027: When Mushroom Magic Meets Chocolate Bliss with Maria Paula Garces

Essential Ingredients Podcast

“If you always knew, you may think twice. But then you approach it with audacity.” —Maria Paula Garces

Mushrooms are nature's secret superfoods, quietly working behind the scenes to nourish both humans and Earth's ecosystems alike. Combined with the indulging flavor of cacao, these mushroom morsels form the newest way to nourish both taste buds and total wellness.

Founded by Maria Paula Garces, Fungible Chocolates creates chocolate bars infused with single strains of functional mushrooms to provide targeted health benefits like focus, immunity, and relaxation. They aim to educate consumers on the untapped wellness potential of mushrooms through clean, simple products.

Listen in as Justine and Maria share the benefits of using single-mushroom extracts versus blends in functional mushroom chocolates, the challenges of starting a business related to fungi, the importance of finding a product that aligns with one's values and enjoying the process of creating something material from an idea, and the value of building a strong foundation for a successful business through diverse advisory boards and consistent networking events.

Meet Maria:

Maria Paula Garces is the founder and CEO of Fungible Chocolates, a functional mushroom chocolate company based in California. She has over 10 years of experience as an entrepreneur, having launched 10 startups in various industries including health foods and organic clothing.

Prior to founding Fungible Chocolates, Maria worked as a marketing manager in the biotech industry. Maria takes a lean, self-funded approach to building her businesses and has raised a small round of investment. She is focused on researching new mushroom extracts and expanding Fungible Chocolate's product line while maintaining simplicity and accessibility.

When she's not running her company, Maria enjoys networking in the startup community to build her knowledge and advisory network.

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Episode Highlights:

03:32 A Dive Into Functional Mushrooms and Chocolate

10:12 Mushroom Benefits and Their Role in Agriculture

16:46 Funding and Growth with a Lean Perspective

21:07 Building a Strong Advisory Board