[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 or 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. This episode features an interview with Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou, the co-founders of Better Sour You gummy brand Better Sour, which recently announced a collaboration with Disney to celebrate the release of the studio's Moana 2 movie. Moana 2, I haven't seen Moana 1 yet. You haven't? What? No, not yet.
[00:00:45] John Craven: Come on. It's like the best movie ever.
[00:00:47] Ray Latif: Is it really?
[00:00:47] John Craven: You should watch it.
[00:00:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's really good. Or maybe I have, I don't know.
[00:00:50] Ray Latif: We talk all about it in the interview with Bella and Semira, so stay tuned for that. Blue Sky. So I just became familiar with this social platform. Apparently it's been out for five years. Is this right? Yep. Okay, so it's been waiting.
[00:01:03] Jacqui Brugliera: It was, I think, pretty rough in the beginning. I don't know, like every social media platform.
[00:01:08] Ray Latif: Okay, but it was created by the founder of Twitter.
[00:01:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes.
[00:01:12] Ray Latif: Apparently he created it when he was still with the company. I mean... Really? I guess so. Because he knew Twitter was a dumpster fire. No, I mean, it was founded five years ago, and I'm pretty sure that Jack Dorsey was still with Twitter at the time. I've got an idea. I'm going to make other Twitter. That's exactly what he did.
[00:01:32] John Craven: Just in case, backup Twitter, you know?
[00:01:34] Ray Latif: Some people want backup Twitter. According to Forbes, Blue Sky was developed in 2019 by then Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey. It was originally conceived as a research project to decentralize Twitter. In 2021, it was launched as a separate independent company. So what I'm trying to make clear here is that we're testing this out here at BevNET. We're on the blue sky.
[00:01:55] Jacqui Brugliera: We're just trying to be wherever people want to read stuff. And yeah, I mean, I don't know. Say what you want about Twitter. I guess I'm still posting on there. Just side tip real quick. If you don't want to be outraged by what you see on Twitter, just look at the following tab. It's a lot better than whatever the algorithm wants to show you. You mean X? Whatever it's called. I don't know. You say X, I say Twitter.
[00:02:18] John Craven: I'm like, does anyone actually call it X?
[00:02:22] Jacqui Brugliera: Some places have started referring to it that way. It is its legal name, so it depends if you're trying to go by the book or just be lazy and don't care like myself. Is anybody still on Plurk? Just me? Still Plurking?
[00:02:34] Ray Latif: Is that the nerd social media platform?
[00:02:36] Jacqui Brugliera: What are you talking about? You're still checking in on Foursquare too, Mike? Yeah, still checking in on Foursquare and swarming.
[00:02:44] Ray Latif: No, but Bebnett, Rebound, Nosh are on Blue Sky right now. I think Taste Radio will be on there at some point. So if you are on Blue Sky, follow us. We are posting links to our stories, other content on there as well. So I haven't messed around with this yet, but as soon as I hop off this recording, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Exciting yeah, isn't it fun sure brings on the blue sky taste radios on the blue sky Do you think you'll be back? I didn't think we had an account there. We do okay.
[00:03:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Well that wasn't on slack This is your opportunity to not be Bev trade.
[00:03:15] Ray Latif: I like that trade with why so I'm sure we'll be posting notes and highlights and updates on blue sky about and from the show floor It's a conference.
[00:03:44] Jacqui Brugliera: You could also call it a little bit of a three-ring circus. Yeah, we can't call it a conference last time I call it a conference Mike went conference event Just use a lot of words, okay, don't say show floor fine are we cutting that no no we're keeping it in there You know corrected on something here. Getting humble. For once, for once. I mean, I saw a guy yesterday on LinkedIn who said the best part about going to our events was to be able to meet, was it Ben Bacon who said this? Oh yeah, Ben Bacon. To meet Ray Latif. Yeah. I think he said Ray Latif literally walks on water. So I'm just trying to, you know.
[00:04:18] John Craven: Bring you back down to earth.
[00:04:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Bring you back down to earth. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:04:21] Ray Latif: I'm going to get struck by lightning pretty soon.
[00:04:23] Jacqui Brugliera: Make sure the elevator's there when you walk on your floor to go down.
[00:04:27] Ray Latif: I mean my floor to go up.
[00:04:29] Jacqui Brugliera: No, when you're going down. My office is in the helipad. Oh, fine, when you're going from the helipad. Don't go in an empty elevator shaft.
