[00:00:10] John Craven: Hello, and thanks for tuning into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food and beverage. I'm BevNET founder and CEO John Craven, and I'm joined by my co-hosts and colleagues, Jacqui Brugliera and Monica Watrous. How was that for a Ray impersonation?
[00:00:29] Jacqui Brugliera: I feel like it could be a little livelier, but yeah, sounded great to me. Ray's just so dynamic. He's like.
[00:00:37] John Craven: I swear he does that Live In his sleep or whatever, but 100%. Yeah, Ray and Mike are off. Well, as Ray told me at an undisclosed location, not together, but they're not both Not Jail together. They're not both Not Jail together. We don't know. I know. Mike's I think on Cape Cod or whatever sort of thing he likes to do.
[00:00:59] Jacqui Brugliera: Somewhere probably boogie boarding or body surfing or in the waves.
[00:01:05] John Craven: And Monica, this is apparently your second appearance on Taste Radio.
[00:01:08] Monica Watrous: Yeah, this is my annual visit to the studio here.
[00:01:13] John Craven: There you go. Welcome back. Thank you. For listeners who don't know, Monica's the managing editor of Nosh, our BevNET sister publication, I guess, should we call it? I call it that. Yeah. And also the host of our CPG Week podcast. So not new to podcasting either.
[00:01:30] Monica Watrous: Yeah. It's great to be back here.
[00:01:31] John Craven: What's going on over in CPG Week nowadays?
[00:01:34] Monica Watrous: Well, we've recently changed our format to be a little bit more straightforward and streamlined, and it seems to be resonating. I've always likened this podcast to CPG meets NPR. And I think it has a little bit more of a straightforward news tone where we highlight the top four to five stories of each week and give folks a quick rundown of the hottest and most important things happening in food and beverage.
[00:02:01] John Craven: all the news trends and whatever else is happening that week, right?
[00:02:05] Jacqui Brugliera: That's right. Nice. Cool. So it sounds like, you know, listen to Taste Radio, then jump over to CPG Week, get your headlines and you're filled in for the week. That's right.
[00:02:14] John Craven: There you go. Just listen to all of our podcasts. Like don't do work.
[00:02:18] Jacqui Brugliera: Or you could be working with the podcast in the background. That's the great thing about podcasting. You can, everyone multitasks.
[00:02:25] Monica Watrous: Well, the beauty of CPG Week is it's never more than 15 minutes long. So if you can't knock that out in a commute, then you live too close to work or something.
[00:02:36] John Craven: It takes me multiple days. my one mile commute. But anyway, and you're about to head off to Utopia, right? That's right.
[00:02:46] Monica Watrous: Yes. And by the time this airs, I will have been there.
[00:02:49] John Craven: You'll have been there and done that. So I guess no tease to look out for Monica.
[00:02:54] Monica Watrous: Just look out for our coverage on Nosh and BevNET.
[00:02:58] John Craven: And where's that, Denver?
[00:03:00] Monica Watrous: Yes, it is.
[00:03:01] Jacqui Brugliera: For the second year in a row. Nice.
[00:03:03] John Craven: So good luck there.
[00:03:04] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. Is there anything you're looking forward to? Anything you see in the future?
[00:03:09] Monica Watrous: Yeah, I expect it to be a continuation of some of the trends we've seen at Expo West and Summer Fancy Food this year. So call outs to no seed oils, protein everywhere in places you wouldn't expect to find protein. Last year, one of my favorite discoveries at Newtopia was the pasta sauce that contains 10 grams More Protein per serving or 40 grams More Protein per jar. That's called a sturdy sauce. And I'm expecting to see a little bit more of that kind of product at this show. One thing that's nice about Newtopia is that it is a really, it's a more intimate and slower paced counterpart to Expo West. So you can have meaningful conversations on the show floor. It's not as chaotic and frenzied as Expo. And from the conversations that I had with exhibitors last year, they really appreciated that pace and that opportunity to have more face time with retail buyers.
[00:04:06] John Craven: Well, everything's slower compared to Expo West, right?
