[00:00:00] SPEAKER_??: you you
[00:00:08] Marci Zaroff: This episode of Taste Radio is presented by BevNET Events. Join us this November 29th and 30th for Nosh Live, a natural food industry conference gathering A-list speakers from top brands, investors, retailers, and more to navigate the food industry, discover what's next, and find your vital partnership.
[00:00:26] John Craven: Beverage pros, you know we have you covered. BevNET Live takes place on December 3rd and 4th to talk about innovation, trends, and challenges in the beverage space while encouraging partnership through extraordinary networking opportunities. The events are at the Lowe's Santa Monica Beach Hotel for the 10th time. To learn more, visit www.bevnetlive.com and noshlive.com. We hope to see you there.
[00:00:48] Marci Zaroff: And now, Taste Radio.
[00:01:01] Ray Latif: Hey everyone, thanks for listening to Bebinette's Taste Radio. I'm Ray Latif, and you're tuning into episode 130 of the podcast. This week, we're joined by fashion and food entrepreneur, Marci Zaroff, who over the past three decades has helped change the way we dress, eat, and live. Just a reminder to our listeners, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we'd love it if you'd rate us on iTunes. A quick note before we get to our interview with Marcy. Taste Radio is evolving. This Friday, we're launching a second podcast called Taste Radio Insider, a show specifically focused on news, trends, and insights in the business of food and beverage. We'll continue to feature long-form interviews with the industry's tastemakers and pioneers in our flagship podcast, while our customary host banter will transition over Radio Insider, as will the usual second interview from each episode. Would love to hear what you think of our latest opus. And as always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send an email to ask at Taste Radio. It may be hard to fathom, especially for you millennials and Gen Zers out there, but there was a time in the not-so-distant past when organic food, sustainable sourcing, and fair trade were uncommon sights in the food and beverage industry. It's taken some time for these concepts to reach the mainstream, but reach they have. And leading the way are people like Marci Zaroff. For nearly 30 years, Marcy has been at the forefront of progressive food and lifestyle trends. She's a serial entrepreneur who pioneered eco-conscious fashion and textiles, and today is part of a vanguard focused on replacing animal-based protein with plant-based ingredients. I sat down with Marcy at Natural Products Expo East 2018, where she spoke about the origins of her career and why she's urging companies to incorporate ethical sourcing and sustainability into their brand strategies. She also explained why entrepreneurship is like a, quote, perpetual yo-yo, discussed the importance of vetting investors, and shared her perspective on the budding business of cannabis. All right, it's Ray, and I'm on the mics with Marci Zaroff. Marcy, thank you so much for being with me.
[00:03:11] Marci Zaroff: Thank you, Ray. It's great to be here.
[00:03:13] Ray Latif: It's great to be here in Baltimore, isn't it?
[00:03:15] Marci Zaroff: It is, minus the hurricane scare, but yes. 29 years and counting.
[00:03:21] Ray Latif: This is your 29th Expo East?
[00:03:22] Marci Zaroff: 29th Expo East. Never missed one.
[00:03:25] Ray Latif: My goodness. So what's changed?
[00:03:28] Marci Zaroff: Well, definitely the number of people that come to this show has increased substantially. There was a day where we all knew each other, and now, you know, I bump into people, but not as frequently as I used to. And just to see this movement, you know, having transcended now into the mainstream is what we all dreamed of, so it's super exciting.
[00:03:47] Ray Latif: And as we transition and continue to transition natural organic foods into the mainstream, you are a prominent voice in that regard. You'll be appearing on a panel called the Postmodern Organic Company. And I'm curious as to what the topics are for that panel and if it's hard out there for an organic entrepreneur. Is that what I'm hearing here?
[00:04:09] Marci Zaroff: Well, I would just say that, you know, when we started, no one knew what that term meant. I mean... Organic. Yeah. I mean, it was kind of like, oh, organic, you know. Oh, it's natural. That's what people say. Oh, right. Because, you know, just the general term. But today, over 83% of Americans are eating organic food, at least occasionally. And that number... really demonstrates the adoption of organic and 52% of those shoppers are millennials. And so this isn't going backwards. This is only going to go forward. And so this whole movement really has been propelled by transparency. The internet has changed the game, storytelling, and people wanting to know where their food comes from, where their fiber comes from, who's making it, how's it getting grown and produced and what's in it. So it's a new day.
