[00:00:05] Martín Caballero: Natural food and beverage companies find their next great employees using the BevNET and Nosh job boards. Our job boards reach industry pros actively seeking a new opportunity, as well as those setting up alerts for their dream job. Placing a single job on our site and in our newsletter is simple. If you have a more ambitious plan, you can save time and hiring budget with a 10-pack.
[00:00:25] Ray Latif: To learn more and post a role, visit BevNET.com slash jobs or Nosh.com slash jobs. And now, Taste Radio. Hey everyone, I'm Ray Latif and you're listening to episode 30 of Taste Radio Insider. I'm with my bedmate colleagues Martín Caballero, Jon Landis, and Carol Ortenburg, and we're recording from the Taste Radio studio in Watertown, Mass. In this episode, we feature an interview with August Vega, the founder and CEO of Malk, a fast-growing brand of organic nut milks that's chasing a billion-dollar dream. Just a reminder to our listeners, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio Insider, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we'd love it if you could rate us on iTunes or your listening platform of choice. As I mentioned, we're here with Martín Caballero and Carol Ortenburg, the managing editor of BevNET, the editor of Nosh, respectively. Mike and John Craven are out of the office, hence Marty and Carol joining us today.
[00:01:22] Carol Ortenburg: Yes, the call to the bullpen. Get the backups in here. You're not a backup, Marty.
[00:01:27] Ray Latif: You're a, I was going to say... Citizen coach. I was going to say a big swinging, but you can't say big swinging, you know, in the Beverton. You can't say that on the podcast. You can't. Joe, you can't do that. Joe's our audio engineer, as many of you know. Carol, how are you? You got some Advil in front of you.
[00:01:42] August Vega: Yeah. It's the latest ketogenic plant-based...
[00:01:47] Food Group: Does aspirin fit into any of those diets? Do any of those diets eschew aspirin?
[00:01:53] August Vega: I'm sure they do. I'm sure I should be taking some homeopathic pill that I take once every four hours, but I went straight for the hard stuff.
[00:02:03] Ray Latif: Well, we're amidst the allergy season here in Boston. If anyone's been here in April or early May, it's pretty crying. I'm dropping eye drops every, what, two minutes at this point? It's vicious. Yeah, it's vicious.
[00:02:16] August Vega: The plants come back and try to get us from being too many plant-based products.
[00:02:20] Ray Latif: Yes, yes.
[00:02:21] August Vega: Like, you ate my brother.
[00:02:23] Ray Latif: Also in Boston over the weekend was this trade show for the Specialty Coffee business. It's called the Specialty Coffee Association Expo. It's held in Boston every so often.
[00:02:34] August Vega: Clever name, Ray.
[00:02:34] Ray Latif: How about that, you know? Carol and I attended as did Mike Schneider, but hey, Mike's not here, so he can't comment on it.
[00:02:41] August Vega: I think Mark just sat and stared at the espresso machines the whole time, possibly.
[00:02:45] Carol Ortenburg: He did, he tried to get behind the trades booth. Was he correcting people on how to pour shots? Stepping in to clean it.
[00:02:53] August Vega: Guys, your gasket's a little off.
[00:02:55] Ray Latif: He got everyone else on slack. He's like, look, if you don't clean it like this, it's going to get jammed up. Okay, now you know, listeners, how Mike operates in this office. Anywho, yeah, a really interesting show. It's a little unlike some of the shows that we normally attend because there were a lot of finished packaged products, but there were also a lot of manufacturers of coffee machines, ingredient suppliers, obviously coffee suppliers. Carol, what are your general thoughts on the expo?
[00:03:21] August Vega: Coming soon after Expo West, it was interesting to see what trends hadn't crossed over as well. At Expo West, every aisle had CBD in it, and at this show, there really wasn't a lot of CBD.