[00:04:09] Monica Watrous: True.
[00:04:11] John Craven: I feel like sometimes being in an airport is more low key and relaxed. No, not wrong. Not knocking on the show. I mean, amazing, of course, that we get everyone into one convention center once a year. So, you know, it is what it is. I guess Ray told me to talk about Taste Radio Chicago. Feels kind of weird because Ray and Mike, who were there with me, aren't here. So I guess I have to talk about it by myself.
[00:04:37] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, you just got to give us the whole rundown. What happened?
[00:04:41] John Craven: God, that makes it sound like it was a crime or something.
[00:04:44] Monica Watrous: That explains where Mike and Ray are this week.
[00:04:47] John Craven: Yeah, they got out of hand. Seriously, it was really great. It was last Wednesday at Host Cocktails in Chicago. Special thanks to Jordan for hosting us there, Jordan Tepper. And, you know, had about 100 people that turned out. Chicago community. I feel like, you know, it's an area that, you know, there aren't a lot of sort of CPG events that go there. Obviously, there's like a naturally chapter and whatnot. But, you know, some really cool folks there and I don't know, just cool city was glad to get there when it wasn't 100 degrees. Ray really packed it in with interviews. He sat down with Rashida Lee from Chomps and Molly Santulli from Springdale Ventures, which also oddly, we had a big bunch of investors who showed up at the event, which was kind of cool. But yeah, it was a super fun time. And I guess as we've talked about on here, again, we're not done with Taste Radio meetups. Maybe I'll let you, Jackie, tell the listeners what's left.
[00:05:49] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, we actually have a lot left in the year. I feel like as soon as we get into September, it's kind of like, whoa, we're at the end of the year. But we still have our San Diego meetup on September 16th. We have our San Francisco meetup on September 18th. And then we have our Taste Radio meetup in London, which is October 2nd. And all of those can be found at Taste Radio.com slash meetups. Go there, check out the information, all of them run from five to 7. So you can catch it after work. We'll have food samples. Networking, bringing the whole CPG community in that region together to chat. So yeah, check that out.
[00:06:28] John Craven: We are really bad at kicking people out at the end.
[00:06:32] Jacqui Brugliera: So it probably would go after seven. We don't encourage it.
[00:06:35] John Craven: I don't even know why we say five to seven. I think most of them have ended at like 830 or something.
[00:06:40] Jacqui Brugliera: I know. I think it's just people want to talk and we have the interviews and then everyone gets like so excited and they want to talk about what was talked about in the interview and continue to connect. And then people are hoarding samples. There's just like a lot going on.
[00:06:54] John Craven: Yeah. I mean, I guess that's what we're trying to do, right? Just make a chill environment, some networking and hopefully some tasty food. We had a Chicago Italian beef sandwiches at the Chicago one. That was a little nuts, but yeah. Sounds hefty. People ate every last one, I think.
[00:07:14] Monica Watrous: Wow. They're hungry. I want to know when y'all are doing a Kansas City meetup. Is that scheduled for next year?
[00:07:20] John Craven: We got to work on that.
[00:07:21] Monica Watrous: I think it's got to happen. You guys could just do it at my house. I'll cater some barbecue. We'll get all of the CPG community from Kansas City in my house.
[00:07:31] John Craven: That would be a first for a BevNET event. I do not think we've ever had one at someone's house. But there it is. It's being recorded. We'll figure that one out, but we definitely, definitely do that. I think we, you know, we are looking at next year already. And, you know, I think what we've been trying to do each year is go to a mix of familiar places like San Diego, where we have an office, for example, and also mix it up with, uh, some new locations. So always happy to hear ideas from listeners.
[00:08:03] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. And we're still looking for partners for our upcoming events, looking for partners for next year, looking for locations. So if you have anything that you want to throw into the mix or you want to participate and get involved, just hit us up at ask at Taste Radio.com. Perfect.
[00:08:21] John Craven: So Ray, in his production brief for this episode, also, you know, he just feeds us these little nuggets because he assumes that if he didn't do that, I don't know what we would be doing on here.
