[00:00:10] Ad Read: Hey folks, thanks for tuning into the number one podcast for the food Jabin Beverage industry, Taste Radio. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio. And I'm here with my co-hosts, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. 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. All right, I'd love to give a shout out to our presenting 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. So funny story now, I should probably preface this by saying we are in Anaheim, California at the BevNET Airbnb here for Expo West 2023. Great to see y'all. Great to see Jackie live IRL. We're in the living room here.
[00:01:15] John Craven: We should clarify this. I am not saying yeah, we have like, I don't know, 20 people from our team that are at Expo West. And there's a couple of us. I guess myself included, obviously, who've stayed in this house. We've rented this for many, many, many years. We also don't do it through Airbnb, but hey, it's the accommodations for some.
[00:01:36] Jacqui Brugliera: It's like the BevNET HQ of Expos.
[00:01:39] John Craven: Right. And obviously it's not co-ed. And then there's people like Ray who need to stay at a fancy hotel, but it's OK. We offered.
[00:01:46] Ad Read: Yes, I am staying at the Rock and Roller Coaster Hotel here in Anaheim. Oh, well done.
[00:01:52] Mike Schneider: I heard you used to make the breakfast. Now, of course, I dropped the I in Chief Marketing Officer and be Chef Marketing Officer while we're here. So, yeah, I make the breakfast.
[00:02:02] John Craven: We're really getting started with The Bad jokes. I'm just like, hey, at least you can do something useful for us.
[00:02:08] Ad Read: No, all in all, it's you are right, John Craven, in that there's what, five or six people staying here at the VRBO house, is this?
[00:02:17] John Craven: Directly rented from owner house, I don't know.
[00:02:21] Jacqui Brugliera: Old school.
[00:02:22] John Craven: Yeah. No, it's really I mean, I, you know, rented here 10 years. Get texts from the owner like randomly throughout the year asking us how we're doing and stuff. Really? Yeah.
[00:02:32] Ad Read: Did she send you a Christmas card?
[00:02:34] John Craven: Uh, she actually sent me it's just gonna sound really weird, but she was uh, like very excited about us coming soon And was also telling me in the meantime. She had to get through her daughter's sweet 16 party and sent this picture of like They go big here for the sweet 16. Let's put it that way. Interesting. I'm very curious. Yes. But we have a lock on this house so that it sounds like it.
[00:02:57] Mike Schneider: Yeah, we know.
[00:02:58] John Craven: Don't mention the address.
[00:02:59] Mike Schneider: We've stayed here enough times. We know all the pots and pans. We know where the knives are. We know what the quirks are. There's like this really strange operating. It's like a high tech house. But the operating system is like one we don't understand. Windows 95.
[00:03:13] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I think I can walk here blindfolded by this point.
[00:03:16] Ad Read: Really?
[00:03:16] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:03:17] Ad Read: I still need my Google Maps or Apple Maps to navigate my way over here. But here we are. And it's been a long time coming. Expo West 2023 has lived up to its billing. It has been a crazy, busy, fun, exhilarating, all of the above kind of event. All of that. And we got here on Tuesday. for an incredible event, well, a pre-event, as it were, in that SnackShot ex-BevNets meetup at the, what is the name of the office? Here Studio. The Here Studio. Yeah.
[00:03:51] John Craven: Folks that do De La Calle and Vena.
[00:03:54] Ad Read: Yeah, yeah, sort of near the Arts District in Los Angeles. And at that event, let's just talk about that for a second. Oh, my goodness. Andrea Hernandez, who is the creator of Snack Shot, cult leader, as she likes to call herself, really curated an incredible group of emerging brands with a really beautiful packaging, innovative ingredients, formulations that are just not commonly seen. even among emerging brands. And man, what a time. I wasn't sure what to expect because I think some people build it as like a pop-up grocer kind of event where you just saw really, really new and different kinds of concepts. And I don't know, it was all that and more.
[00:04:41] John Craven: Yeah, we definitely got a lot of interesting products. I don't know, what were there, 200 and something people that showed up the night before Expo West. So yeah, that was a good way to get started.
