[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, dear friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food New Beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we're joined by Trevor Burns, the Head of Sales for Leisure Hydration, an emerging brand of better for you electrolyte drinks that is making waves in Southern California. Remember when we were first introduced to Leisure Hydration? It was called Leisure Project.
[00:00:46] Trevor Burns: Leisure Project, yes. Yeah, came out of project mode.
[00:00:49] Ray Latif: Its drinks were described as hydrating wellness aids. So I think they made a good decision by calling it Leisure Hydration.
[00:00:56] Trevor Burns: Probably. Yeah, probably. I call it Chase Sapphire Leisure Hydration.
[00:00:59] Ray Latif: It isn't Chase Sapphire Lounge Leisure Hydration. It's in all of them across the country. This is something Trevor and I talk about in the interview. Stay tuned for that. Well, before we go any further, I want to ask you all a simple question. How much do you think Harrison Ford is worth? I looked this up actually.
[00:01:16] Leisure Hydration: I'll take things that people never think about for a hundred, right?
[00:01:20] Ray Latif: Well, now is a chance to think about it, because I asked the question.
[00:01:22] Southern California: I'm going to guess $50 million.
[00:01:24] Ray Latif: $50? $50 more. $5 billion? $3.5 billion? $10 billion? Mike is closest. According to the internet, and the internet is always right, $300 million. Wow. He has his own aircraft hangar in Southern California. I forget exactly where that is.
[00:01:38] Trevor Burns: You guys watch Shrinking? What? Incredible show. Oh, no, I don't. Oh, that is Naturally San really good show. You've got to watch Shrinking. Listeners, thank me later.
[00:01:45] Ray Latif: Okay. Yeah. Tricky. So I asked because our dear hero also known as Han Jones or Indiana solo Okay He's also the Red Hulk or he's the president, but he's gonna be Red Hulk in the new Captain America movie. Mm-hmm He was recently named as the new face of Glenn merengue now Glenn merengue is a single malt scotch brand sure and He's in a series of new videos. He's wearing a kilt and And I'm wondering, Harrison Ford, 300 million. He's, you know, Han Jones, Indiana solo. Like what does he need this money for? Why is he doing this? And is it really going to like make a difference? Is it going to move the needle for folks? I thought they're trying to go younger with this stuff.
[00:02:30] Leisure Hydration: No, I mean, it's the whiskey and scotch playbook, right? Like old white guy as you're spoken. I mean, they were probably like, we need someone that's like recognizable, but not like the rock recognizable where they need like an insane amount of money.
[00:02:45] John Craven: to do it.
[00:02:47] Leisure Hydration: Fair enough, but I'm still wondering. Harrison Ford fits nicely. Well, why not? Harrison Ford, Nick Offerman. I don't know. Who cares? Don't crap on the guy making an honest buck. I'm just trying to say like a guy. Plug His Scotch, whatever.
[00:02:58] Ray Latif: Think about like a guy like Timothee Chalamet, right? Timothee Chalamet, you know, he's young, he's hip, he's happening.
[00:03:04] Southern California: But do you think of whiskey when you think of him? Probably not.
[00:03:06] Ray Latif: That would be weird.
[00:03:07] Southern California: Yeah.
[00:03:07] Ray Latif: It would at least get more younger consumers interested and aware of the brand, no?
[00:03:12] Southern California: Maybe that's just not what they're trying to do.
[00:03:14] Trevor Burns: Whiskey still is kind of like your grandpa's drink or your dad's drink, and that's how you get into it. You're proving my point, Mike. I know, but that's how you get into it through your dad or through someone who's like your dad. Like Harrison Ford? Or Nick Offerman. Well, Harrison Ford's like your grandpa. Geez. He is kind of old, yeah. He's up there.
[00:03:31] Southern California: And he's like friendly. He has a friendly face. He's kind of like funny. Some of the videos I saw with him in a kilt, he's not taking it too seriously either, which whiskey can be taken too seriously. So I think maybe they're trying to just have some fun with it.
[00:03:45] Trevor Burns: OK, fair enough. Great actor, pervasive face. I mean, why wouldn't you?
[00:03:50] Ray Latif: Han Jones, he's the man. Oh my god. Stop. You seem really offended by that. Are you a big fan of Harrison Ford or something? Kinda, yeah. Okay, geez. Did you like wear the leather jacket and the fedora and the whip and all that stuff when you were a kid?
[00:04:07] Trevor Burns: I mean, I named my son Harrison, so he must be okay, right? If someone stinks, you can't use their name.
[00:04:13] Ray Latif: Harry's full name is Harrison. Yeah. Ah, I didn't know that. How about that? Okay. He must be okay, right?
[00:04:20] Trevor Burns: I mean, you can't be like, oh, I don't like Harrison Ford, and then name your son Harrison. Does Harry wear a kilt? He would. I feel like he would, yeah. Yeah, he'd rock that thing. He'll do. Absolutely. Leather jacket, guitar, kilt. Well, anyway. Nova Hellfire for the win.
