GoNuts
Testing a personalised alternative-protein subscription proposition for Cargill across three European markets. System discovery → customer research → proposition → cross-market validation → prototype.
Context
Cargill / oneUp explored future opportunities in plant-based and alternative protein. The work looked beyond the end customer to farmers, processors, retailers, consumers, market experts, regulation, sustainability and emerging protein sources. Discovery surfaced interest in plant-based protein, local sourcing, cleaner-label products, convenience, health and more sustainable food systems. The challenge was turning those signals into a proposition people would understand and value.
My Role
As Lead Innovation & Growth Consultant at oneUp, I helped take the opportunity from ideation into prototype testing. My work included market and trend discovery, customer research, problem framing, assumption mapping, concept development, survey design, cross-market research, experiment planning, proposition validation, prototype testing, stakeholder workshops and evidence-led recommendations. We used principles from oneUp’s 9 Diamond Framework to reduce uncertainty progressively before further investment.
Problem
Could a global ingredients business create a direct-to-consumer proposition around personalised nutrition and alternative protein? GoNuts was a proposed personalised protein food-box subscription tailored to an individual’s nutritional needs. One of the riskiest assumptions was whether people would understand what “tailored nutrition” meant—and whether that language mattered to them.
Approach
We explored the wider food system and then tested customer understanding in Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. Research examined local, organic, sustainable and tailored nutrition, alongside carbon-footprint information, diet personalisation, existing nutrition behaviours, protein choices, health goals and ideas such as bio-hacking. The work progressed from market and system discovery to customer research, ideation, assumption mapping, proposition development, cross-market testing, reframing and prototype testing. The concept combined personalisation, alternative protein, convenience, health and sustainable food choices.
Experiments / Evidence
The clearest signal was that familiar food values were easier to understand than “tailored nutrition”. In Sweden, among 25 respondents, 11 understood the term as nutrition designed around their diet, body or metabolism; 6 did not know it and 8 did not know but tried to interpret it. Thirteen said they had never tried tailoring their diet.
In the Netherlands, 20 associated organic food with avoiding additives, GMOs, pesticides or chemicals; 20 associated sustainable food with reducing environmental harm. Fifteen saw tailored nutrition’s benefit as meeting individual needs once explained, but only 2 ranked it as the most important value, compared with 8 for local, 5 for organic and 4 for sustainable.
In Germany, 17 associated tailored nutrition with individual needs; 11 ranked organic highest, 7 local, 3 tailored nutrition and 2 sustainability. These are market-specific samples; no total respondent number is inferred.
Outcome
The work validated GoNuts as a personalised protein food-box proposition and progressed from ideation into prototype testing. It clarified the customer need, how people interpreted personalisation, which familiar values resonated and which assumptions still needed testing. The learning pointed towards communicating benefits such as health, better protein choices, convenience and sustainability rather than leading with unfamiliar “tailored nutrition” terminology. This was not a commercial launch.
What I Learned
Test the language as well as the idea: people may value a benefit without understanding the category used to describe it. Start with values people already recognise and combine them in a useful new proposition. Responses differed across Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, so one market’s reaction should not be treated as universal. Food innovation sits within a system of supply chains, farmers, ingredients, regulation, retail and production economics. Personalisation may be technically sophisticated; the customer proposition should feel simple.
