[00:00:03] Ray Latif: Hey, thanks for listening to the BevNET Podcast. I'm Ray Latif. I'm here with Jon Landis and John Craven, who's on location in Santa Monica. This is episode 54 of the BevNET Podcast, and it's April 21st.
[00:00:17] Jon Landis: We had to wake you up a little early there, John, huh?
[00:00:19] John Craven: Yeah, you know, I'm out here getting ready for BevNET Live Santa Monica already. Totally kidding. BevNET Live in December?
[00:00:26] Jon Landis: Yeah. December. You know, we have to plan ahead.
[00:00:29] John Craven: already moved on from June. Although everyone should still sign up for that. Of course.
[00:00:36] Ray Latif: Well, I kind of, I kind of wish I was in Santa Monica right now. The weather really hasn't turned yet in Boston. We've had a couple warm days, but for the most part, it's it's been kind of like high forties, low fifties, little dreary out to spring. I'm sorry.
[00:00:52] John Craven: I'm in total tourist mode with shorts and a sunburn out here.
[00:00:57] Ray Latif: Yeah. If anyone isn't following John Craven on Instagram, you can follow his adventures and wine country and beyond. It looks really nice. Def net Craven. Yeah.
[00:01:08] John Craven: Thanks for the plug. I'm sure I'll get a follower or two now.
[00:01:13] Jon Landis: Do you have like a camera around your neck?
[00:01:15] John Craven: Totally. And my fanny pack and uh, some Mickey Mouse ears, all the, all the important stuff.
[00:01:20] Ray Latif: I don't know if I want to think about this anymore, actually. You don't want to picture that. No. But what I do want to picture is you interrupting your beautiful vacation with work, which it seems like you're constantly doing, because every time I email you or Slack you or a little internal messaging system here in the office, you seem to be right on top of it. How is it that you're still working amid this gorgeous Southern California landscape?
[00:01:50] John Craven: Uh, get up early, uh, use the phone in the pool. No, don't do that. Uh, you know, I don't know. He's one of those guys. It's all the, uh, give and take of being an entrepreneur where you're for better or worse. Never, uh, never offline, but also I guess have the schedule flexibility to do these workcation sort of trips if you want.
[00:02:12] Ray Latif: So I think a lot of our listeners can relate. And you actually had an opportunity to sit down and meet with another entrepreneur who's had some experience in both beverage and food. Can you tell us about this guy who some of our listeners might know?
[00:02:27] John Craven: Yeah, so I had a chance to sit down with Livio Bisterzo, who is the CEO of Green Park Brands. They are the company behind Hippies and really interesting guy. He is someone that I first got to know when he was in the beverage industry. He had helped launch a brand called Little Miracles, which is a brand that's based over in the UK. And it had a lot of success over there and he helped bring it over to the US. And it didn't really work out so well when he launched it in the US. In fact, I'm not even sure it's still on the market here. But anyway, he since exited that brand, took a little time off and came back with this snack brand called Hippies, which is, for me, I think it's really interesting to see a brand that out of the gate comes with such polished packaging. It's on trend. Everything about it just seems so mature. And I think that's something that speaks to someone behind it with experience. So they're based here in Santa Monica now. Livio has migrated over here with his family and it was a great opportunity to sit down with him and see what's going on.
[00:03:41] Ray Latif: Yeah, Hippies is a snack brand. And for those of you who are not familiar with it, Livio is going to talk about exactly what it is, some of their brand partners and the success that they've had in a really short amount of time. So let's get right to it.
[00:04:00] John Craven: I'm here in Santa Monica, California at the offices of Green Park Brands, and I'm joined by Livio Bisterzo, who's the CEO. Livio, thanks for having me here. Good morning, John. Pleasure to have you. Always a pleasure to be here in Santa Monica. And you guys are right down the street here with hippies, so awesome to be here. I guess for our listeners who aren't familiar with Hippies, can you introduce what it is?
[00:04:24] Santa Monica: Yeah, sure. Hippies is an organic chickpea puffs. They're an extruded and baked snack that's currently distributed over 20,000 point of sales and it has been a pretty incredible ride. We've been in the market for 18 months. Yeah, you'll see the distribution, big yellow bags.
[00:04:42] John Craven: Yeah, the yellow bags are pretty hard to miss, I think, you guys. Back at Expo West, it was like everywhere we turned, it was hippies or the... What's the name of the hippies jeep you guys have a name for, right? Yeah, Giuseppe. Giuseppe, perfect. So I guess, you know, you have a background as an entrepreneur who has, I think, done personal care. You've done beverage. You're now doing snacks. What's it like sort of crossing these different categories? How has salty snacks been treating you so far?
[00:05:18] Santa Monica: Yeah, so far it's been amazing, actually. I mean, my background, my last 10 years in consumer has gone across three different categories. So that led me to understand the consumer space fairly well. I mean, real similarity in terms of the last seven years, in terms of going from beverages to snacks as highly consumable, high velocity food. I mean, snacks is a little slower than beverages when it comes to velocity in the marketplace, but it's been great. It's been amazing. I mean, I am lucky this is not my first rodeo so I kind of have made a lot of mistakes in the past but really feels like we went out with the right product and at the right time this time around so it's been really good.
[00:06:02] John Craven: And I guess let's get a little insight into just how we got to where we are here. I know the brand originally launched in the UK and then when it launched over here in the US, Starbucks was your first point of distribution, which is, I think for most startup brands, pretty abnormal to land an account like Starbucks. How did that all come together?
