines, antioxidants, and functional mushrooms to beverage and supplement brands. It's the company behind PurCaf®, the green coffee caffeine inside Conor McGregor's MAC Energy, and AmaTea® Max, a patented guayusa extract with four peer-reviewed human trials to its name. We've covered both in depth over the past two months, so here's your briefing before you hit the floor. This year, the company is also putting joint health front and center with Oligen®, its olive polyphenol extract. And since AFS is pouring fresh beverage concepts daily at its sample bar, come thirsty.
Natural Caffeine Headlines Booth 5730
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PurCaf®: The Caffeine Inside MAC Energy
Crack open a can of MAC Energy and you get 200mg of PurCaf® natural caffeine, water-extracted from green coffee beans, alongside 2g of goBHB® ketones and 250mg of Cognizin® citicoline. McGregor's team could have saved money with synthetic caffeine anhydrous. They didn't, and we explained why that choice matters in Why Smart Brands Turn to Natural Caffeine Sources Like PurCaf®.
We also cracked a few cans on Episode #232 of the PricePlow Podcast with Marc Lobliner, discussing the popular can with PurCaf. Marc's take was that three well-studied ingredients with human data beat a crowded proprietary blend, and that's a hard point to argue with.
AFS's case for coffee-derived caffeine comes down to trust. Coffee and tea are the two most consumed beverages in the world after water, and they're where most of the world's caffeine comes from.[1] When we spoke with Brian Zapp, AFS's Creative Director, this summer, he put it plainly:
"The majority of the story, in my opinion, is really about familiarity."
-- Brian Zapp, Applied Food Sciences
A shopper who's wary of a long ingredient panel still knows exactly what coffee feels like. Seeing "natural caffeine from coffee" on the front of a can lowers that guard before a single study gets cited.
Green coffee extract or caffeine anhydrous. Same energy, very different read on an ingredient panel. MAC Energy named its source and put PurCaf® right on the can. More brands are doing the same, and the research explains why.
The PurCaf Family Now Has Three Grades
Here's what plenty of formulators walking the floor still don't know: PurCaf is now a small family of green coffee extracts, each built for a different job.
- PurCaf® is 98% caffeine. Its statement of identity on a label is simply caffeine (green coffee caffeine, specifically).
- PurCaf® + Coffee Fruit is 80% caffeine, with the other 20% coming from upcycled coffee fruit (cascara), the pulp around the bean that coffee producers have historically thrown away.
- PurCaf® + Antioxidants is standardized to 40% caffeine and 45% chlorogenic acids, the polyphenols green coffee is known for.
A Better Way to Label Your Natural Energy Source
That third grade deserves a stop at the booth to discuss the labeling implications. Because it's a multi-component botanical extract rather than essentially purified caffeine, it gives brands a stronger basis for declaring green coffee extract on the ingredient panel.
Picture a fortified cold brew or iced tea where the brand would rather not print "caffeine" in the ingredient list. Brian called it a subtle but valuable advantage, and AFS still recommends disclosing total caffeine per serving on any caffeinated product.
It also speaks to a debate that pops up in our community constantly. Standard natural caffeine leaves only a couple of percentage points for compounds like chlorogenic acids, and skeptics reasonably ask how much that sliver can do. Forty-five percent is a very different conversation, and from a formulator's standpoint, we like where it takes the whole coffee story.
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PurTea®: The Green Tea Side of the Family
AFS has given PurTea, its green tea caffeine, the same treatment. According to AFS, the lineup now includes a standard 98% caffeine grade, a PurTea® + Antioxidants grade that pairs caffeine with green tea catechins, and a third grade built around L-theanine.
The Kichwa people of Ecuador have brewed guayusa for generations. Applied Food Sciences turned it into AmaTea Max, a patented caffeine extract with four human trials behind it.
That last pairing has research behind it, too. In a randomized, double-blind crossover study of 27 regular caffeine consumers, 50mg caffeine plus 100mg L-theanine improved both speed and accuracy on an attention-switching task and reduced susceptibility to distraction on a memory task.[2] That study used generic ingredients rather than PurTea, but it's a combination plenty of formulators already reach for. AFS's website is still catching up to the new families, so this one's worth asking about in person.
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AmaTea® Max: Guayusa With a Research Program
AFS's second natural caffeine platform comes from a different plant entirely. AmaTea Max is extracted from guayusa (Ilex guayusa), an Amazonian holly the Kichwa people of Ecuador have brewed for generations, and standardized to about 20% caffeine and 30% chlorogenic acids.[3]
Our AmaTea Max deep dive walked through all four peer-reviewed trials. The standout for energy drink brands is the 2022 University of Memphis gaming study, where 49 active gamers played Fortnite on AmaTea Max, synthetic caffeine, or placebo. Synthetic caffeine significantly increased jitteriness compared to placebo, while AmaTea Max (matched at 270mg caffeine) showed no significant increase.[4] An earlier crossover trial found guayusa caffeine bioequivalent to synthetic caffeine, but interestingly with a smaller rise in urinary epinephrine.[5]
Kaged already stacks AmaTea Max alongside PurCaf in its pre-workout and fat-burner lines, and Dave Asprey featured the ingredient on The Human Upgrade podcast.