[00:08:32] Jacqui Brugliera: We'd be off the rails. He doesn't trust us.
[00:08:34] John Craven: Just be dead air. But, you know, one of the things Ray suggested we talk about is this new Gallup survey that now says that the percentage of Americans who consume alcohol has hit its lowest point, 54 percent in the history of their survey. And obviously, I don't know, we talk about this a lot on Taste Radio and just in general across our publications that, you know, there's a lot going on in the NA world, a lot of alternatives, be it cannabis, be it just zero alcohol products. And Ray again is asking, are we in just a cyclical trend or is this some sort of true decline crisis for BevAlc? I'll put that out there since I read all that. What are your thoughts?
[00:09:24] Monica Watrous: And from my perspective, my personal alcohol consumption has only increased over the last year, so I can't really relate to what's happening in this survey, but.
[00:09:35] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't think it's a crisis. I think that, like, people are just diversifying what they're drinking and maybe, like, drinking a little bit less. They're alternating. Like you said, cannabis has become more of a player in this space where you still get some sort of, like, functional, like, maybe head high or something. You're getting that relaxation. I know kava's been around forever, but that's popping up more in beverages. You're seeing kana, which is supposed to be, like, nature's I don't even know. It's like nature's Molly.
[00:10:09] John Craven: Wow. You're, you're selling that one.
[00:10:12] Jacqui Brugliera: Um, but micro-dosed, I think that's the thing. Like a lot of these things are getting micro-dose now, even magic mushrooms. I know all of these things aren't necessarily legal yet, or they are becoming legal, but there's so many more options for people. Or they can just drink, you know, a hop water and get the hoppy effect and be able to alternate.
[00:10:31] John Craven: I guess I would kind of agree with Monica of maybe alcohol consumption has gone up. No, that's not true really for me. I think COVID was sort of the peak, but it was like, what else was there to do? Let's be honest.
[00:10:42] Jacqui Brugliera: Maybe this is like a, we swung one way during COVID and we're just like swinging a little bit the other way.
[00:10:48] John Craven: I feel like there's also just so many options out there that even consumers who aren't looking for full sobriety are seeing interesting and unique N.A. options or cannabevs, and some of their dollars, at least for right now, are going to these other categories where, you know, maybe they'll come back. There's also, I would imagine, some component of this that's just Gen Z that, you know, the ones that are at what historically was the drinking age, 21 or under, I guess, whatever it was, are just choosing alcohol later. It's not that they're not going to. Now, they might drink less than Millennials did or something like that, but it does seem like some of this has to rebound but I guess time will tell and I'm sure we're just gonna keep talking about it on here and covering it and Every step of the way. I think it's I don't know. It really is pretty remarkable how many brands have managed to get signal and make a dent in these categories that You know, I know we've talked about, like, brewing a lot, but I mean, I think N.A. Beer was one where, like, it just was viewed as, like, never going to work. And now there's just tons and tons of options. So it should be interesting. Since we have Monica on here who focuses on food, I think, you know, it also, in that industry, There's a whole sort of MAHA and the GLP-1 concerns that have been a part of our coverage there. You know, just curious if there's anything off the cuff that maybe stands out or just in general where that whole trend stands.
[00:12:30] Monica Watrous: Well, from the big food level, we've seen a handful of conglomerates pledging to remove synthetic dyes from their portfolios in the U.S. over the next two years in alignment with the RFK directive to do so. It's not a law or a ban, but it is a strong voluntary phase out that's being reflected in some of these commitments that companies are making. On the smaller CPG level, we're seeing a number of brands that have been doing this for a while and are now making their efforts more vocal with callouts on front of pack indicating made with avocado oil or no seed oils. or we're seeing growing adoption of new certifications like seed oil free. So that's been a big symbol of this Maha movement. With GLP-1 drugs, we've seen the impact of this on both sides of the spectrum as well as far as big companies like Nestle and ConAgra who have been developing frozen meals or badges that go on products. In the case of ConAgra, it had developed a GLP-1 friendly badge that goes on its Healthy Choice products to indicate that these are options for those that are using weight loss drugs marketed under names like Ozempic, Manjaro, Wigovi. These products tend to be higher in protein and a little bit more nutritionally balanced. That's what people who are on appetite suppressing drugs are looking for. Something that's going to help them maintain muscle mass if they are consuming fewer calories. Both of these trends, if you want to call them, you know, Maha and GLP-1 have been influencing companies from startups to multinationals for the past year. I expect we'll continue to see more and more action as product developers keep pace with how this is affecting the American population.
