Behind The Shelf
The Power of the Two-Second Habit with Jessica Hamel on Making Nutrition Effortless
September 2, 2026
What if the strongest innovation in food isn’t about making bigger promises, but making healthy choices easier? In this episode of Behind the Shelf, Keren Novack sits down with Jessica Hamel, founder of PlantChi, to explore how “seasonings with benefits” can bring nutrition into everyday routines without complexity, hype, or exaggerated claims. Jessica shares why she resisted adding salt and sugar despite outside pressure, how a simple two-second microhabit can drive lasting consumer adoption, and why product experience ultimately matters more than clever branding. They also discuss the gap between functional claims and genuine efficacy, the importance of consumer education, and why PlantChi is taking a “narrow and deep” approach to growth. It’s a candid conversation about simplicity, trust, and building brands that earn repeat purchases.
What if the strongest innovation in food isn’t about making bigger promises, but making healthy choices easier? 


In this episode of Behind the Shelf, Keren Novack sits down with Jessica Hamel, founder of PlantChi, to explore how “seasonings with benefits” can bring nutrition into everyday routines without complexity, hype, or exaggerated claims. Jessica shares why she resisted adding salt and sugar despite outside pressure, how a simple two-second microhabit can drive lasting consumer adoption, and why product experience ultimately matters more than clever branding. 


They also discuss the gap between functional claims and genuine efficacy, the importance of consumer education, and why PlantChi is taking a “narrow and deep” approach to growth. It’s a candid conversation about simplicity, trust, and building brands that earn repeat purchases. 


What you will learn:


Jessica Hamel is a curious, results-driven marketing leader and founder with more than 15 years of experience developing innovative strategies, optimizing digital investments, and using data-driven insights to build brands. As founder of PlantChi, a seed-based seasoning line designed to make nutrition effortless and accessible, she brings together her branding expertise and CPG experience to rethink how consumers approach everyday nutrition. A former CPG startup founder, Jessica combines strategic clarity, creativity, and analytics to build authentic brands that prioritize lasting impact over trend-chasing. 


Episode Resources:


Episode Highlights:
Jessica explains how PlantChi turns nutrition into a two-second microhabit by asking consumers to add seasoning to foods they already eat. Instead of replacing meals or demanding new routines, the product fits naturally into salads, eggs, avocado toast, and snacks. This frictionless approach makes adoption easier, encourages repeated use, and gives unfamiliar functional products a better chance of becoming lasting habits.


Jessica explains how changing just a few words transformed consumer response to PlantChi. “Super seed blends” prompted comparisons with familiar ingredients, while “seasonings with benefits” immediately communicated flavor, texture, and nutrition. By testing language directly with consumers, she discovered that precise positioning could generate curiosity and trial. The lesson: unfamiliar products need simple language that communicates purpose and differentiation instantly.


Jessica shares why she rejected advice from a well-known athlete to add salt to PlantChi for greater flavor appeal. Although the recommendation could have improved palatability, it conflicted with her mission to encourage nutrient-rich eating without relying on salt. By protecting the brand’s core values and allowing consumers to add salt themselves, she chose authenticity and long-term trust over shortcuts.



Jessica explains why PlantChi’s packaging size was deliberately designed around habit formation rather than conventional retail economics. While retailers suggested smaller bags, she wanted consumers to have enough product for multiple daily uses. The larger format reinforces the idea that PlantChi belongs in everyday routines, helping consumers experiment, repeat usage, and build familiarity. Packaging, she argues, can actively shape consumer behavior.


Jessica explains why PlantChi is deliberately pursuing a narrow-and-deep growth strategy rather than rushing into major retail. Drawing on lessons from a previous food company, she prioritizes direct-to-consumer, Amazon, and independent retailers where consumer feedback and education can happen more closely. This slower approach allows the brand to refine its product, messaging, and community before pursuing broader distribution and scale.



Jessica challenges wellness marketing’s obsession with subtraction, from “no sugar” to “no gluten,” arguing that consumers can respond more positively to messages centered on addition. PlantChi focuses on what people can gain: nutrients, flavor, texture, and everyday nourishment. By framing health as enhancement rather than restriction, Jessica believes brands can create more empowering communication and encourage genuine, sustainable behavior change.


Quotes:
  1. "PlantChi came to be when a doctor, during one of my spells of being vegan, said, Just sprinkle hemp seeds on everything you eat. And I was like, wow, this is what we're not hearing today, and this is what we should be hearing, that the answer is just simple, real, whole foods to get a little extra nourishment into your diet."
  2. "PlantChi is a two-second microhabit to make meals more nutrient-dense. I didn't want to ask people to overhaul their lifestyle. Asking someone to make a huge change takes a lot of influence and takes a lot of time. A seasoning with benefits that's seed-based is an effortless action where all they have to do is sprinkle it on whatever they're already eating."
  3. "Going this honest route, it's not gonna make the big bang bam kind of noise that a big sexy claim would make, and so that's hard. It takes a lot of education, and it kind of takes people to watch over time and get curious, so it might take a little bit more time, especially when you're making a newish product. People have to watch for a while before they actually dive in."
  4. "Asking somebody to make a huge change in their lives is a lot to ask because people are busy, they don't have a lot of energy, and they're set in their ways. When getting somebody to develop a habit, you wanna ask them to make a small change, like sprinkling something on a food, whatever they're already eating, because it's effortless and it takes two seconds and there's no extra work."
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