[00:04:36] Ray Latif: I hope that Harrison's getting well compensated for this, because, you know, as you mentioned, he's a good guy. Glenn Maringhi, I'm going to drink your brand or drink your products no matter what. Matter who your spokesperson is so all right on to more pressing business. I'm gonna get really controversial here, and I mean really controversial I'm gonna be ridiculed ostracized And persecuted for centuries kind of controversial here say the thing and then No, why do you have to set it up like that because it's this is a monumental moment on Taste Radio I'm gonna get canceled.
[00:05:13] Trevor Burns: What are you gonna? Do is say people shouldn't go to Expo West oh?
[00:05:15] Ray Latif: I'm going to say exactly that, Mike. I'm going to say this. Here it is. Here we go. Do not go to Expo West.
[00:05:24] Trevor Burns: Canceled.
[00:05:25] Ray Latif: Gosh darn it.
[00:05:26] Southern California: Look at this.
[00:05:26] Ray Latif: I just got the email from New Hope. They have rescinded my Press Pass at the show. No, we haven't published this yet. No, I want to explain, offer some context, because that's a pretty... That you're literally insane? That's a pretty big and obnoxious thing to say, yes. Very big, very obnoxious. On popular opinion, don't go to Expo West. When I say don't go to Expo West, I mean don't go to Expo West for a handful of reasons. And for folks who are on the fence, and any of these reasons apply to these folks, maybe consider different All right, let's hear him ray. I'm gonna shoot him down one by one. All right, hold on Let's hear all of them first and then you can or are you I don't know. I'd rather just attack him one by one All right. Yeah, don't go to Expo West if You're the founder of an early stage brand and barely have two nickels to rub together, expecting that Whole Foods and Target are going to be enamored, so enamored with your idea that they offer you national distribution on the spot. That does not happen.
[00:06:23] Trevor Burns: That does not happen. It doesn't happen. It's true. But you should still go to Expo West if you're an early stage founder, just to see what's out there and meet people and ask hard questions. You know, it's a great place to go to see how the industry works.
[00:06:37] Southern California: Yeah, I just feel like it's a matter of setting expectations. Like you should definitely go, but you shouldn't expect the world. You know, you should go in expecting feedback and to learn something.
[00:06:46] Trevor Burns: Expand your network.
[00:06:47] Southern California: Yeah.
[00:06:47] Trevor Burns: It's a good opportunity to network with a lot of people, to ask a lot of questions. It's just, it's good vibes too.
[00:06:53] Ray Latif: Okay. Yeah, all fair points. How about this? Don't go to Expo West if you think the arena and the top floor of the convention center, you know the one that's way, way up? I don't mean like the way up, I mean the way, way, way up. Don't go if you think those places are going to be traffic bastions. They're not going to be that. Everyone knows this.
[00:07:12] Leisure Hydration: The third floor gets good traffic. Yeah. There's a third floor, but then there's like another floor on top.
[00:07:18] Trevor Burns: No, there's no other floor. No, it's just really long. You're talking about ACC hot products, right? That's a great place to be. Yeah, there's people in there.
[00:07:25] Ray Latif: Oh, no, there was a long pause there. Everyone knows.
[00:07:29] Leisure Hydration: Sorry. If you want to meet us, we'll be there. I mean, it's about quality, not quantity, right? How about that?
[00:07:36] Southern California: Yeah, you're actually able to like linger and talk and you're not just, I don't know.
[00:07:40] Leisure Hydration: I think like the third floor, they've got the startup CBG area and stuff. There's good stuff up there. There's bad corners for traffic everywhere.
[00:07:49] Ray Latif: How many times have you been to the arena in the last like five, six years?
[00:07:53] Leisure Hydration: The arena? I think I went there last year. How long were you there for? I mean, I don't know what the context of this is anyway, because either you have a booth in the arena at this point, and Ray's just calling you stupid basically, or you don't, and this is kind of meaningless.
[00:08:06] Ray Latif: No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying don't expect a ton of traffic at these places. I go to the arena. Yeah. I go to the arena every year.
[00:08:12] Leisure Hydration: I don't think anyone's expecting a ton of traffic in the arena.
[00:08:15] Trevor Burns: Jackie goes to the arena, I go to the arena. We had some amazing bison chili in the arena one year. Oh my gosh. That's a memory. There's some great stuff in the arena.
[00:08:24] Ray Latif: Yeah, they had an actual bison That's that's so natural I can't even get over it. He's carving up the bison and making some chili right out of that animal Okay All right. Now, Mike already addressed this point, but I'll say it anyway. Don't go to Expo West if you have no actual plan other than just to be there and soak it all in. To me, this sounds self-explanatory, but this is an expensive show to attend, especially if you don't live locally.