[00:14:37] John Craven: Well, I think, you know, at the big sort of food company, big CPG level, where I guess, you know, probably the majority of ultra processed packaged foods are created anyway. It certainly makes sense that there would be a noticeable effect from both of those. But I guess at like the emerging CPG level, you know, the folks that are already trying to make better for you kind of, I don't know, the Whole Foods, Air One type products, like what's the impact at that level? Were they doing stuff that conflicts with either the RFK directives or, you know, someone who's seeking GLP-1 friendly foods?
[00:15:13] Monica Watrous: Well, it's interesting because I think that you can almost see a bifurcation in some cases of how brands are approaching these trends. Because in some cases, GLP-1 is at odds with Maha. If you look at David as sort of the classic example of a product that isn't Maha friendly, but would definitely be considered GLP-1 friendly. When I talk about David, I don't think that listeners of this podcast are unfamiliar with this brand.
[00:15:38] John Craven: Oh, we've talked about it.
[00:15:38] Monica Watrous: Yes, I do. But this is More Protein bar company that Peter Rahal, the founder of RX Bar, started last year. And they tout having an unparalleled protein to calorie ratio. So 28 grams More Protein for 150 calories. But they use artificial ingredients, sweeteners, flavors. And one of the ingredients that has really put them on the map more recently is EPG, which is a modified plant fat. That was the source of some recent lawsuits as
[00:16:08] John Craven: I thought you were going to say Cod, but... Oh, I'll get there. Sorry.
[00:16:14] Monica Watrous: But this modified plant fat that has enabled that lower calorie formulation with its high protein content, the cod thing, which I know you also talked about on previous episodes, but that was intended as a clap back to people who were protesting or criticizing, I should say, the artificial ingredient deck that David is known for, I suppose.
[00:16:38] John Craven: Yeah, pretty interesting to see how that company for sure has navigated all of this where it seems like clearly they just, they're doing what they're going to do and they don't care. But also putting out that COD sort of clap back was, I don't know, one of the funnier sort of responses I've ever seen in that it was an actual real product too.
[00:16:59] Monica Watrous: I ordered it.
[00:17:00] John Craven: I saw, I saw.
[00:17:02] Monica Watrous: I ate the cod. But no, and I think the credit for that campaign goes to DayJob, which is the marketing agency that branded David as well as Hornbull's Chornbull's and some other memorable CPG products that have launched in the past couple of years. The thing with David, I feel like it's an exemplary example of like these two paths to how Americans view healthfulness in that you're either looking at clean label and wholesome ingredients, or you're looking at calories and protein, and there really isn't a lot of crossover. And, you know, again, when I talk about the tension between Maha and GLP-1, I think that's really illustrated in this, you know, what's going on and how people are eating and viewing what healthy eating looks like today. Definitely.
[00:17:44] John Craven: Well, I'm sure this Maha GLP-1 and also the alcohol consumption theme will for sure be prevalent at our LA conferences that are coming up. Jack, you want to give everyone the rundown?