[00:04:55] Mike Schneider: It was pretty cool to see so many people who went to LA. I mean, it's pretty far from Anaheim, especially with traffic, as you know. I mean, nothing's really that far away around here, but it takes a long time to drive. So people made you know, they made the commitment and everybody just loves Andrea too. And just, you know, we're, we were just so psyched that she asked us to, you know, to hop in and participate in that. And we kind of helped set up and got to, got to know some of The Bad and just help them get started. It was great.
[00:05:22] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it was a great kickoff event. And I felt like I ran into quite a few brands that were there that kept bringing up to me while I was walking the show floor brands that were just, you know, backpack brands that, were really grateful for the opportunity to engage with us and showcase their product before they got to Expo, which is just a ginormous show. So something that was a little bit more intimate of an experience and a little bit more curated was really beneficial, I think, to a lot of The Bad.
[00:05:46] Ad Read: What were your highlights of that? Can we talk about some of the products? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was just going to highlight Senor Mango Mucho Gusto, which is a brand of dried mangoes that comes in these sort of white pouches with a hand-drawn image of, I am assuming, Senor Mango. Really beautiful packaging. The folks from Absurd Snacks were at the event. Obviously great to see them. They have a new package and a new brand. I'm sorry, well, new label design for But they've also reformulated, and the new stuff tastes really great.
[00:06:17] Mike Schneider: It's almost like a granola with the fava beans now, so it's really good. It's really cool.
[00:06:23] Ad Read: Yeah. Brutal, which is a brand of chocho lupini puffs that come in three varieties in this hot pink package with the call-outs, not just good, but brutal. Yeah, good stuff. I really loved Casa Lu, which is a limon rum seltzer. Man, you know, I don't particularly love hard seltzers and I'm not really a common, I don't commonly drink hard seltzers, but I guess this is sort of like a different, it's like a spirit seltzer. This was one of the more delicious beverages I had that night and one of the more delicious sparkling, you know, in this emerging set of, like, cans, seltzers, or canned cocktails. RTDs. RTDs. I don't know. We still don't know exactly what to call the category. That's what I would call it.
[00:07:09] John Craven: Okay. And it's a very solid one, for sure.
[00:07:12] Ad Read: Yeah, for sure. And last one, I just want to call it is Canetta, which is a brand of canned wine. They come in two varieties, red and a white. They're in 187 milliliter cans, 12.5% alcohol per volume. Man, as good as a canned wine as you'll ever find.
[00:07:28] John Craven: That was some good stuff. I like that it's like basically like a glass and a half of wine. It's not, you know, crazy over the top big.
[00:07:35] Mike Schneider: Yeah, this was such a well curated event. And there were so many brands there that I actually didn't try any of the ones that you just mentioned, Ray. I have a whole different list. Like I tried black owned female founded chocolate company called Bantu super premium, super insanely good chocolate source from the source from Cameroon. Right, right. Source from Cameroon. That one was so amazing. One of my favorite companies, and especially just for the amazingness of The Bad and the depth of The Bad was Peepal People. So Heritage is from Pakistan and it's hot sauce. And if you peel back the onion, bit the flavors are like the ghost pepper is Pakistani for haunted house and and The the habanero is yellow firecracker. And so it's just like it was really thoughtful and the sauce was amazing It just blew me away We also tried a new take on oats called Puro. Did you try Puro? Puro was good It was so good. It was like just it was understated but just the flavor just kept on coming.
[00:08:36] SPEAKER_??: Mm-hmm
[00:08:37] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, another really flavorful product. I know they were showcased at Expo as well was Scout Canning and oh my god, seeing their snacks. I mean, it's just kind of genius. They have the the canned seafood inside the pint and then they have some mix ins and crunchies and flavoring and seasoning.
[00:08:53] Mike Schneider: It's just really, really that one went so fast that john and I didn't even get at Expo West.
[00:08:59] John Craven: Right. It was super good. Yeah, really good. We'd eat tons of that.
[00:09:02] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, and it was cool also to see some cannabis brands that, you know, obviously are not going to showcase at Expo, but some cannabis brands you could try at this show.
[00:09:10] Mike Schneider: Tempo.
[00:09:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Tempo was really good. It's like five milligram THC edible. They're like little crackers.
[00:09:18] Mike Schneider: Well, The Bad different levels. The Bad one, two, and five. Yeah. Yeah. Different flavors. It was cool.
