Every once in a while, a project comes through our lab that feels especially easy to root for. Glim Wellness is one of those projects.
Founded by Varsha Chawla, Glim Wellness was created around a simple but powerful idea: wellness support should not feel like another chore. It should feel like something you actually want to do. Something warm, comforting, and enjoyable. Something that fits into real life.
Glim’s product line includes three adaptogenic, functional beverage mixes that are cacao and herbal tea based: Cacao Balance, Cacao Dream, and Dream Tea. The products are designed to support sleep and energy while also helping promote hormone balance.
But what makes Glim especially interesting is not just what is in the products. It is the way they are meant to be used. “So many supplements are taken as pills, capsules, or gummies, ignoring the entire point of functional wellness support: a ritual that helps you get from one state to the next,” Varsha said. “There is nothing ritualistic about swallowing pills and I wanted to change that.”
That idea became the foundation of the brand. Glim was not meant to be another supplement routine. It was meant to be a set of functional drinks that people could actually enjoy making and drinking.
A brand built from real life
Varsha originally created these products for herself. As a busy mom and marathon runner, she knew firsthand how much sleep and energy support can matter. Like many people, she was trying to manage a full life while still wanting to feel rested, steady, and supported.
That personal starting point gives Glim a groundedness that we really appreciate. It does not feel like a brand built around trends. It feels like a brand built around an actual need.
While Glim naturally speaks to people moving through hormonal shifts and changing energy needs, the products are not limited to one type of customer. Cacao Dream and Dream Tea, for example, were designed for sleep support and can be used by anyone looking for a comforting nighttime ritual. Varsha shared that plenty of male customers enjoy them as a nightcap.
That is one of the things we like about Glim. The brand has a clear point of view, but it does not feel narrow. It started with Varsha’s own life, but it gives customers room to find their own rhythm with the products.
Turning a ritual into a real product
From a product development standpoint, Glim was interesting because the idea sat at the intersection of several things that are not always easy to make work together: indulgent cacao, functional herbal ingredients, clean-label expectations, and the practical realities of a powdered beverage mix.
The products needed to feel cozy, calming, and enjoyable, while still being rooted in thoughtful functional ingredients. Every ingredient was carefully sourced, fair-trade certified, and organic. Glim also intentionally avoided several ingredients that have become common in the wellness space, including artificial sweeteners, stevia, melatonin, and overly stimulating “energy” formulas that can leave people feeling jittery or depleted.
Those choices were important to the brand, but they also made the formulation work more nuanced. Clean-label development is rarely as simple as leaving things out. When you choose not to rely on certain sweeteners, flavors, or technical shortcuts, the rest of the formula has to work harder. Cacao can bring richness and depth, but also bitterness and sediment. Herbal ingredients can support the product story, but also bring strong aromas or polarizing flavor notes. Sweetness has to be balanced carefully. Powdered beverage mixes need to flow, disperse, and remain practical to manufacture.
Glim could not just be a supplement with flavor added. It needed to be a genuinely enjoyable food and beverage experience that also carried functional ingredients. That was where Patric Food and Beverage Development helped translate the brand vision into a more technically grounded formulation path.
Finding the right balance
Varsha came to the project with a clear sense of what she wanted the products to taste and feel like. Patric Development’s role was to help bring that vision into a finished product line.
A lot of the work involved thinking through the major formulation risks early: cacao flavor, herbal aroma, sweetness balance, oxidation risk, powder flow, solubility, dispersion, and the tradeoff between clean-label ingredients and technical performance.
The goal was to help Glim stay natural and premium without letting the products become unstable, gritty, overly bitter, or difficult to manufacture. For Varsha, one of the first moments when the brand started to feel real came when she received the initial prototype samples.
“I clearly remember when I received the first prototype samples from Patric Food and Beverage Development,” she said. “That was a moment when things really started to feel real. Tasting the product was amazing and that first formulation was so special to me.”
That stage of the process is always meaningful. There is a point where an idea stops being theoretical. It is no longer just a concept, an ingredient list, or a product brief. It becomes something you can taste, adjust, and imagine in someone’s kitchen.
It is also the point where the details start to matter even more. In a functional beverage mix, swapping one ingredient for another is rarely a simple one-for-one change. A different cacao powder may bring a different bitterness level, color, fat content, or mouthfeel. A sweetener change can affect flavor balance, solubility, and aftertaste. A functional ingredient may support the product’s positioning, but also introduce off-notes, grit, or processing challenges. Those are the kinds of details that can make or break a product once it moves beyond the first idea.
The reality of ingredient sourcing
One part of the development process that surprised Varsha was how long ingredient sourcing can take. That is something many founders do not fully expect at first. Ingredients with the same name are not always interchangeable. Different suppliers, origins, processing methods, certifications, flavor profiles, and availability constraints can all change the final product.
With Glim, sourcing was especially important because the ingredients were central to both the product experience and the brand identity. The cacao, botanicals, sweeteners, and functional ingredients all had to work together, not just from a functional standpoint, but from a flavor and consumer experience standpoint too.
Varsha noted that the sourcing process took time, but that it was worth it. Taking the time to research, build relationships, and evaluate ingredients helped create products that were not only functional, but also tasted good.
There were also challenges along the way. Glim ran into cacao shortages and had to change ingredient suppliers several times due to larger political and economic conditions affecting the market. Those kinds of issues are difficult to predict, especially for a young brand trying to build something carefully and responsibly.
That is one reason we appreciated Varsha’s approach so much. She had a clear brand vision, but she was also open to technical reality and iteration. She cared about making something genuinely good, not just checking off claims or following trends.
A product line people want to come back to
While all three Glim products have received strong feedback, Varsha is especially excited for people to experience Cacao Dream. Cacao Dream is a rich, chocolatey beverage that can be enjoyed hot or cold. It was designed as a calming evening ritual, with ingredients like magnesium bisglycinate and L-theanine included as part of the formula.
For customers who want something cozy at night without reaching for a traditional dessert, a caffeinated drink, or a melatonin-based product, Cacao Dream offers another option. And that really captures the heart of Glim. The products are functional, but they are also meant to feel comforting, thoughtful, and easy to enjoy.
Varsha shared that all three products have received amazing responses, and that hearing consumers rave about something she worked so hard to build has been one of the most rewarding parts so far.
Where to find Glim Wellness
Glim Wellness has officially launched and is currently working on retail partnerships. For now, the products are available through the Glim Wellness website.
You can visit Glim Wellness at:
You can also learn more and follow along here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glimwellness
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GlimWellness
Varsha also encourages customers to sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of the Glim Wellness website for exclusive discounts, recipes, and updates.
As Varsha said, launching a product line takes a lot of patience, hard work, and dedication. The best way to support the brand is by placing an order, leaving a review, and spreading the word.
We are proud to have been part of Glim’s development process and excited to see these products out in the world.
Functional products work best when they are not just technically sound, but also enjoyable, thoughtful, and realistic for everyday life. Glim Wellness is a great example of that idea in action.