[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hey folks, I'm Ray Latif and you're listening to the Top Podcast for the food and beverage industry, Taste Radio. This episode features an interview with Adam Bremen, the founder of Keto Krisp, a fast-growing brand of ketocentric snack bars, who spoke about how perseverance and a can-do attitude has yielded personal and professional success throughout his life. This podcast also includes a conversation with investor Maxine Kozler for part one of a new regular series in which she provides her insights and analysis of the food and beverage industry. 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 would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. We begin the show with Adam Bremen, a founder who's made it his mission to inspire and empower others to live a healthier lifestyle. Born with cerebral palsy, Adam has used an electric wheelchair his entire life. His focus, however, has never been about the limitation of his physical abilities. Rather, Adam's mantra has always been, it's about what you can do, not what you can't. Following a nearly 15-year career at financial services company Charles Schwab, Adam launched the CanDo company, having been inspired by his own success with the keto-based diet, in which he lost 65 pounds. The company's first brand was Keto Krisp, a protein bar low in carbohydrates and sugar and promoted as having a superior taste to existing bar products. Less than two-plus years since its debut, Keto Krisp is available at Whole Foods, Wegmans, Walmart, Sprouts, and select Costco locations across the U.S. In this interview, Adam shared with me his compelling life story and how a positive mental attitude and passion for inspiring others led to the creation of Keto Krisp. He also explained his process and advice for winning over retail buyers, how he identified a CEO that aligned with Keto Krisp's focus and business strategy, and why he's more focused on the journey of entrepreneurship than a specific end goal. Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with the one and only Adam Bremen, the founder of Keto Krisp. Adam, how are you? Great, Ray. How you doing? Thanks so much for having me on. I'm fired up.
[00:02:42] Adam Bremen: I love it.
[00:02:43] SPEAKER_??: Thank you.
[00:02:44] Ray Latif: That was the best response to, how are you, that I've had ever on Taste Radio. So thank you so much for that. I appreciate it.
[00:02:52] Adam Bremen: I'm glad to be part of a first of ever for you. I know you've done a lot of shows and had a lot of great guests, so it means a lot. So far, we're batting a thousand. Let's keep it rolling.
[00:03:02] Ray Latif: For sure. You're in Seattle right now. You're not based in Seattle, but you're traveling for work, I assume?
[00:03:09] Adam Bremen: Yes, we're actually doing demos here in Costco. So I'm excited. Tomorrow we're going to be hitting about six stores. And that's what I love to do is get out there and really get bars in people's mouths. So we're excited. We're all over the place running around like crazy.
[00:03:27] Ray Latif: Fantastic. You know, I've never been to Seattle. I've been to Portland, and I know those are two different cities, very rival cities. Maybe, you know, some folks might not want me to mention one city in the same sentence as another, but I'm planning to go. So I hope you can share some tips on how to navigate the city when I do go later this year.
[00:03:44] Adam Bremen: You know what's so funny about this place, Ray, is everybody talks about how it rains all the time, and it does, because I look at the forecast, and I'm interested, and I love the geographics of the place. But literally, every time I come here, it's sunny skies. It's unbelievable. I touched down, and I called my buddy Doug. I said, Doug, I'm here. He's like, Adam, you cannot believe this. You brought the sun. The whole day, it's been raining, cloudy, and boom, I'm here, and the sun comes out. I have nothing to do with that, just luck.
[00:04:14] Ray Latif: I don't know. I think you might have something to do with that, Adam. You are a very sunny person. You have such a great disposition about yourself. Every time that I hear your name or someone speaks about your name or your brand, they have a smile on their face. So it wouldn't surprise me that the sun does come out every time you go to Seattle or any other rainy city for that matter.
[00:04:35] Adam Bremen: Well, thank you very much for that compliment in all seriousness. You know, I'm so grateful for everybody to have this opportunity to be, you know, the face of the brand and to represent us. I hope I'm doing a good job. Shout out to all of our employees, my teammates, our partners. There's no way that I could do this without you guys. And it's a complete team effort. So I'm extremely grateful and excited to share the story today with you. And again, thanks so much for having me. It's awesome.
[00:05:05] Ray Latif: Thank you so much for joining us. It's awesome for me as well, Adam. You know, you're such a great inspiration to so many people. And the last time we spoke, you talked about how your brother is your inspiration. How did he influence you?