[00:03:32] Ray Latif: Yeah, I only saw a couple of brands. One was The Roastery, which had an air-roasted coffee, CBD-infused cold brew, and then there's a brand locally here called Atomic. They have a CBD-infused nitro cold brew. Marty, you're familiar with the brand as well?
[00:03:45] Carol Ortenburg: Yeah, looking forward to trying that one.
[00:03:47] August Vega: There was also one company that manufactures storage equipment for coffee beans, and they are launching their own CBD brand called Izzy, I believe it's called. And the interesting thing about this is that the dropper actually has dosing on it, and basically they looked at how seriously baristas take coffee and want to know about their origin and the sourcing and the exact right amounts and decided to apply that to CBD. But certainly lots of plant-based milks, a lot of nut milk concentrates, which was really interesting. So sort of goos that you add to water and put in a blender, there was... Did you say goos?
[00:04:28] Ray Latif: Goos.
[00:04:28] August Vega: Goos. I don't know what to call it.
[00:04:29] Ray Latif: The plural of goo. So multiple goos?
[00:04:34] August Vega: Multiple goos.
[00:04:35] Ray Latif: Did you get to try Bloom, Carol? They make vegan and plant-based latte mixes. The one I have in my hand is a beetroot blend. It's vegan, caffeine-free and organic. When I tried this stuff, it was pretty darn good. Did you get to try this?
[00:04:50] August Vega: I did not get to try it, but I did like their beautiful packaging. It's kind of really vivid colors.
[00:04:56] Ray Latif: A pretty interesting brand I saw was one called Steeped, which makes a single-serve bag of coffee that you steep in a container, hence the name of the brand.
[00:05:07] August Vega: It's like a teabag, right?
[00:05:08] Ray Latif: It's like a teabag. Relatively innovative stuff, really nice-looking packaging, and yeah, we'll see what the runway is for this kind of product, this kind of innovation.
[00:05:15] Carol Ortenburg: It's crazy because I feel like a lot of these coffee brands that are doing something like a, this is a bit unique in itself, the bagged coffee, but a lot of the instant coffee brands are sort of revitalizing that segment. They all have really cool packaging. They all have really engaging branding. And I mean, that's probably, you know, half the story in it.
[00:05:33] August Vega: One key thing to note about Steep 2, Marty, on your comment about packaging is that it's entirely biodegradable. So the packaging on the outside, the bag, so a lot of that waste that you have with other coffee products doesn't exist. Also, they are licensing this technology and producing bags for other coffee companies. So the Steep 2 brand is almost a little bit of a proof of concept. The hope is to produce coffee for a bunch of other companies. And they had about, I think, 12 or 14 different brands trying out their technology at the booth.
[00:06:04] Food Group: That makes a lot of sense because to me that steeped brand is is like almost too direct in about the method and it's not enough to for a consumer to really latch on to it's too generic. But I love the idea. I mean my favorite innovations are those like no brainer duh like how did nobody think of this like we've been making tea and steeping it with a a little string, why can't we do the same thing with coffee? I think that that's genius and that's where some of my favorite innovation comes from.
[00:06:33] August Vega: There were a lot of licensing plays on display at the expo. There's a local company called Elemental that has sort of a three pronged business approach. On one hand, they are selling these small flash chillers. You can pour in hot coffee and you get a cup of chilled coffee out of it, I think in under a minute set to whatever precise temperature you want. They are also letting other companies send them beans and they will flash chill it, that's their method in their roastery for them. And then their third business is that they're also launching their own line of coffee, again, as a proof of concept that this is possible and you can build a brand and there's demand for this product.
[00:07:13] Ray Latif: Yeah, Elemental was pretty cool. They're right up the street from our headquarters in Watertown. And yeah, they're flash chillers. I tried some of the coffee. It's interesting. It's fresh brewed coffee that comes out chilled in like 60 seconds. And the idea is that you don't need to cold brew and you don't need to dilute the coffee with ice to get it down to the temperature. So it's like really having chilled, fresh brewed coffee, which was pretty cool.