Beyond Caffeine: What Else Is at Booth 5730
AFS lists 11 ingredients in its SupplySide exhibitor profile, and several reach well beyond the energy aisle.
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Oligen® Olive Polyphenol Extract
AFS's pre-show email leads with joint health, and Oligen® is the reason. The olive polyphenol extract comes from AFS's partnership with Shreveport-based OleoLive, which uses a patented process to standardize it to oleocanthal and oleacein, two polyphenols that extra virgin olive oil contains only in trace amounts. AFS says a single 400mg serving delivers the polyphenol equivalent of about a quarter cup of premium olive oil, without the calories or the taste.
The pitch is speed. AFS says Oligen shows rapid biological activity, with benefits within hours of use, and gets there without the expensive enhancers or specialty delivery systems many botanicals rely on. Its "Leave Curcumin in the Dust" campaign makes clear which botanical it has in mind. Oligen debuted at last year's show, and if you're building a joint health formula, ask the AFS team to walk you through the data behind that onset claim.
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MycoThrive™ Functional Mushrooms
The MycoThrive™ line covers Lion's Mane, Cordyceps, and Chaga. MycoThrive Lion's Mane was the Nordic-grown comparator in the 2023 AmaTea Max cognition trial,[6] and AFS laid out its sourcing, characterization, and quality control for the extract in a May 2026 write-up. MycoThrive Cordyceps is AFS's stimulant-free energy and stamina option, which the company paired with ginseng in a stim-free sample at last year's show.
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CelluThrive™ D-Glucarate
CelluThrive™ is AFS's glucarate ingredient, which the company positions for liver health and hormone balance in women's wellness products. It anchored a hormone-focused sample at SupplySide Global 2025, and AFS has a women's wellness primer for brands building in that space.
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PurGinseng™, PurGinger®, PurTurmeric®, and PurC®
PurGinseng™ (Panax ginseng), PurGinger® (organic ginger), PurTurmeric® (organic turmeric), and PurC® (organic vitamin C from acerola) round out the portfolio. AFS files ginger and turmeric under "functional flavor", and builds all four for solubility in beverages.
What to Expect at the Booth
At SupplySide Global 2025, AFS sampled concepts including Focus & Endurance mushroom gummies, a "Good Vibes" organic caffeine concept, and a stim-free stamina formula built on cordyceps and ginseng. This year, AFS is running a sample bar with fresh concepts poured daily, and its pre-show email gave us a first look at two of them.
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Sunset Stamina
A tiki-inspired drink AFS built around a "social buzz" from cordyceps and ginseng, both in its ingredient portfolio. It's the same pairing behind last year's stim-free stamina sample, now aimed at the alcohol-free social occasion.
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Mocha Mindset
A mindful twist on cold brew, combining arabica coffee, creamy oat milk, chocolate, and lion's mane. Mushroom coffee already crowds plenty of shelves, and this concept shows how AFS would build one with its own lion's mane. We got an early taste of this one, and it's great. Don't leave 5730 without a cup.
Both drinks come out of the "Bringing the Feel to Functional Beverages" concept AFS introduced at IFT FIRST in July. Instead of starting with an ingredient list, it asks product developers to map the feeling first, whether that's a focused afternoon lift, a calm wind-down, a social alcohol-free drink, or a "glow up" wellness ritual. Ingredients come second, chosen to deliver that shift: guayusa and green tea caffeine for focused energy, ginseng and cordyceps for a more social lift (that's Sunset Stamina), and lion's mane, L-theanine, glucarate, and others depending on the mood and moment.
"The goal is to create a beverage with direction."[7]
-- Applied Food Sciences
That's a smart way to walk a booth, too. Show up knowing what you want your customer to feel, and the AFS team can point you to the ingredients that fit.
The PricePlow crew will be on the floor all three days, and we'll be stopping by 5730 with cameras rolling. If you see us, say hi!
Put Booth 5730 on Your Map
If you formulate energy products, Booth 5730 is where to ask which PurCaf grade fits your label, get the specs on the new PurTea family, and talk through how AmaTea Max's research could translate to your next can or scoop. Brands outside the energy aisle have plenty to discuss too, from MycoThrive mushrooms to Oligen for joint products. Whatever you're building, grab a Sunset Stamina or Mocha Mindset at the sample bar. And if you want dedicated time with the team, AFS is booking 20-minute meetings during the show.
Can't make it to Las Vegas? Sign up for Applied Food Sciences alerts below, and follow along with what AFS rolls out after the show.
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