[00:04:55] Ray Latif: And the sourcing challenges as it relates to organic, I mean, has to be top of mind and concerning for folks who are in this industry and really want to see the best from farm to table, so to speak. And you've been a strong advocate of sustainable, fair trade, better for you sourcing for a very long time. What are the biggest challenges you're seeing right now? And what are some of the strides that we've taken over the past couple of decades?
[00:05:22] Marci Zaroff: Well, certainly the National Organic Program that is Under The USDA was a game changer because that made it such that the Wild West days had to end where now it's a federally regulated term. You know, the next frontier is for the government or, you know, or industry to continue policing beyond food, right? So whether it's fiber and textiles, beauty products, cleaning products, you know, pet food, flowers, laundry centers that call themselves organic. So I think the main issue or obstacle or challenge really continues to be integrity of the brand and its use. We do have a lot more support than we ever did. But there are always people who try to jump on the bandwagon and leverage or capitalize on the marketing side of it without actually doing the work. It's not a marketing proposition. It's actually, of course, a methodology that talks about how farming should be a solution to today's problems in terms of climate change and sustainability, not something that is hurting us. And conventional farming methods that are not organic are ridden with GMOs and chemical pesticides and, you know, many toxic chemicals. And I think people are just starting to learn that. And so it's It's exciting to see how the organic movement has grown, how the word sustainability has taken root, and then kind of coming full circle on the postmodern organic company story, we're also talking about regenerative. So it's almost not even about sustaining anymore. It's about rebuilding because so much damage has been done. We have to regenerate our soil. We have to rebuild the biodiversity and the ecosystems. And soil is like the skin of the earth. So it's supposed to be absorbing carbon out of the atmosphere and one of the reasons we have so much carbon in the atmosphere is it's not getting sequestered into the soil anymore. So there's a lot of layers to this.
[00:07:14] Ray Latif: You know, we hear from so many brands about democratizing something, democratizing organics or access to organics, healthier, better for you, sustainable food. You are the co-founder and the CMO of a plant-based seafood company called Good Catch. And I'm curious as to how you get people to see your side of the story, how you express that mission statement to folks who may not want your product, know about your product, or really care about what you're doing.
[00:07:40] Marci Zaroff: So actually just last week launched a book called Eco Renaissance and the tagline is co-creating a stylish, sexy and sustainable world. But it really the premise of the book is through the lens of design we can change the world. Right. So. In food, it starts with delicious. It has to be delicious for people to actually then go down the rabbit hole further and say what's in it, where is it being made, and how is it being made, right? Same thing with fashion. It has to look good. It has to be styled. And then, oh, by the way, is it responsibly made or ethically made, fair trade? what kind of materials are being used, what kind of chemicals aren't being used. If it's beauty products, the scent, the functionality have to be there. So it's really about design and how we innovate to make sure that the products we're creating are about no compromise, that the sustainability, the organic, the fair trade, the ethically made, these are value adds. So that it's not why would you buy this or why would you eat this or why would you use this, it's why wouldn't you. It's about getting more, not giving something up. And I think that's really the big point of difference.
[00:08:50] Ray Latif: For some people, it's not a value add. It's the whole, it is the product. If I'm buying a sustainably sourced fish, that's why I'm buying the fish, not necessarily because the fish tastes good.
[00:09:01] Marci Zaroff: But you're not going to buy it if it doesn't taste good. And you're not going to buy, or you might buy it that first time, but you're not going to buy it again. So the value add is, I want what I want. You know, I want taste, I want style, I want scent, I want functionality. This has to work. This has to feel good with my basic needs. And then, oh, by the way, it also is. And so that it is a, it's kind of like making the perfect pie. They're all ingredients in the perfect pie, but there are certain things that the, you asked about the mainstream. There's certain things the mainstream will not give up. They won't give up those basic attributes that they're looking for.