[00:07:36] August Vega: without the food waste play as well.
[00:07:38] Ray Latif: Correct. And you could taste the difference? I mean, it was a great cup of coffee and I liked the idea of not having ice added to my iced coffee.
[00:07:45] Carol Ortenburg: Because that is technically different from cold brew, as you pointed out.
[00:07:48] Food Group: You're going to be extracting all those sweet, sweet tannins. Indeed.
[00:07:52] August Vega: Well, and Marty, to your point also, they found that different roasts should be chilled to different temperatures. So to get those tannins or flavors, you know, this one might want to be chilled to 42 and this one might want to be chilled to 47. So they can really dial that in with the machine to create this like coffee experience.
[00:08:12] Ray Latif: And the machine itself is not really inexpensive. I think the CEO told me it was about $6,000 and they have one that's at Starbucks Roastery or one of their special roastery retail stores right now, they're testing it out. But it'll be interesting to see if they can get that price point down, get it to a few more small independent chains and see where it can go. It could be something that's really game changing in terms of, hey, I don't need to add ice to my coffee anymore. It's just a great fresh brewed chilled coffee. Marty, I know you've talked to this company. This is Sudden Coffee. They didn't have a trade show booth, but the CEO and co-founder Josh Sloof was walking the show. He actually came into the office the other day. We did a podcast interview with him. Look forward to that and a few episodes down the line. But yeah, Sudden Coffee, an interesting brand, trying to take advantage of the what Josh describes as a multi-billion dollar category for instant coffee, sort of reinventing what we expect from instant coffee, like a Taster's Choice or Folgers.
[00:09:14] Food Group: Wow. Carol, you were just in Israel. I mean, instant coffee is really big over there.
[00:09:18] August Vega: So interestingly, there is instant coffee everywhere you go, but then they all make a point to tell you that 10 years ago, everyone was drinking instant coffee and no one drinks instant coffee anymore.
[00:09:29] Food Group: But it's still everywhere.
[00:09:31] August Vega: Yeah, it was kind of weird. It was everywhere and they were like, but nobody drinks that. I'm like, then why is it everywhere?
[00:09:36] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.
[00:09:37] Carol Ortenburg: Well, I know we're obviously doing audio right now, but I encourage listeners to really check out the packaging on Sudden Coffee. It's really cool. As I hold it right now in my hand, it's like holding a deck of cards, basically. It's very small, really light, holds four packets that are individually packaged in these slim kind of like test tube vials, I guess you might say. But really, it's it's the kind of thing where you pick it up and you definitely want to figure out what's going on here. I really like what they've done. Definitely encourage you guys to check that out.
[00:10:07] August Vega: In terms of packaging, though, it's a bit of the opposite of steeped. There's there's a lot of packaging there.
[00:10:13] Food Group: I've never been to the Specialty Coffee Association Expo, but my intuition tells me that it's an event that is evolving along with the rest of the industry. Hearing the report back from you guys and all these plant-based milks and innovation in instant coffee and different... It seems to me as a Specialty Coffee, so many people focus on roasting and food service and providing like these wholesale beans and that's been what the industry has been about. I know I've heard from a lot of these really independent roasters getting a lot of pressure from people to develop ready-to-drink products and different things like this.
[00:10:49] Ray Latif: So there were a lot of, actually more than I expected, creamer brands, nut milk brands and things like that at the events. And, you know, we saw that at Expo West, it seems like every nut milk brand and his sister is like coming out with a creamer malk. our featured brand for this episode. They came out with a new creamer line as well. Speaking of Expo West, check out the next edition of BevNET Magazine, which will have a full recap of the show. But for the current issue, Marty, what do we got in this issue of BevNET Magazine? It's the March-April edition.
