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[00:00:37] Ray Latif: Hello, friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. We're recording this on August 12th, but Future Chicago meetup is on the 14th, and our expectation is that everything went well. There you go. Yes. Thanks to everyone who showed up and is listening right now, as you should be after an event like that. Just want to note, as always, we have more meetups coming up in the following months, September 16th in San Diego at the West Coast branch of BevNET, in San Francisco in the Dogpatch neighborhood, two days later on September 18th, and in London on October 2nd at the offices of Trip in Notting Hill. Morning Hill. So much travel. So much fun. So much networking. So much going on. And I do want to note that we're still looking for a handful, a handful of select partners that would like to join us and help us put these events on. Because guess what? As much as we love to put on free events, it costs money to do so. Companies out there that would like to help us out and perhaps participate in a live interview at these events, have your logo featured in everything related to the events. That includes social media assets, banners, et cetera. Emails. Just let us know. Ask at Taste Radio.com. You can also send me an email to rlatif. Should we maybe mention the other events we're putting on after that while we're talking about events we should let's do it Yeah, I mean, let's just you're here. There are only Taste Radio events There are no other events if you want to know if there is an event in your area just to Taste Radio.com Slash your city and it'll pop up or it won't I mean forget Mike's bad advice Taste Radio.com forward slash meetups has all the places we're going. Not backslash? Whatever. I mean, you want to use a backslash on your computer, knock yourself out. Before we mentioned the other events, I do want to note, we've had a really, really great response to the announcement of these events, the ones that we're holding this year. And I'm getting emails weekly, if not daily, from folks who are saying, Hey, you should hold an event here in this city or that city, or we've got a great event space. Keep those emails coming because we are planning our 2026 calendar. That's right. And we're thinking about cities where we're going to hold our next meetups. And it seems like we've got a good list of places to go. So I'm excited. Nice. Yeah. What's that Mike you you were about to stop me you're I was just gonna encourage your arm out all the way was like stop Almost grab my microphone. We've got San Diego as you would say San Diego, but San Diego's coming up San Francisco's coming up London's coming up. Did I not say all that? He's in his own little world, but Let's talk about those other events. No, so I am thoroughly excited as always for BevNET live in Los Angeles the 7th and 9th of December is going to be I feel like one of the biggest things we've ever done in BevNET history because the New York event if there was any indication I mean come on that was an incredible event just so all of you know it's gonna be the 7th 8th and 9th not the 7th and the 9th Did I say the 7th through the 9th?
[00:04:10] Jacqui Brugliera: We're skipping over a day.
[00:04:11] Ray Latif: I think you said the 7th and 9th of December. Yeah, we're skipping a day. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. 7th through the 9th. Mark your calendars. How about the other two events, Ray? Nosh Live is happening on December 4th and 5th. And of course, our wonderful beer-centric event, Brewbound Live, is happening on December 10th and 11th of this year. So, Brewbound Live, just to be clear, you know, it's not just about beer. Beer and beyond. Beer and beyond. We're talking about seltzers, hard seltzers, that is, cider. RTDs. RTD cocktails, malternatives. What do they call them? FMBs?
[00:04:47] Mike Schneider: Sure. Flavored malt beverages. Probably talk a little about cannabis.
[00:04:49] Ray Latif: Craft beers, macro beers, cannabis, NA beers. All kinds of stuff. I mean, it really is. I feel like Brewbound Live one of the most underrated events I've ever been to because I think people don't realize the amount of information, the amount of networking, the amount of just incredible work that the editorial team does in hosting this event. If you haven't been to Brewbound Live and you're considering, just do it. Especially because it comes right after BevNET Live. I mean, we've already got some great people signed up, I mean, for all three events, so. Yeah, absolutely. Do we have that on the website yet? I mean you're coming you're going to the events right John so I You know that's like part of the list of incredible people gotta check my schedule check your schedule my schedule make sure Package like I'm free Did you use like the regular toothbrush would use like the sonic care stuff? What if it starts buzzing in your bag? And all of a sudden the TSA is going to be like, hey, what's going on here?
[00:05:47] Jacqui Brugliera: That's why you don't use an electric toothbrush or you don't travel with one.
