[00:00:03] Jon Landis: Hello and welcome to another edition of the BevNET podcast. This is Jon Landis, Brand Specialist here at BevNET. Very happy to host you today for a special interview edition. I'm here with Jeffrey Klineman, our Editor-in-Chief.
[00:00:18] Jeffrey Klineman: How are you doing today, Jeff? I'm doing great, John. And I just want to say personally, thank you very much for all that you do at this organization.
[00:00:24] Jon Landis: All right. That's very, very kind of you to say and very appreciative. But we're sitting here today together because recently we were in the room recording with a certain individual. Do you want to introduce? He's very prolific. Many people know him and a good friend of ours as well, Ken Sadowsky. But who is this guy? Why would we have Ken Sadowsky in here, Jeff?
[00:00:48] Jeffrey Klineman: Well, it's amazing that Ken is actually incredibly well known in the business and is remarkably friendly to just about everyone he meets. I mean, people just enjoy his company and it's a rare skill to have and he combines that with a kind of innate sense of where the market is moving and how to activate some beverages and even food products. And it's always fun to just kind of explore the mind of Ken Sadowsky. It's something I've done in many interviews, both for our magazine and website, but also on stage. And we happen to be getting coffee and we decided we would just do it in the studio here. That's a call out to all you other folks who want to join us for coffee. happy to do it in the studio. We'll even make some member of the BevNET staff prepare it for you.
[00:01:52] Jon Landis: We have some individuals here who, you know, I mean, I have been to a few coffee shops, but every barista is different. Some folks here can really get it right.
[00:02:03] Jeffrey Klineman: It didn't make the interview that we've prepared for you guys, but I will tell you that there's a lot of talk about the skillful Americano preparation of Christopher Frenari, our Brewbound editor.
[00:02:16] Jon Landis: Yeah, so just to kind of bring it in here. So we do have an interview. We've cut it up into a few different segments, some areas where we think the conversation was most interesting. We want to share it with you guys, our listeners. One thing about Ken Sadowsky that a lot of people who don't even know him very well know is that he has this fridge.
[00:02:37] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, so Ken Sadowsky's fridge is as well known as Ken Sadowsky. It should have its own, what the kids call today, Instagram feed. As it is, it certainly makes a lot of appearances. It's just a lot like our fridge in that People want to get us stuff, to get us beverages, to try, to get feedback on. Ken, of course, being not of the media, has vested interests in some of these brands in his fridge. And I would love at some point to have some vested interests of my own. However, all I have now is Landis. Anyway, so we thought it'd be fun to talk about him, his fridge, our fridge, try some drinks together and sort of use that as a way to figure out some part of where the industry is going right now. So I think we should probably let it roll. I have many questions about the fridge of The Beverage Whisperer. See, it should be noted for the home audience that this fridge is almost a character in The Beverage universe itself. send notes, if not directly to Ken's fridge, they certainly send them back and forth about Ken's fridge, not even referring to Ken. It's just Ken's fridge is the best. Look what's in Ken's fridge. And what I wonder is, now, you're a snowbird.
[00:04:18] Ken Sadowsky: Yes in training.
[00:04:19] Jeffrey Klineman: So you spend six months out of the year in Miami Seven seven months out of the year in Miami five in the Worcester area. No one can truly know his address in Worcester No one can know my address in Worcester because it's in Westboro And I'm wondering does the fridge Travel So is there, because The Beverage whispers fridge is in Miami for the most part.
[00:04:54] Ken Sadowsky: So what's in there right now and why? Well, there's always a selection of beverages that I'm on the board of and advising because I have guests and I want my guests to know what I'm involved with.
[00:05:09] Jeffrey Klineman: So how many beverages is that? Is it okay to go there? Can we talk about that?
[00:05:14] Ken Sadowsky: Sure. Yeah. I mean, Vita Coco, Hint, Bi, Sambazon, always there. Those are probably my four. And then Essentia, I guess, gets a short end of the stick only because I don't like cold water. I drink ambient water, especially Essentia. So, and now COA is there. And I just, I mean, I like Calafia almond milk. That is in there. I just got a better half creamer. And then I have a wing on the door usually of things that I've been sent to try. So those are, you know, that can be anything.