[00:05:19] Adam Bremen: Ever since I was born, you know, you have that relationship with your older brother. I mean, typically, I don't know if you have siblings or not, but instantly, just because of the chronological order of birth, you know, you're always going to look up to your older brother or older sister. But me being in a chair and having cerebral palsy, You know, it was never, it's never a competition thing because we could never compete when it came to sports or anything like that. So I was always his biggest fan and vice versa. And I'm just so proud of what my brother and my sister have been able to accomplish and the roles, you know, the path that they set for me and how they carry themselves every day. It's just, I just wanted to be like everybody else. I'm special because of the kind of person that I am, not because I sit in the wheelchair, but they have had an incredible impact on my life. My parents and my brothers, I always just wanted to be like them. I'm so proud of what he's done and who he is as an individual. It's incredible. And I'm his biggest fan and vice versa. Sorry, I get a little emotional. That's just what I do.
[00:06:31] Ray Latif: No, I'm getting emotional myself. You know, it's such a beautiful way of describing the relationship that you have with your brother and your sister. I do have siblings. I have seven brothers and three sisters, actually.
[00:06:42] Adam Bremen: Oh my gosh.
[00:06:44] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.
[00:06:45] Ray Latif: you know, you do look up to your siblings, and I look up to my siblings who are younger than me, too. A hundred percent. Yeah.
[00:06:53] Adam Bremen: We're each other's biggest fans. There's nobody that cheers harder for one another than my brother Noah and my sister Erin, and my sister's four years younger than I am, and, you know, we just have the best relationship, and I'm so lucky, and they're both parents now of their own children, and it's just, it's awesome to see the relationship and just, the love and just wanting each other to do well. There's never been a competitive bone in our body for one another. Again, we're each other's biggest cheerleaders, as I'm sure you are with your siblings. And it's just, it's awesome to see.
[00:07:27] Ray Latif: Even when you play board games, because when we play board games in my house, well, when we were younger, it could get violent. It doesn't get violent anymore. It just gets like, you know, tense and heated. Right. But that Monopoly board, when we were younger, that would get torn apart, like we'd get a new Monopoly board every Christmas. And that thing would be done by, you know, December 26th.
[00:07:46] Adam Bremen: You know, it's funny you talk about board games because the board game that my brother and I would play is a monopoly and boardwalk in Park Place. And Noah would say, Adam, you know, before we get started, I'm buying all the boardwalk in Park Places. And of course, me being his biggest cheerleader, I would just keep rolling right along because I want, you know, I want him to win. I want him to have the best and be the best.
[00:08:10] Ray Latif: You know, one of the most amazing things I read about you and I saw on your Instagram feed is that you surf. And I wonder if that is something that came from your brother and sister as well. Did they teach you how to surf? Were they surfers?
[00:08:25] Adam Bremen: No, you know, my brother's always been a sports enthusiast, basketball, golf, baseball, played all the sports all the way up into college and works out like a phoenix. And in 2016, he was involved in an injury. He's doing great now. But I came out to L.A. to help him rehab from the injury and everybody's like, Adam, you gotta meet this guy Jesse Billauer. Jesse Billauer runs this organization called Life Rolls On and they help people with special needs surf. Now, Ray, I've never been surfing in my life and I hate the cold water, but I love the sunshine and I love to try new things. I think that's how we grow as individuals is to get outside of our comfort zone every day. And that builds confidence and confidence breeds success and positivity breeds positivity. And I just said, you know what? I'm going to try it. Who cares? What's the worst thing that could happen? You get a little cold, you get a little bit uncomfortable, but you're bettering yourself. And I was, I got up, I got there like six in the morning. It was a little chilly, the water was cold, but I was so fired up by the volunteers and by the athletes like myself. It was such an incredible day and my brother actually got to watch me participate in my sport. We're all growing up through life and it was great, Ray, as I would cheer for him. And I would love nothing more than to cheer for him all day long. But he got to watch me participate in my sport and do my thing. And it was such an incredible moment. that, you know, I can't describe it. It was awesome. And now Jesse and I are great friends and we're a big advocate of this organization. And I encourage everybody to check out Life Rolls On because it's my commitment to the organization and to him to make sure that people like me have that same experience every day. And it's just it was life changing for me. And after that event, I said, you know what, if I was in better shape, I could do more activities like this. And that's when I started dedicating myself to health and wellness. And that's when we started creating something like Keto Krisp.