[00:06:25] Santa Monica: We really built a big brand story as we were developing the products. I think that's kind of a big difference that the way I worked on this journey to my previous companies, we had a big brand challenger, big brand feel right off the start. And when we show the brand to customers, the feedback was amazing right off the start. We started showing the brand in the UK as I was transitioning, as I was moving full-time to Los Angeles. And the reception was just phenomenal. Starbucks was, you know, one of those where I went, I took a meeting, I was invited to take a meeting and it was very late in 2015 and show them where we were going with it. They saw it. They saw the potential and they were just great. They helped us develop some of the flavors. They worked with us. Obviously, like I said, the brand proposition was very, very strong from the start and the story was there. And yeah, we worked really hard, really fast, and we made that June shipment last year. So it's been great.
[00:07:29] John Craven: And I guess as that was kind of happening, how much for the Starbucks deal in particular, how much of their sort of enthusiasm and ultimately the decision to go with it was having that brand really polished first, you know, the actual product inside the bag.
[00:07:47] Santa Monica: The product was just behind, a touch behind in terms of the brand was always developed ahead of the finished product. Extruding chickpea flour was something that co-manufacturers aren't as used to, so it was just a matter of timing. working with extrusion and getting the products to where we wanted to. I think, John, I mentioned to you what I learned to do prior to Hippies was building brands. And I think it's a very unique skill set that I would encourage anyone that is trying to build a business in especially in natural food to really focus on because I think innovation and access to innovation is, is out there, you know, and there's a lot of entrepreneurs today launching better for you versions of conventional food products out there. And I think a handful of entrepreneurs were building brands. So I was, I I'm lucky to have learned over the last 15, 20 years through my entrepreneurial career to build brands and to really focus on the relevance of building stories. Cause I think the way I see it, consumers will always want stories and will always want emotionality out of a relationship with a brand. So that's kind of what I've learned, but it's a very challenging skill set.
[00:09:00] John Craven: I was going to say that's, I guess if there were some simple secrets to building a brand, maybe a lot more people would do it. I mean, what do you see as sort of like, is it developing a story or is it graphics? Like what are kind of the, the key pieces to that. And I guess as someone who, you know, says they're building brands, when you look at all the products that are out there that aren't doing that, are there, I don't know, common things that you see that people are missing? Is it again, just a story or is it something else?
[00:09:32] Santa Monica: Yeah, it's kind of beyond that. It's the story is sort of how you wrap the work that goes into building a brand. I think understanding the positioning, understanding the category opportunity, understanding what your consumers want, what your consumers are talking about. You know, the cultural and social relevance of building a brand, I think at the right time is everything. So when we started looking at brand hippies, we wanted to create a millennial snack. And if you actually look at what's socially relevant to millennials today, I mean, millennials wants to be the modern version of a hippie and they're no longer dope smoking dropouts. They are Coachella goers wanting the world to be a better place. That's like kind of how I describe them, but they're all, you know, very affluent, very well-educated consumers that believe in brands that can do good for and give back. And while also offer products that make a lasting social impact and prompt better behavior. And for us, obviously, we have a highly snackable, highly consumable product that sort of delivers not only as a strong social mission and a social cause of giving back, but also has a cleaner, better for you profile. And that's how that's in comparison to a lot of the salty snack category.
[00:10:57] John Craven: So the category that you compete in, I guess you call it the Puffs category, right? You know, why pick something like that of, you know, all the sort of different snack categories that are out there right now?
[00:11:10] Santa Monica: Yeah, I mean, I looked at it and extruded snacks are a growing double digit. The Puffs category, subcategory is really quite a unique case where there is one, I mean, it's almost a $2 billion retail. yearly in the US and there's one brand that does 75% of it.
[00:11:29] John Craven: Cheetos, I assume?
[00:11:31] Santa Monica: Yeah, correct. Yes. And then there's the Pirates brand that does about just over a hundred and the majority of the rest is just, I think, private label. So I thought, hey, if we can create something that delivers true innovation and thought leadership in this category, I think while also delivers a product that tastes better, we could have a win-win situation. So that was the sort of opportunity that we realized ahead of embarking on the journey.
[00:12:01] John Craven: I guess where I was going with that too is as you're trying to figure out what the story is for the brand, How much of that kind of depends on like the format of the products? Could you have taken hippies and, well, obviously not calling it peas, but I don't know, could it have been something else? Could it have been a chip or something like that? And how do all those things have to line up to make the story complete?
[00:12:26] Santa Monica: I think it's, again, it comes down to have clarity and vision of where you want to, what you're doing with the proposition. I think all of these aspects are important to create a fully completed story. I mean, but I feel there's a lot of that in a marketplace in terms of there's a lot of entrepreneurs recognizing that there's a better for you version of the conventional snack or the conventional product out there. the very few that build brands elevate from there into creating a story that can then engage with consumers on a different level than just selling a product?
[00:13:03] John Craven: Well, I think it's something that, as you were talking before, I mean, we see so many products that I guess we're differentiating between a product and a brand, right, is ultimately what it is. And it seems like there are so many companies that launch where, you know, they seem to think they have a story and they have a brand that they've developed, but in the end they don't. You know, is that something where they just don't see the whole picture or what commonalities do you see between companies that are just creating products, you know, what is it that they're missing generally?
[00:13:37] Santa Monica: Too many companies and too many entrepreneurs just focus on selling the functionality of the product. And I think that will only take it thus far, not just from a consumer relationship, but also from an expansion of your line outside of natural, for example, outside of a natural retail set. So that disconnect between the functionality and your brand story or not having a brand story. A lot of founders also base the the brand stories around themselves or around their own experience. And I think... Not a fan of that approach? No, I think there've been some amazing success stories on the back of it. But yet again, I think the cycles and the ecosystem is moving away from that. So I just think it's a very unique set of skills and it's a very challenging set of skills, but. Well, it's an art form, right? Yeah, kind of, kind of. And what you see in the food industry, actually, you know, the best marketeers have traditionally been in part of this big CPG businesses, you know, the talent pool. is transitioning away from big CPG into early stage, more and more into early stage entrepreneurial stuff. So I think what I'm trying to say here is that I would encourage anyone to sort of really focus on trying to build a brand as much as and learn as much as possible as ahead of even going to market or certainly within the first few years of the journey, because everything will fall into place if that work has actually been done ahead of, you know, going into distribution, ahead of you going into retail, ahead of you expanding outside of natural into conventional or in club and so on and so forth. It's sort of building a brand is not just building a store. It's really just about, you know, creating a brand world that you can then take to the consumer, to your stakeholders, to your customers, and you can bring everybody along for the ride.