[00:09:39] Ray Latif: Very true. I have definitely tasted some products certainly earlier in my career here. And I think we put up with some of the bad taste. We put up with some of the flavors that weren't necessarily palatable, so to speak, and I'm saying that in a nice way. And nowadays, it feels like a lot of those flavors have caught up with the function, have caught up with the mission.
[00:10:00] Marci Zaroff: So going back to the question about what's changed here at Expo is in the early years, we were all preaching to the choir. We were selling to each other who did embrace the value-values equation, who were willing to give up the things that 99% of the population won't give up, right? So, you know, there are stigmas that were attached to the early days of this industry. You know, granola, brown rice, tasteless, flavorless. In fashion, you know, if you said organic fashion or sustainable fashion or eco fashion, people thought crunchy, frumpy, boxy, beige, boring, made from hemp, can you smoke it after you wear it? You know, I mean,
[00:10:40] Ray Latif: Probably kind of itchy as well.
[00:10:42] Marci Zaroff: Totally potato sack, you know, the whole thing, right? So today it's great fashion that happens to also be ethically made and organic. But that didn't always exist. Just same thing with, you know, the way the food industry has caught up. So with Good Catch, we lead with Taste Radio texture. We lead with, you know, we don't want people to eat our plant-based tuna fish and cringe. We want them to go, whoa, this is delicious. This is so exciting. You know, eat our crab cakes and go, this isn't a real crab cake. And then we say, oh, it's made from six beans and algae oil for your omegas. So we have the protein, we have the omegas, but you don't have the mercury, you know, or the microfibers, or you're not harming an animal. So we're adding and layering on these great stories on top of the fact that you want to eat it because it's just a great source of protein. It's delicious.
[00:11:31] Ray Latif: You've kind of come full circle in the food industry. Just for context, what was your first job in food?
[00:11:36] Marci Zaroff: So I started, I co-founded a school in 1990 that was initially called Gulliver's Living and Learning Center, and the whole idea was taking people on a journey to the lands of health and self-realization and discovery and environmental awareness through different programs, from a certification program to cooking classes to an Aveda spa, lectures, workshops, community events. It was based in New York. the professional training program to become a health coach just really exploded. And we saw the shift from it being a lot of people being drawn to the school for alternative healing. They were, they maybe had allergies, asthma, cancer, heart disease, skin conditions, and they were trying to find solutions that went beyond the typical medical establishment. Somebody might have mentioned to them, maybe if you change your diet, it will help. But today, you know, most of the students are preventative and creating careers around this. But the school now has certified over 75,000 people. It's called The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. We changed the name in the 90s, early 90s.
[00:12:40] Ray Latif: That's a little bit better than Gulliver's, what was it?
[00:12:43] Marci Zaroff: Gulliver's Living and Learning Center, which was inspired by Gulliver's Travels.
[00:12:46] Ray Latif: Sure.
[00:12:46] Marci Zaroff: And, you know, Jonathan Swift, who I love, you know, one of my favorite quotes by him is, vision is the art of seeing things invisible. And so I've always looked at myself as, you know, kind of a, somewhat of a visionary entrepreneur because everybody thinks I'm crazy when I come up with these ideas about, you know, eating organic food or wearing sustainable fashion or using, you know, eco-friendly beauty products.
[00:13:08] Ray Latif: Or a fish that's made out of chickpeas and legumes.
[00:13:11] Marci Zaroff: Or today, the new one is seafood made out of beans. But just wait, because, you know, it is uncharted territory, but we feel very, very excited by the response we're getting and the level of pent-up demand.
[00:13:23] Ray Latif: Well, it was also uncharted territory when you founded Under The Canopy, which is a fashion and lifestyle brand. Tell us a little bit about how that came to. We'll be right back with Marci Zaroff after this short break.
[00:13:37] Radio Insider: BevNET Live Winter 2018 is at the Lowe's Santa Monica Beach Hotel on December 3rd and 4th. Register today at BevNetLive.com.