[00:05:55] Jeffrey Klineman: What's the best thing you've tried lately for whom you have no fiduciary relationship?
[00:06:01] Ken Sadowsky: I will say I liked the Berry Pro, and I picked it up in Santa Monica and carried it home after BevNET in December. So you had to check it? Checked a bag, yes. And I'm sorry, I left one out, and I have no fiduciary responsibility with this, but I do drink a GoodBelly straight shot every day. If I can't get a GoodBelly straight shot, I feel like my day's not complete.
[00:06:22] Jeffrey Klineman: Now, that does not and may be the only food, beverage, anything on the planet at this point that does not use Ganodon BC-30. Do you ever consume Ganodon BC-30?
[00:06:37] Ken Sadowsky: Not knowingly.
[00:06:38] Jeffrey Klineman: It's in the air we breathe.
[00:06:39] Ken Sadowsky: Okay, then I consume it.
[00:06:41] Jeffrey Klineman: Now, it's an interesting, really good product. In fact, my wife is on the 12-day challenge right now, something that I've been letting Alan Murray know all about. But it's cool to see that product in that form factor. It's almost like an American occult.
[00:06:59] Ken Sadowsky: Yes, and I love the smiley face when you peel the top off the unit.
[00:07:04] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, it'd be good if more cans and bottles used that available real estate to bring a feeling of joy into our hearts.
[00:07:14] Ken Sadowsky: Agreed.
[00:07:15] Jeffrey Klineman: So we have a good belly straight shot in there because that needs to stay refrigerated. Do you keep any beer or wine in there?
[00:07:22] Ken Sadowsky: Yes. No, wine is in a separate cooler. And I wine enough. So I have a lot of wine, but I mean, Koa is I'm not a sparkling fan, so there's no Hint Fizz, there's no Sparkling Koa. Beer, I would say there's always Corona, Miller Lite, and Stella. And then Miami's hot, so I don't really, I'm not a big craft consumer, but I do like one of the lighter concrete beach there, Stiltzville. Yes. Nice product.
[00:07:54] Jeffrey Klineman: You're not a Lion's Brew guy?
[00:07:56] Ken Sadowsky: I don't even know what the... Lohenbrau. Oh, my goodness. That is gone, right?
[00:08:05] Jeffrey Klineman: You know, one of the reasons that we had you here to discuss your fridge is also to discuss ours. We also have been known to tweet some pictures and talk about our fridge a little bit. Now, it's nowhere near as well known or renowned, but we had you look at it earlier. We couldn't get the sound going, unfortunately, because our mics don't stretch.
[00:08:29] Jon Landis: This was one that you expressed, you were saying, oh, I've never seen that before. Yes. We're looking at Evolve. It's the new organic protein shake from Cytosport, the makers of Muscle Milk. And they debuted this at Expo West. I thought it was interesting that you picked it out.
[00:08:48] Ken Sadowsky: I mean, I can see obviously the bottle is the muscle milk bottle, so I'm not shocked, but yeah, I've not tried this and I obviously missed it at Expo West, which is not surprising. I mean, that show is undoable at this point.
[00:09:02] Jeffrey Klineman: I thought you hit everything at Expo West.
[00:09:04] Ken Sadowsky: Well, that's the mission.
[00:09:05] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah. I mean, so the Whisperer runs All day, all night at Expo West and at NACS.
[00:09:13] Ken Sadowsky: Can we talk about my badge? What my badge said at Expo West?
[00:09:17] Jeffrey Klineman: Absolutely.
[00:09:18] Ken Sadowsky: Will Attend was the name on my badge.
[00:09:25] Jeffrey Klineman: That works on many levels.
[00:09:27] Ken Sadowsky: Yep.
[00:09:28] Jeffrey Klineman: So, Will. I wonder, was there anything in the fridge that you'd actually wanted to try? I mean, we have Jon Landis, who was talking earlier, pulling everything out from a Stee's Cactus Water to a Salud Mexican soda to Bottoms Up from the Ginger People, T-Pachino. Let's see what he's... Oh, he's showing us his badge, will attend. Now, your badge went to a celebrity, correct?