[00:15:35] John Craven: You said that the ecosystem for brands was kind of shifting away from being about something that is centric around the, or centered around the founder's story, and it was shifting in a different direction. So which direction is it headed in?
[00:15:50] Santa Monica: Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's necessarily one particular direction. I think it's more I still see like, I know I keep going on about it, but I still see a lot of entrepreneurs really working on the functionality of the product and really pushing the functionality of the product. And you can walk around expo shows or fancy food and there's 95% of exhibitors, especially first time exhibitors, small distributors and you go through this innovation and new hot pavilions and you go through this stuff and you know, you can really literally pick a handful of guys that sort of are thinking about building a brand and you can already see it that early. So that's where I see the disconnect, too much functionality, too many founder stories. and too very few sort of guys thinking, hey, I can build a real brand and a bigger story.
[00:16:42] John Craven: I feel like I'm also seeing more of the reverse, which is people who have a nicely developed story, but they don't have the right product.
[00:16:52] Santa Monica: Yeah, that's also true. And I think if you wanna close the cycle, you gotta have both. It's as relevant to have both because you can't really tell a true brand story or a meaningful brand story if your product, I mean, what I also see in the marketplace is way too many bad tasting products. I mean, it's insane how people think that the functionality or the brand story can just lead, the product has to deliver. Ultimately, we're in a business of selling food and food has to taste great. I mean, that remains really at the forefront.
[00:17:30] John Craven: Well, it seems like we're at a point where asking the consumer to compromise on taste to get whatever benefit or brand or whatever it might be that you're pitching, the consumer's tolerance for doing that is rapidly decreasing. I mean, it seems like at this point where our supply chain in the food and beverage industry has become quite refined, that things that used to taste terrible, you know, to throw one under the bus, plant-based protein, that used to be something that was kind of, you know, you would wait for that smack in the mouth of pea protein or something. But we don't have to do that anymore, right?
[00:18:09] Santa Monica: No, we don't. But I still see a lot of entrepreneurs putting stuff out that doesn't taste good enough. The great thing is, I think, access to... I mean, our industry is an industry built on economies of scale, right? I mean, from a distribution perspective, procurement, manufacturing. I think over the last five, seven years, what I've noticed, and that's my view on it, I mean, the access to innovation, the access to manufacturing, access to... to being able to create and deliver a product is certainly a lot more out there for entrepreneurs. And therefore the cycles have also become very, very short. What you'll find is when a brand gains momentum and starts building a category, what you'll find is 20, 30, 40 brands within two years sort of follow. And that's amazing for me to see that.
[00:19:01] John Craven: So let's shift gears a little bit here. One of the other things in your past life, I guess we'll call it now, was working on a beverage brand called Little Miracles over in the UK and also bringing that over here. And I think you said that you had eventually exited out of that brand, correct? Yeah, correct. Early 2014. 2014. I guess one of the things I was interested in getting your take on is just, you know, aside from differences in maybe velocity, what sort of takeaways did you have after that experience, which, you know, was also very successful in Europe and didn't have the same level of success coming over here?
[00:19:43] Santa Monica: Yeah, I mean, a couple of key points, I think the migration of trends and what's relevant here isn't necessarily as relevant out there and vice versa. So I think this market is probably two, three years ahead in terms of trends and what goes on. And you'll see that across many different categories. I mean, just generally the learning curve on how to build and how to do it. But I see a lot of opportunities in beverage. And as you know, I'm still involved in a new up and coming beverage proposition today.
[00:20:14] John Craven: All right, looking at some new stuff, right? Yeah, absolutely. I'm very excited about a proposition I'm working on at the moment. All right, well, we'll save the announcement on that for later, I guess, unless you want to talk about it now. I'm happy to share a little bit. All right, so let's, I guess, tell us what you're up to with beverages.
[00:20:29] Santa Monica: Yeah, we've taken an interest in a proposition, a UK-based seltzer called Ugly.
[00:20:36] John Craven: Big fan, personally. We've done a podcast with them as well, so. Great to see those guys, I guess, coming over to the U.S. then, right?
[00:20:44] Santa Monica: Yeah, I think they are working on a little bit of rebranding and two new flavors, repositioning. We're doing a lot of work. on building a story. And I think hopefully they'll be able to tell that story at BevNET Showdown in June. I guess we'll see, right? Absolutely.
[00:21:04] John Craven: So I guess that also is a good sort of segue back to just the name of the company and the company's mission. I mean, it was set out to be sort of a portfolio company, right?
[00:21:16] Santa Monica: Yeah, correct. I mean, I've You know, Little Miracles for me was a joint venture. I've learned to work with young entrepreneurs and I see potentially working with Joe and Hugh from Ugly that is, from Ugly, yeah, and help them achieve the big ambitious mission we have with a brand proposition.
[00:21:37] John Craven: So you've kind of built something with hippies that is, I guess, as of late, turned into a rocket ship, right? It's got tremendous growth. Can you give us any insight into that?