[00:05:51] Ray Latif: His reason is he needs 14 blazers, at least twice the number of blue shirts. What else am I forgetting? Oh, probably razors. 3,000 Listerine strips. They do not sell those in California. You've got to bring them. Just in case. Canned cocktails. Lots of canned cocktails. Canned cocktails. Yeah. Love canned cocktails. You definitely can bring those on the plane. No, you can't. You can bring the small ones, the tip top. You just can't drink them on the plane. Yeah. I mean, I can't bring them on the down low. I can't bring a full can of Lakeour cocktails. Lakeour is a brand of canned cocktails. They include vodka and tequila seltzers. Well, I mean, we're kind of splitting hairs here between what they are and what they're called. Canned cocktails, hard seltzers. with those, you just order a cranberry juice, then you go dump it in the lavatory and refill it, refill it with a Tegroni. Okay. Well, I mentioned- Never done that for the record. I mentioned Lake Hour because this week we featured an interview with the founders of the brand, Wyatt Russell. You probably know him, if you're a Marvel fan, as US agent in the film Thunderbolts and other Marvel movies upcoming. Son of a- Kurt Russell. And Goldie Hawn there you go there you go also producer Richard Pete is a co-founder of Lake Hour we set or I sat down with Both gentlemen for a really really fun conversation and eye-opening one and one that I didn't expect I'll just say that so take a listen It's available everywhere. You can listen to Taste Radio that includes Apple podcast and Spotify, but just going back to please leave a review Please leave a review. And just going back to our events in December, we're going to be having a lot of Taste Radio content at the events. If you want to be interviewed as part of our Taste Radio studio, you got to come and you got to let us know so we can get you on the schedule. All right. In the news this week, I've talked about this in the podcast. I'm not a regular consumer of energy drinks, right? I mean, It's never really did a lot for me. I'm a coffee kind of guy. I don't know. I mean, also in fairness, we're drowning in energy drinks here, so. I'm not sure that's the reason I don't drink them. Well, I'm saying you've sampled probably many over the years. This is true. This is true. I've probably had my fill for the rest of my life. But I mention this because it seems like demand and sales for energy drinks is just through the roof. It's nonstop. Case in point, Monster was announced this week. that monster hit the $2 billion milestone in Q2. In other words, it did $2 billion in quarterly net sales in Q2 for the first time in the company's history, reporting an 11.1 year-over-year increase from 2024. Our dear colleague Brad Avery wrote about this story, $2 billion and a quarter, just, I mean, Okay, so that's one thing. Martín Caballero talked about the amount of demand and sales growth that we're seeing for energy drinks in convenience stores and Celsius. Celsius, which acquired Alani Nu earlier this year, reported that sales were up 84% in Q2. Who's buying all this stuff? I'm trying to figure this out.
[00:09:02] Mike Schneider: Not you, obviously. Not me.
[00:09:02] Ray Latif: I'm trying to wrap my head around this, because maybe in this area, in the Northeast, I just don't see a lot of people drinking energy drinks, a lot of Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, what have you. I think that comment in particular just shows also how ubiquitous they are. They're not really products that at this point stand out. If you do look around and really look at what people have, you will see a lot of energy drinks. If I stop and smell the roses, is what you're saying? Yeah, sort of. And yeah, I mean, there's also, let's not forget, you're like, where's all this, these dollars coming from? I mean, there was this kind of pretty big energy drink brand that just nuked itself. And those dollars had to go somewhere. Okay. I mean, obviously you're referring to Bang. Maybe. Am I? Perhaps. No comment. So that's fair, but I would assume that we're still just getting the same demand, but it seems like the demand is rising. Sales are rising. I mean, look, the energy drink category was born essentially from the CSD category. I mean, they are CSDs, carbonated soft drinks, sodas with functional ingredients, right? And as you looked at the shift in consumer tastes over the past 20 years, like there's been a lot of runway for functional beverages and the energy drink category is the main beneficiary of that. And the other thing that's always been true of that category is there are kind of the stalwarts of Red Bull, Monster, I don't know, the handful of others, Celsius, et cetera, that have had high sales. But there's a lot of smaller brands that still make up a chunk of the category that I feel like is always kind of up for disruption. So, I don't know. I mean, it doesn't seem like that category is close to running out of steam to be honest. And I think, you know, Monster's a great example of like, they've done a great job of pushing energy into like all these other categories. You know, Java Monster is like one of the biggest RTD coffee brands.