[00:08:56] Trevor Burns: I do think you should make a plan and then break it any chance you get because you're going through the aisles, you've got some content you want to see or you, you know, you've got to meet with someone and you're having a great opportunistic conversation. There's a lot of, I guess, wiggle room and plans at Expo West. I mean, unless you're meeting with your dream retailer, they're probably going to be on time or a few minutes late because they're late from their last meeting. That was phenomenal. And be at your booth. You know if you're gonna meet with them, but There's just a lot of meetings that get moved around at Expo West because so many great conversations happen You just run into somebody that you wanted to meet forever, and you have the conversation I'm saying about people who do not have a booth there Soak it all in could mean anything I think if you're just going there and trying to do maximum networking is that soaking it all in soaking in all the networking That's fine
[00:09:48] Leisure Hydration: Who are you networking with I what kind of question is that like you can there's so many good people there you go to literally like a pile of different happy hours like You could just stand around high traffic booths that everyone's going to see I mean It's not rocket science figuring out what sort of the cool products are to go see right stand around high traffic booths I never That's that's an interesting. I mean sometimes I do it unintentionally It's like you go to sample something and then you constant understand is that wherever he is Yes, that's it I have my own booth I guess the raise point though like that's kind of a plan You know like I'm gonna go buy a high-traffic booth or I'm gonna go to happy hours sure I
[00:10:33] Southern California: So, there's a little bit of, you know, planning around that.
[00:10:36] Leisure Hydration: I mean, I would say the temptation of soaking it all in is that a lot of us are just consumers of all this stuff too, right? So, I could walk the show thinking, gee whiz, me as a guy who likes to shop at a Whole Foods or an Air One or Sprouts or whatever.
[00:10:52] Trevor Burns: Or say, gee whiz.
[00:10:53] Leisure Hydration: All the brands that you shop are there. And I could just go around eating samples and loading up a sample bag of that.
[00:11:01] Ray Latif: Is that a good use of your time?
[00:11:02] Leisure Hydration: No, I'm just saying that's literally the only thing I could think of doing that would be a bad use of your time. Maybe, okay, second thing. Rucking. Second thing that would be a bad use of your time. Say, gee willikers this time. I don't even know. I don't know what that is. I mean there are some people that just sit in their booth like on their laptop or their phone You know yeah, and generally speaking those are not the brands that are in our audience But I saw a bunch of those at the fancy food show You know where it's like we walk up to a booth to get a sample And there's a guy on a laptop who doesn't even look up. That's usually like the international it is yeah I wasn't gonna say it, but you did yeah, I
[00:11:38] Ray Latif: All right, you know hey, there's value and transparency here sure in fairness that guy was probably closing on a container load deal of like his truffles or whatever Losing money by looking at He slowly creeps his hand out to like steal like you know a jar of truffle sauce And then and all of a sudden like the guy looks up, and then he's just too like lazy that we run Yeah, but anyway Okay, here is perhaps the most important do not go to Expo West if point that I'm trying to make here. Okay. And I've heard this, you know, from folks that have been there.
[00:12:15] Leisure Hydration: Oh, I got it.
[00:12:16] Ray Latif: Is it the fear of large crowds? If you have a clinically diagnosed condition? Is that agoraphobia?
[00:12:22] Leisure Hydration: I think that's what it is. I don't know.
[00:12:23] Ray Latif: Okay, I'm going with it. Geez, I mean, 80,000 people, if you want to... You should not go. Yeah, you're not going to be a very happy person.
[00:12:29] Leisure Hydration: That's the only useful bit of information we've given you in this entire podcast.
[00:12:32] Southern California: Not true. Not true. Have meetings off location, you know, have people come to you.
[00:12:36] Trevor Burns: There you go.
[00:12:38] Ray Latif: That'd be fun to try to get to extract people right West good Here's the here's the one that's gonna get me bad from the show don't go to Expo West Unless you understand that there's a strong likelihood that you will receive no explicable ROI from There are no measurable ROI measurable explicable take your pick yeah, okay, and There are thousands and thousands of brands that are exhibiting, and despite retailers sending armies of buyers and category managers and investors supposedly waving their checkbooks around, it's a logistical nightmare. Lots of brands get overlooked, and few get the kind of deals that are purported to take place at Expo West. All right, now I'm definitely not going.
[00:13:27] Southern California: I'm curious your data set.
[00:13:29] Leisure Hydration: I think literally everything you said, just think the opposite. What do you mean by that? I think there's plenty of measurable value for people. Come on now.
[00:13:37] Ray Latif: No, I'm saying people close deals in their booths. Look, I've heard this from people. I've heard this anecdotally from people who are there. I'm just saying that if you go there and you're going there for exposure and awareness into network and all this other stuff, great. If you're going there and you're saying, look, I am definitely going to get the 20 grand, the 30 grand I spent on this show, and I'm going to get that back tenfold, even one fold. I don't know if that's real.
[00:13:59] Southern California: Yeah, but also you might not meet the buyer you, you know, you're going in for, but you might meet a connection that leads to that buyer. Or I feel like it's all about networking and creating that community and planting the seeds for the future. So it might not happen on the show floor, but it might happen, you know, two steps down from there.
