[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and I'm with my co-hosts for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we're joined by Ayeshah Abuelhiga, the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods, a fast-growing brand of better-for-you frozen baked goods, sandwiches, and snacks. Now, many of you out there are regular listeners of the show. We just want to formalize it by making you VIPs. You are clearly already VIPs to us. We just want to make it official. John Craven, what is VIP? What is this all about being of Taste Radio VIP?
[00:00:55] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Well, like you just said, I think, you know, we're trying to reward our loyal listeners, and we're going to do that with this new VIP program. We've got some cool merch coming out this spring, as well as, you know, we're doing these meetups, and we generally just want to be in touch with you, as Ray said, formally. If you want to become a VIP, you can just head on over to Taste Radio forward slash VIP, fill out the little form. It's not, you're not signing up for a newsletter.
[00:01:26] Mason Dixie: FAQ, is it a newsletter, John?
[00:01:28] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: No, it's not.
[00:01:29] Mason Dixie: We decided it wasn't a newsletter. It's not a newsletter. No one needs a newsletter. We're just going to tell you stuff you want to know, like we're sending you swag right now.
[00:01:37] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Yeah, and I guess we are, it's going to be sort of based on who signs up first. We're going to, you know, kind of keep track of that. So, well, because we also won't have limitless merch, right? Right. But yeah, we're going to do some cool stuff, stickers, pins, lanyards, I don't know, maybe some wearable things.
[00:01:56] Ray Latif: I think wearable things are the things that people most desire, and I would say, and I've told everyone about this already, the Taste Radio T-shirt is the softest T-shirt you'll ever wear in life. And I actually gave one to Becca Milstein, who was the founder and CEO of Fishwife, and she held it, well you know like when you have a little teddy bear when you're growing up and you're just like, it's so soft, it's like the softest thing you don't wanna let it go? That's kind of the way she felt about it.
[00:02:18] Mason Dixie: Oh my God, we had the best conversation with Becca.
[00:02:21] Ray Latif: Those shirts are like nine million thread count, right? They're nine million thread counts. And they do cost us a pretty penny. Every single t-shirt is $1,500, folks. So consider being a VIP and you will have, essentially, if you have $1,500 of swag.
[00:02:36] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: As a disclaimer, there's no $1,500 t-shirts.
[00:02:39] Ray Latif: But they are spun by the official silkworms of Taste Radio. Did you ever take a law class? Because you're always on top of when I say stupid things. And you're always like, as a disclaimer, this is actually not true.
[00:02:50] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Uh, yes. We all took business law. Yeah. I had to take business law, ethics.
[00:02:56] Ray Latif: I took business law, but I, yeah. But you forgot.
[00:02:58] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Also when you run a business for a while, you, uh, you start to think of these things just like, you know, second nature. So anyway, head on over to Taste Radio forward slash VIP and, you know, become a VIP and, uh, see what happens. Absolutely.
[00:03:15] Ray Latif: I, again, you know, no newsletter. This is just a way for us to stay in closer contact with our loyal listeners and a way for you guys to, uh, receive some of the awesome stuff that we have here at Taste Radio and maybe some behind the scenes content that, uh, we didn't necessarily, uh, share with the rest of the group.
[00:03:33] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: And also maybe a good way to get your brand involved since, you know, we kind of talk about products on here sometimes.
[00:03:41] Mason Dixie: Pro tip one, if you want to hear your brand mentioned on Taste Radio, become a VIP because we're going to thank VIPs for signing up.
[00:03:49] Ray Latif: We definitely talked about a lot of products and brands at the Expo West show and chatted about them on a recent episode of Taste Radio. I think we, in all, when I was listing all the brands in our copy for that episode, I think there were about 50 or so.
[00:04:06] Mason Dixie: We got to finish what I was talking about Becca Milstein first, though. We met her in the main hall and she listens to us while she's running. So watch out for that crack, Becca. Oh, jeez.
[00:04:17] Ray Latif: Look out. Don't trip. The only thing I didn't particularly like about Expo West, and this is more about me than it is about the show, is the sheen. You know when you're walking the show floor and you're just like walking literally miles and miles, interacting with so many people, eating a ton of fried plant-based chicken? coffee and anything else just to keep you going you just get this like thin layer of Sheen all over yourself and as soon as you get back that bubble guts What what what? What's that?
[00:04:54] John Craven: Sheen and bubble guts. Oh, yeah the Xbow combo bubble guts.
[00:04:59] SPEAKER_??: Oh
[00:05:00] John Craven: You never heard of that term?
[00:05:01] Ray Latif: No.
[00:05:02] John Craven: It's just when it's like everything's jumbling and gurgling in your stomach.
[00:05:06] Mason Dixie: Yeah. You know that cocktail I talk about? Like you walk down one aisle and you get this cocktail and then you walk down another aisle and you basically cure it. Okay.
[00:05:16] Ray Latif: All right. Well. I think I'm lucky because I didn't really feel the bubble gut as much as I did the sheen and I only mentioned that because when we recorded that last episode we did so in the BevNET Anaheim house. I'm not gonna call an Airbnb John Craven.
[00:05:30] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: BevNET Anaheim house sounds like Soho house.
[00:05:33] Ray Latif: It is like Soho house. And I was reviewing some of the video and I'm like just like man I should have just washed my face ten times before.
[00:05:42] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: I recorded that.
[00:05:44] Ray Latif: We were a little beaten down at that point.
[00:05:46] John Craven: Yeah, we were lost causes.
[00:05:48] Ray Latif: I would say so. Yeah. A lot more to talk about from Expo West just before we do so. I want to give a shout out to our sponsor for this episode. That's Cognizant. Cognizant is a clinically tested nootropic ingredient that delivers a patented form of citric choline to supply your brain and those of your consumers with the energy it needs to stay sharp. Learn more at cognizant.com. That's C-O-G-N-I-Z-I-N.com. I just cracked open a can of, what is that?
[00:06:18] Mason Dixie: Oh, it's setting it now.
[00:06:19] Ray Latif: Center with caffeine.
[00:06:22] Mason Dixie: And? It's tasty. It's really tasty. Hopefully I'll be smarter soon. Caffeine and what? It'Best Parking water with nootropics.
[00:06:31] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: He's just missing the punchline. Ray's trying to get you to say the sponsor. It's got cognizant in it. Okay, there you go. There we go. Mike needs like a shovel full of cognizant every morning.
[00:06:40] Mason Dixie: He just had his first dose of cognizant. Once I drink more, I'll be better. He won't make that mistake again.
[00:06:46] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.
[00:06:47] Ray Latif: Very good. Now, we recorded that episode, that Expo West-focused episode, on Thursday, which was, or last Thursday, which was the second day of the show. We still had Friday, and for some folks, Saturday, to walk the floor. I only walked it on Friday. And here's folks who are listening. I know I didn't get to see a ton of folks. I really apologize if I didn't get to see your booth or you personally. I was in the press room for at least 15 hours during the, during the show, because I was recording a dozen interviews for future episodes of Taste Radio. So for folks who I did get to see at the show, it was awesome connecting. Folks who I didn't, again, I sincerely apologize. And, uh, but I still love you. I still love your brands and products and thanks so much for doing what you do. We'll work on that for next time, right?