[00:11:00] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I think energy is obviously always been a thing. People drink coffee every day. I think people are looking for cleaner, better for you options. They're looking for maybe not a crash, so they're looking for something that maybe has L-theanine or other adaptogens in it. And there's a bunch of energy drinks that are doing a really good job with their target market. Gorgie, for example, is really focused on women and beauty and Alani Nu is also focused more so on women and there's energy drinks for gamers. There's like an energy drink for anyone and they're being drank throughout the day too. So it's not just in the morning.
[00:11:38] Ray Latif: Is there an energy drink for dog walkers on Saturdays?
[00:11:40] Jacqui Brugliera: Probably, there probably is.
[00:11:42] Ray Latif: No, no. See, the thing is, Jackie's spot on. I think what's interesting is that the niche is even working in energy. We're finding pockets of space where brands can see and develop and cultivate a new consumer base. based on what their lifestyle is and needs. That's just mature launching of a beverage though. I mean, if you focus on too many markets when you start, you're going to run out of marketing dollars. So what we're seeing is companies that are coming into the space focused on gaining a niche, messaging around a niche, because that's what somebody wisely advised them to do so. Well, I think it also, as much as that is true, it's also historically been a bit of a ruse in that, for example, there have been countless attempts to launch healthy energy drink, which seems to be a thing that Never worked? Never really. Well, no, look, I mean, I think there are niche ideas. And then obviously anyone who's starting with a niche idea hopes that their niche idea becomes a mainstream idea. And that's one that really has struggled as a company gets a little bit of a beachhead as a better for you energy drink to step on the gas and have it go mainstream. And I think that's, I mean, it's obviously a challenge with almost every CPG category. It's kind of like, Is your niche like a path to mainstream or is it just one that kind of puts you in a nice little niche that you're going to have to protect? Yeah. And that is the other key. It's like once you have established your niche and you figure out what the ceiling of said niche is, are you at the ceiling? Do you pump more dollars into marketing against that niche or do you have to expand your messaging at that point? And that's, that's a good strategy.
[00:13:27] Jacqui Brugliera: And I think it's all like, we've talked about incremental innovation, like Celsius might not be the best thing for you, but it feels better than a Red Bull. And it has some other functional ingredients in there that moves you beyond just drinking a Red Bull.
[00:13:41] Ray Latif: Jackie just threw down the gauntlet right there. You see that? She's like, she just smacked Red Bull. Celsius, better than Red Bull. Uh, that's just Jackie's opinion, obviously. Again, yeah. I, it's one of those. Anyway. Red Bull just flicking Jackie away. Like whatever. Well, Jackie, have you seen our race cars? Well, I mean, one thing I bring this up because how many Naked Energy drink brands do we see come to market every year? How many new brands do we have send us samples? And I would say it's probably the over-unders like a hundred every year. I mean, it's, it's quite a bit. And I would say 90. It's a high percentage. I'm not going to, I'm not going to say a number. It's a high percentage of them that are not going to be back in year two. Yeah, but that's true of... That's true of everything. I do want to just... But you're also saying brands that Naked Energy as a benefit that aren't positioning themselves as energy drinks. For instance, like some of these tea beverages that we've seen coming out recently, they're not overtly saying, hey, we're an energy drink. They're positioning themselves as a tea. They have caffeine. That is an energy drink. But Why know that trying to position themselves as a better for you energy drink is going to put them into a niche spot. So they're trying to take on the tea category. Right. But I do want to kind of poll the group here and see if we can just identify, and I know this is a tough thing to do because it's pretty subjective, but just try to identify where there might be some white space. And John, I want to point out that you contributed to an article on ESPN about Throne Sport coffee, the coffee brand that's backed by NFL star Patrick Mahomes and launched and developed by Mike Fideli, who has a ton of experience in history, vitamin water body armor. It's like you got to plug your episode with him. What's that? So you got a plug. Of course. Of course. Well, it was it was in 2024. It's hard to miss. Just type in Patrick Mahomes into the search bar. You'll find it. I mean, you had some comments in that article about what it takes to differentiate in that category and how they can stand out. Certainly, if you have Patrick Mahomes on your side, it goes a long way. But Why if you don't have a celebrity? I mean, how do you stand out in a really crowded category Naked Energy? Well, I mean, if there were a direct answer to that. Well, I'm just pulling, I'm just saying, I said it was subjective. It would be a pretty easy CPG. Well, there's four, there's four people, there's four opinions here. Yeah. I look, I don't, I don't know the answer to that. I think it's one of those things that if you look at the brands that have been successful, Alani, Ghost, C4, you know, I think these brands that to be honest in their early days, no one was like, oh my God, this is a hundred percent going to blow up, But Why did. I think it is, you know, the classic stuff we've talked about before. It's like finding that niche, being just cutthroat, meticulous, never giving up and, you know, figuring out an execution strategy that works and getting all that stuff to line up is, it's pretty hard. And, you know, the energy drink category is one that. Unlike other categories where maybe you have one big player that you're after, it's got a whole pile of them. It's a pretty cutthroat, like you need to be well capitalized to go after it. That means you have to have a lot of money. Yes. I know.