[00:10:35] Ray Latif: So amazing. You know, I've never been surfing in my life and you've inspired me to try something. Because I, like you, I'm not a fan of cold water. Well, really cold water, that is. And I love the sunshine. I love the beach. But there's something about surfing that's always frightened me a little bit. And it can't anymore. Because if you did it, then I certainly should be able to do it. Now you talked about the inspiration and your desire to create Keto Krisp based on the experience you had in getting in shape. It's one thing to have an idea, and I've said this a number of times on the podcast, it's one thing to have an idea, it's another thing to execute upon that idea. It helps. If you have a family who knows business and you have a long, your family has a long history in entrepreneurship, your brother is also a longtime CPG executive. All that being said, you must have known getting into this business that the food industry is pretty tough.
[00:11:30] Adam Bremen: anything that's worth doing is tough, but I look at that as an opportunity really, and I don't mean to sound cliches, but again, I use the attitude you never know until you try. And number one, life is about focusing on what we can do, not what we can't. And I know that we're going to get into the can-do story a little bit later on. In the podcast here, but you know with my brother's experience and and my love and passion for people I said, you know No, and I both sat down and and I kind of stumbled upon the keto diet just by chance, you know I had started working out with a friend in the pool and we were doing some great things and he said Adam, you know if you really want to make some changes and you've got to change your diet. And you know, Google is our best friend and a great source of information. So I just started Googling the things that I was putting into my body and taking out, and it was really aligned with the keto-based lifestyle. And then, you know, as a passionate consumer and a curious consumer, I started testing different brands and just said, Why don't we try to make something that's a little bit different that really focuses on Taste Radio texture? Obviously, the macros are important. We just started with three flavors and just kept rolling. Literally, we'd go door-to-door and say, guys, you got to try this. People were excited and they loved the Taste Radio texture. Again, you never know until you try. We just kept trying and believing and just never giving up. If you would have told me, though, Ray, three years ago, I'd be in the bar business, I'd tell you, you're crazy, because I worked 15 years at Charles Schwab as a financial consultant before this. But, you know, I always loved food. That's why it was heavy in the first place. But after being in shape and losing over 60 pounds and feeling so great and being able to help so many people and just being out there, there are no words that can describe how excited I am. But we have a lot more work to do.
[00:13:32] Ray Latif: Now, ketocentric food can come in many forms. Bars are probably the most convenient, but the bar category is notoriously competitive. So where did you see the white space for a keto-based bar? What made you think that your product could stand out from the rest?
[00:13:54] Adam Bremen: To be honest with you, and this is no disrespect to anybody that has a bar, I think that our focus, number one, was on Taste Radio texture. And number two, although equally as important, are the macros. And I really wanted to focus on a great tasting bar and with the macros. And at the time, there wasn't a whole lot of keto products out there. And again, we didn't know, I mean, obviously you envision it being a success, but we, You know, we're just out there trying, you know, we just gave it everything we got and we just stuck to our fundamentals, which was having great tasting products every day that people could get around with a really authentic story and myself and just try to inspire and empower people to live healthier lifestyles each and every day. And for me, You know, you look at the competition, but I had strong beliefs in myself, my brother, our team. It didn't really matter what anybody else was doing. Yes, you want to be aware, but oftentimes if you're so aware, you might be so scared and just not willing to take that chance. And we just, we believe in ourselves. We believe in our team and, and we just went for it. It's that can do attitude that life is about what we can do, not what we can't.
[00:15:10] Ray Latif: Yeah, well, I think most people think that they can make a great tasting product, and sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they don't. And people say that taste is subjective. Well, maybe taste is subjective, but deliciousness is not subjective. Deliciousness is, I think, a universal term, I mean, a universal feeling. When someone tastes something that's great, they know it, and most people know it as well. You mentioned taste a number of times. How did you get the taste right?