[00:07:33] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: It's and just to put this in context because I'm gonna guess a lot of brands haven't been to the press room It's kind of like, you know when you're at a sporting event and you're in some crappy seat and there's like the owners box with like the buffet and the fancy furniture and That's that's kind of the press room. That's where Ray hangs out unlike the rest of us suckers. So that's not that's not no I It's totally not true, but that would be awesome if it were. Caviar. Caviar. He's just popping champagne bottles.
[00:08:04] Ray Latif: There is coffee there, at least in the morning, which is nice. But no, the press room is actually located in the Marriott Hotel in the lobby. Well, not in the lobby, but one of the ballrooms in the Marriott Hotel. And so it's not easily accessible from, say, any of the main halls or the North Hall.
[00:08:19] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Kind of like that owner's box.
[00:08:22] Ray Latif: Did they put out a lunch buffet? I wish, but no, they do not do that. Now just because I didn't get to walk the show as much as I wanted to on Friday, that doesn't mean you guys didn't as well. Mike, what did you get to see on Friday?
[00:08:35] Mason Dixie: We had some pretty interesting meetups on Friday. One of them was, I was at the Pockets Happy Hour. You know, an ongoing trend is to have happy hours at your booth, and this one was Pockets Chocolates, which used to be known as Pockets, excuse me, Pocket Latte. Used to be my favorite Pocket Latte, now it's my favorite Pockets Chocolate. They had a happy hour at their booth and a woman came up to me and was like, you're Mike Schneider. I have a company in Taiwan and I listen to you while I'm packing boxes. Her name is Chen Yichen and their brand is Empress Hot Sauce. It's Empress Hot on Instagram. I mean that was definitely a highlight of the day. Chen, their hot sauce is tasty. Thank you so much for giving us some. The problem though is I had no cognizant that day. Guess what happened? You got searched by the TSA.
[00:09:31] John Craven: I lost the hot sauce.
[00:09:34] Mason Dixie: Oh jeez. So sad. I accidentally put it in my carry-on bag, and I didn't pack it in my carry-on bag. Did you not hear them scream at you? Yeah. Rookie move.
[00:09:42] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: It's not travel size. He got a couple whacks of the Homeland Security TSA baton. It's all good. He learned his lesson. That happened. But when you're in line, they're screaming at you, take out all your liquids.
[00:09:54] Ray Latif: Empty your pockets now. I know. Don't you dare try to get on this plane with anything other than your body.
[00:10:00] Mason Dixie: At least I tried it before I got confiscated.
[00:10:02] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: He also had a gallon jug of water on him.
[00:10:05] Mason Dixie: Sunscreen, I don't know.
[00:10:12] John Craven: Yeah, they confiscated my weapons Everyone flying out of LAX probably had a million samples coming from Expo West and had the same issue so true true They weren't consistent though Jeff.
[00:10:23] Mason Dixie: I had some Sun wink and I my son wink I got it through okay, and Jeff was like they they're like that could be a bomb so they took it Yes
[00:10:31] Ray Latif: That is, okay, I don't know, we can't say that. Can't say bomb on a podcast, right? No, we can't. Well, okay, we'll see what happens.
[00:10:40] Mason Dixie: We'll see what Joey says about this. We also met Rosanna from Tahoe Artesian Water and she came up to us and, you know, we were just walking through the aisles and she's like, oh my gosh, Mike and John, I recognize your voices. We were talking and she came up to us and had some really nice things to say. There's so many touching moments at the show. I mean, I have more, but I want to give somebody else a chance to talk.
[00:11:05] Ray Latif: Well, you know, actually I forgot that we recorded that episode before we went to the Startup CPG event, which was awesome. The Alley Rally event at Anaheim Bularama. Am I, I think that's- I thought it was, is it Bolero? Bolero, yeah.
[00:11:19] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: How about the bowling alley in Anaheim?
[00:11:21] Ray Latif: How many can there be? And by the way, people should know this. We parked at the number Best Parking lot in all of Anaheim. Pretty weird certification or award or whatever you want to call it. It was a big sign that said the number one rated parking lot in Anaheim. I mean, honestly, it kind of made me wonder what's the worst.
[00:11:44] Mason Dixie: But we parked for free. I mean, that part was awesome. The credit card machine didn't work. That was a different parking lot. Oh, conflating parking lots. See, that parking lot was better.
[00:11:55] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: I like the free one. It was decent.
[00:11:58] Ray Latif: Yeah. Yeah. We got to see some of the backpack brands that were highlighted and featured at the events, including the folks from Katrina Brewing Company. Got one right here. So good. John has one in his hand. Just gonna crack a nice cold. Crush that bro, that stuff's good.
[00:12:14] John Craven: I think we were all drinking that.
[00:12:15] Ray Latif: We were. Katrina is a brand of non-alcoholic Mexican-inspired beer, and it is fantastic. I love, love everything they make.
[00:12:26] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: This can is not ice cold. It's room temp, actually, but it's still pretty good. I'm going to keep drinking it. I like it.
[00:12:32] Ray Latif: Yeah. Great to see Diana Cruz.
[00:12:33] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Room temp beer.
[00:12:34] Ray Latif: Yeah, no, great to see them. Yeah, great to see Diana Cruz at the event. Also great to see Drew Lederman from Resist Nutrition, a maker of Better For You nutrition bars. She was at the events sampling those bars. If you recall from Nosh Live Winter 2022, Drew participated in the Nosh Pitch Slam at the event.
[00:12:55] Mason Dixie: We've been talking to them behind the scenes and they've been really working a lot on the formulation and they really upped the M word on that one. It's tasty.
[00:13:04] Ray Latif: And by better for you nutrition bars, I mean ones that are packed with a lot of wonderful nutrients that you need in your daily life, including 16 grams of fiber and 15 grams of plant-based protein. Well done. The folks at Resist. Also want to give a shout out to Libby from Kula Ice Cream. Now Kula. if I recall, started out as an ice cream shop in San Diego, and they recently, or at least at some point, decided to create a package line of products. Cool is a maker of gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan ice cream. They have some fantastic flavors. I believe I tried the chocolate cookie monster variety. They were handing out some pretty good-sized samples, and along with my Katrina beer, I was eating some of this ice cream, and it was a really nice pairing. They also recently launched these new ice cream sandwiches, which I didn't get to try, but they look pretty darn incredible.
[00:13:54] John Craven: There were a lot of tasty treats and better for you desserts at Startup CPG. Perfect timing since it was at night. So I got to try Funky Mello, which is a really great better for you marshmallow cream, almost like a fluff. Really tasty. Got to meet the founder, Delisa Harper. So definitely check them out. And another tasty treat from another event. from Snack Shot, found Points, which is a Better For You M&M, found this walking the show floor, someone heard my voice and said, Taste Radio, and pulled this out of their backpack. And yeah, so it's Better For You, plant-based, zero added sugars, M&M, and the name is Points, dark chocolate, really tasty.