[00:10:02] Ken Sadowsky: Yes.
[00:10:03] Jeffrey Klineman: It went to Ken Sadowsky, who appeared to look a lot like another individual.
[00:10:09] Ken Sadowsky: Neil Everett.
[00:10:10] Jeffrey Klineman: From SportsCenter.
[00:10:12] Ken Sadowsky: ESPN, Disney, whatever you want to call it.
[00:10:14] Jeffrey Klineman: Disney, absolutely. You a big ESPN fan?
[00:10:18] Ken Sadowsky: Very big. Love ESPN. It's more important to me than what's going on on CNN most days.
[00:10:25] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, absolutely. And is Neil your favorite?
[00:10:28] Ken Sadowsky: Neil is a great guy, and if I stay up long enough to see Neil get on from LA, then yes, he's my favorite. Otherwise, sometimes I have insomniac moments, and then I get up and see Neil on a loop.
[00:10:41] Jeffrey Klineman: Oh, that's, you know, the looped early morning sports center used to be really like between that and married with children was pretty much all you'd need to get through the first part of your day, right? 100%, 100%. So Mr. Attend, what do we like here? We've got a Madrina's Cold Brew.
[00:11:01] Ken Sadowsky: Which I've not had. There's a lot of stuff here that I haven't had. I would try all of them if you want, but I'm not gonna finish any of them.
[00:11:08] Jeffrey Klineman: Well, I'm wondering, you know. Cups, little cups, great. One of the things that is, you know, very, for which, you know, I've always admired you as your sort of eye for products. And I think if we were to pick one,
[00:11:21] Jon Landis: Yeah, I'm curious to know what you're interested in sampling, if you had your pick of all of these products here.
[00:11:27] Vita Coco: And why the look would make you want to do that?
[00:11:31] Ken Sadowsky: Well, in fairness, I did get Argo tea sent to me around Christmas time, and it was those, the tea pachinos. So I've had them. Wasn't all that impressed. Reasonable execution. Thought the calorie count was just way too high. So, and then the almond water, I've never seen the can, but I remember their stock 16 ounce unembossed Snapple bottle when they first appeared at a fancy food show in San Francisco. I think they were a California company.
[00:11:58] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, that's an interesting form factor change actually. And one of the things I can say is observationally here, no one drank it when it was in the bottles. And since it's come here in the cans, People are picking it up and sucking it down and You know, I think they've added some flavor variety as well, but they added a line of lemonades Yeah, but the the form factor change can be can ignite things sometimes right?
[00:12:29] Ken Sadowsky: I mean it look it can their label was good.
[00:12:32] Jeffrey Klineman: Maybe though the product doesn't need to be seen Yeah, and the increase of real estate right can so it's gone to an all-over package of
[00:12:42] Ken Sadowsky: And it looks like they've done a matte label, so they've done a nice job on that can.
[00:12:47] Jon Landis: It's also 12 ounces. I think the old one was 16 ounces. So now they have it at the 50 calorie marker.
[00:12:53] Ken Sadowsky: Right. But I mean, the other, the other thing about the bottle, even though it was generic looking was it's resealable. Now you're, once you open that, you're committed.
[00:13:01] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah. Yeah. And is that what we want to open or do we want to go with the... I mean, if they've changed it, I'm happy to drink it.
[00:13:09] Ken Sadowsky: I mean, it was, it was a good tasting product.
[00:13:12] Jeffrey Klineman: It's been eliminated.
[00:13:13] Ken Sadowsky: I definitely would like to try the cashew milk.
[00:13:16] Jeffrey Klineman: We've got a Numu cashew milk. And is that just in comparison to Calafia that you want to try it? Or you have a growing interest in alt milks?
[00:13:25] Ken Sadowsky: No, I definitely like alt milks. I'm not a huge dairy consumer in general.
[00:13:31] Jeffrey Klineman: What do you have with your oatmeal?