[00:15:39] Adam Bremen: It goes down to relationships with the bar manufacturers that we work with and the research and development team and the kitchen staff to just continually innovate and continually try new things. You know, I can't tell you the thousands of bars that we would taste on a daily basis. Even today, we are so tuned in and dialed in on Taste Radio texture. I mean, I eat bars all day long and that's what I do. And we have our manufacturers send us new products all day long because we want to be thought leaders in the category. We want to constantly be coming up with new, innovative, great tasting products. So you're just constantly testing and constantly asking people for their opinion. When we started, we started with three Keto Krisp bar, almond butter, chocolate mint, chocolate raspberry. And then I would demo every day and people would say, Adam, I'd love to try your bars. I love the story, but you know, I'm vegan. And so, you know, that's why we were born with two years so that we could listen. And I think that's the most critical part of being successful is taking care of your customer and really listening. So now we have two vegan options that customers are really excited about. And I'm very, proud because customers mean everything to me and people mean everything to me. That's why we're going to win.
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[00:17:49] Ray Latif: Well, you do have some great tasting bars. And I think that the flavors that you talked about are really special because I can't recall. Now this is a savory type bar. It's not, you know, the flavor is savory, but I can never, I can't recall ever seeing a snack bar or a protein bar that was flavored with butter and salt. I'm holding it in my hand for folks watching the video. This is crazy. How'd you come up with a butter and salt flavor?
[00:18:18] Adam Bremen: You know, it's I'm glad that you're holding that one up because that's our newest one. And I'm just so over the moon excited for this thing. I mean, if you guys haven't tried it, got to go down to the store and pick it up at Whole Foods. I'm going to give you a discount code before the end of the show if I'm allowed to do that. But I'm telling you, this thing is it's awesome. It's butter and salt and it came from you know, again, inspiration from a donut shop, a local donut shop. And, you know, we just started playing around with it. And we're just like, people on keto love butter. It's part of the diet. And, you know, it doesn't say anything restrictive about salt. Let's see if we can do one of those savory treats, like you said. And it's, it's definitely a hot trend, you know, sweet and savory, and just super excited about it.
[00:19:09] Ray Latif: Thank you for sending me some because it's fantastic. I also love, and you spoke about this earlier, your vegan varieties. The almond butter and blackberry jelly variety is fantastic as well. Blackberry jelly. I mean, come on. Everyone loves blackberry jelly, but just no one makes it in a bar or nobody puts that flavor in a bar or any food really for that matter. So great job on that.
[00:19:29] Adam Bremen: Thanks. It's kind of a takeoff from peanut butter and jelly. Who doesn't like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? There you go. So that was the inspiration behind that. And, you know, we just want to keep it simple and just keep offering flavors that we think people will like. And we'll constantly test and constantly innovate. And it's a lot of fun. And we love your feedback, positive or negative, because that's how you get better. Absolutely.
[00:19:54] Ray Latif: You know, Adam, I hope this comes across as positive, but you're a natural salesperson. From what I have heard and read about you, you just have this natural gift when it comes to selling. And I really, actually, I felt it the first time we had a conversation. I was just like, Adam just has this great way of communicating that lends itself to being a great salesperson. For folks who may not be a great salesperson, may not be great at sales, what is your secret?
[00:20:20] Adam Bremen: I always put myself in the position of the other person on the other end, and being in a chair and having depend on people the way that I do, I think I'm extremely sensitive and extremely understanding of others, you know, and I'm so grateful for people. I wouldn't be in the position that I am today without so many great people. First, it starts with my dad and my mom, who set the foundation of how to treat people, do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you, just simple like that. I just love people, and I think sales is all about service. I really care about the relationships. The bars are one thing, but the people at the end of the day is really what's going to make your life special, and that's what it's all about. And I always say this to my brother and my family, and anybody will listen, the bar is just a platform for me and us to connect as people. And that's what's really fun about this whole thing, is the ability to connect with others and to put a smile on your face and have fun. Life is short, we gotta play hard. Have fun, smile, and don't take yourself too seriously. And just, again, treat people how you would wanna be treated, simple as that.
[00:21:33] Ray Latif: When you say you try to put yourself in the other person's shoes, how do you understand what they need? How do you identify what their goals are or what they want out of the relationship that you may or may not have?
[00:21:49] Adam Bremen: I think it starts with asking questions, showing that you care. When we have meetings with buyers, I point blank ask them what they're looking for and why they're interested and introduce myself. And they're interested in the story. They want innovative products. And I guess, like you said, thankfully, I have a gift to be able to communicate and just listen and ask questions. I'm never pushy or whatever. Hey, if you want to try it, great. If you don't, thank you for your time. And I really mean that. I'm grateful. I really am.