[00:11:20] Carol Ortenburg: Yes, it is. So we have a couple of different features, taking a look at the premium bottled water category and the still water, taking a look at powders and other sort of mixing formats. So I wrote the story about the bottled water category, which I thought it was really interesting to take a look at, you know, just the development of alkaline as sort of a call out and as a as a sort of a subcategory within bottled water. Obviously, you know, we've seen the success of major brands like Essentia, you know, obviously on our cover, you can see pretty clearly. You know, this has been sort of a segment where we've seen the development of a lot of brands that have gone on to find success independently or to, you know, eventually be acquired for a large amount. But what I think is interesting is that as it's evolved, sort of alkaline has become part of the larger functional conversation that we're having about waters. You know, functional waters, it's really a major trend right now. So alkaline just sort of falls in with things like CBD, caffeine, electrolytes.
[00:12:18] Food Group: Protein.
[00:12:18] Carol Ortenburg: protein, all kinds of different stuff that are people sort of using the premium water sort of format to interpret those kinds of things. So I think within that segment, we've seen brands like Essentia, obviously, and then you have the sort of natural alkaline products that are, you know, naturally alkaline from the spring, not treated or processed in any way. So I think it's just an interesting look at sort of how that's developed. And, you know, it's certainly just part of a larger conversation that we're having about functional waters. The other stuff, you know, I could tell you about it, but you probably want to read the stories and really take your time with it and not have me rush through it.
[00:12:55] August Vega: Can you just read us the first line of this story?
[00:12:57] Ray Latif: That's what they call a call to action in the marketing world.
[00:12:59] Carol Ortenburg: Yeah, you know, I'm thinking about doing an audiobook version of it. Oh, I like that. You know, we'll see.
[00:13:04] Food Group: I want to give a shout out to John Fischer, who works on our guide listings here. I think this is maybe the best guide that he's ever done.
[00:13:13] Ray Latif: What guide is that one, John?
[00:13:14] Food Group: This is the 2019 BevNET functional beverage guide. And it's got a ton. ton of different functional beverages in here. I see a lot of really hot trending brands like C4. I mean, there's a lot of great stuff in here. I don't need to go through it all. I think if you're interested in functional beverages, you're going to geek out a lot.
[00:13:33] Ray Latif: It's the industry's leading guide for functional beverages, isn't it?
[00:13:37] Carol Ortenburg: Yes. I say, you know, pour yourself a nice glass of something, kick your feet up.
[00:13:41] August Vega: Tomorrow's Friday night. There's a lot of time.
[00:13:43] Food Group: Just dive into it, you know? Pick your functional poison with this guide.
[00:13:47] Ray Latif: Well, one of the brands in this guide, or perhaps more than one of the brands in this guide, could be the next billion dollar opportunity for the beverage industry, it remains to be seen. As I mentioned at the top of the show, we do have a brand that is currently chasing that billion dollar valuation, that's Malk. And let's get to our interview with August Vega, who as I mentioned at the top of the show, is the founder and CEO of Malk, a super premium brand of organic nut milks. August launched Malk in 2014 and cut her teeth in the beverage business, selling homemade nut milks at farmer's markets in Houston. I first met August Vega BevNET Live Winter 2015, where Malk prevailed as the winner of the event's New Bearwood Showdown competition. Since then, Malk has made significant strides at retail. The brand is sold nationally at Whole Foods and carried at a variety of mainstream grocers and mass retailers, including H-E-B and Target. In our conversation recorded at Expo West 2019, August spoke about her decision to launch Malk and why she envisioned it as a billion-dollar brand from the outset. She also explained why data has been critical to the development of Malk and the variety of ways the company sources data. August also discussed how Malk considers innovation in funding and talked about a particularly challenging time for the company and how she addressed it. All right, it's Ray from Taste Radio, and sitting in front of me is August Vega, the founder and CEO of Malk.
[00:15:06] Whole Foods: So happy to be here. Thank you so much.
[00:15:08] Ray Latif: So happy to be sitting in front of you.
[00:15:09] Whole Foods: Thank you.
