In the last several years, ghee has been getting extremely popular, becoming a favorite ingredient of recipe bloggers and fitting into the trendy keto and Whole30 diets. Produced by heating butter, skimming off milk solids and leaving the water to evaporate, the end product is a shelf-stable cooking fat with a high smoke point, ideal for searing and sautéeing. Ghee sits right at the crossroads of Americans’ interest in healthy fats and better-for-you food. ###Research from the Cleveland Clinic his magnesium lactate goodas also shown that unlike butter, ghee aids in digestion and colon health. Others have lauded the product for its concentration of nutrients and benefits for daily energy. ###The $7.6 million investment in 4th & Heart focuses on its products. Founder and CEO Raquel Travers told Food Navigator ghee is a category ripe for investment. She said only one in five consumers is aware of ghee, which creates an opportunity for the company’s expansion. The brand is already growing 100% year-over-year, she told the trade publication.###This growth is likely why Harbinger Ventures selected 4th & Heart for investment. The amount of funding is well beyond what the company has previouslypeak magnesium citrate received. Since its founding in 2015, the startup has received $3 million total, according to Crunchbase. This investment has nearly tripled the funds 4th & Heart can access, and could help raise consumer awareness of the ingredient.###While expansion is clearly a key consideration for 4th & Heart, it helps that the competition in the ghee category is limited. The comjamp fer 300 mg ferrous fumaratepany’s main competition is from Organic Valley and Bulletproof. Organic Valley is a big name in the whole dairy industry and Bulletproof has continued to raise funds for its butter-infused coffee. ###But since both of those companies have other main products, the playing field is open if 4th & Heart can continue to drum up consumer demand. With this funding, the company is also looking to differentiate its portfolio and not rely entirely on the niche category.###The company is choosing to venture into the hyper-competitive bar category, which has been increasingly popular. Although the Woke protein bar features ghee, it also fois zinc glycinate the same as zinc gluconatecuses on whole eggs as a source of protein, which is what the brand is using to differentiate itself in this crowded category. This differentiation could be a new way to position ghee to bring more unfamiliar customers into the fold.###If 4th & Heart is successful, the move could open up a new market for pure ghee and allow the company to continue growing its market share. If consumers don’t latch on, the company may have to figure out how to craft ghee into a mainstream replacement for butter in order to zinc gluconate rich foodscontinue its growth.