[00:22:25] Ray Latif: Even though you have a team of folks that work for Keto Krisp, you told me that you're involved in every single buyer meeting. And that's really important to you as the founder of the company. Why is it so important that you're involved in every one of those buyer meetings?
[00:22:40] Adam Bremen: because again, they gave us the time to listen to our story. And the least I could do is be on a phone call or meet them face to face. I mean, there are so many different food options that they can choose or look at, but they happen to give us the time. And I'm so, you know, again, appreciative. And I say it over and over again, when I say that, I truly mean that for me to be on your podcast. I mean, it's, it's a real honor. for you to take an hour out of your day to listen to me is great. It's awesome. And I know you feel the same way and I'm grateful for it.
[00:23:14] Ray Latif: Yeah, as am I. I'm very thankful and appreciative of that. And thank you once again. One of the other things that we talked about the last time we chatted was about your buyer meeting at Publix, the first time you pitched to Publix. Such a great story. Can you share it with our audience?
[00:23:30] Adam Bremen: Yeah, it was great. Went down to Florida, where their headquarters and beautiful office. I went in there with our broker, and they're like, Adam, the buyer has had maybe 10 bar meetings today. It's late in the day. I don't know if she's going to want to try your bar. I said, guys, trust me. She'll try it within the first five minutes. They said, Adam, I don't know. I said, with all due respect, guys, I appreciate your feedback. She hasn't met a person like myself and I haven't met a person like her. Within five minutes after I showed the video of me surfing and talking about the brand in the video and I opened up the bar, I'm like, Reina, the buyer, you've got to try this. How could she say no to a guy who looks so great sitting down, who's got a great smile and a great attitude. I've been blessed with that from my parents and genes and whatever. Thankfully, you know, she tried and our partners were just they were shocked. They couldn't believe that she would try it. And she loved it. And, you know, we have a great relationship. And it was really fun. I'm always up to the challenge like that.
[00:24:42] Ray Latif: There you go. The Publix meeting happened just before the outset of the pandemic. Is that right? Yes.
[00:24:50] Adam Bremen: Yeah. Like literally, I remember in the car after sharing a story with a friend of mine, she said that her parents had just flown back from Seattle and, you know, there were people getting sick and we didn't know about what COVID was. And it was just crazy.
[00:25:07] Ray Latif: Yeah, it was a catastrophic time and we still live in very strange times, just to put it mildly. But how did you navigate those first few months? How did you manage Keto Krisp, which was still a very young brand? I mean, it's a young brand right now, but it was a very, very young brand at the time. What was your approach to pivoting as a result of COVID?
[00:25:29] Adam Bremen: Great question. I think we took it as an opportunity. Being a young brand, we didn't really have, you know, a strategy. Our only strategy, well, I won't say only, but our major strategy was let's just put bars in people's mouths. How can we put bars in people's mouths? Can we send samples out? Can we enrich our relationship with our customers via email? you know, how are customers ingesting products? How are they trying things? Just using social media more, using the internet more? You know, it was an adjustment for me because I used to be on the road in the grocery store doing demos. But again, you know, being a young brand, we didn't have all these elaborate you know, marketing plans, we didn't have all these trades, you know, we were just new and just going at it. So the world was our oyster, like it was, it was wide open, we could do whatever we want. And I think if you're not adapting, then you're not winning. And that's something that Noah stressed every day to me, that we've got to continue to adapt, we've got to continue to evolve. So that's kind of how we dealt with that. But it's definitely unprecedented times, you know, nobody in the history has gone through what we've gone through right now. So we're all in it together and, you know, just one day at a time.
[00:26:48] Ray Latif: Absolutely. It helps when you know that other people are facing the same challenges, or at least I think it would help knowing that other people are sort of in the same boat as you. It helps, though, if you can find good partners. And you found a great partner mid-2020 in Matt Clifford, who became the CEO of your company. Why were you looking for a CEO, number one? And why was Matt the right person to bring on board?