[00:14:42] Ray Latif: Very cool. That packaging looks legit. It looks really fun and it feels very, uh, young and yeah, it's like a little, uh, little evil scientist on the front, which is kind of fun. Dr. Robotnik. That's not Dr. Robotnik. Now I'm really dating myself. Do you remember Jackie? Do you know Dr. Robotnik?
[00:15:01] John Craven: No.
[00:15:01] Ray Latif: You didn't play Sonic the Hedgehog growing up?
[00:15:04] John Craven: No.
[00:15:05] Ray Latif: Oh boy.
[00:15:06] John Craven: And then something that, uh, I ate for breakfast this morning, which I found at Expo West was Wise Bar. So it's a new line of functional. Bars with very simple ingredients. Main ingredients are dates, oats, and almond butter. But the key is that each bar features a different functional mushroom. So that's, you know, their main focus.
[00:15:27] Jacqui Brugliera: So for this one.
[00:15:28] John Craven: Yeah. I mean, I saw this and I just jumped on it. Um, I got one of every everything. Um, but this one is focused on focus and it has 3000 milligrams of adaptogens focused on reishi, lion's mane and ashwagandha. Uh, this one is for energy, so it features cordyceps as the mushroom. And then this one is for immunity and it has reishi, turkey tail, chaga and lion's mane. So you get all four of those. Uh, functional mushrooms in this bar. So lots of great different functions, a variety of mushrooms, which is interesting. Cause I feel like a lot of brands focus on one if they use a certain mushroom. Um, so it's cool to see, uh, the functionality called out on the front, as well as the amount of adaptogens in there. Cause I think that's a big question with some of these adaptogens, how many adaptogens or what is the dosage? What makes a difference? Um, so cool to see that on the package.
[00:16:26] Ray Latif: Do you have a favorite functional mushroom, Jackie? When I think about mushrooms, I just, I just base what I'm really deep question. I know I typically pick one. Yeah.
[00:16:36] John Craven: I take lion's mane every morning. It's great for cognitive health and clarity. So. I get that in my daily regimen, get that dosage up, and I think it's working, but you know, with anything, who knows?
[00:16:48] Mason Dixie: You know what, Jackie? I think you should maybe switch to Cognizant. You should definitely try it out. Oh boy.
[00:16:53] John Craven: Maybe I should just do both, you know, and be firing on all cylinders.
[00:16:57] Mason Dixie: Wow, Jackie.
[00:16:58] Ray Latif: Could you be any sharper? I think that's a great idea, actually. I mean, you need to be sharp at, what is it? It's 8.45 in the morning. It's not even nine o'clock where you are. Come on. This is nuts what we're putting you through.
[00:17:11] John Craven: Yep. Mushrooms, caffeine, cognizant. That's what I'm running on, on Taste Radio.
[00:17:15] Ray Latif: There you go. I wish we had a bottle of Proxies to sip with. I got some coffee here and I'll talk about that in a sec, but I didn't mention this last time. Proxies is a brand of non-alcoholic wine alternatives or wine alternatives that don't contain any alcohol. And it was created by the folks from Acidly, but now it's its own kind of standalone brand. Yeah. They use wine, grapes, fruits, teas, spices, and complex ferments to make these products. You know, I think I've mentioned this wine, I feel like is the most challenging alcoholic beverage to make non-alcoholic and have it taste like the quote unquote real thing. The Proxies is pretty darn close. Uh, it's, it's definitely not a one-to-one thing.
[00:18:05] Mason Dixie: The Cabernet Sauvignon is really close.
[00:18:07] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: I mean, have you had non-alcoholic scotch, Ray? I think I have, actually. Not sure it exists, is my point.
[00:18:16] Ray Latif: Mike was referencing a red wine they make that is really bold and delicious. It's called actually Rich and Spicy Red, and it definitely has that sort of cab kind of feel to it. They were also sampling a limited-time proxy variety that was made in collaboration with Dominique Crenn, the well-known chef, or at least well-regarded chef. That one was definitely my favorite. I didn't want to leave the booth because it was so delicious. That was one of the few times, I think toward the end of a show, where I was like, you know what? I don't necessarily need that end of the day cocktail, beer, what have you. I'm really happy sipping on this. Proxies, P-R-O-X-I-E-S. Fantastic stuff.
[00:19:00] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Nice. Yeah. That stuff was really, uh, I agree. I mean, probably the closest thing I've had to real wine in non-alcoholic form. And yeah, definitely like the, uh, the new Proxies brand that they've, uh, they've created.
[00:19:14] Ray Latif: They actually have new branding for the products as well. Nicely done.
[00:19:18] Mason Dixie: Speaking of fantastic stuff, you were talking last episode about the Mason Dixie leash waffles. Got to try those. Those are good. Definitely check out. So well done. Ayeshah Abuelhiga, and her team are just nailing everything they do. Those are insane. I can't wait to eat those again. Also, did you get to try, well, I know you got to try the Bokksu. Bokksu is an indulgence brand founded by Daniel Tang, and the idea there is he's got these freeze-dried strawberries, I think that's their first product, these freeze-dried strawberries that they've reliquefied with white chocolate, and it's pretty insane. What'd you think of those, Ray?
[00:20:02] Ray Latif: Well, Mike pulled one of those out of his pocket as we were waiting for our luggage in Boston. As we were getting annoyed waiting for our luggage in Boston. Yes, we were waiting for 25 minutes.
[00:20:10] Mason Dixie: Yeah, it came on a different plane or something. Right. Yes. Like, we got in, like, 45 minutes early, and then they made up for it by making us wait 45 minutes for our luggage. Shout out to ground operations at Logan Airport. Nice work. Yeah. These are what they call...
[00:20:22] John Craven: So many airport issues.
[00:20:23] Ray Latif: So many. Well, these are what they call first world problems that we have.
[00:20:27] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Okay, but let's finish this story. story though it was a weird it was a weird interaction here it was weird because we were watching Mike pulls out this like little box from his bag and he's like you're ready eat this and I think I joked that it was an edible Yeah. Cause it was like, it definitely was like, what are you giving me, man?
[00:20:46] Mason Dixie: The mood was also set because we were watching Space Ice too. So while we're waiting for our luggage, I pulled out this, you know, that YouTube guy, Space Ice, who no one knows, but he talks about, he basically trolls Steven Seagal for entire movies and it's pretty incredible.
[00:21:02] Ray Latif: Don't watch his videos. They're crazy. They're terrible, but... Things you do when you're waiting for your luggage. Share edibles. That's what we were doing. And watch esoteric YouTube videos.
[00:21:11] Mason Dixie: I could mention Nardwar. I'm not... I haven't done that yet.
[00:21:14] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Oh no, please don't go down that. Can I mention that I think there's a new restraining order for Mike? Is it Bokksu?
[00:21:23] Mason Dixie: Yes you can. So I hand you the Bokksu.