[00:21:49] Santa Monica: Yeah, sure. I mean, we are the second fastest turning natural pass in natural channel, although we've only been in for on the shelves really since September. We have a very small ACV and we're about to lead the category on that front. I have no doubt. Really, the trajectory we're on is pretty impressive. We're building natural, conventional and club this year. So we are, like you said, a rocket ship trajectory. But the great thing is that what has given us the confidence to really keep growing the branding and keep investing in the business is the fact that it's connecting to consumers in a way I've never seen before. And, you know, we get a hundred emails a day through our website from consumers and they're all incredibly positive. And the way it's connecting is building a conversation online. It's, it's been an incredible story. I mean, I kind of pinch myself every day going, Hey, this is, this is truly working. So that's been so rewarding.
[00:22:46] John Craven: And I guess as far as, you know, having that sort of success with Hippies, like, you know, you built this story and brand and a product that seems to be working. Aside from pinching yourself, I guess whenever you wake up or whatever and you think about, you know, what to do next. How do you take a story and a brand that you've built and sort of expand it out? You know, is it in, I don't know, new flavors or sub brands or is it just, you know, hippies is hippies?
[00:23:17] Santa Monica: Well, hippies can be a global snacking lifestyle brand. I think we can build a pulses and legume lifestyle Brad Avery the next 10 years. And that is very, very exciting. But saying that, We do have a lot of work to do this year into proving that our format is scalable. You know, we're on a trajectory where we think by 2019, we could be a 60, $70 million business with the current format. And we've also hired some incredible people now. You've added a bunch of people lately. Yeah, we've hired Joe, we've hired Luke, we've hired Josh. I mean, we've hired these guys that, have been involved in very successful brands and they have a great track record in scaling brands from really where we are today to sort of successful, meaningful enterprise value.
[00:24:11] John Craven: I was going to ask about that before when you were talking about the talent pool and the CPG space. I guess the lesson with that is you should hire some of those people, right?
[00:24:20] Santa Monica: Yeah, you should. I mean, at the right time. You know, I think there is a lot of talent out there, but the really confident, great guys are assessing, but there's a lot of brands out there too. So they need the right opportunity, right? Correct. So, and also that has to be the cultural alignment and cultural fit with a CEO or a founder. Because, you know, as much as I do, I mean, culture in these things is everything. Culture and people become as meaningful as your brand proposition or your brand story.
[00:24:55] John Craven: So we are very excited. And I guess, you know, once you bring Ugly over here and sort of, I guess, into the fold, is that a company that would kind of run side by side and be based in Southern California?
[00:25:12] Santa Monica: No, actually, we would keep them very separate in terms of their vertical management team. I think I'm sure there's cross learning and I'm sure there'll be a lot of high fives between teams. The plan is for Ugly to be based in Northeast, we believe. in that natural and specialty DSD up and down the street system in the Northeast, which is crowded with seltzers today. But there is my view, there's no cool seltzer out there that is connecting with the consumers that we believe Ugly will connect to. Gotcha.
[00:25:46] John Craven: And I guess since we're almost out of time here, one last question for you. I guess if you've got a salty snack and hopefully soon a flavored sparkling water or whatever you end up calling it, what other categories out there do you look at as interesting or places where there's, I don't know, maybe no product that really has a brand that is impossible to challenge?
[00:26:11] Santa Monica: Yeah, it's a great question and I do a lot of that work and I really look at categories and where healthy alternatives could be created. I could give you a few answers, but I'll give you one. I think personalized nutrition. And that space where technology can deliver accessible, easy to use, simple ways for consumers to get a good perspective on it with a brand following through with a clear proposition that is personalized to a consumer level, I think is a massive opportunity. And I think it's it's a unique and different skill sets than just bringing to market a traditional retail sort of driven proposition like, you know, some ugly or hippies is. But it's a space that attracts me, it's a space that I'm passionate personally, and it's a space that I think it's ripe for mega disruption. It could be amazing. If someone gets it right, it could be really amazing.
[00:27:12] John Craven: Well, I guess that has the extra layer or extra challenge of actually needing to deliver something that's efficacious as opposed to just tasty, right?
[00:27:21] Santa Monica: Yeah. I mean, firstly, it's about delivering a format on the food side that can be personalized. I think there's an element of can a food format can work around supplementation and probiotics and prebiotics. And how can you deliver that within a food format that consumers can connect to and And then there's the whole technology art that how can personalization be delivered? But it's, it feels like it's a few years away, but it's inevitable. Someone will do it. I think, you know, you look at Habit that launched at Expo West and what they are trying to do, and they're very much still on the data front in terms of gathering the data and then making recommendation. I think there could be an opportunity for a brand to follow through all the way. That's a big challenge.
[00:28:08] John Craven: So I guess if there's a brand out there who's trying to play in that space, maybe they should talk to you, huh? Maybe. Maybe. All right, Livio. Well, this has been awesome. Really appreciate the conversation and the insight and best of luck this year. Thank you. Great to have you. All right. Thanks, Livio. Thanks.
[00:28:29] Ray Latif: That was a great interview, John. Well done. You know, Livio is a really interesting guy who has a vision for the snack industry that seems to align with current trends and innovation. Yet at the same time, he's so focused on the big picture and looking to scale in a way that I don't really feel like is common with a lot of early stage entrepreneurs.
[00:28:52] John Craven: Yeah, I mean, I think the big thing that's different is just, and he speaks to this a lot in the interviews, that he is really thinking about what he's doing is building a brand, not just a product. And I think that is a pretty interesting distinction that a lot of entrepreneurs maybe think that they're building a brand, but they ultimately just have a product. And I think he does a pretty good job of trying to explain it. Although, as we mentioned in the interview, it's definitely a bit of an art form.
[00:29:20] Jon Landis: I think that there's something to be said about... looking for opportunities because something that I notice very frequently is people come in contact with an ingredient or they have an experience and then they want to share that. And that's what their brand is built around. And they have to then create the opportunities for a brand like that. But I think the approach that Livio is taking is a little different where he's saying, what could we make great? and put it out there, then people would love it. Being able to take that approach gives you a lot more flexibility with the product and the brand, and it kind of makes it more possible to have lots of momentum right out of the gate type of brands.