[00:16:43] Mike Schneider: I mean, you should. It's true. You should. It's true.
[00:16:44] Ray Latif: You know, I think there are other categories that are maybe a little more, I don't know, forgiving. But, you know, where the next one comes from, that's a great question. I mean, I think ultimately it's what sort of base of consumers align with this category and don't really have a brand that speaks to them. Yeah. I mean, just to dumb it down, make it sound way, way, way easier than it is. Well, I mean, in my opinion, I think that the growth is going to continue to come from zero, zero sugar and really, really low calorie drinks. So people are really conscious about consuming calories and sugar in liquid form. And I think in energy, if you want the function, why would you want the calories and sugar? So I think that's why BANG! I mean aside from their branding and aside from the way they marketed themselves. They always leaned on that zero sugar Well, they did it also had like a lot more caffeine than the mainstream brands too. So I mean that's a lever that's worked for Some of the other successful brands is like higher caffeine functional performance sort of ingredients But I think that sort of market seems saturated at this point. Yes.
[00:17:51] Speaker: Mm-hmm
[00:17:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I think caffeine source and maybe the amount of caffeine, like where's the energy source coming from? Like, for example, so many people have been going down the green tea route and the matcha route, trying to not have the jitters and have more sustained energy over time. So I think people might be focusing more on that. I personally am focusing more on that. And that's something that you could drink consistently throughout the day. So if you want someone to drink more than one, that might be, you know, a better option. for you rather than just cracking yourself out with like 250 milligrams of caffeine in one go.
[00:18:28] Ray Latif: That's a really, really good point. I love that because Yerimadre, I had not typically been a Guayaquil consumer. They obviously have since changed their name to Yerimadre, but at BevNET Live in New York City, I felt so good drinking that product because the caffeine didn't crack you out. It actually gave you more focus or gave me more focus than I ever imagined I would have. And so I think that kind of balance, which is energy plus focus, can really also go a long way Naked Energy and focus coming from a natural source. Also, your celebrity isn't your strategy. So to the points here, the product first has to be a good product because you can put any celebrity on it. And if people don't like the product, they're just going to. And at the end of the day, not continuously use the product. So you have to be thoughtful about that first, which is what Jonathan Ralph and Gemma Fear and Ellie Goulding did with their Everystate product. So they created this... What's the name of the Brad Avery State of UK. So this is a mushroom coffee. that has a caffeine version, a non-caffeine version, and a matcha version, which is designed for different states of the day, which is something we've seen tried, you know, for different moods or different times of the day. And they have Ellie Goulding on board, which gets you eyeballs, but that celebrity needs to be an operator and a continuous push on it and actually use the product and the product needs to work. I don't know, one of the things we've seen about the UK is that they're a lot more thoughtful about what they put into a product when they build something that has, like, a benefit. They think about the benefit. They don't just, like, throw a cocktail of mushrooms into something and... That's because they actually have an approval system.
[00:20:06] Mike Schneider: They actually have an approval system, yeah.
[00:20:07] Ray Latif: I wouldn't say they're thoughtful because they want to be thoughtful.
[00:20:10] Mike Schneider: They have no choice.