[00:14:18] Trevor Burns: I do think that there's value to planning what's next after Expo West, too, and, you know, to be self-serving, some things like, you know, a little industry advertising can't hurt you to do after the event or before the event to get people to come to your booth, after the event to, you know, remind people to have the conversation or finish the conversation that you started at your booth, or to continue the vibe of Expo West, kind of control the narrative. There's a lot of reasons to not put all of your eggs in the Expo West basket But I think you know it's a good place to put eggs great place to put eggs I Think it's a good place as Jackie mentioned to plant seeds I think if you run into someone from Bev net Nosh or Taste Radio you say hey eggs or seeds that hatch chickens, right, okay?
[00:15:07] Ray Latif: Do dogs lay eggs? That's from Family Guy when Peter's like, you know, I learned today that dogs don't lay eggs. And he learned something new today. Anyway. No, planting a seed is important. Look, you know, a lot of this was designed to generate some conversation and to get some discussion going, obviously.
[00:15:37] Leisure Hydration: Is this Taste Radio's version of Rage Bait?
[00:15:39] Ray Latif: Yes, it's Rage Bait. Because you're making me rageful. No, I enjoy going to Expo West. I particularly enjoy going and seeing early stage brands and meeting their founders and seeing the innovation that is going to be driving the food New Beverage industry forward over the next five, 10 years. I really do. I love when people are wide-eyed and bushy tails and excited about what they're doing. I just get sometimes kind of disappointed when This show is so big and there are so many people and so many booze that people get swallowed up. And I just want to make sure that people are aware of the fact that they have to use their time really wisely and that they have to be very conscious of who they're talking to and why. And yes, meet, network and collect business cards and so on and so forth, but be really intentional about what you're doing.
[00:16:27] Trevor Burns: I think Expo West is a collection of microcosms of awesome experiences. So, yes, you have brands that are closing their big dream deals, but you also have... Think back to when we met, like, Glow Nuts at Expo West, Jackie, you know? If you talk about bright-eyed and bushy-tailed brands who walk the floor, and we were meeting Kristen from Glow Nuts and talking about her aspirations and how far they've come since then, and we got a chance to meet, like, Mazza, who had their own... you know, vegetable boards that they were serving to people and they didn't have a booth, but they were getting all kinds of attention. And I mean, it just, it means different things to different people at different stages. And that's one of the beautiful things about Expo West.
[00:17:11] Southern California: Yeah. And even like brands that aren't exhibiting, like a lot of these brands that Mike's talking about, they slid into our DMS and wanted to talk and they were like, we're going to meet you in this corner at this time. And we're bringing stuff in our backpack. You know what I mean? Like you got to be a little bit hungry and you got to set up meetings and you have to be a little bit more intentional. especially if you don't have a booth to drive people to.
[00:17:33] Trevor Burns: I got to meet the founders of Grounded at Expo West and they had their own not-a-booth where they basically were just like, you know, aside of the booth, set up their own little sampling station and were like doing these guerrilla samples and just like some incredible meetups.
[00:17:48] Ray Latif: Next to a high-traffic booth is what you're saying?
[00:17:51] Trevor Burns: It was actually in the corner near a restroom.
[00:17:54] Leisure Hydration: Just ride the escalator from the lower level to the main level the entire day handing out samples I'm sure you won't get thrown out.
[00:18:09] Trevor Burns: Yeah, you have people trapped but like now that's a brand that's doing well in Whole Foods right now You know Gabriel Bean and his Amazing ground.
[00:18:18] Ray Latif: That was the secret to their sauce, the men's room.
[00:18:22] Trevor Burns: I said near, not in.
[00:18:24] Ray Latif: Okay, well, I'm going to do a PSA here. Jake Carl's on the other hand. I'm going to do a PSA here, and that was what I was getting at with just a freaking second here. And Nate, who's our studio director and our Minister of Photographic Arts, will attest. When you walk into a bathroom and you don't wash your hands, people notice. Please, for the love of God. When you go to the bathroom, wash your hands. And I know that doesn't apply to our highly hygienic and wonderful listeners, but if you happen to see someone. say something. You know what, there's airport signs that say, if you see something, say something. This is what I'm trying to say about hand-washing. If you see something, say something for the love of God.
[00:19:12] Leisure Hydration: We got Ray Latif today.
[00:19:14] Ray Latif: Yeah, we did.
[00:19:16] Leisure Hydration: I don't think you should follow that advice. We need a legal disclaimer that those opinions are... Rays and Rays only.
[00:19:22] Ray Latif: Have you talked to Bepnett's attorney this morning?
[00:19:24] Leisure Hydration: Yes. I don't think he wanted just to cost people, but anyway. All right. Fair enough. Okay. Everyone knows. They have a code of conduct and I'm pretty sure explicitly probably says don't do stuff like that.
[00:19:34] Ray Latif: Okay. Well, everyone knows I'm just saying these things in jest.
[00:19:37] Leisure Hydration: Ray's just going to body slam them.
[00:19:40] Ray Latif: Douse them in hand sanitizer.