[00:09:22] Jacqui Brugliera: Different flavors.
[00:09:23] Mike Schneider: And the waves on the package correspond with how wavy the room would get.
[00:09:28] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's cool to see more innovation in that space. And I also tried Louie Louie Satsuma Good Time Seltzer. So five milligrams of THC, five milligrams of CBD. So nice mellow chill for people that maybe didn't want to drink that night.
[00:09:43] Mike Schneider: I also wanted to call out Bobbo'Babos Kitchen. Did you get to try Bobbo'Babos Kitchen at all?
[00:09:46] Jacqui Brugliera: I did. Yeah, that was good.
[00:09:48] Mike Schneider: She was awesome. They have a cool story and they're on their way as well.
[00:09:53] Ad Read: Yeah. I mean, and just, you know, beyond the products and brands, it was just great to meet some of the entrepreneurs and founders behind each of them. And in ones that we, you know, didn't call out it, you know, there was just such a good vibe there. Um, so chill too, like there was, even though there were a lot of people there and, you know, there was a ton of products to try and, you know, there was a DJ and there was just a lot going on. It just felt like everyone was kind of at their own pace and just enjoying and taking it all in, which was like really cool to have before Expo, which is. As we all know, just this crazy event. And when I'm thinking about Expo, I'm thinking about Wednesday and you just get this. I mean, it's a hurricane of people when you walk into the North Hall. It was, I don't even think it was like 2019. It was beyond that.
[00:10:37] Mike Schneider: It was crazy. It was crazy. And even I mean, even the Snack Shot event had like that vibe, too. We got some established brands came or more established brands like the Pockets founders were there. And Wendy Zung, who is a Chopped 420 chef, she won Chopped 420 and she's a really well-known cannabis chef, was there to taste all The Bad. And like that was an insane event. And then Expo came.
[00:11:03] Ad Read: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we started out with a tent, the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace Tent, which opened up, I think, at 11. And then the North Hall opened up for most people at noon. But the line just to get into the tent was pretty, pretty, pretty long.
[00:11:15] Jacqui Brugliera: It kept on going. It was never ending.
[00:11:17] John Craven: That was a little misleading, though, in the sense that there was nowhere else to go at that point. True, true. I don't think it's quite at 2019 levels, but definitely bigger than last year, and I think better energy and just overall vibe to the show so far in the, you know, first two days that we've gone through so far. So, you know, definitely encouraging to see that, you know, it feels like it has rebounded a bit.
[00:11:45] Mike Schneider: Totally. Yeah. And for the second year in a row, John and I have been trying to not go into the tent and stay outside and talk to people. And the line just kind of forms and we end up in it.
[00:11:55] Jacqui Brugliera: It naturally grabs you.
[00:11:56] Mike Schneider: Yeah, it does. It grabs you and sucks you in. The tent is grabby.
[00:12:00] Ad Read: Once you got inside the tent, there were some pretty cool things to see. I really enjoyed The Bad revamp for Wild Tonic Jun, which is a maker of Jun Kombucha, which is fermented with honey. They have done a really good job with their new cans and canned cocktails, non-alcoholic canned cocktails, which they call mocktails. really loved the fact that they are sort of evolving with the times, looking for new, more convenient and portable options for their products. And typically The Bad been, or historically The Bad been, sold in these 750 milliliter swing top bottles. I think I'm accurate in saying that. Also, Rowdy Mermaid, which is known for their kombucha products, released or introduced a new line of sodas called Good Mood Sodas. that are made with ashwagandha and four grams of sugar. I tried their grape variety, which was phenomenal. Great job on that front.
[00:12:50] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, another tent brand was Cicerones, which is a really cool play on chicharrones, but with kelp. So really focused on sourcing, regenerative agriculture. And it was tasty. It's something that's a little bit more of an approachable product for a kid or someone that's not really into seaweed and the nutritional benefits of seaweed. So I thought that was a cool take.