[00:20:11] Ray Latif: I think it's a combination of the two because I think the consumers demand it as well, but I hear you. It's not thoughtful for thoughtful's sake. It's thoughtful because they have... More constraints, and as I like to say, constraints can set you free. You know, blue sky's the enemy of creativity. I like it. I like it. Well, a lot more to discuss on this topic, but I think we've talked it out as much as we can. Talked it to death. No, I think, look, this has been a good conversation. I think it's going to be a helpful conversation for folks who are thinking about entering the space or already in the space. So, you know, appreciate the conversation.
[00:20:43] John Craven: More than 70% of new CPG products fail, often over margins founders never fully understood. Outsourced accounting can close that gap for good. Visit belaisolutions.com slash BevNET for a free small business accounting guide from Belay.
[00:21:00] Ray Latif: Now, this is an interesting conversation that I didn't expect to have in 2025 or maybe any other year of BevNET. There's a brand called Jesse & Benz, which I love. Jesse & Benz is a maker of French fries, house-cut fries. You got all the samples at home, right? My freezer has, I'm down to like 11 bags. That's bad for you. Yeah, I'm a little upset about that. But anyway, recently, I'm trying to figure out when they came to market. I want to say it was in the last two or three years and they make French fries with better-for-you oils, I would guess, for lack of a better word. They have classic sea salt house-cut fries made with avocado oil. And they also have a product that's made with grass-fed beef tallow. All right. Got to make the bros happy. I'm not an expert on beef tallow. Who knows what beef tallow is?
[00:21:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Just like fat.
[00:21:49] Ray Latif: I do. Sure.
[00:21:50] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:21:51] Ray Latif: It's essentially that. It's fat from a cow.
[00:21:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. Rendered fat. Rendered fat. It's not lard.
[00:21:56] Ray Latif: It's not lard because lard comes from a? Pig. Pig. Right. So beef tallow is like the new, healthier fat. Healthier, is it? I mean, that's... Did I say healthier? I think you did. Okay. That's, uh, I probably should not say healthier, but it's considered to be a lifestyle choice.
[00:22:12] Mike Schneider: Can we just say trendy? Trendy.
[00:22:13] Ray Latif: It's definitely trendy. It's within certain communities. No knock on Jesse and Ben's. They make amazing products. But Why recently closed a seven-figure round of investment designed to support its expanded retail footprint. Our dear colleague, Lukas Southard. Not South-herd. Lukas Southard. Oh, man. That's another one I was mispronouncing like Latif. Yes, exactly. Latif. Oh, sorry. See, I can't even say that. Yeah. Covered this story And there's been a lot of buzz around the brand because they're one of the first to use beef tallow in a consumer packaged brand. And really cool looking branding. Really, really good looking branding. I don't know if I've sampled the product, maybe at a trade show, but would love to. You're never going to get any. I know. It's at home. I'm just, I'm just subtly hinting. I'm just waiting for it to expire and then I'm going to bring it in.
[00:23:04] Mike Schneider: I love it. Classic Kramer move.
[00:23:05] Ray Latif: Yes. So, uh, you know, according to this article, co-founder and CEO, Jesse might pronounce his name is spelled K-O-N-I-G. I'm going to say Koenig. Jesse and Ben's has created a groundswell of interest, particularly in organic social media posts, which has fueled its growth so far. I can understand that. Why? Because in social media people talk about eating better and ways to live a healthier lifestyle. And it's French fries. And it's French fries, for sure. But I don't know. Is this, are we going to be talking about beef tallow next year? Probably. I mean, is this part of a fried food revolution? Well, there's other ways to consume it without fried food. With a spoon in a bowl? I mean, you could. Okay. But I like this as a concept. You know the core of the product is like I mean if you if someone comes up to your demo or booth at a trade show and is like What's this? I? Don't know everyone knows what a french fries right to basically Describe it as a premium french fries pretty straightforward right sure doesn't need a long explanation Well, if they're not fried in seed oils, I mean, again, seed oils have been talked about to death on social media and beyond, and people are trying to avoid... That's kind of my point, though, is I think there's also... And debunked by Melissa Urban. It is one of those things, we've talked about this on Taste Radio, but I think, you know, a lot of times if you're championing something different, And there's kind of a greater movement that's also championing that. That's perfect. And I think avocado oil has that, beef tallow is starting to get that. So what they're preaching is pretty easy to understand and there's kind of growing market demand for it and beautiful branding and I I assume tasty product that should work pretty well. If only we knew. I know. If only they'd send us samples. They did send us samples. They sent me samples.