[00:13:32] Ken Sadowsky: Water.
[00:13:33] Jeffrey Klineman: Water. Yeah. But have you tried an alt milk oatmeal? I think people are actually making it with that now.
[00:13:38] Ken Sadowsky: You know, I will say that in Miami, there's that juice bar called Hugo Fresh and they're now in the Whole Foods in Southern Florida and they have a raw oatmeal and I've not read the ingredients well enough to know what they make it with, but it's an interesting consistency and it is highly perishable. I mean, I buy it and eat it that day or the next day. And I only go to the Hugo Fresh part of Whole Foods when I feel like I'm coming down with a cold, because they do have this ridiculously good shot that is lemon, cayenne, ginger.
[00:14:16] Jeffrey Klineman: Just lemon, cayenne, and ginger.
[00:14:17] Ken Sadowsky: Yeah, just a little shot and it's like... That's a wake-up call. It's like Pesach in a shot. It's like, you know, singe your eyebrows in a shot.
[00:14:26] Jeffrey Klineman: And how are you on turmeric? Do you believe in the healing power of turmeric?
[00:14:30] Ken Sadowsky: I would say I'm coming around on that. Yeah. I like some of the Temple products.
[00:14:34] Jon Landis: So this is Numu. It's from a juice brand here in the Northeast. I believe they're based in New York or New Jersey called Juicy.
[00:14:43] Vita Coco: J-U-I-C-Y.
[00:14:44] Jon Landis: S-I. And this is their line of... I-A-E-W-C-Y, that's the name of a magazine. It's their line of all dairy nut milks. They have, this is a vanilla bean cashew milk that is sweetened with maple syrup and has some cinnamon, lemon, and sea salt in it. Yeah, I can definitely get the cinnamon.
[00:15:05] Ken Sadowsky: Yeah, it's good. Absolutely. It's good. It's cashewy. The label looks good. The package is about the right size unless you're mixing it with a big batch of oatmeal or whatever you would be mixing it with.
[00:15:15] Jeffrey Klineman: I'm going to pour some of this into my Americana. You know what? I will too. So are you a big juicing guy, Ken?
[00:15:21] Ken Sadowsky: I am not going to be the early adapter on Juicero, if that's what you're about to ask.
[00:15:27] Jeffrey Klineman: It's not, although it does raise the question of format. I mean, what do you think's the eventual kind of winner in all these juicing formats? There's the HPP, the Juice Bar, the at-home, either advanced or regular blender model.
[00:15:47] Ken Sadowsky: Well, the short answer is I don't know. My couple of opinions about it is I do like the freshness of a hub and spoke model. So somebody just delivering out of one store and getting it someplace pretty expeditiously. I respect the HPP. It's gotten more traction and quicker than I thought it would. But I also think that there are a couple of places where it could be sort of, I guess, outed. And one of them is how much energy it takes to put that pressure on the product. So from a green perspective, not the green juice, but just green, it's not all that sound. And the second part of that is if you've got a low acid product like Harmless Harvest just found out and some other low acid products out there, HPP is not the answer. I mean, the FDA just opined on that and they are not letting low acid products be HPP. So HPP has limitations. And I think that one of the fascinating things about this industry is the food technology continues to get better.
[00:16:52] Jeffrey Klineman: It does. But the things that can trip you up remain the same. So with juice bars, it's the same problem. If there's any kind of microbe that can be traced back to a particular operation, you're all of a sudden Chipotle. But we're in this weird space now where the form factor or the medium by which these products are consumed isn't written in stone anymore. And I wonder if you could speak to what that ultimately means for folks who you have close ties to, like the distributors of the world. And how are they having to adapt?
[00:17:39] Ken Sadowsky: Well, I think that they adapt by just trying to be adept at skew proliferation management because their warehouses typically aren't getting any bigger. And yet the consumer's tastes are so varied now that you've got to be open to new ideas. And thankfully, like in The Beverage business, what I've seen over time is that trends evolve. it's not like technology where one day you are on top of the world and the next day you are pilot and you don't know what happened when the iPhone came out.