[00:13:48] Marci Zaroff: So having been in the natural food and beauty world, I was partnered with the Rodale Institute and I learned about the relationship that cotton has both in the organic as well as the conventional world in terms of agriculture. So cotton represents about 3% of the world's agriculture, but uses almost 25% of the most harmful insecticides and 10% of the most toxic pesticides. It's one of the most heavily sprayed industries in agriculture. 60% of a cotton plant goes back into the food stream for seed, for dairy, and is also broken down into oil. So you see cotton seed oil in tons of bread and snack products on the market. It's a very commonly used oil. So when I learned about that interconnection, both in agriculture and at the consumer product level, I said, wait a minute. So if we're growing cotton conventionally, all those chemicals are going into the food system, not to mention going on our skin, which is the largest organ in our body and our primary organ for absorption. So it's not just what you eat and what you put in our body, it's what we put on our bodies and put on our skin, our largest organ for absorption. So, you know, when you start to look at The relationship on every level, you can't address wellness without addressing fashion, fiber, and textiles. We sleep on cotton sheets, use cotton towels, robes, T-shirts, jeans. So much of what we put on our bodies every single day and night is made from cotton. So just kind of connecting that dot, somebody had to roll their sleeves up and start to make some noise and educate the market. So Under The Canopy was started in 1995. to connect those dots from food to fiber and start to tell the story that, you know, we're not just what we eat, we're what we wear. And so our first investors for Under The Canopy were all out of the natural foods industry. Michael Funk, who started United Natural Foods, Mark Retzlaff, who started Alfalfa's and ultimately Horizon Organic Dairy, and a lot of other pioneers from the industry. And My first board member was Jim Sudd, who is the senior VP or executive VP of growth and business development still to this day for Whole Foods. I think he was the second person in the door there. So our first wholesale customer front of the canopy was actually Whole Foods Market. We did direct-to-consumer for many years and sold organic and sustainable apparel, bedding, kids, baby, and accessories. And then we created our first store-in-store at Whole Foods flagship store, their first mega store they ever opened, March 3rd, 2005. And then that became the launching pad for the brand. You know, probably the thing that held both the food side back for many years, as well as fashion and fiber and textiles now, is, you know, if you think of the early years of the natural foods movement, people would say, oh, yeah, I can't afford it. You know, whole paycheck. You know, like, oh, you know, that's for the elite. And I think we had to break that stigma that you can now buy organic and natural foods, you know, everywhere. And Costco is actually the biggest buyer of organic foods, not whole foods. And so it is affordable. It is no longer about, you know, just speaking to people with, you know, deep pockets. And I think with fashion and textiles, there's still either a lack of awareness and education that we're working on at the same time, making it more accessible. So we're seeing everyone from, you know, H&M and Nike and Eileen Fisher and Stella McCartney and Outernone. And there's just more and more companies coming out every day, just sort of putting a stake in the ground, saying, you know, we don't want to be a part of the problem anymore. We want to be a part of the solution. And I think sustainability organic, embedded into products is no longer about staying ahead as it once was. I think it's about not being left behind. And I think if you're not thinking about embedding these strategies of sustainability, transparency, sourcing, you know, connecting source to story into your products, you're going to be out of the game. I mean, it's already happening. I see, you know, I run a consulting agency as well called Beyond Brands. And we have six verticals, food, beverage, lifestyle, supplements, cannabis therapeutics. And we see that there's a proliferation across all these different verticals that the entrepreneurs of today, the sustainable designers, the food entrepreneurs, they get. organic, fair trade, gluten-free, plant-based. That's what they're looking for. That's not a, should I do it? It's a starting point for them. Like, I want to build a brand, but it has to be that. I think any entrepreneur in today's world who isn't thinking about putting more sustainable ingredients into their products, You might as well, you know, shut your doors. I mean, I really believe that it just makes no sense to start a company today without thinking about these things, because transparency is now as important to many, many consumers out there as Taste Radio other attributes, price, you know, I mean, those things are obviously leading. But people are asking those questions. And that's why, you know, this industry has grown the way it has, because this is no longer the eco-minded, humanitarian, leaders. This is, you know, big business, big investors, big retailers, mass market. This is what their consumers are demanding. This is what they're asking for. This is what they want. This is what's flying off the shelves. This is why CVS and Duane Reade and Walgreens are now moving more and more eco, you know, beauty brands onto the shelves and why Costco and Target and Walmart are moving more and more organic foods onto the shelves and why you know, the big retailers in textiles are now opening their eyes and starting to jump on the bandwagon too.