[00:13:16] Ad Read: Now, I will admit that I really didn't get to see as much of the show as I really wanted to over the first two days. However, the things that I did see, I was pretty impressed by. But before we get to that, I just want to call out some of the interviews that I was able to record in the press room at Expo, including with the co-founders of Chomps, the beefsteak brand that has just done exceedingly well. They're expecting to do about $180 million in revenue this year. And talking to co-founders Pete Maldonado, and Rashid Ali, it was so eye-opening to hear about how they've built their brand, bootstrapped for the first 10 years before they raised $80 million from stride consumer partners. But what was really interesting and threw me for a loop is when they talked about how they almost went bankrupt in 2020. Yeah, so stay tuned for that interview coming up in a future episode. Also love, love speaking with Becca Milstein, who is the co-founder and CEO of Fishwife. Man, she is just... She's awesome. I was talking to Paul Vogue, the co-founder of Ourobora, and I think the way he described her was just like, I'm going to butcher this, but it was relatable chaos.
[00:14:28] Mike Schneider: She, she wheeled her own tiny little booth into, and it's something she brought into the Snackshot event. It was so cute. And she kept saying, I'm going to, I'm going to sample. I'm going to sample. And she never needed to, she, no one stopped talking to her. She never had time. Yeah.
[00:14:42] Ad Read: Yeah. But we, we talked about obviously the power of design, uh, really understanding your consumer and treating your consumer. Like they're the most important person buying your product. And you know, they were D to C for so long and now they're getting into retail. She talked about just being patient and was offered the opportunity to get into Whole Foods nationally and was like, oh, we have to really understand what we're getting into at the retail level. Let's be patient and do this the right way. So many great insights and learnings from that interview. Again, coming in a future episode of Taste Radio. Also sat down with Asha Balasia from Mason Dixie Foods, Sandra Rocco from Sanzo, the founders of Ziba Foods, The list goes on and on. A lot more to come, too. You've been busy. I've been busy. Well, we were just snacking our faces off. Right? Yeah. But I did see, actually, I want to call it one more brand that we did see in the tent. And they also had a booth in the main halls. That's Urban Remedy. Now, I sat down with Nico Pasquale, who's the co-founder of The Bad, excuse me, the founder of The Bad. And they recently redid their Sunsquare's products. and are available, yes, in these one ounce packages. Sun squares are made with sunflower butter Bantu Chocolate. They have two new varieties. One was made with crispy rice and cacao nibs, and one that's made with coffee and lion's mane. Just when you thought that things couldn't get any better. I thought the new innovation was cow nibs for a second there, but you would have called those udders. Anyhoo, yes, John Craven been taking up too much airtime here.
[00:16:15] John Craven: Well, I mean, Jackie already talked about the scout like fish, their new product with the kind of crunchy toppers. That was super good. Another one that stood out for me was this. Little Sesame hummus, it's pumpkin flavor.
[00:16:33] Ad Read: So good.
[00:16:35] John Craven: So good. Chili crisp. Okay, so the name of The Bad is Little Sesame. Yes, Little Sesame. It's like an up and coming or upstart brand of hummus. Well, up and coming. I mean, it's new. It's really new. You know, I think this is the first show that they're at, like, with a actual, like booth, maybe. But um, Anyway, they have this collaboration with FlyByJing. Really super good. Ate a whole one of these last night, but I got another one under the premise that I was going to share with you guys.
[00:17:09] Mike Schneider: They tried to give it to me. And then the next thing I know, John's like, I got it. Don't worry. I was talking because we were at the FlyByJing happy hour for API founders. And we were there talking and someone asked if I wanted one of those. The next thing I know, John's got his bag. I'm never going to see that again.
[00:17:25] Ad Read: Well, did you eat that before or after the In-N-Out that I saw you eat last night?
[00:17:34] John Craven: That's a good question. I don't remember. It's a little blurry. Facts are not available right now.
[00:17:40] Ad Read: Yeah. Well, we didn't have too many Negronis last night, did we?
[00:17:42] John Craven: Thanks for sharing I suppose I had that I was you know, just forced to imbibe I guess yeah, Rudy's was making some some hot grilled cheese literally yummy and some Negroni's For inviting us over there I also got this Chamberlain Coffee ready to drink We kind of lifted from behind the booth I don't know. They were they were out and they're right. So I guess they have a couple of different skews. This one's a vanilla latte. It's got 110 calories in it, kind of a with almond and coconut milk, a little more full strength, I guess. I think everyone kind of knew this was coming. So there's a mocha and a caramel and also a vanilla. Yeah. But I'm curious to see how the Chamberlain Coffee segues or expands into RTD. So was Emma there?