[00:18:19] Jeffrey Klineman: So- Yeah, certainly, certainly. You're a pilot.
[00:18:22] Ken Sadowsky: Right, you're a data general, you're digital equipment. You're compact. So I think that's the good news. You're CMGI. Yep, you're talking about some of my write-offs from previous years.
[00:18:37] Jeffrey Klineman: You're both dating yourselves. He is not the stock whisperer.
[00:18:43] Ken Sadowsky: And I'm not afraid to talk about my mistakes either.
[00:18:46] Jeffrey Klineman: So, speaking of mistakes... Why did I come here today? Exactly. Well, Ken, because I invited you.
[00:18:54] Jon Landis: So Jeff, we just heard a little bit about Ken's thoughts on brands and distribution and what he thinks about products and trends. Hater of the lion's brew. Yeah. But you know, to get a deeper understanding of an individual, you know, what is this guy? I mean, we all like live and drink beverages all day, but like that doesn't define me. So maybe learn a little bit more about Ken as a person.
[00:19:17] Jeffrey Klineman: Well, Ken is definitely The Beverage guy, you know, and that goes back generations. It's one of the fun things about hanging out with him is there's so much Jewish geography going on between him and I. You know to follow the Sadowski family history is to actually follow in many ways the history of Worcester, Massachusetts they owned Atlas distributing for a long time and that's given him as we heard a lot of insight into what happens in the distribution realm, but it also means that you get these glimmers of what The Beverage person is really all about. And if you ask Ken or you follow a lot of these other guys, they're all about the boss. And so, you know, I had to ask him about it as we'll hear in this next clip. What is it The Beverage guys and Springsteen? Because we constantly see pictures of you or pictures you're taking Bruce Springsteen concerts, pictures of Michael Sands there, pictures of Bob Grew, who, although a West Coast guy at this point, is an East Coaster. It was, I believe, at the Bruce Springsteen show you were at in LA. It's just this constant drum beat. So what is it about The Boss that appeals to The Beverage, Whisperati, if you will?
[00:20:59] Ken Sadowsky: Again, the short answer is I don't know. I can only speak for myself. And what I like Bruce Springsteen is everything from the music to the choreography to the longevity to the relevance. What I don't like is when any rock star gets up on a soapbox and starts getting on a political vent. I mean, other than like, you know, making a stand about like what happened in North Carolina last week and even with Ringo Starr this week. That I'm okay with. That's not a political stance. That's like human rights.
[00:21:31] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, I mean, that's something that Springsteen and his crew have never shied away from before. I mean, they wouldn't play Sun City famously either.
[00:21:40] Ken Sadowsky: Right. Yeah. But I mean, Bruce Springsteen gets up and starts talking about how bad the Republicans are, I just don't see eye to eye with that. And I'm not a Republican and I'm not a Democrat, but I just don't think that those things mix. But I understand he's taking advantage of the stage that he's on. And using it as a forum, so i'm not but that's not answering the question.
[00:22:04] Jeffrey Klineman: Why is springsteen so beloved by Yeah, I don't know. I mean I can only speak for myself. Do you think it's a truck thing? I I mean look springsteen's great on a road trip. He's great delivering routes.
[00:22:18] Ken Sadowsky: He's sort of the The jersey working class every man exactly definitely part of it. Sure.
[00:22:25] Jeffrey Klineman: Um and Is it the same on the West Coast? I mean, do you find that the distributors out there are still jamming to the boss, or is it, you know, more of a Jerry Jefferson Airplane kind of thing?
[00:22:40] Ken Sadowsky: I would say there's probably a bigger mix on the West Coast. Meaning? Well, meaning it could be anything from Jefferson Airplane to Jerry Garcia to Jimi Hendrix, all kinds of stuff out there.
[00:22:53] Jeffrey Klineman: Does anyone, and you know, I can be accused of never listening to anything from the 21st century, but does anyone in The Beverage business listen to anything post say 1998?
[00:23:06] Ken Sadowsky: Well, I mean, we could talk about one of my other, um, annual events, which is my CD mailing and that's always current relevant music fun in the sun.