[00:24:59] Jacqui Brugliera: They did?
[00:24:59] Ray Latif: I hate the samples.
[00:25:01] Mike Schneider: I'm sorry. Ray's hoarding samples.
[00:25:02] Ray Latif: I don't want the company to think they didn't send us samples. No, they emailed me. And they said, we're sending samples. Somehow they had my home address and my PO box and my UPS, you know, place where you can pick up your packages. Your doorman's cell phone number. They had my butler's mother's maiden name. PSA here that it's like sending samples to Ray is like, I don't know. It's like throwing your samples on a black hole. Are we not talking about Jesse and Ben's on the podcast right now? It's like writing a letter to Santa or something. Anyway, wait, Santa's always responded to my letters. I've always gotten what I wanted for Christmas. Anyway. Okay. Well, well done to Jesse and Betsy. And last thing on this. Thanks for keeping Ray's freezer stocked. I was speaking with the founder of Brightland Olive Oil and she's going to be featured, Aishwarya is going to be featured in a future episode of the podcast. And she was talking about how her packaging was sort of the Trojan horse to getting awareness and building education about her brand. Cause your packaging is phenomenal. It's so beautiful. It's just gorgeous. It's that white bottle that really stands out on shelf or really anywhere. And I wonder if, you know, French fries are kind of the Trojan horse for beef tallow, right? I mean, it's an, again, everyone knows what French fries are and this is an easy way for people to become aware of and taste the ingredient and see if it's really any differentiated or from a, from a taste or texture standpoint, different from other oils that you're familiar with. I mean, it's also already out there. How do you mean? Like, it's not an uncommon thing for fried food to be fried in. Beef tallow? Yeah. Since when? Well, I mean, a little Massachusetts stuff here. You know that fried fish place, Woodman's, up in Essex? I do, but I've never been there. All fried in beef tallow. For forever?
[00:27:01] Mike Schneider: For forever, yeah.
[00:27:02] Ray Latif: Surf and turf, you didn't even know it. Yeah. Nicely done, Mike. I like that.
[00:27:07] Mike Schneider: Well done.
[00:27:07] Ray Latif: Not pescetarian friendly, apparently. But anyway, I digress. Okay.
[00:27:10] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I will not be going there, I guess. But you can usually taste the difference, though.
[00:27:15] Ray Latif: Yeah, you can taste it.
[00:27:16] Jacqui Brugliera: It tastes weird.
[00:27:18] Ray Latif: It's weird. Whitman's is weird. Okay. You feel weird after. I mean, they should tell you that. Right. I hope they, I hope they say this.
[00:27:24] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't know.
[00:27:25] Ray Latif: Okay. I don't, I've not read the. Because again, Jackie would go there and then she'd feel all that beef tallow.
[00:27:29] Jacqui Brugliera: And I'd be like, Ooh, my body would reject it instantly.
[00:27:33] Ray Latif: Just like that ox heart, right? I've been out to dinner with Jackie and she, she's enjoying the meat that night. And then the next day she's like, Oof, I don't know if I'm going to eat one of these. Not in London though. No, not in London.
[00:27:44] Jacqui Brugliera: Jackie was thriving. In London it's just, it's different. The meat is different. The meat's different.
[00:27:50] Jeffrey Klineman: Taste Radio meetups are continuing in Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, and London. Come hang out with the food, beverage, and beer community for live podcast recordings, CPG networking, and sample sharing. Want to attend or partner with us? Head to Taste Radio.com slash meetups.
[00:28:08] Mike Schneider: Vibrant Ingredients is the natural ingredient partner powering food and beverage innovation, delivering flavor, function, and protection through a science-backed portfolio. Vibrant delivers purpose-driven solutions that help brands create extraordinary experiences. Discover what's possible with Vibrant today. Visit VibrantIngredients.com.
[00:28:35] John Craven: The Angel Group was among the first believers in brands like Poppy, Botchons, Goodles, and Siete. The next generation of great consumer brands is being built right now. Learn about investing alongside other industry professionals at wearetheangelgroup.com.