[00:21:28] Ray Latif: It's Bokksu. It's a little pouch, a white, well it's... It does look like an edible. This is not going in the right direction here. I give him this little pouch, I'm like, here you go Ray. Hey Ray, try this. You should try this. It's really good. It's a freeze-dried strawberry. I'm like, okay, cool. I was hungry because I didn't eat anything that day and pop it in and man, I felt good afterwards. It's not an edible. It was not an edible, but it was a very delicious sweet treat that I kind of wish I had one right now. What's the new restraining order? Dr. Squatch.
[00:22:04] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Wait. So, you know, we're just like taking a walk through the main hall to get to the escalator to go downstairs. You know, Mike just out of the corner of his eye, he's like, that's Dr. Squatch, I gotta get some of that. I don't even know what a Dr. Squatch is, but apparently- Dr. Squatch. They Instagrammed that. The ads that are marketed to Mike are, first of all, soap, just a little odd. But anyway.
[00:22:30] Mason Dixie: I wonder why.
[00:22:31] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: These are like $10 a bar and he goes over and they're just at this point it was I think it was Thursday and they're just at that point like whatever.
[00:22:38] Mason Dixie: They're like just whatever yeah.
[00:22:40] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: There's a point where companies go from like really you know day one they're like generous then they're like oh crap we're gonna run out and Friday it's like just take everything under down the walls you know whatever. But anyway, we went by on Thursday, and we were just shoveling bars of soap.
[00:22:55] Mason Dixie: They were really generous with the soap, and just to... I gave them to many people, too, so I spread the word.
[00:23:01] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: He was like an ambassador. But anyway, we came back on Friday, and he picked up two, which was less than we picked up on Thursday, and he got Adam Stern, like, one per person. We need some for tomorrow, Mike, because you were here yesterday.
[00:23:16] Mason Dixie: Oh, man.
[00:23:17] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Pretty sure his photo was behind the booth.
[00:23:19] Mason Dixie: Wow. They recognized. Well, at least they gave you one more bar. I'll say this about Dr. Squatch. I tried two of the varieties, two of the three, and they're amazing. And I will definitely buy them going forward.
[00:23:32] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: He will buy them or loot them at a subsequent trade show. Or loot them at a future trade show.
[00:23:36] Ray Latif: You know, I noticed that our studio is smelling nice and squatchy, actually. Squatchy. More than it has in the past. Squatched up. Yeah.
[00:23:45] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Yeah, what are the scents? There's one that's like a bourbon one, they have a rum one, and I don't know. Pintar. Pintar is awesome.
[00:23:52] Mason Dixie: I don't know what that is. It smells like a baseball bat or something. It's weird though, because when you're, not that you need to be hearing about my showers, but it washes black, so it's like the whole shower's covered in black pintar.
[00:24:05] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: It washes black, but I don't wanna, no.
[00:24:06] Mason Dixie: But it smells great. You smell great when you use it. Anyway, restraining order, pretty sure it's going down. Pretty sure it's in, yeah. All right. I've got one more shout out to someone that I almost met at Expo and said, Oh, you looked busy. So I didn't, but you know what, if we look busy, just, just wait or say, Hey, you know, break in. We want to talk to you. We want to meet you. Vince Nguyen from Nom Coffee. Definitely. Thanks for reaching out after the show. Can't wait to meet you. We're going to set up some time this week. Very cool stuff.
[00:24:37] Ray Latif: Uh, another coffee brand, uh, that I didn't get to see at Expo, but I have some of their products here in my hand is Blue Bottle. Now Blue Bottle is a maker of third wave coffee, or they participate in that third wave.
[00:24:50] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: They're a big name in coffee, right?
[00:24:52] Ray Latif: They're pretty well known. Pretty well known.
[00:24:54] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: If you don't know them and you're listening to this.
[00:24:56] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.
[00:24:57] Ray Latif: I tend to over-explain sometimes on the podcast. Loyal listeners, VIPs will know this. Yes.
[00:25:04] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: It's going to be like coffee.
[00:25:05] Ray Latif: It comes from the bean inside the coffee fruit. In case you weren't aware. Don't get Mike started on coffee fruit, because then we're going to... Here we go.
[00:25:12] Mason Dixie: Sorry.
[00:25:13] Ray Latif: So anyway... Some people call it cascara. They recently sent us this, this is the latest variety of their small batch instant coffee series. This is their exceedingly rare Yemen variety. And this is pretty... Is that a vial in there?
[00:25:31] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Let me see that.
[00:25:32] Ray Latif: They send this in this tin. Hold on. Wait, you guys have one. I don't have one. What's that? There is there is a it's just like this I stole one from aluminum tin cuz I made him one and inside this tin are three Vials it can make what a cup of coffee of yes of instant coffee Yes reminds me of that film Naked Lunch the centipede dust he's carrying around usually I'm addicted to this substance so according to blue bottle I can never get it again According to Blueball, the exceedingly rare instant variety has been years in the making, using a customized process to preserve each layer of the coffee while transforming it into shimmering, easy-to-brew crystals. What might blow some people's minds is that this tin holding the three vials costs $65. But it does include a limited edition sipping glass etched with the Blue Bottle logo. I don't recall if I received that. What might blow others away is that it tastes like coffee.
[00:26:35] Mason Dixie: It tastes like pretty darn amazing coffee, I would say. I was talking to a fellow Juana barista in the office, Amanda Huang, and she noted that it tastes like a good pour over, but she probably couldn't tell the difference between that and any other pour over that we make.
[00:26:53] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: So let's call that cup worth five bucks.
[00:26:55] Ray Latif: We didn't get it.
[00:26:56] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: So that's like $20 per cup of coffee.
[00:26:58] Ray Latif: I'm drinking some right now. I'm really enjoying it. This is the best $22.
[00:27:02] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Oh you already brewed your vial there.
[00:27:04] Ray Latif: Yeah, Mike made it for me.
[00:27:05] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Oh, yeah I mean you take skill to add water to coffee. It sure does I did it I Did it again?
[00:27:11] Ray Latif: Thanks cognizant All right, and with my coffee, I feel like I need a sweet treat. And so, Stu Davidoff, who is the founder and CEO of Gigantic, which is a maker of better for you candy bars that are similar to ones we grew up with. Our big, big love. Stu has reformulated his products. and we saw him at the Snack Shot and BevNET event on Tuesday of last week, and he sent home with me a package which contains his reformulated bars. Now I tried some of these at the show, I don't know if you guys got to as well.
[00:27:47] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: I did not, so let's do it.
[00:27:48] Ray Latif: All right, so now... Do I get my own bar? You can, yeah, I think so, but I'm gonna keep the one, hold on, I am going to keep the salted peanut one. You can have the almond horchata, the double dark, I'm sorry, the double dark mint, or the banana pecan.
[00:28:03] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Wait, say that again one more time.