[00:19:41] Southern California: Fire them down off the roof.
[00:19:42] Ray Latif: Oh boy. All right. Well, I've stood on my soapbox. I'm off it now. And I do want to say, if you are going to Expo West, we do want to see you. So send us those DMs, send us a note on LinkedIn, email us. We'd love to see you. And if you decide not to go and blame me, please don't tell the folks at New Hope because...
[00:20:05] Trevor Burns: who don't listen to our show probably. Just blame Ray. They listen to our show. Oh, hey, Ray's soapbox is full of soap.
[00:20:10] Leisure Hydration: Can we sample a product now? Yeah, speaking of high traffic booze... Because I feel like I've got one that's really appropriate to follow this whole entire conversation, which is this new Liquid Death, Dr. Death. kind of describes the past 20 minutes. How does it describe the past 20 minutes? It's not Killer Soda. I know. We should just nuke the last 25 minutes. Yeah, they need a new skewer just called nuked. No flavor, it's just nuked. But yeah, this is, Liquid Death has these new, I guess we call them sodas, even though they call them flavored sparkling water, but they have a Dr. Death, which is like a Dr. Pepper Killer Soda and I don't remember what the name of the root beer wrath bro yeah I feel like sorry Liquid Death that's kind of the lamest least least edgy name of the three but these are 10 calories have some stevia in them definitely tastes like a diet soda pretty good pretty good yeah they're pretty tasty wish it was called a soda
[00:21:13] Southern California: Yeah, they're sparkling, they're technically called sparkling water, but they have sweetener and- That's what it says, flavored sparkling water.
[00:21:21] Leisure Hydration: So, yeah, I mean, it's- It tastes like diet soda though. It tastes like diet soda. And for that, it's pretty good.
[00:21:28] Ray Latif: Diet soda that's 10 calories and no artificial sweeteners, that's a good deal.
[00:21:32] Trevor Burns: And you look cool in the can.
[00:21:35] Southern California: And you match.
[00:21:36] Ray Latif: Mine matches, it's camouflage. Camouflage. I got one that kind of matches mine. Mine's camo. We mentioned Mate Party a couple weeks ago. This is a brand of sparkling yerba mate. They have three varieties. I mentioned they have a lightly sweet, an unsweetened and a mint grapefruit. We met the founder, Jessica Oliverio, I believe is how you pronounce your last name, at the Winter Fantasy Food Show. She so kindly sent us samples. I'm so excited to get into these. And yeah, very cool looking Brad Avery cool. Also, samples in the office of a brand called Sacred Bev, which is a maker of wellness beverages. I pulled a couple from the cooler. They have a couple of different functional benefits. Each one is specific to a functional benefit. We have an immunity. We have a wellness. The immunity has a blackberry flavor. The wellness is a pomegranate lemonade flavor. Each is infused with different functional herbs. So the immunity is with Astrogalus, Echinacea, Burdock, and Xinsing. Justin Quizquiz, who is the founder of the company, joined us recently for an episode of Elevator Talk. Nice. And it was great. Check it out on thebevnet.com. And if you're interested in participating in Elevator Talk, you should. If you're an early stage brand listening and you want to build some awareness within our community, you want to get people to know what you're doing, And you want to hear some good advice from one of our expert co-hosts, just apply to be on the show. Here's a little tip. Unless you're a brand that's been around for a while or a very large brand, aka a Liquid Death, you'll probably be able to get on the show. So if you're zero to three years in, You've got some traction, but you're not necessarily like in every Walmart in the country. We will definitely accept your application and love to have you on the show.
[00:23:34] Trevor Burns: If you're not sure if you're going to get on the show, you can just ask us and we know the people who make the decisions. Absolutely.
[00:23:42] Southern California: Speaking of Elevator Talk, the brand I have in my hand right here, Pody Life would be a great fit. I don't know if they've been on the show or not, but I recommend they do apply. They are a line of seasonings, but what they do is it's kind of like a dehydrated sauce. So they actually are based in like nuts and legumes and lentils. So they have a crispy garlic seasoning, and then they also have this zesty coriander seasoning. And then I know they also have like meal kits. And they're really just trying to bring South Indian pantry staples to consumers. I'm excited to try these.
[00:24:20] Ray Latif: Are they based in San Diego?
[00:24:22] Southern California: They're not. They're actually based in Atlanta, Georgia.
[00:24:25] Ray Latif: Oh, okay. I feel like I've heard of them, but I'm not sure from where. Maybe they just have a familiar name.
[00:24:30] Southern California: Yeah. They have some fun packaging too. And then on the front, they tell you exactly what's in there and you can see it like in the, in the seasonings.