[00:28:51] Martín Caballero: Quick pause for a look at the people making an impact across packaged food. The 2026 Nosh Impact 50 recognizes founders, operators, investors, creators, and connectors whose work is influencing how brands are built, funded, grown, and brought to market. Some are highly visible. Others are shaping the business behind the scenes. See all 50 honorees at Nosh.com slash impact50.
[00:29:14] Ray Latif: The entire episode, Mike has been looking down at a print, what looks like a printed out. A printed out. Press release? No, it's just a letter from the 503, from Skout Organic, from Mark Hollis, the CEO. Send us some treats, right? Why do you have his letter in front of you like that? Because it says High Taste Radio Team. It's a really nice letter. It's for the team. It's for everyone. It didn't say Mike Schneider. It doesn't. It says everyone but Ray. It doesn't. But I wanted to make sure everybody got a chance to sample these. So we've got some Skout Organic Snacks and we've got cookies and bars. I'm really excited. These all right, let's let's dig in here gal week organic spelled s Hey, oh you Skout Organic, and they do make soft baked cookies and bars chocolate peanut butter Oh, here's a lemon poppy seed oatmeal this one. Okay. Oh The lemon poppy seed is actually described as a collab batch with alt a LLT I don't know what alt is does it describe what alt is there's also a This is a very generous package. Thank you very much, Mark. But also bars in here. There's a series of protein bars, which there was a peanut butter and jelly, but I ate it. Chocolate peanut butter, peanut butter. And then they've got a line of kids bars here, too, with some great flavors like chocolate brownie and blueberry blast, apple pie, almond cookie, cookie dough. How are those cookies, John? Good. Oh, they're individually wrapped, right? You can try them. I'm still trying to figure out what Alt is. I was looking this up on the Googles and according to Wikipedia, Alt, as it's spelled, A-L-L-T, the only thing I'm seeing is that they're a Swedish progressive metalcore band formed in 2020. I don't think that's relevant. That's not the... Is that their hit song there? Is Mike just singing? Yes.
[00:31:05] Jacqui Brugliera: This is so good.
[00:31:06] Ray Latif: Double chocolate is epic. Oh my god. These are mine. 110 calories for two cookies. A gram of protein. That's pretty solid tasting for a bag of cookies. It's really good. One with the oatmeal chocolate chip. You know what it is? Soft. Chewy. Super M word.
[00:31:20] Jacqui Brugliera: Moist.
[00:31:22] Ray Latif: Come on.
[00:31:22] Jacqui Brugliera: I got no problem saying it. Come on.
[00:31:26] Ray Latif: Thanks for making it weird, you guys.
[00:31:28] Mike Schneider: I didn't make it weird.
[00:31:28] Ray Latif: Every time. I wanna talk about Raspberry Rush. I forgot this kid's snack bar flavor. I'm trying this. Nice. I want to talk about the word cloud on the back too. Yeah. The protein instant latte that I've been sipping on. This is from Layered Superfood. Layered Superfood is a maker of better for you lattes and functional creamers. And this is a pretty darn good latte that I made myself. I don't typically drink lattes at all. I'm not a latte kind of guy. You don't drink powdered lattes? I mean, this is like a slap in the face to Mike, by the way. What? This is a protein latte. You can't make this. This contains Coffee Palmer. I can totally make that. This contains Coffee Palmer, protein, and functional mushrooms as naturally occurring MCTs from coconut.
[00:32:17] Mike Schneider: Yeah, you're right.
[00:32:18] Ray Latif: I could never make that. You could never make that. Impossible. Yes. It seems like the brand is doing quite well based on a story written by Lukas Southard that was titled Layered Growth Trajectory Continues Wholesale Biz Expands. I encourage you to read that story. Thank you to my dear friend, Olivier Colombo, for sending me this sample. I'm really enjoying this. All right, Jackie, what do you got over there in the WCB?
[00:32:41] Jacqui Brugliera: I've been sipping on Hoplark's limited edition sodas. They have the ginger ale one and then the root beer one. So usually they come out with like experimental hop drinks.
[00:32:56] Ray Latif: What was the second one that you mentioned, Jackie? The ginger ale one or the root beer one?