[00:15:10] Ray Latif: I gotta talk about those earrings. You've got Malk earrings on, they're hoop earrings, and in the middle, they're spelled out Malk. Is that, but it's in cursive.
[00:15:17] Whole Foods: They're kind of like J-Lo-esque. It's kind of like a J-Lo style. And yes, these come out for Expo only.
[00:15:24] Ray Latif: Oh, they're Expo earrings.
[00:15:25] Whole Foods: Expo earrings, yes.
[00:15:26] Ray Latif: Nice, well done, well done. Thank you. So you and I met, when was that? In 2015.
[00:15:32] Whole Foods: 2015, in December.
[00:15:34] Ray Latif: In December, you were at BebNet Live. And you were competing in the New Beverage Showdown, New Beverage Showdown 10.
[00:15:40] Whole Foods: Yes.
[00:15:41] Ray Latif: Which you won.
[00:15:41] Whole Foods: I did.
[00:15:42] Ray Latif: Yes.
[00:15:43] Whole Foods: It was amazing.
[00:15:44] Ray Latif: And it was interesting because I remember when everyone saw the name Malk, I think there were a few chuckles within the office because There was The Simpsons reference to Malk, which is apparently what they drank at the school cafeteria was Malk. I'm assuming that's not where the name came from though.
[00:16:00] Whole Foods: It's definitely not. Lots of people, we had someone today that was like, you're missing a whole demographic by not including saying, yes, this is definitely from The Simpsons. I'm like, well, I don't know if we're missing that demographic or not, but that's like a little bit after my generation. So I came up with the name Malk as milk alternative. The story is that I was born with a dairy allergy and there were very few options for my family when I was born. And so when I became a mom 10 years ago, when it was time for me to go back to work, I was a bit shocked that, you know, there were a few different categories. You know, it wasn't just soy milk anymore, but the ingredients lists, you know, were very long and just really didn't make a lot of sense to us for a young baby. So I saw the need, not only for myself, but for my son and decided that there needed to be something better.
[00:16:53] Ray Latif: And you don't even call this milk.
[00:16:55] Whole Foods: No.
[00:16:55] Ray Latif: You removed the word milk from your packaging and from your marketing a couple of years ago. Why?
[00:17:02] Whole Foods: It was ahead of the Whole Foods kind of upset around, you know, plant-based products using the nomenclature milk, but we did it more from a branding perspective. People really identify with our brand. The logo is something we wanted to really pop off the shelf. And so reincorporating the name, you know, once more, it's almost its own category.
[00:17:24] Ray Latif: I had read somewhere that you'd started Malk with a plan to be a billion-dollar brand. Why was that important to you? Why were you starting out with such a lofty goal?
[00:17:35] Whole Foods: I believe that we really are in control of our own destiny. And why shoot for a low bar? If I'm going to go for it, I'm going to shoot for a high bar.
[00:17:46] Ray Latif: That's a pretty high bar.
[00:17:48] Whole Foods: It's a pretty high bar. Yeah, it really is. But go big or go home. I mean, I think we're seeing a pretty big evolution in the plant based space, though, not just, you know, from a dairy perspective, but in meats, obviously, it's everywhere. We're in the Mecca of it right now, you know, so I think that there's potential for that.
[00:18:07] Ray Latif: You're off to a good start.
[00:18:09] Whole Foods: Well, thank you. We brought quite a few new things with us here this week. We have some creamers and of course an oat milk that's sprouted.
[00:18:19] Ray Latif: So the creamers are interesting because I see so many brands getting into this space right now. You know, how do you differentiate in a hot and rapidly evolving space like plant-based creamers?
[00:18:29] Whole Foods: Sure. I mean, I think that Whatever we do, we're doing it with purpose, and it stands behind the Malk brand, which starts with, number one, it's sprouted, number two, organic, and absolutely no fillers or binders. So it truly is the cleanest creamer that will be on the market.
