Episodes

One of PJ Monte’s early sales pitches startled a woman so much that she clutched her purse. A few weeks later, PJ’s tomato sauce was on the shelves of her husband’s influential grocery store. It’s one of dozens of stories that PJ, a streetwise, fedora-wearing entrepreneur, has about the development of his acclaimed sauce and pasta brand Monte’s Fine Foods.

Is booze so bad that it should come with a warning label? The U.S. Surgeon General thinks so and has advised Congress to act. What, if any, impact would potential legislation have? The hosts discuss. This episode also features an interview with Julie Cielo, the founder of pioneering non-alcoholic cocktail brand Ferm Fatale, who talks about the successes, missteps and eventual closure of her company.

Bo Jackson, the multi-hyphenate sports icon and one of a handful of athletes to play both professional football and baseball, is tackling perhaps his biggest challenge yet – the beverage industry.

What can the past inform us about the future? As we enter a new year, this special edition of the podcast revisits three headlines from 2024 that generated inspired discussion among Taste Radio’s hosts and may hint at things to come for the food and beverage industry.

In this special edition of the podcast, we feature highlights from interviews with seven innovators, leaders and disruptors who joined us on the show during the second half of 2024.

We’re not prognosticators. But we are a hopeful bunch. With a new year on the horizon, the hosts have five (actually, six) wishes for the food and beverage industry in 2025. Swift progress is unexpected, but these are reasonably achievable goals.

For a brand with a diminutive name, Small Town Cultures has big ambitions. Founder and CEO Cori Deans, talks about how she built a mission-driven fermented food company that is differentiated from legacy and upstart players and how it is attempting to expand the appeal and accessibility of probiotic-rich products via distribution in conventional grocery chains.

Did anyone see this coming? Last week, BevNET learned that the Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo plan to launch prebiotic, low-calorie sodas in 2025. How will their respective forays impact the fast-growing category and what does it say about potential acquisitions of leading brands Olipop and Poppi? The hosts weigh in.

Being “basic” has long been a theme of Trey Kennedy’s popular standup routine and sketch comedy. He recently introduced the perfect pairing for his humor, Basic Cellars. In this episode, Trey talks about how the upstart wine brand presents itself as both an accessible and premium option and how he attempts to authentically incorporate the brand into his social media content.

The grind is real. And fun as heck. Exhausted, but buoyant, the hosts recap NOSH and BevNET’s just-concluded winter events and specifically highlight the three pitch slam competitions and how each respective winner successfully communicated the traction and potential for their brands.