[00:33:01] Jacqui Brugliera: Root beer?
[00:33:02] Ray Latif: Root beer? No, why are you saying it like that? You're from Massachusetts. It's rut beer.
[00:33:07] Jacqui Brugliera: Rut beer.
[00:33:08] Ray Latif: Rut beer. All right. I interrupted you. I apologize. Go ahead.
[00:33:15] Jacqui Brugliera: Rottbier. Yeah. So these are caffeine-free, alcohol-free, very simple ingredients. I'm drinking the ginger ale one right now. It kind of tastes like a very light ginger ale. It's not super sweet. It has just five grams of sugar and 20 calories in this can. And the packaging is really fun with the the roller bleeding hop, well, it's the bird. It's a hoplark, right?
[00:33:39] Ray Latif: The hoplark, yeah. It's a hoplark.
[00:33:41] Jacqui Brugliera: They're a hoplark.
[00:33:41] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's a hoplark.
[00:33:43] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. So these are tasty. I love all their limited edition beverages that they send over.
[00:33:47] Ray Latif: Nice.
[00:33:48] Jacqui Brugliera: And then I also have this bestow. So it's pesto.
[00:33:54] Ray Latif: But it's the best.
[00:33:55] Jacqui Brugliera: It's the best-o pesto. Okay. And speaking of seed oils, on front and back, they're calling out no nuts, no seed oils, just pesto. So trying to be very clean with their ingredients. It's just extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, basil, Parmesan cheese, and then some spices. Why aren't you trolling her, Rae?
[00:34:17] Ray Latif: She didn't say wicked clean.
[00:34:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Wicked clean.
[00:34:20] Ray Latif: No, no. I only said root beer because Jackie typically says words that begin with R-O and they're pronounced R-U. Yeah. Rut. Rut beer.
[00:34:33] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:34:33] Ray Latif: Going to a rum as in a room, et cetera, et cetera. So anyway. Weird stuff. Yeah. Weird stuff indeed. What do you got there, John? This stuff is a Coffee Palmer from the Coffee Project. Think Arnold Balmer. But sub iced tea with coffee. Nice looking package. It's pretty darn tasty. Yeah. I would love to try this as a sparkling drink too. It should be delicious. That's a really interesting product and talk about a cyclical concept. How often do we see that citrus infused coffee come and go? It's interesting. Yeah. No, I mean, I think for a company that is producing other Coffee Project, it's kind of a fun, I don't know what their intentions are with it, but, uh, you know, as a limited time offering for the summer, I think this is kind of cool.
[00:35:24] John Craven: Give it a go. Why not?
[00:35:27] Ray Latif: You know, we were talking about energy for the first half of the show and three products. I mentioned that we have like a hundred new brands sent to our office or a hundred new brands come to market and send us samples every year. These are three brands, two of which have appeared on our Elevator Talk series. That's Pablo's Mate, which is a Yerba Madre beverage focused on the soccer community. One would probably call it an energy drink. We have football community. Football community we have solstice, and this is a brand whose founder I spoke with yesterday on Elevator Talk new episode coming on Wednesday check it out solstice is a maker of Beauty energy products, so they had it's a sparkling energy drink infused with ingredients designed to support skin health via It's not sunscreen, but it's like, it's a sunscreen without the sunscreen.
[00:36:17] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. What? So you ingest it and it protects your skin?
[00:36:21] Ray Latif: Yes. This has been done. It's been done, but not as professionally, I think, as this. The guy who started the company is a dermatologist and it includes all these different ingredients. You can read them on the back, including niacinamide, obviously caffeine, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin C, and polypodium. which a polypodium is an antioxidant that reduces the effect of sun exposure. So how about that? Well, you try it, Ray. I'm going to. I will not be testing that. I will be covered in zinc on the outside. And then lastly, this brand has not yet appeared on Elevator Talk. I hope to do soon. Naked is a sparkling energy drink. It comes in this silver can with the logo naked displayed vertically on the front of the can. This is their lemonade variety, 15 calories. This is definitely positioned as a cleaner energy drink, only six ingredients. So, uh, yeah, I'd be interested to see which of these three brands might actually, uh, might actually pop in the year or years to come. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. 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. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is bevnettasteradio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:38:14] Jacqui Brugliera: you