[00:30:08] Ray Latif: Yeah, I mean, for being on the market for only 18 months, it's unbelievable the success and the traction they've had being in Starbucks. And when we were at Natural Products Expo West and a few other places in Southern California, hippies seemed to be everywhere. And one of the interesting things that Livio talked about was that so many entrepreneurs that he sees are too focused on selling functionality or too focused on selling a brand story, which brought some success for these brands. in the past two or three years, but it seems to be something that's maybe getting a little old, getting a little hackneyed, and you need to look for those different opportunities to reach a larger base of consumers, a broad base of consumers. And it was also interesting to hear him talk about hippies as sort of related to hippies, the tie-dye wearing hippies in the past. how millennials are sort of that modern version of a hippie, except that they're a little bit more affluent, but at the same time, they're in the same way that hippies were sort of focused on giving back and environmental and social impact. Millennials have that same kind of, they place importance on those same kind of product attributes and lifestyle attributes. I mean, I think, you know, it's interesting to hear him talk about that in a way that I haven't necessarily heard before from beverage or snack brands.
[00:31:28] Jon Landis: Let's not gloss over how excited I am about Ugly Water coming to the U.S. here. Livio certainly has an eye for certain things and I very much share in his enthusiasm for sparkling water and what those guys in the U.K. have been able to create. Hopefully the experience of bringing Little Miracles to the States and kind of learning a lot from that will help those guys immensely in their efforts in the next few months, I suppose.
[00:31:58] John Craven: Well, I think one of the key points of that is that, you know, with Little Miracles, one of the things that I think, you know, Livio has spoken to is just, you know, they were picking partners from afar and still living back in the UK when they launched here. And, you know, although Livio, I think made plenty of trips over, but, you know, in the case of Ugly and certainly with Hippies as well, he's actually, you know, planted himself over here permanently, which I think seems like really the plan for that brand too. I think that's an interesting thing just because we see a lot of brands overseas that want to come here and they try to do it from afar and it just doesn't really work out. That's one of the things that he clearly learned from Little Miracles, so see how that works out.
[00:32:47] Ray Latif: indeed. And we're always pretty excited when we get a shipment of ugly drinks coming into the office.
[00:32:54] Jon Landis: And I think it's gone already. They sent us some like last week and it's already gone. Yes. And thank you. Don't keep sending shipping water across the ocean, guys. Like, we really love you. We love your products. But, you know, in a few months when it's here and available, we'll take as much as we can get.
[00:33:09] Ray Latif: Speak for yourself, Landis. Yeah. I'm extremely excited to get in the office. And I know a lot of other folks are as well. However, I will say that the burden of filling the sample cooler and filling the beverage fridge all the time is something that is, wears on you a little bit if you're the one who's doing it, unless you're Anthony Ferranti. Anthony is one of the great guys who sort of is a jack-of-all-trades here at the office. He does sales, he does marketing, he does operations. And he is a boon to the office, as is our events director, Ashley Harding. And many of you who have come to BetNet Live events definitely know Ashley. out there running all over the place during the events, handling everything, putting out fires. And we thought it a good time to kind of talk to those two guys, well, that guy and that gal, about what they do here, what they're drinking in the office, and sort of prepping for the big events that we have coming up in about six or seven weeks. Without further ado, here is our segment on what are you drinking and what are you doing with Ashley Harding and Anthony Ferranti. I'm sitting here with two stalwarts of BevNET, two of the critical employees, two of the critical folks that make everything here work. I'm talking about Ashley Harding and Anthony Ferranti. How are you guys doing?
[00:34:27] Livio Bisterzo: What's happening, Ray?
[00:34:29] Green Park: Hi there. How you doing?
[00:34:30] Ray Latif: You can tell if you're listening who's who, I think, right? That was Ashley at the end and that was Anthony first, right? Right.
[00:34:35] Green Park: Okay. That makes sense. I hope so.
[00:34:37] Ray Latif: I hope so too. I mean, like, I think I might be going crazy. I mean, that's possible. In any case, yeah, you guys are in here to talk a little bit about what you're drinking these days, maybe a little bit what you're smoking. No, no, no, no. Edit that out. No, but what you're drinking— Tomorrow's 420. Tomorrow is 420. We're recording this on the 19th. Well done, Ashley. Ashley's right on top of that. Ashley, you're on top of a lot of things, you know, and you have to be. Well, thank you. You have to because you're the events director.
[00:35:02] Green Park: Yes.
[00:35:03] Ray Latif: Which means that you are in charge of all the hundreds and hundreds of people and all the kinds of things that go on at BevNET Live and Project Nosh Live and Brewbound Session events. Is that pretty much what you do in a nutshell?
[00:35:16] Green Park: Yeah, that's what I do. It's pretty important. I'm the events director, so I direct all the events that BevNET, Project Nosh, and Brewbound put on. I do all the floor plans, find the venues, work with sponsors, work with speakers, make sure everyone has hotels to stay at, and pretty much just make sure everything runs smoothly.
[00:35:35] Ray Latif: And it usually does run pretty smoothly. And it's funny though, you have the added important role of being the firefighter, of being the customer service rep, as it were. Because when stuff hits the fan, many people run to your direction. They run right toward Ashley. And it's not just BevNET people. People that you're known in the beverage industry. They're like, hey, I can't find my products. They're not in the cooler. They're not in the sample bar. Hey, do you know where John Craven is? And they make a beeline to you and you handle it with aplomb. You're very calm when you do it. How do you stay so calm?