[00:27:17] Adam Bremen: Number one, he's just got this incredible personality. He lights up a room as soon as he walks in the door. We hit it off right away with our similarities like that. And number two, he had the experience in the CPG space that quite honestly, I didn't have. And my brother and I are huge advocate and, you know, know what we don't know and hire people that know and Matt knows and we trust him. He's done a great job in guiding us through the intricacies of buyer meetings, the in the weeds, so to speak, of the business that everybody needs to know and needs to understand that I just didn't have the experience. Matt's been an excellent teacher, a great mentor, and really a great friend. I always say this, he's the best thing that happened to me in COVID. you know, into our team is to bring that on. You know, we talk every day, multiple times a day. And I can tell, you know, when things are going great and when it's not so good, we pick each other up and vice versa. He's been an excellent teammate and just honored to call him a friend. And he's part of the family and we love him.
[00:28:28] Ray Latif: That's so great to hear. I mean, it's so great to hear when the relationship starts out great and continues to be great. And Matt, as you mentioned, has a ton of experiences. The co-founder of Barnana, you know, it's a two way street. You may love someone and they have to love you back. What was your pitch to Matt because you were still an early stage brand at the time. And I think there's a lot of early stage founders that would love to bring on a CEO with Matt's experience. But, you know, experienced CEOs cost money and, you know, they have to find the right fit for themselves as much as the other way around. So what really convinced Matt and how did you convince Matt to join the company?
[00:29:10] Adam Bremen: Humbly I'll say, I don't think there was much convincing. I think we were so excited about the opportunity. He was excited because number one, he saw the energy and the passion that Noah and I had and the rest of the team had. He wanted to be a part of it because it really fits his makeup. And we needed somebody and wanted somebody with his experience and expertise. So it really was a perfect match and he was looking at an opportunity that would fit his skill set the best. It's been a perfect match. It really has.
[00:29:41] Ray Latif: Adam, a number of times over our conversation, you've talked about can-do, not can't-do, and it's appropriate because the name of the company, the name of your company is can-do. The name of the brand is obviously Keto Krisp. Why have two names? What are the advantages of a company that's called one thing and a brand that's called another?
[00:30:03] Adam Bremen: Well, I'm very excited about CanDo because it means so much. Number one, you know, I've talked about it in reference to quite a few times that you said on the show, but life is always about what we can do and not what we can't. And we really want to stress that slogan throughout the brand. I mean, that that is what we are. We're the CanDo company. There's no restrictions. The reason behind it is We pride ourselves on being innovators and we don't want to be known as just the keto company. What if there's another opportunity down the road? We understand the health benefits of low carb, low sugar, but we always want to leave the door open you know, that we may go into other food products or, you know, another line of CPG. We want to have that ability to have that freedom to, again, listen to our customers, see what's out there and, you know, really be able to adapt at any time. So Keto Krisp is part of the can-do company.
[00:31:09] Ray Latif: I mean, it makes a lot of sense given that while Keto Krisp well known and very on trend today, who knows where it could be in 10 years. So you might have a brand called Keto Krisp and in 2032, it might not be relevant or the diet may not be relevant. You'd have to, well, I don't know what you'd do at that point.
[00:31:29] Adam Bremen: No, you're right on and that was the thought process around the ability to be able to pivot and just, you know again be open but the thing that excites me the most is what can do stands for and that's the you know the mantras again all about what we can do now what we can't whether it's bars whether it's in life it's all about focusing on the positive and we we want to get that message across
[00:31:55] Ray Latif: I recently spoke with a couple entrepreneurs whose advisors told them or urged them to think about their company from its end. They would say, you know, start from the end. And if I ask you, you know, what the end is for Keto Krisp and CanDo, I guess, what's the grand vision for the company and the brand, what would it be?
[00:32:21] Adam Bremen: I just want to keep things simple. I think sometimes we overcomplicate it and we think about, you know, material things or, you know, objects. It's really about experiences and relationships. And yeah, all those material things will be fun. And wow, what if we sold it for a big number and this, that and the other. And those things are fun to think about, but you know, that doesn't get me up in the morning. What gets me up in the morning is to see somebody smile on their face, you know, to really help them become better people. Because again, I feel like I'm always indebted to so many people that have helped me be the person that I am. And I'm thankful to be in this position and help out in any way that I can. And so many people have inspired me and I'm just, I'm just paying it back.