[00:04:38] Ray Latif: Obviously, we're messing around here, but we are not messing around about the fact that you need to be at these events. If you're in the food business, you've got to be at Nosh. If you're in the beverage biz, you've got to be at BevNET. If you're in the beer or adjacent beverages business, you've got to be at Brewpound. And you might, in some cases, want to be at all three or two of the events as well. We've talked about this ad nauseum, the level of speakers that we have coming, the talent that we have as it relates to suppliers and service providers, the networking that goes on there is just top notch and you're not going to find it anywhere else. And that's not hyperbole. That's the truth. I mean, if you're thinking about, oh, well, I can get it from this conference or that event or so on and so forth, you really can't. And so that's why I'm urging folks to not have FOMO, to get your tickets now, to register. If you have any questions about the event, you're like, oh, you know, am I going to be able to meet this person or meet that person? Is it going to be worth my time or money? And you still have questions, Just Ask. We're here to answer those questions for you. And there's also plenty of information online, but time is running out. You got to make your plans. You gotta get on that flight in some cases, you gotta get on that train, car, what have you, but you gotta get your tickets for Nosh Live, BivNet Live, and Abu Ruban Live.
[00:05:50] Jacqui Brugliera: I was talking to Stu from Minor Figures who's coming over from London, can't wait to see him. Now, this is the UK London, or is this the one in Poland? And he was Just Ask me about what's can't miss at BevNetLive. And so I was trying to help him curate the experience. And if you're thinking about innovation, like that conversation should come to you. We have it set up so that we're always talking about innovation. There are investors everywhere. There are people who can talk to you about your growth plans and help you, you know, solve messaging issues that you have.
[00:06:24] John Craven: I bet there's a lot of people like Stu that's trying to plan their experience, figure out what content they want to sit in on, who they want to meet. Everything is on the event website. So I suggest everyone go check out the agenda. pin which agenda items they want to go see. And then also take a look at the attendee list. There's over a thousand people that will be there across all three events from the CPG space. And all of the companies that will be there are on our website. So there is an attendee list and that's getting updated every day. So go there, plan who you want to talk to and be, you know, strategic about it. And yeah, plan for your 2025 with the resources that these events will provide.
[00:07:07] Ray Latif: Over a thousand people already registered across The Free events. I am excited to see that number continue to grow. That number should grow with anyone who's listening and hasn't already registered for the events. I have a feeling we're going to hear about the opportunities for beverage alcohol brands because that is part of the agenda at BevNET and then obviously at Brewbound as well. It's funny how we follow the agenda, isn't it? And what's going to be interesting is to hear people's perspective on the opportunity created by declining wine consumption. Now it's been reported pretty often out there about how people are drinking less wine according to Google, global wine consumption is down about 12% from its peak in 2007. That's quite a bit of wine.
[00:07:58] Jacqui Brugliera: I saw something I never thought I would see, which was John Craven consuming a Proxies and enjoying it.
[00:08:03] Ray Latif: Well, Proxies are delicious.
[00:08:05] Jacqui Brugliera: They make amazing products. I'm not saying Proxies isn't delicious, but John Craven is a known wine drinker. Yes. Also, to be fair, I mean, the sparkling ones have been solid. Charlie Friedman from Proxies sent me their latest white, which is Not sparkling, it's still phenomenal stuff. It is phenomenal stuff. And it's a great substitute for, for a wine drinker or, you know, someone who Just Ask like me, sober, curious, and wants that kind of adult, you know, that adult experience.
[00:08:34] Ray Latif: For sure.
[00:08:35] Jacqui Brugliera: Wine's a good example of like the ebbs and flows of beverage taste too. I mean, if you look back to when it was peak wine, like what else was out there? I mean, beer and RTDs and cocktails can make up all these new things, but like, Wine's kind of just wine. Like, they can't just, like, make up new grapes or, like, throw some hops in or something, so... I don't know. I guess all I'm trying to say is anyone who's calling Doomsday on it, you know, it's a beverage that's been around for forever.