[00:24:39] Ray Latif: Nice, nice. I have in my hand a bottle of New Water, N-E-A-U. And New Water is one of the partners for our Miami meetup, which is happening in a week. Well, a few days from the publication date of this episode, but February 11th, I know John always gets in my case about this, February 11th at Ampersand Studios in Miami from 6 to 8 p.m. We are expecting a good turnout, Naturally San very good turnout of founders, investors, retailers, distributors, consultants, so on and so forth. And now's the time to sign up if you have not, Taste Radio.com slash Miami. If you're a founder, you're an operator working with a brand, bring samples. BYOS will have some places for you to showcase those samples so people can taste your product, look at it, hopefully buy it at some point or even invest in it. So Miami Meetup, thank you so much to New Water once again for being a great partner and Matriarch Wealth Management also for being a great partner. Thank you for the event.
[00:25:43] Leisure Hydration: Tierra Negra. What a brand. Thanks, Ray. That's what I'm holding in my hand. Ray and I just sampled this at the Winter Fancy Food Show. Such a great time being there without Mike, but it is premium Mexican dark salsa. It's like a more intense salsa macho meets a mole, I guess is how I would describe it.
[00:26:06] Trevor Burns: So good.
[00:26:07] Leisure Hydration: So good. Of course, I wasn't there to taste it.
[00:26:09] Trevor Burns: Yeah, he doesn't know anything about that.
[00:26:10] Leisure Hydration: But I'm pretty sure it's good. It is, yeah, really good stuff. Super nice founders that we met at the event. And yeah, excited to I don't know put this on some tacos or something or anything just eat it from the jar Maybe I had it with some falafel the other day.
[00:26:24] Ray Latif: Oh, yeah, that's really good. That sounds good. Yeah Yeah, the folks from Tierra Negra actually Highlighted our mention of the brand on the LinkedIn well in the light and the IG and now we have a jar yeah, so Mike found our next Thing to talk about here.
[00:26:41] Trevor Burns: This is Mike go ahead and Well, it looks like Cleveland Kitchen's gotten themselves into some sauce, Ray.
[00:26:46] Ray Latif: Some everything sauces.
[00:26:48] Trevor Burns: Yeah, they're a maker of fermented products, mostly. We know that from their kraut, their kraut. Their sauerkraut. Their kimchi. Kimchi. Their pickles. And now they've got some sauces here. I've got the dill pickle buffalo everything sauce, which is made with avocado oil. It says it's tangy and spicy. And the kimchi ranch everything sauce, which is also made with avocado oil and is creamy, spicy, and sweet.
[00:27:12] Ray Latif: You know, Cleveland Kitchen, everything they make is amazing. So I haven't tried these products yet, but I know they're going to be amazing. And I love the fact that you can be pretty versatile with these. It seems like you can put them on anything.
[00:27:22] Trevor Burns: I like that they're on brand with Cleveland because they have two very, very tall founders. And Cleveland has two very, very tall buildings.
[00:27:29] Ray Latif: What is going on over here The only person who hasn't lost it today is Jackie and I don't know Also their buildings aren't that tall let's be honest no no it's no I mean it's just a Cleveland joke yeah, yeah But I feel like Cleveland Kitchen is taking up on a trend that we've been seeing a lot of over the past couple of years, which is sauces. Just in general, condiments that you can use for a variety of reasons. Versatile sauces, as it were. And it seems like every week I'm seeing a new one come to market. A lot of sauces. Yeah, a lot of sauces. I can't wait to try these.
[00:28:07] Southern California: Yeah, they look really good.
[00:28:08] Trevor Burns: They do, don't they?
[00:28:09] Southern California: They're using, I believe, like their kimchi as a base, which is really cool. So you still get like the gut health and the umami.
[00:28:15] Trevor Burns: They definitely are, Jackie. It's right in here. It's, it's, uh, those are the top ingredients, the Cleveland Kitchen, classic kimchi, and then their classic pickle brine for the Pickle buffalo sauce. Dill pickle buffalo sauce.
[00:28:29] Ray Latif: Another brand I was introduced to at the Fancy Food Show but we didn't mention yet is called Tari. T-A-R-I. Oh, those are cool. And they are a maker of hot sauces. Peruvian inspired or hot sauces inspired by Peruvian cuisine. They have an amarillo pepper variety and they have a rocoto pepper variety, which I don't know what rocoto pepper is, but Let's find out. Yeah, these look great. The amarillo is described as a mild and tangy kick and the rocoto as a spicy and smoky one. Beautiful packaging, beautiful labels.
[00:28:59] Trevor Burns: Put Peru on everything on the side of the label. I love it.
[00:29:01] Ray Latif: You got an alpaca on the front or a little image of an alpaca on the front of every label. And yeah, these really stand out. I'm excited to try these. Alrighty, let's get to our featured interview for this episode. That's with Trevor Burns, the Head of Sales for Leisure Hydration. Launched in 2022, the brand markets, quote, electrolyte refreshers that are infused with vitamins, minerals, and adaptogens. Packaged in 16-ounce cans and available in three flavors, the drinks are distributed throughout California, including at Bristol Farms, Gelson'Gelsons and Erewhon stores, and also has a presence in several other parts of the U.S., including Texas and the Pacific Northwest. I met up with Trevor at a recent event hosted by Naturally San Diego, where we talked about Leisure Hydration's methodical retail strategy, the impact of an adjustment to its brand name, and how the company landed a big-time partnership at seven major airports. Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I am honored to be sitting down with Trevor Burns, who is the Head of Sales for Leisure Hydration. Trevor, great to see you. Great to see you, Ray. Thanks for having me. Thanks so much for joining us. You're based out here in San Diego, yes?