[00:18:43] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, yeah.
[00:18:43] John Craven: Yeah.
[00:18:44] Jacqui Brugliera: Did you get a selfie?
[00:18:45] John Craven: No, I took a one year did. I took one last year. I don't know. I died. Yeah.
[00:18:52] Ad Read: That's so last year.
[00:18:55] Mike Schneider: She pretended to remember me. She's so nice.
[00:18:57] Ad Read: She pretended to remember. You remember we had that great talk at that live. Excuse me, Nosh live. And I was telling you about how I really enjoy wearing yellow shoes and
[00:19:06] Mike Schneider: She's so nice. I mean, the one thing my daughter asked was like, dad, if you see Emma Chamberlain, just, you know, let me know. I was like, okay. So I sent her a selfie.
[00:19:17] Jacqui Brugliera: So I guess we've already talked about two products with Flyby Jing collaborations, which is really cool. And there's another one, Just Egg released a line of scrambled egg meals and one comes with Flyby Jing sauce in it. So it's cool to see like more and more brand collaborations, especially with Flyby Jing, which is obviously crushing it.
[00:19:37] John Craven: Everyone collaborate with Flyby Jing, basically. That's the idea. Not going to complain.
[00:19:42] Jacqui Brugliera: And another really cool brand that I saw was Hay Heyday Canning.
[00:19:46] John Craven: So it's so delicious. And cool looking.
[00:19:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Really cool. The packaging's really cool. And it's just a really unique concept, you know, elevating canned beans and focusing on packaging that's not plastic. Packaging's beautiful. It's in a can and they're just really unique flavor profiles with a variety of beans.
[00:20:05] Ad Read: I'd definitely buy that. Yeah. I first saw them on a Snackshot newsletter or Snackshot tweet. And yeah, really stand out branding and trying to elevate a legacy category in a fun and innovative way, for sure. In a previous episode, I mentioned that Mina CPG, which is a new industry group that highlights founders of Middle Eastern and North African descent. It was designed to really showcase the breadth of beautiful cuisine and culture that's being infused into so many new brands and products, and Mina CPG held its first meetup at the Better Sour booth on Thursday here at the show. And it was fantastic. Hosted by Bella and Samira, who are the founders of Better Sour, which is a brand of Better Sour you gummies made with
[00:20:58] Mike Schneider: It should be called Better Sour.
[00:21:01] Ad Read: So good. I was going to say sour seasoning, but what do you call the sour sprinkles on top? Sour flavor. Sour flavor. Citric acid.
[00:21:09] Mike Schneider: Those are so good. When I was talking to them at the Snack Shot event and they were like, here, try this. They handed me a bag and I ate the whole bag in front of them. And I didn't even realize it because they're just so poppable and so delicious. It's especially for a Better Sour you candy.
[00:21:24] Ad Read: insanely good. Yeah. And the thing I keep talking about is how sometimes with new gummies or gummies that are made with ingredients that are not like traditional, I guess, not traditionally made gummies, they stick to your teeth and Better Sour did not stick to your teeth whatsoever. And they just, they, They felt like, and acted like, and performed like, if performed is a word I can use, like real gummies that we grew up with.
[00:21:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes, you could keep going because you're not picking it out of your teeth.
[00:21:51] Ad Read: Exactly, exactly. Like jujube fruits. You don't want to be sticking your fingers in The Bad of your teeth. No, especially not during an SOS. Not during a pandemic. Terrible. Just the thought of it made me sick. Sorry. Tangent. No, but it was, I really appreciate seeing you guys. You were doing some Instagram live videos with some of the folks walking, some of the folks at the meetup. They included the founders of Zesty Z, Afia, Ziba Foods, Good Deez, many more, also Magic Dates.
[00:22:23] Mike Schneider: Magic Dates, I interviewed Diana from Magic Dates. She's super nice and they're covered Bantu Chocolate. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:22:31] John Craven: And we had some baklava, John Craven, and I forgot about that chocolate walnut baklava. That was pretty damn awesome. I don't know what brand that was, but yeah, 300 calories per baklava. Oh, wow.
[00:22:44] Ad Read: Yeah. And shout out to Maza, which won the New Hope Expo West Pitch Slam yesterday, too, as well.