[00:36:12] Green Park: Well, I think it's very important. There are a lot of fires and issues in the events world, so there's got to be someone everyone can run to to find a nice, calm solution. And there's always a solution. And then we try to figure out how to avoid that solution once we figure out how to fix it. Avoid that problem, I think you mean. Yeah, so it doesn't happen again.
[00:36:32] Ray Latif: Yeah. And, you know, you have good support with Anthony. Anthony, who came on almost a year ago.
[00:36:38] Livio Bisterzo: Yeah, a year next month, actually.
[00:36:41] Ray Latif: Anthony has brought a calming influence and yet is one of the most fun guys in the office. For listeners who haven't met him, you definitely have to find him if you attend the BevNET Live events because he's a good guy.
[00:36:54] Livio Bisterzo: I will be the guy at the coolers.
[00:36:56] Ray Latif: Yeah. So in terms of your role, I mean, I'm looking at the magazine right now, it says Anthony Ferranti, sales and marketing admin. But that doesn't like thoroughly describe what it is that you do here.
[00:37:07] Livio Bisterzo: Right, so I would consider myself the Swiss army knife of BevNET. I do a little bit of everything. I like that. Yeah, me too. I got hired on to mostly work in the office and help Ashley out with events, but I also help with marketing. I do some social media stuff, connect around the place, run the events with Ashley. help out with the magazine, help out with editorial, just kind of wherever I'm needed, I'm there.
[00:37:29] Ray Latif: Are you Swiss? I'm not. Okay. I was going to say, the Italian army knife. I like this. Yes. So as I mentioned at the beginning of this segment, we're going to be talking about a very important topic, which is what are you drinking? A lot of folks, when we go to conventions or we have our own conferences are always asking me, what am I drinking? But that's not, you know, it's all a matter of opinion. And you guys have sampled so many beverages, probably just as many as I have. And you have a good understanding of what's good, what's tasty, and what the common man out there is going to enjoy, not now, but maybe five years from now. And Anthony, I see in front of you, you have a couple of things. You have an honest sport that you're holding in your hand.
[00:38:16] Livio Bisterzo: Yes, I just picked this up today and I'm about to head to the gym after recording this. I'm really curious to see.
[00:38:20] Ray Latif: Anthony's ripped, by the way.
[00:38:22] Livio Bisterzo: I'm curious to see how this subs as a inter-workout sports drink for running and for weightlifting, kind of like a organic Gatorade, just something different.
[00:38:31] Ray Latif: Is that something you drink on a regular basis though? I mean, are you looking for a more, you know, on organic or better for you kind of sports drink?
[00:38:37] Livio Bisterzo: Definitely when it comes to working out, I wouldn't pick this up and just drink it at my desk. It's something I want to drink when I'm running or when I'm playing rugby or when I'm at the gym lifting weights. I'm always looking for something to rehydrate myself, something with less sugar and something with better ingredients.
[00:38:50] Ray Latif: You play rugby too?
[00:38:51] Livio Bisterzo: I used to.
[00:38:52] Ray Latif: Okay.
[00:38:53] Livio Bisterzo: I'm hoping to get back into it if I have some free time.
[00:38:54] Ray Latif: Was it a college thing? Was it like a school thing?
[00:38:56] Livio Bisterzo: It was a college thing. I was a right winger.
[00:38:58] Ray Latif: I don't know what that is, but I'm afraid to ask and afraid to try to, you know, match up against you.
[00:39:02] Livio Bisterzo: They just toss you the ball at the very kind of end by the sideline. You run as fast and hard as you can and just try not to get hit.
[00:39:09] Ray Latif: Did you wear those ear protectors, too? That's the thing I know from rugby. Not always. So you have nice ears. It looks like you haven't had your ears ripped or anything else like that.
[00:39:17] Livio Bisterzo: They have not. I only, I think, had a very minor concussion in the year and a half that I played. I got lucky.
[00:39:22] Ray Latif: Just minorly diddled? Minorly concussed?
[00:39:24] Livio Bisterzo: Minorly concussed.
[00:39:25] Ray Latif: Okay, well done. Just enough.
[00:39:27] Green Park: Can we also mention he's wearing a beautiful Monfifo hat, which is amazing.
[00:39:32] Ray Latif: Ashley, you're taking my job. I was just about to mention that.
[00:39:36] Green Park: Yeah, okay.
[00:39:38] Ray Latif: It is a beautiful Monfifo hat. What color would you say that hat is, Ashley?
[00:39:42] Green Park: Maybe a sea blue.
[00:39:43] Ray Latif: I like that, a sea blue. It's a sea blue with Monfifo across the top in white letters. What is Monfifo?
[00:39:51] Livio Bisterzo: Monfifo is one of my favorite beverages. They make these beautiful ginger shots in little, not even two-ounce containers. Super portable, super delicious. And they just came out with a turmeric shot, actually, which I know everyone here has tried, but it has become my favorite beverage, which is why I'm wearing the hat.
[00:40:07] Ray Latif: It's a pretty legit beverage. 1.5 ounce shots. Those ginger shots were huge. Montefiore won the New Beverage Showdown, New Beverage Showdown 11 last year in June. And Justine and Justin, who run the company, have done a pretty amazing job and they're amazing for stocking us with those shots. Good stuff. Ashley, you also have a couple of beverages in front of you, but they're the same brand.
[00:40:31] Green Park: Yes.
[00:40:31] Ray Latif: And the same kind of liquid inside, but slightly different.
[00:40:34] Green Park: Yes.
[00:40:35] Ray Latif: Yes.
[00:40:36] Green Park: So if anyone was in the office to guess, they would probably guess it right. And it's wine, but it's canned wine. So it's a little different. It's actually not bad. I enjoy drinking it. You hear canned wine and my head goes to undrinkable. really not good, but this is actually pretty refreshing and I like it and it's portable. It's in a slim can and I think it is pretty good.
[00:41:03] Ray Latif: You want to tell us the brand?