[00:30:22] Jacqui Brugliera: I am in San Diego and we are in Southern California. OK.
[00:30:26] Ray Latif: I gotta tell you, I love to travel more than I did in the past. And you know why? Why's that? Because I'm a Chase Sapphire Reserve customer. You don't say. I do say. And guess what? When I go to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at Logan Airport, I'm based in Boston, and they have some canned items that you can drink there, take with you. One of those canned items is Leisure Hydration.
[00:30:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Perfect.
[00:30:53] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:30:54] Jacqui Brugliera: How'd you guys get into that place? Love it. I'm always be networking. And the fun thing about this is you never know what stone you're going to turn over that will lead to something huge. We had some personal contacts that we had found through the office and food service industry that we'd sort of been working through and growing the brand a lot. And through happenstance, they put us in touch with somebody who does the dining services team over at Chase lounges. They said, hey, we're looking for emerging brand to sub in and do something a little more new age, new era. So it started as sort of a quiet conversation, let's see how this goes, has now launched from not one but seven international or national airports across the country. I single-handedly have opened seven Vistar distribution centers and learned a whole lot more than I expected about food service. And the coolest part is it's been a major marketing pillar for us, where just exposure, trial awareness, that's everything you're looking for. So it's turned into this beautiful marketing and sampling opportunity, while also being quite lucrative for us from a volume side of things. You wouldn't think of it. Yes.
[00:31:53] Ray Latif: Wow. Yeah, I wouldn't think of it at all. I mean, I see people in the lounge, they're sipping on a Burns of Leisure Hydration. And I mean, there's a lot New Beverage options in these lounges. that in Spindrift, I think might be the only two can options?
[00:32:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Those are the only two. There might be some Diet Cokes or some glasses in there. But what Chase is trying to do is bring in new consumers, new people getting into the lounge scene and differentiating against other ones. So how do you do that? You want to have hip, new, innovative offerings for what people are looking for. And the cool part is it's all a la carte. So what you come in there, I think the drinks were on the house and a few other things as well. So you can take a can and leave with it. Similar to how a lot of like office parks have those little pantry programs for people. It's a great way to get your product out there to try this. And that leads into retail conversion. So it's all about where you try it, remember it, and then go buy it. So, hey, I've seen this at these Boston, Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego airport as well too. And then they can go right into your local retailer and pick up leisure afterwards. So it's been awesome.
[00:32:52] Ray Latif: Last thing on this, did you reach out to them or did they kind of happenstance connect with them?
[00:32:57] Jacqui Brugliera: We reached out to them through some personal contacts that sort of said, wouldn't it be fun if, and then they realized, hey, you guys are legitimate. You can scale and you have the distribution capabilities to make this thing a reality. So it started as sort of a friendly conversation. And then we were able to prove like, no, we could actually execute this if we want to try starting with Boston. And then we took it to the races after that with six or seven other airports.
[00:33:18] Ray Latif: My first interaction with Leisure was, I think, a couple of years ago. They participated in our New Beverage Showdown, BevNET's New Beverage Showdown, a couple of years ago. And like a lot of early stage brands, like, OK, cool idea. Can they actually scale? Can they get from this, hey, that's an innovative idea to, hey, we're in a thousand, five thousand stores. Because in this business, New Beverage, the name of the game is volume. It's a low margin, high volume game. And if you want to be a big brand, you've got to be able to sell a lot of products. You have experience with Red Bull, worked with Red Bull for 10 years?
[00:33:54] John Craven: That's right.
[00:33:54] Ray Latif: Yeah. And when I think about getting from, again, let's just call it zero to one, I mean, what does it take? How do you know when you're ready to take that leap from we're a tiny unknown to we're in Chase Sapphire lounges and growing from there? I mean, obviously not growing from there, but like being in a lot more places.
[00:34:18] Jacqui Brugliera: We can play ball there, definitely. A few things that come to mind, for starters, I would say is always start by doing your homework. Do the work. When you're building out your brand and your can to start, you've got to be thinking unit economics the entire time. So baking in a hedge for margin, you know that you're going to have to give X amount away each time. So start high and bake that in from ground zero. So you know I have comfortable margins that I will be able to play ball as certain retailers ask for more and more and more. Second piece I would say is pick your market. You hear it time and time and again where people want to sort of, what is it, go a mile wide and an inch deep and try to get the exposure and then sell off, et cetera, et cetera, right? Pick your markets, go deep on there. But within that area, Find the mavens, find the influencers, and by that I mean like the cool accounts and such. And just, you don't need to go crazy to start, but like build up your rapport, build up your story with those influential accounts, and give yourself some time for that flywheel to get started. So, me and the boys, we're hustling. The boys, specifically, hustled from the early days to get into the Air Ones and the Lazy Acres and those guys that you can do in your backyard. Los Angeles is a great market for just innovative beverage. did the homework, find those retailers, and then the sales started speaking for itself. We'd springboarded into San Francisco. We got in with Nugget. We got in with Molly Stone. Suddenly we got Seattle asking for us. So knowing sort of where you can grow and tier point scale, like do so methodically. Don't think it's going to happen overnight, but like pick the right racehorses, I guess is what I'm saying.