[00:22:51] Mike Schneider: So that one was really tasty, really good chutney. Uh-huh. Super good chutney. And it was fun to say, maza, like huzzah, you know, it's got like that, it's got that, you know, hutzpah with it. And it sounds really cool. I also enjoyed Jabin Beverage brand called Jardin that was like a cucumber, fermented cucumber mint, super crushable, super delicious. And I can't wait to try that again.
[00:23:11] Ad Read: Absolutely. And the name of the baklava brand is Aissa Sweets. It's Aissa Sweets. And they come in these boxes of three individually wrapped pieces of baklava that, according to the front of the pack and based on the taste, I would agree, made using only the finest ingredients. Oh, yeah. Nothing but the best. My mouth is watering. Yes, we need more. Absolutely. Of course, talk about a brand that always makes amazing products. Mason Dixie came out with a new line of liege waffle sandwiches, chicken sausage and maple. Sorry, Jackie. Jackie's not going to eat these, but they're so freaking good. I mean, they already knocked it out of the park with their breakfast sandwiches. OK. All I can say. All right. This is going to be one of those Instagram reels. We're just going to keep that on repeat.
[00:24:07] Jacqui Brugliera: Speaking of remixes, did you try Rind Remix? Yes. No, I didn't get to go there.
[00:24:14] Mike Schneider: Rind Remix, so good.
[00:24:16] Jacqui Brugliera: So good.
[00:24:16] Mike Schneider: Yeah. So they've got like, A trail mix, right?
[00:24:20] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's trail mix.
[00:24:21] Mike Schneider: So it's not trail mix.
[00:24:22] Jacqui Brugliera: It's nuts and fruits and just really, really clean. No, like added sugar, just very clean. You know, you're not worried Bantu Chocolate or anything that doesn't need to be in there.
[00:24:33] Mike Schneider: They said it was inspired by the LL Cool J song. Mama said, knock you out. Don't call it a trail mix. So they built their whole booth around that too. Yeah, The Bad a Spotify playlist. And The Bad a record player and the remix was on the record player. It's pretty cool. That's interesting. Pretty cool. Did your restraining order get reinstated, by the way? No, not reinstated yet. Okay. Not yet. They kind of handle me now. Let's make that exact.
[00:24:59] Ad Read: Let's explain here.
[00:25:00] Mike Schneider: They don't let me garbage mouth.
[00:25:02] Ad Read: I love Ryan so much and I'll just eat it all. Every time Mike goes to the Ryan booth at any trade show, he's just kind of like taking his arm and pulling everything off the table.
[00:25:12] Mike Schneider: I just want to try it all. And the persimmon in particular, they know to keep away from me.
[00:25:16] Ad Read: Yeah. Well, in all seriousness, no, I mean, between Mason Dixie and Ryan, I mean, do they ever make anything that's not incredible? Yeah. Fantastic stuff. Yeah.
[00:25:25] Mike Schneider: Right across from Rind is, did you go to The Bad Tea Booth, Baddie? So they have a booth they set up where you can break stuff at their booth. So you're breaking like teaware. I broke a teapot.
[00:25:36] Jacqui Brugliera: I did too. Yeah, I broke a cup, a teacup. It was nice.
[00:25:40] Mike Schneider: It was pretty liberating. It was weird, but beverage tastes good.
[00:25:43] Jacqui Brugliera: I also punched something at Sucker Punch, so I did it.
[00:25:47] Ad Read: You're breaking things at Baddie's, Sucker Punching people.
[00:25:49] Jacqui Brugliera: Just taking out all my aggression.
[00:25:50] Ad Read: Wow, look out. Also, I just want to quickly call out Greenhouse Juice is the maker of... Ow, Jackie just punched me. I'm warmed up. Sucker punch. Also, I just want to call out Greenhouse Juice is a Canada-based maker of cold-pressed juices. They recently introduced a new line of sparkling waters. The variety I'm holding in my hand now is a real blueberry with a subtle hint of elderflower and gut-healthy probiotics. Yummy. I appreciate what they're doing because it is hard to differentiate in sparkling water, but this looks great. Ingredients look great. USDA organic, finally coming to the United States soon. I think they said later this year at some point, so excited for that to happen. Also, love seeing the folks from Mooski, M-O-O-S-K-I. That's a great brand. We met them at Nosh Live where they participated in the Pitch Slam, a maker of chilled oat bars, holding their peanut butter and banana variety. And as far as like, not a meal replacement, I mean, it's not necessarily a meal replacement. I guess it could be, but this is pretty close to that, that feeling of satisfaction in a bar. You know, people talk about Snickers Satisfies. Moosky does just that. Great stuff. Vegan, gluten-free. It's a refrigerated bar, but it can be out up to, I think 48 hours is what I was told. So great stuff.