[00:28:04] Ray Latif: Almond horchata. Yep. Double dark mint or the banana, banana, banana. Banana pecan. Banana. Yeah. I think I'll go for the mint. Okay, there you go. You just made me think of the agua banana horchata, which was insanely good. Do you want the almond horchata? I do want the almond horchata. Okay, I'm gonna hold on to the banana pecan. Thank you. Now, the reason I wanted to hold on to the salted peanut is because people are probably sick of me saying that I love Snickers bars so much and I want a better for you Snickers bar. And the salted peanut that I tried at the Snack Shot event was pretty freaking amazing. And Stu did a really, really good job of getting the consistency that much closer to that smooth Snickers consistency that we all... know and love, but sometimes hate because we know about how it's processed and some of the ingredients that are in there. So I'm really happy with this. I feel like this is getting us one step closer or even here now to this Snickers alternative. Awesome job, Stu.
[00:29:04] Mason Dixie: Yes, let's do live feedback here that you asked for the almond horchata. This is perfect He was saying we could change the firmness of it make it chewier make it you know this one is insanely good.
[00:29:14] Ray Latif: It's perfect Yeah, that was the thing with the original formulation for gigantic. It was a little bit chewier than I think people were used to From candy bars, and I think he really got the formulation right there's my new favorite candy bar. I Yeah. Now you're not going to be able to talk for the rest of the episode. Good for everybody else. DNS. DNS. VIPs know what DNS means. There you go.
[00:29:40] John Craven: Do we tell everyone else?
[00:29:42] Ray Latif: Nope. What does it mean, Jackie?
[00:29:45] John Craven: I mean, does not suck.
[00:29:46] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: Does not suck.
[00:29:47] John Craven: That's what you need to know to become a VIP.
[00:29:50] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: We should have named it the DNS club. Oh, I like that. We still can.
[00:29:54] John Craven: Or CFD?
[00:29:55] Ayeshah Abuelhiga: No.
[00:29:58] Ray Latif: Jackie, obviously you don't have access to the candy bars that we have here in Boston, but you got to try some of these in Los Angeles, yes?
[00:30:05] John Craven: Yes, I did get to try it at Snack Shot. I would totally agree. The consistency is really on par with Snickers. It has that like caramelly texture, gooey, really, really good and doesn't stick to your teeth like a traditional Snickers bar or other candy. So job well done.
[00:30:24] Mason Dixie: I mean, I really liked it before. Now I'm... It's so good. It really is I mean we've talked about so many brands and and we could talk about so many more But I just wanted to quick shout out to the team from trip Olivia James and my favorite Chelsea fan Daniel trip to CBD beverage CBD beverage seems like they're they're they're winning in that game and and it's great to see them. Thanks so much for just being Always great to hang out with them and and and catch up and chat and then they also Got a chance to catch up with Michael Sharon from Taika, who has some really cool stuff in the works that we're not allowed to talk about. So instead we just talked about, you know, like cool bands like Mudhoney and he's a guitar player. It was fun to just take a second to not talk about food and beverage with somebody that I like.
[00:31:15] Ray Latif: Yeah. I mean, that's also kind of the best part of Expo is, you know, you're so inundated and talking about the food and beverage industry all the time and just to be able to catch up with folks and not chat about that.
[00:31:28] Mason Dixie: We were talking about guitar gear and, you know, it was really nice. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:31:34] Ray Latif: Because I can't get enough Expo, I had to do another Expo after Expo West. That was Wixter Seafood Expo. And it was here in Boston. And Wixter Seafood Expo North America is the largest exhibition of seafood in North America. This was their 41st edition. And while it is primarily about Uh, wholesale seafood products that are sold to restaurants and supermarkets and things like that. Well, I assume supermarkets, but it seemed like it was a lot of hospitality business that they were doing there. Um, there are, and there were a bunch of packaged food brands that I really. loved and wanted to highlight here, including a brand called Wixter Seafood, which makes frozen packaged single source seafood. They have American shrimp, Alaskan halibut, Ecuadorian mahi-mahi, American scallops. Now, To the listener, this may not sound all that impressive, but their packaging is fantastic. And this seems like, oh, you want to see it, Mike. Okay. Yeah. It seems like this is the kind of thing that pops. Yeah. If you see this in a freezer door, um, you would absolutely want to stop, pick it up and take a look. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that they found a way to make seafood really attractive and want to make you learn more about this idea of single source, single origin fish and other types of seafood. Seafood is not attractive. Well, it's just tasty. Yeah.
[00:33:13] John Craven: I remember going to Wixter Seafood Expo many years ago when I was still in Boston, and I feel like there's been so much new innovation in that space, just following along on your Instagram, seeing all the new branded products. I think it just shows that there's an opportunity to build on consumer demand for better sourcing and more sustainable fishing. So it's cool to see some of these branded products show up in the freezer aisle and at your local grocer.
[00:33:42] Ray Latif: Absolutely. Also shout out to Thunder's Catch, which is a maker of a wild salmon chowder that was really delicious. It comes in these nine ounce pouches and uses only a hundred percent wild caught Alaskan smoked sockeye. The chowder, which is making my mouth water thinking about it, was really delicious. You know how sometimes chowder can be over-salted, like you're sipping it and you're like, ugh, just too much salt. This was definitely not the case. This was a delicious chowder where you could taste the salmon, you could taste the potatoes, the cream, et cetera. And it wasn't overwhelming. It was just a nice hearty meal that wouldn't make you feel like, you know, you were saturated with salt and too much cream. Great stuff. Also Barnacle Foods, which is a brand that is focused on making packaged goods with kelp, Alaskan grown kelp, came out with a new kelp chili crisp that they created in partnership with a YouTube, I guess a YouTube account called Outdoor Chef Life. I love Chili Crisp. This is one of my favorite Chili Crisps ever. It was, it was outstanding. It was, they just served a little bit over like a little, like taster of rice. And I mean, obviously we've had a few different kinds here. I mean, it was amazing. And they also, well, this, I think this is the first time I tried this, a hot sauce. It's made with kelp and Piri Piri, and it's called Alaska Bull Whip. which was also fantastic. They described it as having fiery flavor and umami. I would agree with both.
[00:35:23] Mason Dixie: I can't wait to try it. That said, I'd probably put my favorite Chili Crisp on that Chili Crisp.
[00:35:27] Ray Latif: yeah last brand i want to mention is one that uh really caught my eye at least the packaging that is it's called Wild Legend and they have an entire southern rock lobster packaged in a box that almost looks like a high-end scotch brand so did you get to see this yep yeah it's kind of crazy it is it is nuts now like if this is Not something you would say, okay, well, I'm going to buy this and have this for dinner tonight, per se. It's more like, this is a gift I would want to give. Are you drinking a rock lobster? Yeah, no, it does look like, it looks like a high-end whiskey product, yeah. But there's a lobster in there. There's a southern rock lobster, yeah.
[00:36:05] John Craven: You could give it as like a gift. What's the price point?
