Csilla is the co-founder of Lucid, a UK-based functional snack brand focused on energy, focus, and everyday wellbeing. Her journey into the space started after burnout in her corporate career and a diagnosis of Graves’ disease, which led her to rethink the role of nutrition and stress in her daily life. That experience revealed a gap for clean, functional products that genuinely support how people feel, and became the foundation for Lucid. Built alongside her co-founder Steven, the brand has grown from mushroom-infused snack bars into a wider range of products, and is now stocked in over 120 stores across the UK.
Can you introduce yourself and share the journey that led you to where you are today? What were the pivotal stages in building your brand within the food, drink, or FMCG landscape?
Hi, I’m Csilla, co-founder of Lucid, a functional snack brand focused on energy, focus, and wellbeing.
The idea for Lucid came from a personal place. I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease after burning out in my corporate job, which made me much more aware of how things like caffeine, stress, and nutrition affect the body. At the time, I found that most “healthy” or functional snacks on the market were either unbalanced or full of fillers and artificial ingredients.
During my recovery, I discovered functional mushrooms, but they were mostly available in coffees or teas. There were no clean, convenient snacks that incorporated them.
Lucid started with the goal of creating snacks that are cleaner, functional, and genuinely enjoyable while supporting performance and wellbeing. The early days involved a lot of experimentation and learning the realities of manufacturing, packaging, margins, and retail. Like most FMCG founders, we wore every hat.
A year after launching our bars, we expanded into alcohol-free elixirs targeting energy and sleep, giving people another way to benefit from functional mushrooms and herbs in a convenient format.
As we started gaining traction in retail and building relationships with distributors, Lucid began to feel like a real brand rather than just a project. Today, we’re stocked in over 120 stores and working towards scaling much further over the next year, while also expanding online through platforms like TikTok Shop and Amazon. The journey has been very hands-on and scrappy but incredibly rewarding.
What defining moment shaped your approach to business or leadership? Was there a particular commercial challenge, retail breakthrough, or operational lesson that shifted your trajectory?
You could say we did the opposite of what many FMCG brands do. We went straight into retail before growing our e-commerce store.
One of the biggest lessons from that was understanding how tough the economics of FMCG really are. Getting a product on shelf is the easier part. Staying there and making sure it sells quickly enough is the real challenge. You also need to make the numbers work across manufacturing, distribution, retailer margins, and promotions.
There were moments where we had to rethink our positioning, packaging, and pricing to make sure the value was clear to customers. You quickly learn that passion for your product is not enough. The market ultimately tells you whether there is real demand.
But the retail wins make it all worth it. Walking into a store and seeing something you built on shelf is a special moment.
The FMCG space is highly competitive and margin-sensitive. How do you approach growth, commercially and personally?
Commercially, we focus on sustainable growth rather than quick wins. In FMCG, it is very easy to burn through cash if you scale too aggressively without strong fundamentals. For us, that means being thoughtful about distribution, keeping a close eye on margins, and making sure the product genuinely delivers value.
Brand is also incredibly important. The snacking category is very saturated, so standing out is not easy when people have so many options. What really connects you to your customers is story, values, and the feeling your brand creates. Even as a small team, we try to raise awareness around stress and how small daily changes can positively impact how people feel.
Personally, building a consumer brand has taught me resilience. There are constant challenges, whether that’s supply chain issues, retailer negotiations, or the fast pace of the industry.
Living with an autoimmune condition has taught me to work smarter and rest when I need to. I believe breaks are just as important for performance as training is for an athlete. You cannot operate at your best if you are constantly running on empty.
What does building with intention mean to you in a category driven by volume and velocity? How do you maintain quality, brand integrity, and customer trust as you scale?
For us, building with intention means not compromising the core values behind why the brand exists. Lucid was created around convenience, transparency, and supporting wellbeing, so those principles need to stay true as we grow.
That means being mindful about the ingredients we use, our formulations, and product quality. It also means not launching products just for the sake of it.
Every new product needs to make sense within the brand and be built around the real purpose of the ingredients, not just a marketing claim.
Resilience is critical in this sector, from supply chain pressures to retailer negotiations. What have been your most valuable lessons in navigating uncertainty?
Uncertainty is normal in this industry, so we focus on what we can control. Strong relationships with manufacturers, clear communication with partners, and a solid understanding of your numbers make a huge difference. We also use Float for cash flow forecasting so we can make decisions that balance opportunity with risk.
My biggest lesson has been patience. Building a consumer brand takes time. There are moments where things move quickly and others where progress feels slow, but consistency always increases your chances of success.
People often overestimate what they can achieve in six months and underestimate what can happen in a year.
How do you balance ambition with wellbeing in an industry that rarely slows down? What systems or boundaries have become non-negotiable?
This is something I think about a lot, especially because of my autoimmune condition. With Graves’ disease, stress management and balance are important. For me, that means protecting certain routines like training regularly, prioritising sleep, and creating space away from work so I can stay energised and focused. Building a business can easily become all-consuming, especially in the early stages when you are wearing every hat.
My co-founder, Steven, and I support each other closely and help balance workloads when things get intense. If the founders burn out, the business will eventually suffer too.
What does legacy look like in your work? Are you building for an acquisition, long-term category disruption, cultural impact, or generational value?
For us, legacy is about building a brand that genuinely improves people’s daily lives. Wellbeing is such a big part of how we live, work, and think. If Lucid can help people feel more balanced, focused and less stressed, that feels meaningful.
Of course, from a business perspective, we want to build something large and valuable. Whether that ultimately leads to acquisition or long-term independence will depend on how the brand evolves. But the deeper goal is to create something that resonates with people and stands the test of time.
What advice would you give to women building their next chapter in food, drink, or FMCG? Particularly those navigating funding, manufacturing, scaling, or retail partnerships?
My biggest advice is to start before you feel ready. FMCG can feel intimidating because there are so many moving parts, but most of it is learned through doing. Our products evolved many times after launch, and that is a good thing. It means you are learning and improving.
Spend time understanding the numbers early on. Retail is expensive, and you do not want to end up with margins so tight that the business cannot work. Build strong relationships with your manufacturers and partners, and stay close to the reason you started. The journey will have plenty of ups and downs, and a clear sense of purpose makes it much easier to keep going.
