In this episode of R&D Radio, hosted by food scientist Adam Yee, Adam sits down with Colleen Cottrell, independent consultant at C Cottrell Consulting. With over a decade of experience spanning ingredient suppliers, finished CPG brands like RXBAR, and now independent consulting, Colleen breaks down one of the most underappreciated forces in product development: ingredient functionality — and why understanding it early is the difference between a product that scales and one that falls apart at the co-manufacturer.

Colleen explains why the same protein can behave completely differently depending on how it's been processed — heat, pressure, and shear all play a role — and walks through simple, low-cost assays that founders can run themselves to compare ingredients before committing to a formula. She also shares the inside story of helping RXBAR expand beyond bars into oats and other categories by working closely with ingredient suppliers to engineer egg white functionality at scale.

Listen in as they discuss:

What ingredient functionality actually means — and why it impacts your product more than you think
How heat, pressure, and shear change protein behavior (using eggs as the perfect example)
Liquid vs. dried egg whites: shelf life, moisture content, and functional tradeoffs
Why two pea proteins with the same label can perform completely differently
Simple DIY assays for foaming, gelling, and solubility — no lab required
The RXBAR oats story: engineering egg white functionality for new categories
How to set your non-negotiables before you scale
Current trends: protein and fiber maxing, the return to whole/real ingredients, and food-as-health
PDCAAS scores and why protein quality matters more than protein quantity
Why soy is dominating the protein trend — and what fibers are showing up most

Episode Links:

Colleen Cottrell — Independent Consultant, C Cottrell Consulting

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleencottrell

🔗 Email: colleen@cottrellconsult.com

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Episode music by Super Fantastics