[00:18:47] Ray Latif: When you're considering innovation, you know, how do you assess an opportunity to attack a white space?
[00:18:52] Whole Foods: I come from a data background through the clean tech. So our business is very data driven. So we incorporate a lot of data into our decisions and decision making. But we also get a lot of requests and really track what our consumers are asking for.
[00:19:08] Ray Latif: But where do you get the data from when you're a small company?
[00:19:12] Whole Foods: We are a small company, but we invest in data. We've had Spins data for years, even as a really small company. But we get a lot of data from the grocer level, actually from our brokers. We demand a lot of data and then we take consumer surveys really seriously and really try to get our consumer feedback.
[00:19:28] Ray Latif: When you say you demand a lot from your brokers, how do you get them to listen to you?
[00:19:34] Whole Foods: I think that really explaining the story that you're trying to tell and having everyone understand the mission, understand how critical it is. Things move kind of slowly in grocery sometimes, but when it comes to not having the information you need to make, you know, whether it's running a promotion or a price change or whatever, that can really affect you down the road. And so for us, it's really important when we engage with a broker or anyone on our team involved in sales or interfacing with our consumer, it's really about we need the information that we need to also give proper information to the buyer so they can make educated decisions. Because they're not in the business of just analyzing malk all day long, right? So the more information we give them, the better off everyone is. And really setting that up from the beginning I think is really important.
[00:20:27] Ray Latif: It's not just retailers and brokers. It sounds like the data is really important for investors as well, right?
[00:20:32] Whole Foods: Absolutely, absolutely.
[00:20:34] Ray Latif: And so Boulder Food Group, a venture capital firm based in, I believe it's Colorado, yes?
[00:20:40] Whole Foods: Yes, yes. Something tells me.
[00:20:42] Ray Latif: Invested in the brand in 2016. You know, what did you present to them? How did you get them on your side of the fence?
[00:20:49] Whole Foods: Well, I mean, I think they were looking at the space really seriously, and Tom is really involved with organic foods in various associations, and so the fact that we were organic and doing something really clean resonated with him personally. They really loved the brand and the look, and we were gaining really good momentum, so it just gave them the confidence that they needed.
[00:21:10] Ray Latif: How did you vet them?
[00:21:12] Whole Foods: You know, a lot comes from referral and really talking to other portfolio companies about the good, bad, and the ugly, because things are not always perfect, obviously, and it would be foolish to go into any relationship thinking it's going to be perfect all the time, you know? And so vetting through talking with portfolio companies and saying, like, just be super honest. Like, what's the hardest thing you've had to do? Or, you know, what's the hardest conversation you guys have had? It really does help in making good decisions.
[00:21:41] Ray Latif: Was there ever a part of the fundraising process where you felt like you had to settle? And I don't mean with Boulder Food Group, but I mean, was there a time when you're like, look, we just need the money and made a decision based on just needing money?
[00:21:55] Whole Foods: that happens. One thing that I try to stay really grounded with is you negotiate really well when you have leverage, right? And when things are going perfect. And if you're in a position where you really need money, your negotiation, your leverage is kind of like out the door. So in any Any equity position or negotiation between a founder and partners is not easy, right? Because you have people that have poured their heart and soul into the business, and part of that's going out the door. But what comes along with that is the funds to do what we're doing here today, which is, you know, it's an expensive industry. And we've run really lean, but there comes a point in time where You really kind of have to hit the gas, you know, and having good partners has helped us with that.
[00:22:47] Ray Latif: You mentioned that the space is growing and it's competitive. It was about three years ago at this event where there was some controversy about your processing method, which is HPP. And I know you were quite frustrated about some of the concerns that were out there about your product. Talk to us about how you got through that because I feel like there was a point at which people were saying, don't drink malt because it's not safe.