[00:27:07] Jacqui Brugliera: Speaking of Snickers, I tried Gigantic's new formulation at Snack Shot, too, and that tasted like a Snickers. That was delicious.
[00:27:15] Ad Read: It's getting really close. Stu, the founder, was talking about how he's really worked on that formulation, getting it to be a little less chewy, a little bit more pullable, like a nougat. Yeah, really good stuff. I'm glad you brought that up, Jackie. I got to thank a lot of people at the show for stopping by or stopping me and saying how much they've enjoyed Taste Radio and the podcast and the work that our team has done because it means everything to me. And for folks who are listening to the show and appreciate what we're putting out there in terms of content for our interviews, for our banter and whatnot, it's why we do what we do is because people are enjoying it. insights out of it. They're, you know, they're entertained by it. They're educated by it. And it really means everything to me. And I just want to mention a brand here. It's called BioLift. Eli Farage is the founder, and it's a nootropic beverage, and they call it dietary supplement. But I didn't know why he stopped me when I was walking toward one of the halls. And he had said, Ray, five years ago, you and your team, I think, and I don't remember this, just like ripped my brand and said it was like, not good. And it wasn't really drinkable. And the taste was not good. And he's like, well, he was like, I appreciated that so much, because it's the kind of thing where someone's gonna pass you on The Bad and say, hey, good job. It's not really gonna help me. And he's like, The reason I'm here today and the reason that I've gotten to the place I am right now is because of that kind of feedback. So thanks, Eli, for that. And sorry for ripping your brand five years ago. But not because I'm glad you got the good feedback. Exactly. And that's really what I hope Taste Radio is for a lot of folks. It's just a small part of how you build your brand, how you hopefully become a successful brand and founder. So please keep listening. It's so rewarding for us personally and rewarding for me. So thanks.
[00:29:12] John Craven: Yeah, great to see lots of listeners in person at the show. So good to know people are listening or someone's listening.
[00:29:19] Jacqui Brugliera: There are a lot of people that just kept coming up to me saying, it sounds like you guys have a lot of fun. And it's true. We do. We love what we do and we want to keep doing it.
[00:29:28] Ad Read: Cole Pearsall from Acid League, one of the co-founders. He's like, do you use the same intro? Do you like have a recording of the same intro every single time? No. And I said, no, I do it every single time. He recited the intro. That's how much he listens.
[00:29:43] Mike Schneider: Yeah, Cole, we listened to Ray mess that up at least three times in episodes, just so you know.
[00:29:47] Ad Read: But I do remember, you know, people called everyone out when I was talking about the show with people. Everyone called out all of us by name. So they're like, oh, I feel like I know Jackie and Mike and John and you. And they talked about our sort of idiosyncrasies as like co-hosts of the show. And so it's cool stuff. It really feels awesome.
[00:30:03] Mike Schneider: It's funny when they walk up to us and they're like, it's so weird to see your face while you're in here and your mouth is moving and you're talking to us and we're not used, they're not used to seeing us. And oh, Blake from Blake Sealy wanted you to stop by. He's like, I've never met Jackie or seen Jackie in real life. What does Jackie look like?
[00:30:20] Jacqui Brugliera: Someone was walking by and heard me talking. They were like, are you Jackie? I recognize your voice. I was like, that's me.
[00:30:28] Ad Read: Very cool. Very cool stuff. All right, well, a lot more from Expo West to come, certainly on BevNET Nosh. We'll be talking about the show, I'm sure, for weeks to come. But until then, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, it means the world to us. Thanks so much to our amazing team, including Joe Cracci, who is our audio engineer, Joshua Pratt, our technical director, and Ryan Galang, our video editor. for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to askatasteradio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