[00:09:05] Ray Latif: I don't think people are calling Doomsday on it. I think there is... Some people are. Well, I think there is a lot of wine that is being thrown out. There are grapes that are going unused because people are drinking less wine. Sure. But I'd read back in the day that in the 70s, wine, particularly in the United States, was presented as a very sophisticated beverage. And a lot of people who might have been into the beverage kind of tuned out because they thought, oh, it's not for me. And so I got an email a couple of days ago about, this is kind of interesting, Pizza Hut. Stay with me, folks. Pizza Hut. How did we get here? Okay, the first line is Pizza Hut is stepping into the wine business by launching a pizza wine, a unique limited edition tomato wine that captures the essence of your favorite slice in every sip. So okay, pizza and wine, good combo. But I was so ready to hate on this, but then I was thinking to myself, okay, what's an easy way, what's like an entry-level training wheels way to get people who may not have consumed wine in the past possibly to get into the beverage via this route? That ain't it.
[00:10:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Okay, maybe it's not. I mean, it's like when faux craft beer came out and people thought it would maybe make people into craft beer and it just made a lot of consumers go, I don't like craft beer because I had X and it sucked.
[00:10:32] John Craven: So is it purely like created from tomatoes or is there any actual wine with a hint of tomato? Like what is it?
[00:10:40] Ray Latif: So it says that the wine was made in partnership with Kansas-based Irvine's Just Beyond Paradise Winery, which is a family-owned winery, our vineyard. The wine offers an aromatic blend of fresh herbs and spices with rich sun-ripened tomato notes and a subtle hint of toasted oak, reminiscent of a perfectly baked Pizza Hut. Sounds like it should be positioned as a Bloody Mary not a wine But hey whatever the last line is while crafted from tomatoes the wine delivers a tasting similar to a white wine when enjoyed chilled So it's a limited-edition gift set includes the bottle of the Pizza Hut's new wine to pizza branding glasses the wine opener So no pizza. No you you can buy the pizza.
[00:11:22] John Craven: I don't think you need the pizza if you're drinking liquid pizza I
[00:11:24] Jacqui Brugliera: It's like where's the nearest Pizza Hut do we even have one?
[00:11:27] John Craven: Yeah, there's one in Dorchester. Dorchester. Dorchester.
[00:11:29] Ray Latif: There's one in Everett. Yeah, okay, so I can understand where everyone's coming from because this is originally where I was coming from but once again I think maybe people just need a starting point and maybe tomato wine isn't the best starting point But at least it opens the door to a new way of consuming.
[00:11:46] Jacqui Brugliera: We have to try this, but here's the question do we actually have to eat at Pizza Hut? I think we can have delivered. The wine? Both, the wine and the pizza. Okay. I want to put this in like a little Venn diagram exercise. Sure, go ahead. Over here is the circle of people who like to try new things and might be into this and the circle of people who go to Pizza Hut and I see no overlap.
[00:12:09] Ray Latif: What about when Pizza Hut has new products that come out like they have cheese and stuff, cheese stuffed crust and stuff like that?
[00:12:15] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, that's just more of the same though. That's like, cool. We know that you put cheese in the crust or you make a dessert pizza or you add even like a 15th kind of meat to one of their pizzas. People will buy that. Back to the Venn diagram. The people who like to try new stuff tried that in 1989 when it came out first time or whenever it was. Which one? For stuffed crust. Okay. Doesn't have like a major innovation.
[00:12:39] Ray Latif: Yeah, I I'm not by the way to be clear. I'm not Advocating for pizza wine, but I am stuffing your face with pizza I am saying pizza wine to me.
[00:12:49] Jacqui Brugliera: It's like a nice red blend that it's Fine that's fine.
[00:12:55] Ray Latif: Yeah, Jackie to help me help me.
[00:12:57] Jacqui Brugliera: No, I got this infant a little bit.
[00:13:00] John Craven: I understand your point Ray, but But I feel like there's other ways that people can consume wine in a more approachable manner. There's canned wine now. There's wine-based cocktails. There's urban wineries that are way more approachable than some snootier wineries and Napa. I think there's just way better ways to go about it than maybe tomato-based wine.
[00:13:23] Ray Latif: This is going to be an interesting topic, or this is an interesting topic. And I wish this news had come out before I interviewed Trey Kennedy. Trey Kennedy, the comedian, the content creator, the influencer, who is also the founder of a new brand called Basic Cellars. So I interviewed Trey last week. His interview is coming to a future episode of Taste Radio. Is he funny? He's funny. Basic Cellars though is intended to be a very approachable easy way for people to consume wine their bottles are 187 milliliters, so it's essentially a single glass of wine. They have a Pinot Noir variety. They have an Italian white variety. Just Ask it easy. You don't have to throw out wine if you just want a bottle on a Tuesday night you have that one glass and that's it.
