WellWell Co-Founder Launches Kreatures of Habit, Raises $2M

Having tackled meatballs, sustainable seafood and functional beverages, Michael Chernow is turning his sights to fitness with the launch of health and wellness CPG brand Kreatures of Habit last month.

Initially sold direct-to-consumer, the company’s first product — a a functional oatmeal that can also replace consumers’ daily supplement regimens, called The PrOATagnonist — will retail for $34.99 for a 7-pack (or $32.89 for a subscription of one pack a month). The plant-based, gluten-free line is available in Vanilla, Chocolate and Blueberry Banana flavors and is made from a blend of oats, pea protein, pink Himalayan salt, Ceylon cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, vitamin D3, omega three fatty acids, probiotics and digestive enzymes. The oatmeal can be eaten hot or cold, used as the base of a frozen smoothie, or with the addition of extra water, as a shake.

Restaurateur Chernow might be best known for co-creating and leading popular restaurant chains The Meatball Shop and Seamore’s, but he has also dabbled in CPG previously as a co-founder of functional beverage brand WellWell.

Kreatures of Habit, though, is his most personal project to date, and one tied to his own journey around health and wellness.

“When I was 23 years old I made a decision and I said ‘I want to start taking my life seriously.’ I realized that I had so much more to offer than what I was putting out into the universe. So I made a decision to change,” Chernow said. “Kreatures of Habit is so special to me because…I was able to launch it the same month that I got sober 17 years ago.”

To replace his habits of going out and exploring New York City’s nightlife, Chernow turned to working out, weight lifting and eating healthy. His standard breakfast was oatmeal with protein powders, along with a handful of supplements. Eventually, Chernow’s new lifestyle inspired him to develop a new restaurant concept that would also incubate and launch CPG products — similar to now-shuttered restaurant Hu Kitchen, which ultimately created Hu Products.

However, as with Hu Kitchen, the pandemic put a stop to these plans. Forced to pivot, Chernow reevaluated the concept with the help of an executive coach.

“I [realized} that I do not need restaurants to be a successful entrepreneur. I love creating brands, and I love being of service and I love giving people an opportunity to be better,” he said. “I can do that by developing a direct-to-consumer CPG company, and effectively selling the habits that have saved and changed my life.”

Working with a lab in Los Angeles, Chernow ran through 50 iterations of the oatmeal before finalizing the recipe, he said. The ingredients are designed to work in collaboration; for example, the digestive enzymes help consumers digest the pea protein and avoid the stomach pains that can accompany consuming some other powdered proteins.

Drawing from his time at WellWell — where he was more involved in strategy then day-to-day operations — Chernow said he also realized that in order to function best as a direct-to-consumer company, the initial products under Kreatures of Habit needed to be lightweight, shelf-stable, have long shelf lives, and high velocities. Oatmeal, he said, seemed to be the right delivery mechanism for the product because it was a category that largely was devoid of functional products (albeit some lightly protein-enhanced offerings) and yet was also a segment that a large number of consumers turn to once a day for breakfast.

To fund the brand’s launch, Chernow has raised $2 million dollars, $200,000 of which was his own capital. The second largest shareholder is entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk. Chernow said the wider investment group is composed of health and wellness-focused angel investors, such as BioTrust co-founders Josh Bezoni and Joel Marion; and Brian and Trace Cohen, the co-founders of New York Venture Partners.

Though it’s “absolutely a premium product” right now, Chernow hopes that one day he’ll be able to scale the company to a point where the price point can drop. Given its current MSRP, when the line does enter retail, Chernow said he plans to target more premium stores, such as Whole Foods, and place the oatmeal in the supplement set alongside vitamins and other protein powders.

Though crossfit enthusiasts and weight lifters may be the brand’s earliest adopters, the hope is for those individuals to also serve as brand ambassadors to the wider community.

“I am absolutely Creating this product for everyone and anyone. I think eating just a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, you’re missing the mark. You’re not getting a complete, nutritious meal,” Chernow said. “My goal with Kreatures of Habit is to not only feed the gym goers, but to feed as many people as I possibly can because I know that it’s incredibly healthy for everyone.”