[00:23:14] Whole Foods: Right. Well, I mean, I think here at shows where there's high competition and it takes maybe a few mentions of one thing and things can spread like wildfire, right? It was a pretty tough time for us, but I was determined not to make a decision for the company based on hearsay at a show. So what I did instead, I do my best when I really put my head down and do my research and find experts and educate myself enough to feel confident in what we're doing. And so that's just what I did. I left the show and I said, I'm going to dig into this. I'm going to figure it out one way or another. And we hired the people that do all of the testing for the FDA. We hired an FDA attorney. We hired processing authorities. I mean, we very sophisticated group of people and made a few tweaks and got to where we needed to be. And it's really more about your Harp C plan and are you meeting all of the requirements of that? And we are. And so it's funny how something that was a major deal three years ago, now today, we have a good relationship with some of those same folks that were saying, don't drink the milk, it's not safe. So it's interesting.
[00:24:29] Ray Latif: Well, it's a critical differentiator for your product. There's few, not many that I can think of that are using HPP as a safety step for plant-based milks.
[00:24:38] Whole Foods: It's not easy either. There's that. So like, there was a lot of talk about it, and it's also not the easiest way to go about things. So if you can find a process that's better suited, I could see why folks would.
[00:24:51] Ray Latif: Were you prepared to pivot if need be?
[00:24:53] Whole Foods: If we had to, yes, but I wanted to make that decision based on fact, you know, and so we overcame that hurdle.
[00:25:01] Ray Latif: Now Whole Foods, which is your incubation partner, an important partner for Malk. They've run into some safety issues in their history as well. So, you know, how did you convince them, like, not just that your products were safe, but that they could grow on shelf and they could be an important anchor for that shelf space going forward?
[00:25:25] Whole Foods: Yeah, I mean, Whole Foods, you know, from the beginning has been a really important partner because the Whole Foods consumer, when they see sprouted almonds, they go, Oh, I know what that is. And they throw it in the basket, right? Like it's, it's a very specific consumer that understands some of what we're doing. And then, not to discriminate against any other consumers, you know, just the simple clean ingredients resonates with others and there's different things. But for Whole Foods, it's a fairly compatible, you know, brand to the store. Convincing them from the beginning wasn't really that hard because they really loved the branding and the name and they just took the chance and then our sales just told the story. So I think that as long as you have something that people want and they're buying it, the conversations are a lot easier than if you're trying to convince a buyer to take up six SKUs worth of space and people are not asking for it.
[00:26:23] Ray Latif: Let's talk a bit about the future. I read a quote from an interview that you did that said, we can never be in the present moment. It's always about the future plan.
[00:26:31] Whole Foods: It is, yeah.
[00:26:32] Ray Latif: You're never content to be where you are?
[00:26:36] Whole Foods: I think that it's virtually impossible by the nature of the business. First of all, I'm a person who really wants to be in the present moment, like that's where I want to stay and like it's the healthiest place to be. But when you're constantly planning, even if it's a promotional calendar six months in advance, or you're looking at holiday SKUs and it's February, you know, it's just a bit disillusioning about, like, what time you're actually living in and what's going on, you know?
[00:27:03] Ray Latif: So you're making your holiday nog right now, right?
[00:27:06] Whole Foods: Yes, samples were due and it's like, well, it just left the shelf. Like, I don't know, you know, so I think that that's really, from that perspective, it can be difficult. We have to try to slow down at the very least a few days a week and just go, okay, it's 2019, it's January, everything's okay.
[00:27:22] Ray Latif: Well, what does a long-term plan look like for Malk?
[00:27:25] Whole Foods: We have a few interesting things up our sleeve for sure, but everything that we're doing, we're doing with purpose. And so there won't be like the reaction, we were approached to create an oat milk and we were really pretty hesitant because everyone's just jumping in on oat, you know. So we huddled around it and said, you know, if we can do something that's meaningful to us and something that we can stand behind, then, you know, we'll get behind it and we'll do it. And so we created a sprouted oat milk, but you won't ever see us just jumping on a bandwagon just to be on it. You know, like it has to come from the purpose of the brand.