[00:14:06] Jacqui Brugliera: Not a wicked big Barolo kid.
[00:14:07] Ray Latif: So I think that is a much better way to introduce people to wine and get people interested in wine. But I'm not going to completely hate on pizza wine. That's my point there. Can you maybe bring some Basic Cellars samples over from your house? I think they were sent to us there. They've got to be some here.
[00:14:25] Jacqui Brugliera: I would have seen that their team sample Captain Colin put him right in his gullet trunk along with the Outback Steakhouse press kit we got yesterday.
[00:14:39] Ray Latif: Well, related to wine consumption and declining wine consumption is the rise of alcohol analogs, non-alcoholic spirits, cocktails, what have you. We've tried plenty on this show. We're going to be talking about a lot of those brands and that trend and category at BevNET Live and Brewbound Live as well. And I came across a new campaign launched by a brand called The Free Spirits Company, which is a brand of non-alcoholic spirits. Sounds appropriate. And I interviewed their founder, Mylon Martin, in April of this year. That episode actually came out, I believe was in May. So The Free Spirits Company just launched a new professional hugs brand campaign, and they have partnered with a burlesque dancer, and a self-identified sex worker named Steph Sugar, as well as a comedian-writer Carla Lee to create the campaign, which is, as they describe it, an emphatic, comedic, and tongue-in-cheek clapback to the non-ALC naysayers.
[00:15:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Is a non-alcoholic naysayer just someone who happens to like alcohol? I am not sure.
[00:15:51] Ray Latif: That's, yeah, I guess so. Mylin created the campaign as a response to the sentiment articulated succinctly by one Instagram user who wrote, drinking non-alcoholic spirits, here's to your point, John, drinking non-alcoholic spirits is like hiring a hooker for a hug. That's me melting into my microphone. No point is what they said there. So this is a pretty risque campaign, I would say.
[00:16:17] Jacqui Brugliera: You know, they do have sex workers who will just cuddle with you. You just turned yourself into a meme. You just turned yourself. Please don't edit out the pause. God. Anyway.
[00:16:37] John Craven: Yeah, I mean, I was reading about this, too. And another, I think, quote was, it's like taking a shower, but in a rain jacket. It's like you just like don't get the benefit of whatever you're looking for, I guess, with not elk. But I don't know. I thought it was really funny. And it really got a lot of people's attention, just what they're doing. And it's cool. It's like their own internal creative agency, too. And they brought in these people to create these videos.
[00:17:05] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's really interesting. I saw the YouTube video. It's actually really well produced. It's a pretty sophisticated campaign, actually. And as they note here, you know, historically, not drinking alcohol was seen as strange or as a weakness. In the case of Steph, one of their co-creators here, being a burlesque dancer. She's subject to the same negative reception. She defines her job as sex work and is proud of what she does. She Seen It as an art form. So we see a comment as persistent as the one I just said about hiring a hooker for a hug. We felt compelled to address it head on and explore the topics of sex work and non-alcoholic cocktails with humor and compassion for all. So I get it. It makes sense. I like it. It's very eyeopening. It's risque, but you know what? Sometimes to stand out, you gotta, you gotta do something different. Are you sure you get it? I don't want to repeat what you said earlier because... Why not? I mean, it's true. Okay, stop, stop, please. Oh my gosh.
[00:17:57] Jacqui Brugliera: I have not Seen It YouTube video, but I hope it still explains the product and the merits of said product.
[00:18:05] Ray Latif: They do drink the cocktails in the YouTube video. There's plenty of references and bottles and cans that you can see in the YouTube video. Check it out, folks. You can go to the Drink Free Spirits page on YouTube for yourself. We'll include a link in the show notes. All right, whew, I can't believe I got through that. That was, that was touch and go there for a minute. Watch the video, I'm bright red. Okay, so let's move on to some new products. Safe space. Yeah, safe space. I came across this brand that shockingly I hadn't seen before. And it was in my family's business in West Hartford, Connecticut called Tangiers International. It's actually now in Hartford, Connecticut. I don't know, I should know that, but it's called It's called Lemon Day.
[00:18:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Ray's family moved the business without telling him.