[00:35:50] Ray Latif: I think also know the category you're playing in. Leisure Hydration used to be known as Leisure Project. To me, I'm just, OK, what is it? What are you selling? I mean, it's cool. It sounds cool. You have cool labels, but I don't necessarily know if people knew what it did for you. So how much was that transition to being hydration? How much did that impact your ability to sell?
[00:36:09] Jacqui Brugliera: When somebody's looking at a product on the shelf, they have like three seconds to make your pitch, right, basically as a can. So it's finding that line and maturing a little bit to say like, what do I want to be known for? What do I want people to remember from my product and my can? And hydration has thankfully seen a massive boom right now outside of what used to be just isotonics. There was no other secondary beverage category outside of isotonics where it's crushed the competition. But now just organically over the past maybe five years, we're seeing more of what I call like a lifestyle hydration category starting to come. So I think it's being mindful when you talk about your brand, you're hitting it home to say, I am serving a functional purpose, which Leisure Hydration. And I've got better for you ingredients, double the electrolytes of these old isotonics of the past. And you know what you're getting when you're picking up a can like this. So perhaps it's like a cultural shift on us internally. Just remembering, like, don't bury the lead. Just go for it on what purpose you're serving with your shoppers.
[00:37:02] Ray Latif: Keep it simple, make it easy for the consumer to understand. A little bit. Yeah. The other part of this, though, is there has to be a point of reference, right? I mean, when you're talking about isotonics, you're talking about hydration beverages. Yeah. I mean, hydration beverages could be water, right? So what makes it better? And starting with the retail buyer, how are you going to convince them that this is better than what they already currently have on shelf? And I guess better just means how much more are you going to sell of this product than of the existing product on shelf? Because typically you have to kick somebody else off to to get on there. Totally.
[00:37:31] Jacqui Brugliera: It's always changing. So a couple of thoughts that I have that come to it. One is jobs to be done. So gone are the days of Sprite quenching one's thirst. That's not really like a valid reason to buy anymore. Our whole generation is looking for functionality. When I'm buying this and taking an investment, what is it doing for me? So letting people know like this is a functional beverage and it's going to give you a little bit more of an ROI on that purpose for what you're purchasing. And then the second on that, it would be like knowing subcategories. And this gets a little nuanced, but it's sort of like what I like to say for leisure is we play between the balance of fun and functional. So think about on the fun side, you got your lemon perfects, your buys, your vitamin waters. They do a decent job on the functional side. Not insane, but then you look at the other side of it, you've got like a Pedialyte. People drink Pedia for a very specific, almost clinical reason now, of like, maybe I'm really hungover, maybe I'm very sick. You don't see people walking around in the street on a Friday evening just crushing a Pedialyte out there. Like, it's a little odd, I'll say. For us, as we get the functionality of, say, those clinical hydration, rapid hydration space, but it's mixed with that fun brand personality side of things. Not bashing on any other brands, but, you know, Vitamin Water just ceases to have some of this fun, relatable brand to it now, and it's like, no, no, no, we're bringing that back to consumers. So that intersection of where fun meets functional, where we say, this is a great beverage, and guess what? You can drink it every day. So long-winded way of saying, Mr. Retailer, Mr. Buyer, we have a functional beverage with a really fun brand, and we're creating sticky habits, repeat purchases. It goes really well with a lot of modern brands that people are already purchasing, increasing your basket ring. So the next generation of shoppers are looking for this usage occasion of lifestyle hydration is probably how I'd say it. And we're one of the only players in this category and we would love to keep spreading the word out there basically about it.
[00:39:20] Ray Latif: I think you're going to. I think Leisure's on a really good runway, and I'm excited for you guys.
[00:39:24] Jacqui Brugliera: Awesome.
[00:39:25] Ray Latif: Awesome. Trevor, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me. Like I said, two years to where you are now, and there's a lot going on. It's all good.
[00:39:34] Jacqui Brugliera: It's been an awesome journey. I like that you say a lot of runway out there. Marketing aside, you'll find us at your airports. A lot of props to the founders. Alex and Steve have done a fantastic job building the brand, bringing this guy on board, and I'm really excited to see where it goes. So thank you for all the support. Outstanding.
[00:39:49] Ray Latif: Once again, Trevor, we'll talk to you again soon, I'm sure. Sounds good to me. Thank you. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is BevNetTasteRadio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening. And we'll talk to you next time.
[00:40:46] John Craven: you
