Keychain founder and CEO Oisin Hanrahan told Fortune CPG companies and stakeholders in the industry are “more focused” now on RFK Jr.’s influence and the MAHA movement than they are on tariffs.
“From where we sit at Keychain and the conversations we’re having daily, MAHA is reshaping how CPG companies think about formulation and marketing, especially what counts as ‘natural,’” Hanrahan said in an exclusive interview.
Keychain has tallied more than 10,000 natural projects for each of the past three quarters, which amount to more than $3 billion in value.
Keychain, which just closed a $30 million Series B funding round led by Wellington Management and existing investor BoxGroup, serves eight of the top 10 American retailers as well as small businesses. Hanrahan said everyone wants a piece of the MAHA pie.
“Brands are actively rethinking sourcing strategies, in some cases shifting to new manufacturing partners altogether to meet ‘natural’ positioning requirements,” Hanrahan said. “That’s not a small task.”
Even for top retailers, rapid adaptation is key to staying relevant.
“Larger brands might be better-positioned to absorb those costs or shift schedules, but even they’re feeling pressure to move quickly and avoid falling behind the consumer narrative,” Hanrahan said.
But brands aren’t just looking to profit from the health trend, they also are staring down a regulatory reckoning underway.
Keychain’s real-time data and search tools have let brands and private labels dissect their sourcing at the most granular level, Hanrahan said.
“There’s more focus now, not just on finding an American manufacturer, but on breaking down every component—manufacturing, ingredients, packaging—into its origin and compliance,” Hanrahan said. As MAHA standards tighten, brands have turned to dual-sourcing or dual-manufacturing strategies, a shift first seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As for price changes to come from the MAHA shift, Hanrahan said counteracting forces will most likely keep food products’ sticker price steady.
“Reverting back to more natural ingredients actually reduces the cost, in some cases, of the raw ingredients and the bill of materials,” he said. “But shelf life goes down and production costs go up, which means you need better logistics and fresher supply chains.”
Some manufacturers and brands are willing to make the jump for fear of losing health-conscious consumers and looming regulatory changes.
After months of urgent responses to tariffs and trade disruptions, the action and anxiety in CPG boardrooms is now shifting to food regulation—what gets banned, reclassified, or relabeled next.
“The market is already behaving as if the rules are here,” Hanrahan said. “Brands that are unable to keep up risk being left behind.”