[00:18:55] Ray Latif: No, they did. It's literally right down the street, but it went from West Hartford to Hartford.
[00:18:58] Jacqui Brugliera: It's literally right down the street. Maybe your 14 brothers are renting a bus right now and getting their clubs and bats ready to come after you.
[00:19:06] Ray Latif: They wouldn't do that. They're good guys. This is a brand called Lemon Day and it is an HPP, a high-pressure processed lemonade. It's made with lemon water, electrolytes, probiotics, and this is their strawberry lemonade variety that I have in my hand. It comes in a 16-ounce plastic bottle with a red cap. Some sweetener in there. I see 30 calories or is it just really light? There are 30 calories. There are 5 grams of sugar. It is made with strawberry juice concentrate, fruits and vegetables for color. I don't see any added Sugar all right. There's coconut water powder, so maybe that's well. No zero calorie sweetener no Non-nutritive or artificial sweeteners no so I figured we can all have some Jackie once again. I apologize because I Can't give you any, but let's go here I love lemonade. I always have this conversation with people. Is lemonade a year-round beverage? I think so. I feel like it's something that is nostalgic and homely and makes you feel good.
[00:20:04] Jacqui Brugliera: Is low-sugar lemonade kind of like hiring a... I mean, never mind. Oh boy. I feel like I'm cuddling right now. It's more of like a lemon water.
[00:20:15] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think it's more like a lemon water than lemon. The flavor is described as a strawberry lemonade. Probably would go great with a falafel down at Tangiers. Yeah, yeah, I think so. I can see how some people might just be listening and say, oh, is it like Lemon Perfect? No, it doesn't taste like Lemon Perfect.
[00:20:29] Jacqui Brugliera: It's not like Lemon Perfect at all.
[00:20:30] Ray Latif: It definitely has more of a lemonade vibe than Lemon Perfect for sure.
[00:20:33] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, Lemon Perfect hits you with a lot of lemon. This is... No more reserved.
[00:20:38] Ray Latif: Yeah, yeah prebiotics to a it doesn't have inulin fiber as well good stuff and it is distributed by the folks at rainforest my brothers work with the team at rainforest and I'm shocked that I haven't seen this brand yet until now hmm only five grams of sugar 30 calories not bad indeed well pink salt, too Another beverage flavor that I love in addition to lemonade, fruit punch. Everybody knows I love fruit punch. And Plessy, the Better Sour You kids drink brand, seemingly just launched these new juice boxes. And the two varieties that I saw upstairs were a grape juice variety. Was that grape juice? Blueberry.
[00:21:15] John Craven: I'm sorry. Blueberry.
[00:21:15] Ray Latif: Blueberry. Sorry. And a tropical fruit punch. As noted at the top of the box, that's 75% less sugar than your average leading fruit juices.
[00:21:25] Jacqui Brugliera: I do see why you got confused though, because, um, I'm not sure if it was meant to look purple or if it's a printing issue, but these are great flavor cues. You're talking about the blueberry blast. I am. I'm talking. Well, I'm certainly not talking about fruit punch.
[00:21:38] John Craven: I like that fruit punch is like your favorite, Ray. Like what is fruit punch? I feel like it's like one of those things that it's just like a name, but it's not actually like specified.
[00:21:48] Ray Latif: Right. The flavor of fruit punch is very specific. You know, you're drinking fruit punch. The problem is you also know that you drink fruit punch when it's really sticky and gross and everyone knows the brand I'm talking about.
[00:22:00] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:22:03] Ray Latif: Now no one from Hawaiian Punch is going to come to FedNet Live, Mike. I hope you're happy. But Plessy did a really good job with this. It definitely doesn't taste as sweet as a Hawaiian Punch, but it definitely, the flavor is very reminiscent of that brand. They did a really good job with this. Well done.
[00:22:16] John Craven: Nice. While you're drinking your juice box, I'm planning my, my meals for the day. I have Hodo Soy's new, pretty much just ready to heat meals. So this one's their red curry tofu. And then I also have the Japanese teriyaki tofu. So I believe they just launched these. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited to try these. I don't know why, but tofu intimidates me. Like you gotta like, You know, get the water out of it, like dry it out a little bit, make sure you like coat it in something. So it has some texture. I'm just like, never know what to do with it and just sits in my fridge. So eat it out of the package. Yeah, I guess you could do that too. But sometimes the texture is just like not for me. So I'm really excited about these. Anything they make is delicious. So I bet these are going to be tasty too. And you just got to make some rice and throw some tofu on it. Hardy has the sauce and you're good to go.