[00:36:09] Ray Latif: You know, I asked the person behind the Boother and he didn't know because I believe they started out in Australia and they're just making their way here to the States and he didn't... Suspect. Yeah, he might have been like, I don't want to tell you it's $200. It wasn't a rock. It was a rock lobster! Alright, it's time to get to our featured interview for this episode. As I mentioned at the top of the show, Ayeshah Abuelhiga is the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods, a maker of clean ingredient frozen baked goods. We last spoke with Asha in March of 2021, following the company's $6.3 million Series A funding round, which preceded the launch of its popular line of biscuit breakfast sandwiches. In the time since, Mason-Dixie has experienced remarkable growth, with revenue up 300 percent over the past year, according to the company. It also launched a national partnership with Marriott Select Brand Hotels, stocking over 3,500 locations with their grab-and-go breakfast items, and introduced three new product lines at Expo West 2023, Liege Waffles Sandwiches, Liege Waffles and Ready-to-Heat Biscuits. The following interview kicks off a new series in which Taste Radio speaks with entrepreneurs who operate brands at various stages of development about what they've learned along their respective journeys. In my conversation with Asha, she discussed lessons learned about raising capital, customer service, and sexism and bias in the food industry, among other topics. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio right now. I'm honored to be once again sitting down with the one and only Ayeshah Abuelhiga, the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods.
[00:37:58] Mike Schneider: What's up, Ray?
[00:37:59] Ray Latif: I am just elated at this point. My body language might be, I'm tired and Expo West has beaten me down, but inside I'm feeling so much. And it's so great to see you.
[00:38:11] Mike Schneider: Great to see you as well. Definitely big energy in the hall this year. So very exciting time.
[00:38:17] Ray Latif: Yeah. Did you get to walk the North Hall yesterday?
[00:38:18] Mike Schneider: I barely got through the front, which is really exciting for all those brands in there. So I'm going to try again later today.
[00:38:24] Ray Latif: I'm going to try again, I think, tomorrow on Friday. Yeah, that's probably the best day. I walked in there and I felt like there was just this, it felt like a hurricane of people. Is that? Yeah.
[00:38:34] Mike Schneider: Absolute hurricane slash confusion galore. It's been a while since a lot of attendees have come to the show. So I think they were just kind of a little startled by what was going on. And totally, you know, I always want to give the brands that are the first time, you know, presenting the opportunity to do their best. So I try to leave that hall alone the first day.
[00:38:51] Ray Latif: I'm guessing that there's a lot of people coming to your booth because they're just smelling all the delicious food. That's right. That you're baking and cooking.
[00:38:56] Mike Schneider: That's right.
[00:38:57] Ray Latif: It just is. It just walks throughout the hall and all of a sudden, where's it coming from? Where's it coming from? And then they hone in on where you are and eat you out of house and home.
[00:39:05] Mike Schneider: Yeah, it's that. And we have a small vehicle parked in our drive through. So we have like the sounds of honking cars and a playlist playing in the background, like sipping on gin and juice. So we have a lot of energy in the booth today. It's a drive through theme. So you have to come by and check it out.
[00:39:19] Ray Latif: I will definitely do that because your breakfast sandwiches are literally my favorite thing in the world, aside from my child, but that's number two. I swear, I am just so excited when I'm like, oh, what am I going to eat for breakfast? And I open up my freezer and I see your sandwiches, I'm like, that's what I'm eating for breakfast because they're so darn good.
[00:39:38] Mike Schneider: Well, get ready. We have chicken waffles in that booth.
[00:39:40] Ray Latif: OK.
[00:39:41] Mike Schneider: So your world's about to explode.
[00:39:42] Ray Latif: What we have to do is just stop this interview right now, head to your booth, and we'll pick it up later.
[00:39:46] Mike Schneider: There we go. That sounds great.
[00:39:48] Ray Latif: Let's do that. All kidding aside, you've built an incredible brand, incredible business, and kudos to you and your team. It's just fantastic.
[00:39:54] Mike Schneider: Thank you.
[00:39:55] Ray Latif: And for this conversation, I'd just love to talk about some of the things that you've learned since you built the business and over the past couple of years since we last spoke. Let's start out with wins, because you have. You have had a lot of wins in the last few years and you've had some success. How do you appreciate wins and successes?
[00:40:13] Mike Schneider: You know, it's funny, I think after COVID, all founders have become a little bit more retrospective, just thinking about all the changes that have happened over the course of the last three years. I know for us, we've been celebrating transition and forward momentum. In 2021, we launched into frozen breakfast, which was a transformational move for the business, completely different category, completely different market size opportunity. And really, it's become a bigger brand builder than when we were in frozen bread and frozen dough only. That transformation led to so many other opportunities, because last year we launched into Marriott nationally at 3,700 select Brand Hotels. The brand awareness around breakfast has grown exponentially. And I think for the team, it's been a huge moment of pride, because now you can finally see the product everywhere, right? And people can sample it live, because it's ready in 90 seconds or less. So that transformation and that movement away from waiting 30 minutes for buttery amazing biscuits to now 90 seconds or less, or even 30 seconds, we have a new Ready-to-Heat Biscuits back there now. So kids can enjoy it in the microwave. All those things, like you just think about the changes in the world. So that move to convenience, that shift to like, can my kids do it themselves? Even though the world went down for a minute, I feel like everyone got busier. And I think that that return to normal just means that people are putting more and more pressure on themselves to appreciate the best, have the best, but have no time to do it. So, you know, our team really answered that calling. That's why I'm really excited about the new innovations that we're launching and showcasing here at Expo. But yeah, I think we're also a little bit more cautious about wins as well. I think everyone is. because the world keeps shifting out from under us and being an emerging brand in the space, you know, we've had to be very agile. So I think I'll celebrate the win that we're an agile team, but I don't think it's over. I think we're still in it for another year or two of having to really be responsive to the climate out there.
[00:42:08] Ray Latif: You mentioned the breakfast sandwiches and a big, big introduction for the brand. What did you learn about that rollout and doing it in a way that was as effective as I perceive it to be?
[00:42:21] Mike Schneider: I'd say the first thing we learned was that people have been waiting a very long time for natural, convenient breakfast. Um, I think the industry really focused on... You mean people didn't like Jimmy Dean sandwiches? Nah, bro.
[00:42:32] Ray Latif: Okay. All right. I just, I just, I just called out a brand. I usually, I try not to do that on the podcast, but...
[00:42:37] Mike Schneider: No, we're all in now. We're just going to do it. You know, if we can prove that we can make a better tasting sandwich with less calories, more protein, less ingredients, and better flavor, I just, I mean, we've proved it. And it's been incredible. We're number one in the frozen breakfast category right now on Natural Channel. We're the number one frozen breakfast brand at Whole Foods right now. So it's been transformational. I also think that, you know, The natural channel in looking at frozen breakfast started, I think, a lot more on that oats kick. And how do we integrate fruit and nuts into the diet? People are big on protein. And that's, I think, increasingly becoming a thing. I know the plant-based movement came in for a second. There were some expansions there. But a lot of people just want to see better, cleaner proteins that are animal-based. And our commitment to that is real. We have 100% real egg, certified by the incredible edible egg people. We're one of only two brands at Expo. I think Peckish is the only other company, obviously, with hard-boiled eggs, so you would hope that they're certified real. But that's a big mark of success for us, to really be able to stand by real food, real quick commitments.