[00:19:42] Ray Latif: I want to pivot a little bit and talk about your decision to leave Under The Canopy. I had read an article that you wrote about stepping away from the company. I think the quote you had was, it was the most liberating and bittersweet day of my life, the day I walked out of my own company. And for entrepreneurs listening, I think that's the last thing they ever want to do. It's your baby. It's your life in so many ways. Why did you decide to leave the company? And why was it so, to use your word, liberating?
[00:20:11] Marci Zaroff: Oh, wow. Okay. So, um, that was, that actually, that quote was from Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg's work that she did. You know, I think being an entrepreneur, you have to have some tough skin. You have to, you know, put your seatbelt on and be prepared for, you know, an intense ride. My husband and I are both entrepreneurs and we joke often about being on a perpetual yo-yo, you know, where you're trying to solve challenges every single day while you're also jumping up and down from the excitement. You know, it's a bit of schizophrenia, right? But, you know, that particular experience, which, by the way, I ended up coming back into Under The canopy several years later, a consulting agent, a big private equity group bought Under The canopy and only wanted to buy it if I came back. So it was your classic case of, you know, when the founder's energy or the life force of the brand was getting stifled and held back from being the innovative leader that made the brand what it was. I think what happens is you start to derail the brands. point of view, it's adoption or companies embracing it. And what I started to experience when I raised a lot of capital was that people who thought they knew better, because on paper, they might have had more experience than me, started to, you know, push back on a lot of my ideas and started to, you know, and I'm very open, and I am a team player, but it got there were certain things that got toxic for me. And that's not what I signed up for. I will never sell my soul. I do the work that I do because I love it. My favorite quote is, work is love made visible from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. And if I'm not feeling fully alive and in resonance, you know, my personal and professional values aren't, you know, fully aligned, then it's not the right fit for me anymore. And the company, you know, was pushing back on a lot of ideas. The person who came into the company as the CEO put in by the private equity company, frankly, was like the devil wears Prada. And, you know, having conversations with her where we were on completely different wavelengths. And here I had built the company to, you know, well into the double digit millions. And, She just, she came out of, you know, major billion dollar textile company. So she tried to push back on a lot of my ideas and change things. And the retailers that I had opened, that I had the relationships with, didn't like what they were seeing. And I was kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. And it got to a place where it wasn't sustainable for me. And so I made a life decision, business decision, and just recognizing it was time for a new chapter for me, which is part of the journey of an entrepreneur, frankly. And so I did opt to exit the brand and didn't look back, didn't think that I would ever come back, just went forward. And as I said, kind of ended up coming full circle later on anyway for a four-year consulting contract back in the brand. But it was a life learning experience for me that everything happens exactly the way it's supposed to.
[00:23:12] Ray Latif: If you could go back though, and maybe not work with some of those private equity folks that you were on board with, how would you better vet folks? How would you examine not just the capital, but the quality and the personality of the folks that you're working with? We'll be back with more from Marci Zaroff after this quick break.
[00:23:36] Radio Insider: Natural foods companies, hire your next great team member by listing your job on the Project Nosh job board. To learn more and list your job, visit Nosh.com slash jobs.
[00:23:50] Marci Zaroff: I think today's entrepreneurs, A, they have more visibility to stories, good and bad, because of the internet. Remember, I mean, this is in the, you know, 90s and early 2000s. And we didn't have access to information to sit online and just start Googling somebody and reading other stories. Or you didn't, you know, the networking component of you know, tapping into places that you could do more due diligence. We didn't have that. So I would definitely advise for any entrepreneur, before you take money from anyone, to make sure you do your due diligence on them just like they're doing their due diligence on you. And I think I was sort of your classic young entrepreneur. somewhat naive, somewhat, you know, seeing the angels in the room, because you want to see that as an entrepreneur. You want to see that money that's, you know, dancing with you is going to be good money. You know, there was an element of my experience that was also a bit of the Me Too movement that today is front and center. And I think most women in business today would be well informed around if they felt uncomfortable in a situation, they would recognize what that means. But I think, again, I'm, you know, I'm 30 years in business and I look at 23 years ago or 20 years ago when I was, you know, dancing on raising money for Under The Canopy and consistently from then, I was one of the few women in the room. And so I think there was a male power, money connection to some of where my personal experience in Under The Canopy was challenged, to be honest.