[00:23:06] Jacqui Brugliera: The sauce is key for tofu, Jackie. Like that's what will make you like tofu or not like tofu. Because yeah, the texture is weird.
[00:23:13] Ray Latif: Hodo. H-O-D-O. I've never, I haven't seen those. Are they in Whole Foods or where are they?
[00:23:19] John Craven: I don't know. I think they just launched them. So it's just rolling out in retail now.
[00:23:23] Ray Latif: Nice. Nice looking package.
[00:23:24] John Craven: Yeah, yeah, it's pretty clear what you're getting. And then what I ate for breakfast the other day randomly is Scott and John's. They have their frozen meals and really love the packaging, the updated rebranding.
[00:23:40] Jacqui Brugliera: You had shrimp Alfredo for breakfast?
[00:23:43] John Craven: I was desperate. I got Breakfast Shrimp looked in The Free and I was like, oh my goodness. And actually I don't really like breakfast. So this is perfect for me.
[00:23:53] Ray Latif: I'm a little confused. Why were you desperate? What happened?
[00:23:57] John Craven: I just forgot Breakfast Shrimp think it was maybe like a Tuesday morning when I'm trying to get on this like 8am recording. I blame all of you for eating shrimp in the morning.
[00:24:07] Ray Latif: I felt the garlic coming through actually last week and now I know why. Yeah.
[00:24:15] John Craven: Delicious.
[00:24:16] Ray Latif: So something that I definitely would drink for Breakfast Shrimp have for breakfast are brodo broths. And the amazing team behind brodo sent us a ton. Is that what I think it is? It is.
[00:24:29] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes. They sent us a ton of their bone broth. That is a great idea.
[00:24:36] Ray Latif: Brodo started out as a chain of restaurants. They're more like little cafes where they sell bone broth. It was a big craze in New York City some time ago. It's still pretty big in the city. And they have gotten into packaged varieties and they used to sell frozen cups. of their broth at Whole Foods stores and other chains as well. And they have since gone into shelf stable varieties that come in pouches, 8.3 ounce pouches. They are still USC organic and they come in amazing varieties. And Marco Canora, who's the founder and Andrew Garner, who's the CEO of the company, sent us a ton of broth. And I am so grateful. The one I'm holding my hand right now is their Tom Yum. Coconut curry in lime chicken bone broth variety. They even sent us cups. The brodo cups that are ubiquitous throughout New York City that, you know, if you see people sipping out of one of these brodo cups, you know they're drinking something healthy and delicious.
[00:25:32] Jacqui Brugliera: The words are so good on front of pack here. Tom Yum, coconut, curry, and lime. I mean, this is awesome. Brodo, chicken bone broth, Tom Yum, coconut, curry, and lime. The packaging is stunning. It is. This is an awesome idea. So all you have to do is heat the broth. It's mug ready. It's soup ready. And it is recipe ready.
[00:25:54] Ray Latif: And it is Ray ready. You just have to heat up the broth. You can do it in a pot or in the microwave for about 60 to 90 seconds. And you can just put in a cup, one of these cups. I love in particular their spicy nonna, which is their chicken bone broth. That's made with roasted garlic and chili. This variety will save your life. I mean, especially come in the winter season. I'm going to bring these to BevNET Live and Nosh Live actually and Brewbond because these are delicious. And if you're wondering, each of them have 10 grams of protein per pouch. So 50 calories, 10 grams of protein. They taste amazing. Actually, I'm going to store some of these too, because they have a really good expiration date too. So in case anything happens, you never know.
[00:26:35] Jacqui Brugliera: The words on the pack, the ingredient label is phenomenal. There's so many good words on here. Yes.
[00:26:42] Ray Latif: No, there's okay, there's plenty more more spicy. Well, I'll share I'll share more later on there's the variety right you got come on, right? I've got mushroom. I've got to be rooted up here I've got Tuscan Sun hearth and the original chicken. No, I'm not sharing anymore. That's that's I a mushroom I'll show them after the show. Geez. There's like we gotta go.
[00:27:02] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't trust you great. There's eight weeks of brodo there. Oh
[00:27:06] Ray Latif: I'm not sharing. We're in the middle of recording here.