[00:43:50] Ray Latif: How much preparation went into that rollout and that introduction? Because you only get one chance to make a great first impression, right? That's the old commercial. So how did you make sure that you were buttoned up when that product got into those freezer doors?
[00:44:07] Mike Schneider: It took five years. I mean, the first time we talked, Ray, I think we talked about the restaurant, right? All the breakfast innovations are really top sellers through our restaurant POS. So that sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit we used to serve at the restaurant was the prototype. And it took five years because the protein industry just was not ready to commit to an all-natural, preservative, nitrate, nitrite-free offer. Because they didn't believe that the data was there to show that customers wanted it, which is wild, right? So I think one of the lessons learned coming in was trust your gut and push. You know, I'm really grateful to Whole Foods for believing in the innovation and launching it nationally so that these protein suppliers could really see what we were trying to build for five years. And now that it's come to fruition, we've been able to expand our network of exclusive suppliers to some of the largest in the country and some family operators as well who want to jump on the bandwagon to offer up better for you proteins to consumers across the country.
[00:45:06] Ray Latif: This might be a strange question for an emerging brand. One of the things I was most excited about when I saw your products for the first time in the freezer aisle is that they had a coupon with them too. So I was able to save a dollar here, a dollar there. Maybe when I bought 10 at a time, I could save 10 bucks. But how effective is couponing? How effective was that in driving trial?
[00:45:23] Mike Schneider: Yeah, so obviously our breakfast launch in 2021 was during a time where demos were still banned. And we all know in the emerging brand community, trial and demos are critical. And to not be able to offer that, we had to get really creative. So we ended up putting those buy one, get one stickers on our boxes. Incredibly effective. It ended up getting us to target velocities within a six-week period at Whole Foods. So that was like the momentum driver. It also got people to couple up and try both flavors. We're actually reinstituting that again on the rollout. So really excited for the chicken waffles because they'll be line priced. If you've never had the breakfast sandwich, you can also try that. So I think couponing is a huge cross-promotional opportunity. And now that I think about it, I'm reaching into my pocket, so don't be creeped out, Ray. All right. So we also have these new awesome coupons. I'm going to do a shameless plug for a company called Aisle that we've partnered with. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They've been so cool with these flow codes. So now we've got these new digital coupons that allow us to kind of capture consumer intelligence as well, not just hoping for the best out there, and kind of in a really cost-effective way and instantaneous redemption. Really excited about that. I think the wave of couponing is definitely changing and I'm excited about the digital transformation there.
[00:46:39] Ray Latif: When you are able to access that data, what are consumers saying about you and how do you address issues if something comes up? I guess, what have you learned about customer service?
[00:46:49] Mike Schneider: Well, customer service has changed, I think, a lot in the post-COVID world. I think there's a lot of expectations around responsiveness, which we've always prided ourselves on being a hospitality brand coming out of restaurants. You know, customer service, hospitality is always number one. But I also think now that digital reach is even more important, it's every platform, you gotta be on it, right? And I think that their opinion of a brand really shifts based on your responsiveness and how you react, right? We do get a lot of customers that are like, you know what, I've been buying you for years and I'd love to see X, right? They're demanding more innovations. They're demanding bigger pack sizes. They're not afraid to ask for what they want because I think all of us in the emerging brand space are proving the impossible can happen. So consumers are really testing those limits and really calling our innovation forward. So we've gotten a lot out of that in the last year. We have a pretty replete list of items that have kind of gone into the blue in terms of innovations we want to launch in the next couple of years.
[00:47:43] Ray Latif: Responsiveness is important, but you also said how you respond. Yes. What does that voice sound like in terms of how you respond?
[00:47:49] Mike Schneider: We always try to be 100% authentic and we always try to treat you like you're a guest in our home, right? So the second somebody comes in, there's always somebody's name, right? It's not just, thanks, Mason Dixie, right? Like there's Lauren, there's Janae, there's Peter, everyone's responding to these consumer questions and comments live. We try to respond with full humility, right? If something's gone wrong, we apologize for it. You were missing a biscuit top, apologies. coupon the heck out of you, come back and actually follow up with them. That's the other important thing I think people forget. It's not enough just to send that positive stuff out into the universe and hope for the best. You've got to follow up and let them know that you actually cared about if they got what they needed out of it. And so we've had a really great rapport with a lot of consumers who are more active in terms of commentary and reaching out. And now they're our best people. They go out and merchandise the shelves for us. Because they're like, yeah, I noticed they were all backwards, so we turned them around. Thank you, Kelly. So you've got to have those people. They're boots on the ground opportunities for you, too, in terms of merchandising.
[00:48:48] Ray Latif: Totally. You mentioned the partnership you have with Marriott Hotels, which is pretty awesome. And that happened last year?
[00:48:54] Mike Schneider: Yeah, January 22.
[00:48:56] Ray Latif: Yeah. So in that process, what have you learned about developing a food service strategy?
[00:49:01] Mike Schneider: Yeah, so a lot. We learned that we're writing the book on how to do this as an emerging brand. Onboarding a customer as large as Marriott took over a hundred warehouses, a distribution network that was struggling to come out of COVID, and no understanding of really how natural products fit into a world where 99.9% of sales are still coming from the big 10 CPG brands. So they were all kind of like, what are we doing with you? How do we know that you're not going to mess this up? Because we've never heard you before. But holy crap, how did you get all this distribution, right? So we're still dealing with that. I mean, a year later, we're still handholding broad liners, handholding dot foods to help us kind of reach out and get all of the distribution onboarding correct. So, you know, the distribution world took a big hit the last few years. So everyone's learning together. I also think it's been an incredible experience to lean on other brands doing this. I mean, we're like BFFs with Chobani, Vital Farms, Tillamook Cheese, because they kind of did it first, but they've also like, they've known power in numbers. They're like, how do we help each other? How do we create a catalog of like frozen breakfast brands together? so that we can help the selling process go faster as they're going into chef calls, right? So there's a lot of work to be done in that space. I think it's behoo of all of us to really jump on the bandwagon and get these products into more places, including, you know, restaurants, hospitality, lodging, et cetera.
[00:50:29] Ray Latif: It all costs money.
[00:50:30] Mike Schneider: It does cost a lot of money, honey. I can't lie. It's a lot of money, but you know, it's a huge untapped market as well. So from a growth standpoint, scale optimization standpoint, it's been transformational for our business. So I can only imagine what it could do for some others out here.
[00:50:45] Ray Latif: When you are raising money for your business, uh, and you are talking to investors, I mean, it's a process. It's a process. Every single time you do it at every stage, what have you learned about raising capital?