[00:25:26] Ray Latif: There are so many people that we see that are, quote unquote, creating a new category. And in so many ways, you have been at the forefront, if not created a new category. We can just look at Good Catch, you know, plant-based seafood. I think there's probably one or two other brands in that space right now. But, you know, what are you taking into consideration? What should some of these entrepreneurs think about when they are indeed launching a new category and, you know, the challenges that come with it?
[00:25:52] Marci Zaroff: Yeah, well, I mean, I go back to saying, you know, have the vision, right? We can design whatever reality we want. I mean, we are creators, right? So for me, I think, you know, it's the manifestation of an idea comes from, you know, a combination of inspiration, education, innovation, collaboration, forging strategic partnerships of other people who have aligned interests. You know, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, right? One of my favorite things to say is one plus one equals 11. You know, we're living in a world of collaboration. So seize that, you know, look for ways that you can tell your story in strong partnerships and win-win ways. And that really helps. So in my book, Eco-Renaissance, where I give a lot of these kinds of tips, you know, the five pillars of this movement are creativity, connection, consciousness, community, and collaboration.
[00:26:50] Ray Latif: So one other trend that's really top of mind right now in food and beverage is cannabis and cannabis related ingredients and products and Beyond Brands, which are a co-founder of Markets and is an investor in a beverage brand called Mood 33. Some of you may have seen it if you attended BevNET Live in June. And who knows if you may have tried it at the event as well.
[00:27:12] Marci Zaroff: You don't forget that experience.
[00:27:15] Ray Latif: So I'm curious as to, you know, what you think of the potential for cannabis and in what forms, particularly as we see more legislation in states where cannabis is legalized or at least, you know, regulated by the government.
[00:27:32] Marci Zaroff: Yeah, so just like in the early years of the Natural Products industry, the early years of the organic industry, which is now a $50 billion industry, I would say the two hottest ground floor markets to me right now, which Beyond Brands obviously has a stake in both of, are the plant-based movement, which is in the birth of Good Catch. We are one of the first 20, you know, plant-based protein brands in the world. And so it's really at its infancy, but we know that based on the growth rates that we're seeing, the demand, that it's going to be a rocket ship. I would say the same thing about cannabis. We're at the very ground floor. There's so many nuances that you have to navigate in order to figure out the how to do this because of the legalities and You know, yes, a lot of states have now started embracing cannabis from a medical lens. But, you know, we're still less than 10 on the, you know, recreational lens. So we're limited on how we can do it. It can't be shipped. But I think the opportunity for food and beverage in the cannabis space is absolutely enormous. And I think, you know, you look at the number of people that actually would prefer to have cannabis-based products than than alcohol. It's a pretty huge number. And so we just launched our very first cannabis-infused beverage, as you mentioned, Mood 33. The response to the brand is just another one of these. Like, I feel like my head is spinning with, you know, just being like that yo-yo that I talked about, that excitement married with, oh gosh, how are we going to overcome this, you know, big challenge and keep going and, you know, and, but The reception to the product has been amazing. The taste is delicious. We have, you know, joy, and we have calm, and we have passion, and they're all infused with different botanicals and ingredients to give that, you know, added layer of energy and taste. But at the end of the day, I think that we really nailed it on the branding at Beyond Brands. the packaging, it really, it's very colorful and it's just fun and it's, you know, it's not like dark, you know, it's like what cannabis is all about as a plant, you know, it's a, we are, as human beings, you know, we're so disconnected from the fact that we are part of nature and we, you know, we have to co-create with nature and we have to be in alignment with our symbiotic relationship with nature. I mean, we breathe out carbon dioxide and, you know, plants breathe it in and they breathe out, you know, oxygen and we breathe it in. And I'm a huge fan of cannabis. I think, you know, it's natural as natural gets. And so we haven't even started to scratch the surface of all the different reasons for being and applications of the amazing plant. And so we are starting to explore that and go deeper into, you know, co-creating with the plant.