[00:41:04] Green Park: Sorry?
[00:41:05] Ray Latif: The brand.
[00:41:06] Green Park: Oh, the brand is Backpack Wine.
[00:41:08] Ray Latif: Okay.
[00:41:08] Green Park: That's important.
[00:41:09] Ray Latif: It is because I think some canned wine may be better than others.
[00:41:13] Green Park: Yeah, this is one of the better ones that I've tried. I've tried a lot. I grew up on the beach. I love going to the beach. So I think wine is essential and it's nice to have it in a packaging that is very portable and you can share it with people. It's also not a super cheesy packaging. It's cool geometric shapes and I think it can appeal to both men and women. I actually had it around the office and was walking around with it before the segment and even the guys wanted to try it.
[00:41:42] Ray Latif: Men and women. Men want to be it, women just want to have it.
[00:41:46] Livio Bisterzo: Actually does make a good point. That'd be way easier than having a whole bottle of wine you have to uncork at a beach.
[00:41:52] Green Park: You don't want glass at a beach. You don't want glass on a boat. You don't want glass on the golf course. And they came in four packs too.
[00:42:00] Ray Latif: Can you drink booze on the golf course?
[00:42:02] Green Park: Yes.
[00:42:02] Ray Latif: I've never golfed so I don't know. Depends on who you ask. Portability seems to be a key in this. Anthony, you mentioned the portability of the turmeric and ginger shots that FIFO makes. And you mentioned, Ashley, you mentioned the portability of having wine in a can. It's also portable nutrition. Anthony, before we got on, you mentioned Evolve, the new plant-based protein drink that is made by the makers of muscle milk. And you like that, because I always see you with these huge tubs of protein all over the oven, mixing stuff, and that makes it easier for you to drink, right? It's way easier.
[00:42:33] Livio Bisterzo: Again, I would like to consider myself an athlete. I'm running all the time, lifting weights, I'm staying active. So because of all that, I need to put extra protein in my body and having something quick either before or after is really crucial. It's really difficult to carry around like a five pound container in my trunk and then creepily scoop like these white scoops of powder into a different container and shake it with water. It just it overall looks super weird. Are you a cocaine dealer? I am not a cocaine dealer anymore. So, for Evolve to come up with this, and again, I spoke about having better ingredients and wanting to know what's going in my body, especially as fuel for stuff like this, to have something that's a little healthier than these weird tubs of protein is really vital. And to have it be that portable, you're right, is great. So, I can take it on the car drive over to the gym, I can take it after on my way home, I can take it midday, I can just grab it out of the fridge and drink it. Super vital to have something that quick.
[00:43:27] Ray Latif: And plant-based has just been a huge boon, a huge trend going on for a while now. How important is that to you guys?
[00:43:34] Livio Bisterzo: I think it's very important because I've been doing whey protein and animal proteins for years. And I just started about a year ago when I started this job taking more plant proteins like Vega and Evolve. And I find that my body reacts to it better. I feel like after the fact, I don't feel as full or as sick, but I know my body's getting the nutrients it needs in that window it needs it. Because after working out, you only have about a 30-minute window to really supplement your body. and to have something that quick and that clean is really the best thing you can do for yourself as an athlete.
[00:44:06] Ray Latif: That gives you a lot of, you know, the energy without the crash and the weight. That's definitely true. Something we definitely need for the BevNET Live events, which we're preparing for right now. I think we're, what are we about six, seven weeks old?
[00:44:19] Green Park: Don't remind me. We're about six weeks out. It's going to come up really fast.
[00:44:24] Ray Latif: Yep.
[00:44:24] Green Park: I actually was in New York last week visiting the venue, our caterer, and trying to figure out what we're going to do for the after parties with Forest Brands, who we partner with. So it was a really productive trip, and I'm super excited. We have some really exciting things for everyone to look forward to, and I think everyone's going to enjoy it.
[00:44:43] Ray Latif: Nice tease. I like that. It's going to be a hot after party. The catering, the food has been really good of late. Oh, yeah.
[00:44:49] Green Park: I made sure the menu is really top-notch. Yeah.
[00:44:52] Ray Latif: Actually gets us the best food. It really is.
[00:44:54] Green Park: It's important. Everyone has to have really good fuel to listen and to network and stay focused.
[00:45:01] Ray Latif: Now, there's an added stress level, I guess, because we have three events pretty much in a row. It's Monday. June 12th is Project Nosh. Nosh Live, DevNet Live is the 13th and 14th, Brewbound Session is the 15th. How are you guys planning on managing all that? Four shows, well, three shows in four days.
[00:45:25] Green Park: Yeah, it's gonna be a long week, but we just, we have to be prepared. We have to have everything planned. We're gonna expect the unexpected and take it as it comes. We're gonna take, the staff has to take care of themselves. Most importantly, we just wanna make sure the attendees have a great experience, which is why we're doing it all in one week, since there's a lot of crossover. We want people to be able to go to all the events if they want to. So we just wanna make sure that happens.
[00:45:51] Ray Latif: Yeah, I mean, there is something for everyone at each of the events, even though they're all kind of got some sort of very distinct parts to them, i.e. food, non-alcoholic beverages, and beer. But there is, it's all CPG, it's all packaged goods, and it's all really important to hear from as many people as you can hear. So I'd be really interested to hear from the folks that go to all three events. It's going to be pretty interesting to see what they have in terms of their reaction. And it's going to be a heck of a night on Thursday night afterwards after we're done with all that. Either we're all going to be asleep at six o'clock or we're all going to be partying until four in the morning. We're going to Rudy's.
[00:46:28] Green Park: I think it's going to be all of the above.
[00:46:30] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:46:31] Green Park: But I'm actually, I'm really excited. I think it's going to be awesome.