[00:50:54] Mike Schneider: It's getting harder out there, right? Things are costing more because expectations are higher. You know, I always tell people, the industry is still very young, right? It's probably still less than 20 years old, less than 15 years old. If you really think about even natural products, that used to be a vitamin show. People forget. That was less than 15 years ago, right? So people are still learning what this industry is. And the failure rate seems so high because so many people were first out trying. So you still have a lot of data to kind of sort through to get to a point where you know, investors can really get behind something. I also think in general, right, not just investors in the consumer product space, I think at large, there's a lot of conservative investment behavior happening. I've been kind of disappointed to see how it's affecting POC women-owned brands, specifically, the lowest points of investment ever in history. And yet, women-owned brands are some of the most profitable or have the only line of sight to profitability out here. So I think there's some urgency, especially at Expo right now for investors to really get behind these brands that are going to be capital constrained as we kind of go through that last wave of fixing post-COVID conditions.
[00:51:58] Ray Latif: I talked to a lot of folks about the fact that women-owned brands are disgustingly underfunded and clearly there's a sexism part of that. What have you learned about sexism and bias within the food industry?
[00:52:10] Mike Schneider: Well, obviously, as a woman of color, it's always been hard to raise capital from institutions and from the VC community. There is a culture there, right, of like, bro, can we hang out? Are we going to do bro things together? Oh my god, are you my brother, right? No, I don't have a penis. So no, we can't do those things. But we could be cool. We could hang out. You could appreciate the product and the success of the item for what it is. That's really hard, right? There's a cultural element of connection that needs to be there. I will say I've seen more activity on the part of female investors starting their own funds, which I'm really excited about. And I'm hoping that that perspective is just going to lend more competition to the community and get some of these more male-dominated investment communities into bringing that female perspective in. I've seen that even in some larger strategic investors and private equity groups too, which is kind of exciting, right, that they're starting to see that they need female representation in order to get a hold of some of these women-owned brands. But we have a way to go. I mean, you know, dropping a full point in investment dollars last year and the trend's not getting any better, I am concerned. And I don't really know that there's an answer right now for how to correct for that.
[00:53:17] Ray Latif: Well, it's great to see someone like yourself running a successful emerging brand and doing the things that you're doing. Um, I think it just proves a lot about, you know, the potential for when own brands and the fact that it doesn't need to be broke culture as the kind of broke culture that you talked about in food and beverage. Um, it also helps when you are, It also helps to have an incredibly diverse and accomplished and intelligent team to build a brand. What have you learned about hiring the right quote unquote right folks?
[00:53:49] Mike Schneider: So I think the theme last year or the year before was quiet quitting. I'd say in the last six months, nine months, it's been more mission-based quitting, right? People are really going, man, those are the three hardest years of my life and probably our lifetimes. What am I doing, right? Am I happy here? Am I contributing to the world? Am I really feeling accountable and having a sense of ownership in what I'm doing for the planet, for my kids, for whatever your reason to be is. And we've been a huge beneficiary of that. I think, I mean, I don't think, I know, right? We were able to recruit a full C-suite in the last six months. Some of the most talented people I've ever met. And the reason that they've come here is because they believe in the mission, right? They believe in backing a woman founder CEO. They believe in working for a group of incredibly diverse people. and they're not intimidated by it. It's a challenge that they are embracing and a perspective that they find refreshing. And I think there's going to be a lot more activity that way about people just really going, you know what? I've done really well out here in these streets with these big companies. I really want to give everything I've learned back. So I'm really excited to see what that transition of people that are reevaluating their career paths coming into the emerging brand space and all that mental equity that this industry is going to finally get. So it's really exciting.
[00:55:06] Ray Latif: Are those folks, I mean, is it as much about meeting their needs as it is their ability to meet the needs of the company?
[00:55:14] Mike Schneider: Yes, 100%. Like, you know, for example, our CSO and our CMO have come from amazing brands and some very large CPG brands or emerging brands that once were that scaled up. And as much as they're coming to be more in tune with how they're going to better the world in whatever way they want that to be, they're also looking at it as what we're offering as Mason Dixie Foods is needed, right? What do I need to do to help us get there? I need to help you get your trade strategy better. I need to help you get your product innovation strategy better. I need to help get the brand penetration rate better. They're really thinking about things from, a more, I hate the word, use the word strategic again, but more strategic mindset. I think it's so easy in emerging brands to stay in that startup mode where you just keep going, this is working, let's just keep doing that, right? To grow and be as successful as the brands that they come from. They know that it takes a lot more framework building, a lot of baselining, a lot of like intention. Like, slow down a little bit, let's just evaluate this real quick, right? It might sound like gravy, but once we get into it, did we do a good job? You know, did that execution go right? That kind of balance checking, I found the most rewarding. And I think they know, too, that that's what they're bringing to the table. And we're meeting them with open arms on that.
[00:56:37] Ray Latif: And it shows because when I do see those posts on LinkedIn about hiring folks and bringing them into the company, it feels like there's an open arms kind of thing. And you're like, there is, we are so blessed and excited to have this person as part of our team versus congratulations to our new hire, you know, kind of thing.
[00:56:56] Mike Schneider: 100%. And I do. I write those posts because I truly do feel lucky. They could choose anyone in the world. They could use a better capitalized business. They could choose to go somewhere where they could kind of skate by and disappear into the radar if they wanted to. But they didn't. They picked a challenge. And they picked us. And they picked the team. I can't tell you. Every single soul we've hired in the last nine months has asked before they came to join, I want to meet the whole team. Can I meet the whole team? And yeah, so it's weird now, right? You used to be able to hire off a resume and maybe a face-to-face interview. We've got phone interview, face-to-face, panel interview with the executive team, panel interview with the director team, panel interview with the support team. They want to meet everyone, and it's been so critical. Because then you're not first day of school, awkward, holding your books, hoping no one sees your face, right? They're just in there. Everyone already knows their name, their kids, how many dogs they have. It's a quick synergy and it's so important, especially now as everyone's seeking connectivity. If you're going to go work and devote your talent and your soul to a place, you also have to develop the people that are around you and be part of that family instantaneously.
[00:58:07] Ray Latif: I'm sure it helps with retention too. 100%. Yeah.
[00:58:09] Mike Schneider: Yeah. No, it's been really exciting.
[00:58:11] Ray Latif: Why are we at the end of this? I feel like we could keep going on and on and on, but I know how busy you are and I have a bunch of things to do as well, but that's just not an excuse. We need to do this again at some point. We should. Can we do it again like next year?
[00:58:22] Mike Schneider: Maybe with waffles and stuff, like you should come to the booth and have some food.
[00:58:25] Ray Latif: Oh man. Yes. That is going to be my salvation in an hour or two. I'm going to be so excited. Asha, thank you so much for this conversation. Thanks so much for all the amazing food that you make. Thank you. And thanks so much for being such a great inspirational leader for our industry.
[00:58:40] Mike Schneider: Thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited. Thanks so much, Trey.
[00:58:46] Ray Latif: That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. And thanks to our guest, Ayeshah Abuelhiga. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Inc. Our Audio Engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Kratchy. Our Technical Director is Joshua Pratt. And our Video Editor is Ryan Galang. Our Social Marketing Manager is Amanda Smerlinski. And our Designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, 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. Also, be sure to check us out on Instagram. Our handle is BevNetTastesRadio. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