[00:17:57] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, so we have Nosh Live, which Monica will be on stage for December 4th and 5th. We then have BevNET Live, focused on obviously beverage and spirits and non-alc on December 7th through 9th. And then we have Brewbound Live, which is focused on beer and beyond in the gray area now within beer and non-alc for December 10th and 11th. And these are all happening in Marina Del Rey at the Marriott. Yeah, it's kind of like going to be like our year-end summit for CEOs, executives throughout the CPG industry to come together, talk about these themes, talk about other things that are happening in the market, connect, set yourself up for kind of success in 2026 and get the ball rolling early as you plan for the following year. And we have a lot of really cool things going on. I mean, we obviously have stage content. We're going to be talking about, you know, what's happening in the industry. We also are bringing back our one-to-ones, which are kind of speed dating style meetings. Um, in the past, we've really focused on retail one-to-ones, but we're actually expanding that to also include peer one-to-ones. So between executives, like. Jing Gao from Fly By Jing will be at Nosh Live In Jenny's from Jenny's Ice Cream and Eric Skay from Carbon Foods. They're going to all be at Nosh Live to have one-to-one meetings with their peers and with other founders and executives. Those are some cool things happening. And we will also have sampling of innovative products, lots of networking opportunities.
[00:19:27] John Craven: And we've got lots of, uh, great brands signed up for all three already. So don't delay or something like that.
[00:19:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the sooner you sign up, the sooner you can lock down your hotel room, which usually does sell out, especially for above net Live In also sign up for these one-to-ones. So the sooner you get in, you know, the first in first approved, cause all of these meetings are going to be approved. So you want to make sure you, you register early.
[00:19:54] John Craven: There you go. End of shameless plug, at least for this episode. We'll do it again next time.
[00:19:58] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes. And go to BevNET.com slash events to find all of these.
[00:20:04] John Craven: All right. So before we wrap up, we've got to do the usual of who's got interesting products. I unfortunately am awaiting some UPS deliveries, so I'll let you guys go.
[00:20:17] Jacqui Brugliera: All right. Well, I have something from the fire department coffee company. It was kind of fun. They sent a little fire hydrant like mug and they have instant Nespresso coffee now. So stick packs. These are going to be great for when I go hiking or camping, but I do really like their mission. It's veteran founded. It's also founded by firefighters and some of their proceeds to go back to support firefighters and. The branding's pretty on point. Definitely captures your eye.
[00:20:49] John Craven: Do you have anything, Monica?
[00:20:51] Monica Watrous: So the product that I discovered recently or was actually sent to me, I didn't really just discover it, but the brand is called Crisp Power and Athletic're doing what many brands are doing, which is bringing protein into traditional snack categories. So they have a line More Protein pretzels and this is their newest SKU. It's cheddar. And this is 25 grams More Protein per bag and six grams of net carbs. It's made with a combination of wheat protein and carob seed protein as well as More Protein, which I thought was an interesting combination. You usually see milk protein isolate in these kinds of products and it tastes really good. It's a baked snack and it has a good crunch, great flavor. It doesn't have that kind of fake cheesy taste that some enhanced
[00:21:36] John Craven: cheese with a Z. I love cheese with a Z. So yeah.
[00:21:40] Monica Watrous: And then their other SKUs are everything, seasoning, sesame seed, and sea salt. And I think all four are fantastic, but More Protein content is pretty impressive. 25 grams for a bag.
[00:21:55] John Craven: This is pretty intense for like a savory snack.
[00:21:57] Monica Watrous: For real. I mean, you don't taste it. It doesn't, I mean, again, a lot of products that have added protein, sometimes you get like the beanie off notes or the texture's compromised, but I wouldn't say that's, that's true of this product. Nice.
[00:22:09] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. That, that big call out right there. It's like, you can't miss the 25. Yep. It's right there. Front and center.
[00:22:16] John Craven: I mean, if you're going to be a high protein product and you don't put the grams More Protein on the front, like what's even the point?
[00:22:24] Monica Watrous: Right. Well, I will say like what I respect about this is that it is the whole serving More Protein versus, you know, sometimes you see on front of pack a protein call out, but it's kind of tricky because it's per package and not per serving. In this case, it is per serving. So there's no deception here. It's what you see is what you get.
[00:22:43] Jacqui Brugliera: Nice. Looks tasty.
[00:22:45] Ray Latif: 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. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:23:35] John Craven: you