[00:27:08] Jacqui Brugliera: We're taking up too much time.
[00:27:09] John Craven: This is the only way we can get you to share. Like now, right now is your chance.
[00:27:14] Jacqui Brugliera: Right now. When a camera is pointed at you, otherwise you're like, there's proof. Back off.
[00:27:19] Ray Latif: That's how you know the product is good. When I'm getting harassed to hand out product mid-show.
[00:27:24] Jacqui Brugliera: That's how you know the product's really good.
[00:27:25] Ray Latif: Mid-show product harassment. Yes. I sat down with Marco and Andrew, it was February 13th, I believe, or February 14th, I remember this distinctly, 2020. It was one of the last live interviews I did before the pandemic started. And if you want to hear more about their story, go to tastereader.com, search for Brodo, B-R-O-D-O. But I have a strong feeling that I'm going to be sitting down with Marco and Andrew in the pretty near future as well. All right, it's time to get to our featured interview for this episode. As I mentioned at the top of the show, Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou are the co-founders of sour candy startup, Better Sour. Launched in 2023, the certified women-owned brand markets low-sugar gummies made with globally inspired tart fruit flavors. Better Sour products will be available in over 3,000 retail locations by the end of the year, including those of Sprouts and Publix. The brand recently introduced a new passion fruit flavor that was developed in collaboration with Disney to celebrate the release of its highly anticipated animated film, Moana 2. The package features the movie logo and its lead characters, as well as a refreshed look for the Better Sour brand. In the following interview, I spoke with Bella and Semira about their backstory as friends and founders and the genesis of Better Sour, the brand's growth strategy, and how it's positioned to appeal to modern consumers. They also discussed the company's partnership with Disney and how they prepared for the rollout of the new flavor, and how they're maintaining Better Sour's focus and trajectory amid a wave of new opportunities for the brand. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou of Better Sour. Bella, great to see you.
[00:29:20] Mike Schneider: Wonderful to be here.
[00:29:21] Ray Latif: Yeah. Samira, how are you?
[00:29:23] Mike Schneider: Great that I'm here. Lovely to see you, Ray.
[00:29:26] Ray Latif: You as well. And here is in Austin, Texas, where you're both based. You've been on the road quite a bit of late. We're recording this on November 5th. So that means we're Just Ask few days removed from Halloween. And from what I understand, you both had a very eventful Halloween. Bella, where were you guys?
[00:29:47] Pizza Hut: We actually spent the day before Halloween in our nation's capital doing something we probably never thought was possible.
[00:29:55] Mike Schneider: Yeah, we were at the White House. We had this amazing opportunity through the National Confectioners Association, which is a trade association we belong to and highly recommend to anyone who's in confectionery. to share our candy with the folks at the White House who had organized a Hello Read, which was a fantastic event full of candy, kids, all the different departments and agencies handing out unique stuff. And we got to be the global flavors, low sugar vegan option. So we had a fantastic time with our families there.
[00:30:34] Pizza Hut: They were giving these two out. So Halloween was like our favorite holiday growing up besides Iranian New Year, Nowruz. I think Nowruz and Halloween we trick-or-treated embarrassingly until we were 18. So we were there with our kids and our husbands. It was pretty amazing.
[00:30:49] Ray Latif: Well, very exciting. That sounds like it was an amazing event. Better Sour, just in 18 months, one of the most exciting brands that I can think of in the food industry. I know there are plenty of people who know about you, but just for some context, Bella, talk about the origins of Better Sour. I know so much of it is steeped in your friendship with Samira, but talk about how it started and why you thought there was an opportunity for a Better Sour You gummy.
[00:31:17] Pizza Hut: Yeah, well I'll have to say being a repeat CPG founder, a lot of people know me from Chaka Tea, but before that I actually had a failed ice cream company called Liz Etley. Third time's a charm and I'm having the most fun because I'm working with my lifelong best friend who also happens to be brilliant. And Better Sour really is a reflection of our love of all things sour. We're daughters of Iranian immigrants, We were born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands. We met when we were a year old. And what's really, really central to our palate and really, really big in Iranian cuisine, but then again, being born and raised in Hawaii, where a lot of our palate comes from sort of that Asia Pacific fruit palate, is tart. And it's really enjoying and appreciating fruits in The Free form as well as the dried form. We saw the rise in global flavors, they're really making headway in nearly every category, but when you get to one of our favorite categories which is gummy candy where Millennials and Gen Z are really driving that category growth, there's not a lot going on in the global flavors and there's not a lot going on in South gummy candy. It tends to be the same Western-centric flavors. So we really wanted to really share our story. It started with just these two bags of candy. The Free bag is a nod to flavors from Hawaii. The pink bag is a nod to flavors from the Middle East. We launched in market in May of 2023. We were originally sold in nine Erewhon doors. ended last year in just 100 doors, and it's been incredible. We'll end this year, December, in around 3,000 doors.