[00:46:35] Ray Latif: Yeah. Yeah. Anthony, this is going to be your third DevNet Live. Yeah. What are you expecting out of this one?
[00:46:40] Livio Bisterzo: I'm expecting it to get better each time. My first one was exactly a year ago. I think I was working here, one full week in the office, and then I got in a train with everyone and went to BevNET, or no, I went to Project Nosh in Brewbounds.
[00:46:52] Ray Latif: In Brooklyn.
[00:46:52] Livio Bisterzo: In Brooklyn. It was my second week on the job, and it was an incredible experience. Then I came home for 24 hours and jumped back on the train, or no, in a car with Ashley and our creative director, Matt Kennedy, and did the whole thing over again. And out of all the places I've worked, I've enjoyed working with this team the best because we're cohesive, we work well together, and we really care about what we do. And I think that's how we prepare for these events best, is just as a unit. Ashley and I can put in all the events effort possible and it wouldn't work if everyone else didn't work. And that's something we have here. We have a team that really loves these three publications, these three topics, and really come together to make it fun.
[00:47:30] Ray Latif: I couldn't have said it better myself. I don't think John Craven, the CEO and founder, could have said it better himself. Thank you. Well done, Anthony, and well done, Ashley. This has been a lot of fun.
[00:47:39] Green Park: Thank you.
[00:47:40] Ray Latif: Your first podcast. So cool.
[00:47:42] Green Park: It was a lot of fun.
[00:47:43] Ray Latif: It was, wasn't it?
[00:47:44] Green Park: You did a great job, Ray.
[00:47:45] Ray Latif: I wouldn't say so. I think I just kind of riff and, you know, ask questions and you guys have to give me the answers.
[00:47:51] Livio Bisterzo: We don't know how to riff, so someone has to for us.
[00:47:53] Ray Latif: All right. Well, riffing aside, thank you guys so much for joining the podcast. And let's do this again soon.
[00:48:00] Green Park: Totally.
[00:48:00] Ray Latif: Thanks for having us. All right.
[00:48:02] Green Park: Be kind, everyone.
[00:48:04] Ray Latif: Those folks are exactly what BevNET is all about. They're hardworking, they're young, they're hungry, they're driven. They see themselves as part of a bigger thing than themselves. And we're really lucky to have those two. Definitely. Crickets. Once again, crickets.
[00:48:25] Jon Landis: Well, I mean, thanks for doing my segment for me. I'm really underwater with leading up to these events and having to reach out to all those fine folks out there, food and beverage entrepreneurs, and don't have a whole lot of time to plan and record podcast segments recently, but appreciate you taking the reins on that one. And yes, I do agree. When we brought Anthony in, you know, I just could tell by talking to him for like 30 seconds, like this guy's a doer, he's a worker. he's going to be a pleasure to have around the office. And I haven't doubted that since he's been here. So, and Ashley, of course, it doesn't even need to be said about Ashley.
[00:49:05] John Craven: Well, I think in both cases, it's, you know, just one of those things that we hear this a lot at our conferences and, you know, people always say hire good people or hire great people. And I think, you know, there are two examples of people who we brought on kind of to what you just said, Landis, it's like, you know, that they're, a fit and a hard worker, and the job that they maybe come in the door for is something that is subject to change and evolution. And I think they both have done a great job. Anthony hasn't been with us as long as Ashley, but Ashley is someone who started out basically in the same role as Anthony started out, and she's now in charge of all of our conferences. That's a testament to what she's capable of and certainly to some extent just our culture and our team that helps support that. So kudos to both of them.
[00:50:00] Ray Latif: And if you haven't walked a hand truck down a busy New York City sidewalk on an 85 degree day after three or four conferences, then you don't know what it is to be here at BevNET. And Anthony and Ashley have done that on multiple occasions, Ashley more than Anthony, but it just goes to show that, yeah. If you can come here and have an open mind about what your job is and maybe that your job is everything and your responsibilities are really tied to whatever you need to do on any given day and in any given moment, then you might have a role here at BevNET. So if any jobs open up and you're willing to do that, give us a call, send us an email.
[00:50:42] John Craven: Well, that's one of those moments. I think many people in the beverage and food industries have the, you know, walking a dolly of packages or boxes or a delivery to a store where you probably have that little voice inside your head saying, I got a college degree to do this. Seriously. No, I mean, I think it is one of those things that I don't know. It's always interesting to me seeing all the different types of companies and entrepreneurs and people that are out there. And I think willingness to, you know, pitch in and do that sort of, I guess I'd call it dirty work. It's certainly a lot easier to sit back in an office in air conditioning and not do that stuff. But you know, it is sort of like maybe rite of passage is the sort of cliche to use for that. But it definitely makes for some humor in the office too. I think pretty much all of us have been in one of those positions throughout one of our conferences or trips or whatever.
[00:51:41] Ray Latif: So yeah, if you haven't had a bunch of beverages or AV equipments or signage fall off your dolly onto the sidewalk, create a disastrous mess or something, put your explode all over you curse under your breath and make your way back to wherever you're trying to go. Then then you haven't worked at bed net yet, or maybe any other food and beverage company. As you mentioned, John, it is a rite of passage for sure. All right, I think that's all we have for this edition of the podcast. Thanks so much for everyone who's listening. Please continue to listen. If you have any ideas, questions, comments, or concerns, please send them to podcasts at BevNET.com. Any last words, John and John?
[00:52:22] John Craven: I would say the last word is just thanks to you guys for making this remote thing happen and you know I guess what are we down to now like eight weeks or something till our three conferences so we have a lot of work ahead of us.
[00:52:38] Jon Landis: And I'm fighting a cold so I haven't been talking too much on this one but I promise next week to bring a better game to the table. Sounds good.
[00:52:48] Ray Latif: All right everyone thanks again for listening and we'll see you soon.