[00:23:16] Jon Landis: So yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. That went nowhere. I thought you were going to drop a Lemonheads reference. No, that's the 90s. Well, that was fun, I guess. You know, you guys are listening. You want to hear about business. We don't really have much fun here at BevNET or in the industry. We get somebody in here who's a fun guy. We like to have a little bit of fun, but let's get back.
[00:23:39] Jeffrey Klineman: Then we go back to trampling your hopes and dreams and providing anything interesting or enjoyable. So maybe we should do that. Let's go back to substance. Yeah. So, Ken is omnipresent when it comes to these growth companies. Through his either amazing personality and insights or ability to find and blackmail co-founders, he's been really good at having a seat at the table for some of the brands that have defined and blown away competition. in the industry, be it Glasso or Bayh, where he's an advisory board member, Vita Coco, where he was a very early investor. Eventually had a hand in bringing a Verland vest into the fold as an investor as well one of the things he's had is a real opportunity to see the leadership styles and Skills that that drive a lot of The Beverage companies over the top and I thought it'd be interesting since so many of our listeners are The Beverage entrepreneurs themselves. I thought it'd be interesting to hear from him what kind of things help these companies grow from a leadership perspective. So you've had the opportunity to work with a bunch of really fascinating leaders The Beverage companies in the past, Darius, Mike Kerbin, Lance Collins on some things, Mike Rapoli, the co-founder of many things. Can you compare and contrast leadership styles and ways people are able to generate success?
[00:25:39] Ken Sadowsky: Well, I mean, I guess the answer is yes, in at least some ways. The levels of intensity vary by each of those people. I think the thing that stays the same is focus. Yeah. So the comparison would be all of those people have the ability to focus and not be distracted by all the noise that surrounds the goal at hand.
[00:26:08] Jeffrey Klineman: When you say focused, you mean belief in a product? Belief in a sales proposition?
[00:26:13] Ken Sadowsky: Stay focused on their brand and what it's going to take to have their brand succeed. Compete and then succeed.
[00:26:22] Jeffrey Klineman: They're not worried about other products or they are very aware of other products and are willing to be proactive in promotion of theirs.
[00:26:32] Ken Sadowsky: I would say always cognizant of what is going on on a direct competitive landscape and then also on a Industry evolving slant, if you will, because, you know, if you're in a category and the category is becoming irrelevant, then you have to pivot. Certainly. And, you know, one of the one of the best pivots that I've witnessed was Ben Weiss when he took, you know, by and by five and just eliminated by and focused on by five, just yanked all the calories right out of that sucker. You know, it's like someone saying, your baby used to be pretty and now it's not so pretty anymore. Yeah, yeah. And he did a really successful.
[00:27:15] Jeffrey Klineman: Now, that's something that can happen pretty early in The Beverage lifespan. I imagine you were involved in some of these discussions as a Bayh board member. Actually, there is no board at Bayh.
[00:27:29] Ken Sadowsky: There's an advisory board.
[00:27:30] Jeffrey Klineman: I imagine you were involved in some of these discussions as an advisory board member at BAI, and someone who has the ear of Ben Weiss actually on his desk.
[00:27:41] Ken Sadowsky: Yes, it's the Van Gogh version of Ben Weiss's ear that sits on my desk. Looks like a speakerphone.
[00:27:49] Jeffrey Klineman: Now, let me rephrase. Were you involved in any of these discussions? Because I imagine that kind of strategic pivot is something where if I had Ken Sadowsky on my advisory board, I definitely want to hear his thoughts on what the pluses and minuses are of that kind of move.
[00:28:08] Ken Sadowsky: Ben, I would say, is pretty resolute in his decision-making process and hierarchy. I think he basically came to me and his mind was made up and he said, what do you think about this? This is the direction I think we should go. And so I just listened to why and at the end of it, it sounded pretty sound. So I don't think I had input. I think I was a good listener at that point.
[00:28:30] Jeffrey Klineman: How far along do you think a brand can be before it can no longer make that kind of pivot?