[00:33:06] Ray Latif: Yeah, the journey is the vision, the journey is the goal. And as I mentioned at the top of our conversation, you are such an inspiration to so many people and you already have had such a positive impact on not just our industry, but our world as a whole. You've had a great impact on me, and I know you'll have one on our audience as well. Adam, it's been such an honor sitting down with you. I know you're quite busy traveling all over the country, so I really, really appreciate you taking some time to sit down with me. I always say, you know, one of the best perks of doing this job is introducing good people to other good people. So, you know, this is my honor to introduce you, a great person, to our audience. And I consider our audience to be full of great people as well. So making this connection through this podcast is really special for me. So thanks so much again, Adam.
[00:34:01] Adam Bremen: No problem, Ray. It was really great and I'm honored to be part of your family, so to speak. And again, if anybody has any questions, I'm more than willing and happy to meet anybody and everybody and whatever I can do to help, I'm always there. So thank you.
[00:34:17] Ray Latif: Well, one more quick thing, Adam. You mentioned this earlier. One way we can get people to try Keto Krisp is via the discount code that you wanted to share with our audience. We don't typically do this, but you brought it up. So what is it?
[00:34:33] Adam Bremen: Right, it's Adam Cando, A-D-A-N-C-A-N-D-O, for 25% off on our website. Guys, I'd love for you to try the bar. It tastes great. I'm honored to have you as part of our community. It means the world to me. And just thank you guys so much. And I hope you've enjoyed this podcast as much as I have. It's a real honor to chat with you, Ray. And just thanks, everybody. Sending big hugs. Kisses and high fives to everybody. And you know, thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it.
[00:35:07] Ray Latif: Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks so much Adam. You got it man, thanks.
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[00:36:02] Ray Latif: Our episode continues with the first installment of a new series of short interviews called The Maxi Minutes, which features Maxine Kozler, the co-managing director Los Angeles-based investment firm LDR Ventures. The Maxi Minutes is part of a broader focus for Taste Radio to incorporate voices from investors, distributors, co-manufacturers, and other professionals representing the service and support side of the food and beverage industry. In this brief discussion, Maxie speaks about her first experience at BevNET Live, insights about retail and distribution gleaned from a cross-country road trip, and the advice she has for entrepreneurs on how to give their best elevator pitch. All right, so now I'm speaking with someone who is likely familiar to our Taste Radio audience. That's Maxine Kozler, who is the co-managing director of LDR Ventures. Maxie, how are you?
[00:36:57] Charles Schwab: I'm great, Ray. How are you today?
[00:36:59] Ray Latif: I'm doing fantastic. Thanks so much for asking. As I mentioned, Maxie is probably familiar to our audience. She joined us as a judge for our BevNET New Beverage Showdown at BevNET Live Winter 2021. She most recently joined us for an episode of Elevator Talk, and she's also recorded a podcast interview with us that was titled What This Early Stage Investor in Sweetgreen Wants to Hear in Your Pitch. Today, we're kicking off a new series of segments that will be featuring in future episodes of Taste Radio. The series will be called The Maxi Minutes, in which we'll be discussing news related to the food and beverage industry, the investment environment for brands in the space, and general observations as it relates to innovation, retail, new products, and more. I'm very excited for all of this, as I'm sure our audience is as well.
[00:37:52] Charles Schwab: Thank you, Ray. I really appreciate the opportunity. You have created such an incredible community and you have such great people who are enthusiastic for information and connection that it is such a privilege to be here.
[00:38:07] Ray Latif: Well, thanks so much for saying that. And you met a lot of those folks at BevNET Live Winter 2021. So it was your first time at one of our events. Talk about your experience there.
[00:38:17] Charles Schwab: It was amazing. I had been wanting to go for years and everything just lined up perfectly to come. And I believe it was the first live one in a little bit due to covid. And you could feel that energy. People were so excited to be in person and meeting each other. But it was very clear what a community there is there. There are people doing business on all sides whether they're investors founders distributors formulators. It really is this close knit community. However there's constantly new people coming into it and they seem to be very welcome. So it's a unique environment.
[00:38:56] Ray Latif: Yeah, you know, I think the thing about BevNET Live that's so amazing to me is that the networking that happens at the show feels very, very specific, yet so valuable to folks in the beverage industry. Talk about some of the interactions that you had with entrepreneurs.