[00:28:02] Ray Latif: And do you see the oat milk as being a creative to sales or there could be some customers that trade their almond milk for your oat milk?
[00:28:09] Whole Foods: You know, we're not really hearing that a lot. I think that people use different varieties for different purposes. You know, like our cashew milk, I use that exclusively to make pasta sauces or, you know, bake with the oat milk or whatever it may be. So it still seems to me that everything is growing from the data. Data shows that it's all growing. Of course, oats growing at 800% because it's a fairly new product, so.
[00:28:35] Ray Latif: So August, I forget what it was. I think we were emailing and either you or I had wrote that it was a Manic Monday. And then I think I mentioned that Prince wrote that song for the Bengals. Yes. And you're a big Prince fan, I know, as you mentioned. I don't know if Prince is a big inspiration for you as a leader, as an entrepreneur, but if he is, why? And if he isn't, who are some of the folks that are inspiring in your life?
[00:29:03] Whole Foods: I'm really continually impressed and very inspired by Richard Branson. I would love to name like 10 women and I have those two, but I think that as an overall human being and the way that he approaches his business, it's very, very awe-inspiring.
[00:29:20] Ray Latif: What about him as an entrepreneur do you try to emulate?
[00:29:24] Whole Foods: I mean, his story kind of tells itself in that he's wildly successful. But I think that that's really come from leading with the heart and putting other people before himself. And, you know, if you can get the mix right with that, I think that you can accomplish anything.
[00:29:41] Ray Latif: So what do you see as the endgame for Malk? I know you're only four years in. We are. I know you're still pretty early stage, relatively speaking.
[00:29:51] Whole Foods: We are.
[00:29:52] Ray Latif: But you've made a lot of moves to this point, and you have a lot of believers. Where do you see this all going?
[00:29:59] Whole Foods: You know, I think we went into the business with the idea to build a billion dollar brand. And so the thought of doing that alone and continuing to raise round after round after round of funding in order to get there is not really the end game that we're looking for. It would be great if we could find a really good strategic partner that believes in the brand and that we could partner with and grow together.
[00:30:22] Ray Latif: Well, perhaps a strategic executive is listening right now and can respond to the call. You know, Malk, I've always been impressed with this brand. I feel like it's, you know, when you get up on stage for the New Beverage Showdown, it was almost like, well, this is the brand to beat, right? And so I think what you've done to this point is pretty amazing. And I wish you all the best of luck in the future. And thank you so much for bringing this Malk coffee. I'm really enjoying it.
[00:30:48] Whole Foods: You're so welcome. And thank you. I mean, I honestly feel like We kind of got our start with you guys and it's really special to us. I mean, there's not really like a week that passes by that we don't discuss it and just how what an amazing time that was and how I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. And so the shock and awe when I stepped up on the stage and looked out to the whole beverage industry was really interesting. So thank you.
[00:31:15] Ray Latif: I watched your performance earlier this week. You did a great job. You really did.
[00:31:19] Whole Foods: Thank you.
[00:31:19] Ray Latif: I think when you picked up the check that said, winner of the New Bearwood Showdown, you looked a little nervous at that point. You're like, oh man, this is really real.
[00:31:27] Whole Foods: This really happened. Yeah. It was really amazing. So thank you. Thank you very much. You guys hold a special place for us.
[00:31:33] Ray Latif: Thank you very much.
[00:31:34] Whole Foods: Thank you.
[00:31:34] Ray Latif: I appreciate you being on Taste Radio.
[00:31:35] Whole Foods: Thank you. All right.
[00:31:37] SPEAKER_??: Bye-bye.
[00:31:39] Ray Latif: That brings us to the end of episode 30 of Taste Radio Insider. Thank you so much for listening, and thanks to our guest, August Vega. Please subscribe to Taste Radio Insider on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and Google Play. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to askatasteradio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