[00:28:37] Ken Sadowsky: Well, I mean, I think that's part of what makes The Beverage business so much fun is that it evolves. So there's no answer to that. One of my famous, I guess, sayings or cliches that people tease me about all the time is certain things can't be on timeline. Certain things are on goal frames. And I guess the answer to your question is how far is a brand along its ultimate path? towards its goal of creating a new category or killing a competitor or whatever before it's too late to make a pivot. You know, I mean, I don't know. And it also dovetails into something I always call permission marketing. Where do consumers give you permission to go?
[00:29:17] Jon Landis: I thought it was really interesting hearing him talk about things like permission marketing, which we just heard, disruption, and creating or breaking categories. I mean, personally, I talk to a lot of brands. I hear that all the time, we're a new category, we're this, we're that. It's a really interesting thing. Where do consumers allow you to go instead of trying to lead them there? There's a really fine balance there, and I really appreciated his insights. And I think it leads a little bit to what he's up to now.
[00:29:44] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, well, what's interesting about where he is now is he's got a really kind of protean brand that he's working with called Koa. This is a sort of extracted water almost. They take juice, put it in a centrifuge, I believe. squeeze all the sugar and a lot of the flavor and pulp out of it and leave just this sort of nutrient-heavy The Beverage behind. Yeah, I'm not even going to pretend I understand how it works, but... Just know that they're no longer allowed to call it water for some reason. But it's a cool process and the guy who's running it is is a pretty interesting guy and he managed to lure Ken to... Texas? Yeah, for the final four and some interesting counseling on the product. Let's move to really, really small format products like Koa, or small footprint products like Koa. How'd you get interested and involved with that brand?
[00:30:55] Ken Sadowsky: Well, it's thanks to people like you that report on new things. Well, thank you, Ken. It was something I read about and I remember just reaching out after reading an article and it was thought-provoking. Like, how can this happen? And I spoke to the founder, Adam, for a while. Like, I thought it was going to be a 15-minute call, how do you do this? And then it turned into an hour call. And then six months later, I read another article and I was up here and he actually flew from Dallas to spend the better part of a day with me. showing me what the whole process was and the product was. And I just, I liked him. I liked the product. And talk a little bit about the process. It's fascinating. The process of production. Yeah.
[00:31:39] Jeffrey Klineman: I mean, it's a, so if, if you've never seen Koa, tell people about the product.
[00:31:46] Ken Sadowsky: Well, education is going to be one of the pillars of helping COA get to traction and mainstream. But basically, COA through processes, including a particular type of patented filtration and also some centrifuge spinning. Extraction. Yeah. Basically has the bioavailability of drinking a 12 to 14 juice vegetable blend with zero calorie, zero sugar, zero color, and yet there is traces of flavors depending on which of the three flavors one is referring to. But how do you distill that into an elevator pitch? Either communicate it on the label or communicate it in demos. I mean, that is the challenge, but the product is phenomenal.
[00:32:32] Jeffrey Klineman: And what's your role with him now, aside from accompanying him to basketball championships?
[00:32:39] Ken Sadowsky: Well, he is a tar heel. I think it's basically what I do most of the time, which is coach and act as a sounding board and gain insights from hearing more about what his race on Vetra is and then how does that fit into the real world. So it's, I would say it's finding a visionary. In this case, he's that visionary. And then how does the real world apply to that?
[00:33:04] Jeffrey Klineman: And I appreciate you joining us here outside the real world. And I think we should probably let you return to it and go forth and whisper, Ken. Thanks for coming in. Thank you.
[00:33:16] Jon Landis: I thought that was really interesting hearing a little bit of his thought process and working with a brand, a brand owner, and in business, business is just people. With money. With money. And, well, can, I guess, right? Exchanging money for goods and services. That's the definition of business. To be used by people. Speaking of people, you know, Ken, it was an absolute pleasure having you in the office. I hope you enjoyed listening to this along with everyone else. And please send us some feedback if you guys like what you hear or you have some suggestions. We're always willing to hear it. So thanks again for listening.
[00:33:52] Jeffrey Klineman: We'll make you coffee.