[00:30:31] Ray Latif: Well, it's interesting about cannabis because when I was growing up, Cannabis was always tied to irresponsibility because it was illegal. And nowadays, you know, in certain states it is legal. You know, the federal government still has something to say about that. But we're seeing so many folks embrace cannabis differently and use it in a different way, but there's still that... I guess cloud, I want to say, and no pun intended, but there's still that cloud of when should it be used, how should it be applied, you know, how it can be used in a home.
[00:31:06] Marci Zaroff: So I'll start by saying that the reason people believe what they believe is we've been brainwashed by, you know, false information and fear around cannabis, you know, the gateway to other drugs. There's nothing that has ever proven that. You look at the number of deaths from alcohol, both alcohol poisoning, alcoholism, not to mention drunk driving that happen. You would be hard pressed to find deaths connected to cannabis. or overdosing connected to cannabis. And you can't really die overdosing from cannabis, but you certainly can from alcohol poisoning. So there's just a lot of misinformation. Now, you know, using our logic, we certainly wouldn't be seeing so many states going against the federal government and adopting cannabis for medical purposes, put the recreational aside, if there wasn't enough science to prove the medicinal benefits of cannabis. So there's just, we're out there, you know, probably two of the greatest reasons for death is our alcohol and drunk driving, as well as pill popping and overdosing on prescription medicine, right? And so here you've got two industries that are thriving. And you got to think about the politics in that, right? And then separate that from cannabis, which isn't associated with, you know, with deaths or, you know, or overdosing. And suddenly you add to that all the medicinal benefits of cannabis and the people out there that have their stories of weaning themselves off of prescription medicine and transitioning into the plant, just smoking it right off of, you know, the just, nature, and not processed, and not dangerous, who have healed themselves of very serious conditions. And, you know, everything from, you know, digestive conditions, to sleep issues, to seizures, you know, there's just lists and lists, and that's why all these states are approving it. So I think, you know, we've got to just further educate about why this industry has been, you know, stifled, and then to layer on learning about it in the home. I think as we start to see more either state and hopefully eventually federal regulation as the industry starts to mature and we start to see it adopted from an honest and legitimate lens, there'll be a lot more studies and a lot more studies, not just on all the different strains of cannabis and all their different benefits. I mean, these studies are happening, but they're happening secretly, behind the scenes, you know, in contained areas, contained places, just because people have this fear, you know, that they've been embedded with for the last many, you know, several decades.
[00:33:52] Ray Latif: Fear is a powerful motivator, for sure.
[00:33:54] Marci Zaroff: Yeah, and I think we're just going to see an absolute proliferation of this industry on every level in all kinds of innovative ways. I mean, oh my gosh, the sky's the limit. The canvas is blank right now in terms of, you know, places from edibles and beverages to, you know, all different applications and medicinal purposes, both topical as well as ingested. There's just so much opportunity. And, you know, I think a lot of people are just on the sidelines waiting for that moment that they can feel safe.
[00:34:22] Ray Latif: Marcy, thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate it. And good luck with Good Catch going forward and please stay in touch and keep us and keep us in the loop with what you're doing.
[00:34:31] Marci Zaroff: Absolutely. And I would just advise everyone to go to goodcatchfoods.com to learn more about the brand and why we're doing it and all the stories of, you know, the oceans and kind of see and learn more about the products. And then to reach me would be at marcixeroff.com, which also talks about my brands in sustainable fashion and other products. So and beyond brands and as well as Good Catch, of course.
[00:34:56] Ray Latif: Right on. So thanks so much again.
[00:34:58] Marci Zaroff: Thank you so much for having me. It was super fun. All right.
[00:35:04] Ray Latif: Yeah. That brings us to the end of Episode 130. Thanks to our guest, Marci Zaroff. Tune in on Friday, September 28th, when we launch the first episode of Taste Radio Insider, which features an interview with Eugene Kang, the founder of fast-growing jerky brand Country Archer. You can catch the new show on Taste Radio, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and Soundcloud. Once again, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
