Elizabeth Berrett
Nutri-Genetix, the UK-based personalised nutrition brand also known as NGX, has launched a second round of crowdfunding as it looks to accelerate growth and challenge what it sees as outdated rules around meal replacement products.
The company, which describes its shake as the world’s first genetically personalised nutrition shake tailored to an individual’s own DNA, is aiming to push further into the performance, health and wellness market after a successful first funding round in December 2019.
This latest campaign was first opened to NGX’s existing tribe of previous investors and customers before going public on 1 October 2020.
A Start-Up Riding The Personalised Nutrition Wave
There is no shortage of nutrition shakes out there. Some promise lean muscle. Some promise weight loss. Some promise the moon and taste faintly of wet cardboard and regret.
Nutri-Genetix is trying to do something more precise.
Its BodyFuel supplement is designed around the individual, using personal genetic information to tailor nutrition to the customer’s needs. The company says the product can support weight loss, endurance and lean muscle gain, while also being used as either a meal replacement or an additional nutritional shake.
That puts NGX in the increasingly busy but highly relevant space between sports nutrition, personalised health and functional food.
And the early numbers suggest the concept has found an audience. The brand says it has delivered 30,000 NGX meals in 2020 and is experiencing 100% month-on-month growth following customer feedback.
Why Nutri-Genetix Is Taking On HMRC
Alongside its expansion plans, Nutri-Genetix is also challenging HMRC over how meal replacement products are legally defined.
At the heart of the dispute is what the brand sees as outdated terminology carried over from EU legislation, particularly around the requirement for a set level of carbohydrates.
NGX argues that the current definition effectively rewards higher-carbohydrate products with UK VAT exemption while penalising healthier alternatives that do not fit neatly into the existing wording.
It is a rather odd situation. At a time when the UK government has been vocal about tackling obesity, NGX says some so-called weight loss shakes can contain up to 20% sugar and still meet HMRC guidelines.
For a nutrition start-up built on personalisation and modern health science, that must feel like turning up to a Formula One race and being handed a horse.
A Question Of Sugar, Science And Semantics
The dispute is not just about tax. It also touches on how consumers understand nutrition.
Nutri-Genetix argues that current classifications do not reflect the way people now approach diet, performance and health. Modern consumers are more aware of sugar content, macronutrients, recovery, energy balance and the role of tailored nutrition.
The company believes the existing meal replacement definition risks sending the wrong message by favouring products that meet an old carbohydrate threshold rather than those designed around contemporary nutritional thinking.
NGX has written to Matt Hancock, Public Health England and HMRC to challenge the definition and push for a more refined understanding of what a meal replacement should be.
Founders Call For A Modern Definition
Founders Hugo Jones and Jeremy Poland have said: “While the technology for nutrition is improving at a rapid rate, the accompanying legalities are stuck in the ages. NGX is designed to offer the consumer a totally new, cutting edge product suitable for weight loss, endurance or lean muscle gain to improve both physical performance and mental health and has been proved popular to not only customers but to our investors.
We hope that by raising these issues with HMRC we are able to establish a refined definition for what a Meal Replacement actually is and help improve not only our awareness in the category, but also the nutritional knowledge and future health of the country.”
HMRC is yet to comment on the dispute.
Crowdfunding To Fuel The Next Stage
The new funding round will support the expansion of NGX at a time when personalised nutrition is moving from niche curiosity to mainstream conversation.
For investors, the appeal is clear enough. Nutri-Genetix is operating in a category where several trends collide: health optimisation, DNA testing, sports performance, obesity awareness and convenience-led nutrition.
That is a useful crossroads to occupy.
The challenge, as with any fast-growing start-up, will be converting early enthusiasm into sustained trust. Nutrition is a market where credibility matters. Consumers want innovation, but they also want clarity, transparency and results that fit into normal life.
What This Means For The Nutrition Industry
The Nutri-Genetix challenge to HMRC could have wider implications beyond one brand’s VAT position.
If successful, it may put pressure on policymakers to reconsider how meal replacements are defined in a post-EU, post-obesity-strategy Britain. The question is whether regulation should continue to rely on fixed nutritional thresholds or evolve with modern science and consumer behaviour.
It is not the most glamorous policy debate in the world. Nobody is buying popcorn for a tax classification argument.
But it matters.
Because the way products are defined can influence what companies make, how they market it, what consumers buy and what is treated as “healthy” by default.
Final Word
Nutri-Genetix is not simply launching another funding campaign. It is trying to scale a personalised nutrition business while poking a stick at the rulebook.
That makes this a start-up story with a sharper edge.
On one side is a fast-growing DNA-led nutrition brand claiming strong customer traction. On the other is a regulatory framework the company says has failed to keep pace with modern health science.
Whether NGX wins the argument with HMRC remains to be seen. But in a nutrition market full of noise, the brand has managed to do something useful: start a conversation that goes beyond the shake itself.