[00:39:14] Charles Schwab: I span the gamut of entrepreneurs that I met of founders. People were doing their third or fourth company, could be beverage or food. And then a lot of people who this was their first go with beverage, but they came from really, really strong backgrounds. I've talked to several doctors who just were really seeing health issues with their patients and figuring out a great way to provide a solution to that. people who came out of their own life experience. One of the things I love of beverage founders is they really all have a personal story. It's so coming from the heart. I didn't meet anyone who just looked at the data of what a trend is and said hey I'm going to create a beverage. I think it's too hard to go into beverage if you don't start with heart.
[00:40:01] Ray Latif: One of the other things that people love about BevNET Live is all the amazing new beverages that you get to try. I mean, our coolers are packed with really cutting edge, bleeding edge, trendy beverages, really complex, function forward products. Some of the things that you might see at Erewhon in Southern California, maybe in Brooklyn, some things that you may not necessarily see in mainstream middle America. That being said, you took a road trip with your family after BedNet Live, visited some of those places where mainstream retailers exist, and those products that I mentioned don't. Talk about some of your observations in terms of visiting those places, what you saw, what's happening on the ground in places that are not the coast, places that are not Southern California, Brooklyn, Miami, et cetera?
[00:40:52] Charles Schwab: It couldn't have happened more perfectly. I went from BevNET Live, where I saw the newest, the greatest, the most advanced and innovative in beverage, and then my family and I drove from New York to California, through the whole country, And what we didn't see was innovation and niche and experimental and educational products. It was very, very traditional. There were very few SKUs. There were very few alternatives. So as an investor, I was jumping out of my car waiting to go to the next place to see what wasn't there because the opportunity is huge. I think the biggest thing that I'm looking for is alternative forms of distribution, especially from a marketing perspective. As we're going through social media and DTC for beverage really growing. it's going to create demand in these places where the consumer is going to be looking for things and the gas station mini mart is going to need to shift their skew. People are feeling more and more connected actually through social media with places they before would not have been. So the people who normally can't get this cool new LA product they want it, the demand's there. And so we need to find ways that they get to try it and experiment and feel connected to the rest of their country. So when they're looking through those glass cases, they're looking for more than a beverage. They're looking for connection with communities that now through the internet and social media, they are connected to. We just need to follow along with the physical product that they get to try because the awareness is there.
[00:42:44] Ray Latif: That's a really good point. I think a lot of entrepreneurs are looking at ways that they can reach traditional retail, yet in different forms of distribution or different ways that they can reach consumers at those retailers. That being said, it costs money to do that. And you are going to need to reach out to investors if you already haven't. You yourself are an investor, obviously, and this is timely because you recently joined us for an episode of Elevator Talk, as I mentioned, and you heard four pitches from four different entrepreneurs all bringing something really interesting to the table, but they only had 10 minutes to give you a pitch. Based on what you heard and just based on your experience, what should entrepreneurs be looking to do? What should they be looking to include in that pitch? What specifically is going to move the needle for you? as you're hearing about their business strategy and their products.
[00:43:34] Charles Schwab: There's a couple of key things that I definitely want to hear. The first piece, which is the product. What's the problem they're trying to solve and why are they trying to solve it and in what way? Beverage founders have this through and through. They come across passionate and knowledgeable about why they created this product and why it needs to exist. They do some of the best jobs I've ever seen. That's one third. Then I want to hear what is your sales strategy? What is your distribution strategy? As you said, distribution and beverage is challenging. It may be one of the most challenging of any industry that we're invested in and just that exists. So knowing that they're tackling a really big sales and distribution challenge, I need to hear that they've got a strategy. They've got really good advisors and team who are going to help with this. is part two. Part three is marketing. How are they gonna sell through? They could have the greatest distribution luck and strategy and get on those shelves and get in those channels. If they do not sell through, they will not stay there. So I need to hear all three, product, sales and distribution, and then marketing and sell through. And if they can touch in 10 minutes, they got three minutes of each of those, they're going to get me into that next conversation.
[00:44:59] Ray Latif: There you go. Well, short, but sweet and very valuable information. Maxie, as always, thanks so much for joining us. Can't wait to do the next part of our Maxi Minutes series. Once again, really appreciate all the things that you do for our community and what you're bringing to the table for Taste Radio and BevNET as a whole. We'll be talking again soon.
[00:45:19] Charles Schwab: Thank you, Ray. It is such an honor to be welcomed into this community.
[00:45:26] Ray Latif: That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening, and thanks to our guests, Adam Bremen and Maxine Kozler. As always, 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, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