[00:33:00] Ray Latif: Outstanding. And Samira, you know, Bella outlined an opportunity to reach a large number of consumers. When we talk to early stage brands, the guidance is always inch wide, mile deep, but it seems like the opportunity you have with Better Sour to go pretty broad, pretty quickly is out there. How do you think about those opportunities and your growth strategy in general, you know, so that you're not going too far too fast, but still pressing on the gas?
[00:33:28] Mike Schneider: Yeah, that's a good question. And we certainly had that approach, the inch-wide, mile-deep approach early on, but then soon realized Just Ask within launching or having our debut at Expo West 2023 that this brand was going to be a lot bigger and move a lot faster than we anticipated. Just being there at the right time, hitting on that global flavors trend that had been missing in candy, Our theory had seemed to be panning out where we found something really special and something where consumers were actively seeking. So this has Seen It's honestly, it's been a challenge we've been navigating because when we have so many opportunities available, but still access capital and having to use it efficiently, and we have a small but mighty team making sure everyone, they have a lot on their plate, but they're not overstretched, it is. constant kind of negotiation and analysis, we have to do to ensure we are saying yes to the right opportunities and being brave enough to say no when it's just not the right time. This is a constant analysis Bella and Semira have to do because We do have many opportunities available and ensuring we are launching with the right partners at the right time and not expanding too quickly. I mean, we are heavily retail focused. We are not a DTC brand, so our resources and energies are focused there. We are also available on Amazon, but retail is where our energy and focus really lies.
[00:35:02] Pizza Hut: It's such a good point. We've had a lot of distraction. Everybody wanted us to launch G2C. We will not say what specific channels, but we have been heavily courted and we could have totally been distracted and pivoted. But to Samira's point, like really staying focused in the inch wide, mile deep more on the retail angle and only Amazon has been very key, I think.
[00:35:25] Ray Latif: Yeah. And I think the partnerships that you have and that the ones that I've seen for Better Sour have been really intelligent decisions on your part. How do you think about alignment with mission and values when it comes to those partnerships? Because I'm going to talk about one of the biggest ones momentarily, but, you know, people will probably send you an email or give you a phone call every single day saying, Hey, I want to be in business with Better Sour. How do you know when they are aligned with your mission and values?
[00:35:56] Pizza Hut: I think Samira, you and I talk a lot about wanting to prove out that global flavors are for everyone. I mean, for Samira and I, we've had the great fortune being born and raised in Hawaii, but we've lived all over the world, all over the United States. And we don't believe that healthy, premium, low-sugar, vegan gummies with nothing artificial in these global flavors are only for premium markets. We also believe that these can work in the middle of the country. They can work in MULO, not just the more upmarket channels. So I think, Samira, that's something we've been very conscious of, of wanting to build that data story and serve a broad audience.
[00:36:37] Mike Schneider: Yeah, and to add on top of that and to answer your question, Ray, value alignment is very important. So much of our brand and basis is based on the values and the things Bella and Semira believe in, the commitment to joy, inclusivity, global flavors, adventure. So also ensuring the partners that we find have the same excitement around these values and elements that we have is very important to us.
[00:37:06] Ray Latif: Well, I think you found a dynamite partner in Disney and in particular Moana, their Moana franchise. This partnership between Better Sour and Moana 2 is pretty sensational. Bella, talk about how this came together. Talk about just your first contact with Disney and how you were both aligned on this co-branded product, which I have in my hand, which I haven't opened yet and I've been holding off. Cause I wanted to keep it sealed until I talked to you guys, but I'm going to rip this open as soon as we're done with this interview.
[00:37:41] Pizza Hut: Oh, wow. Well, this is very exciting to see you holding it. Um, we just launched, you know, we're in sprouts nationwide rolling out right now. So I can't wait for everybody to try this product ahead of the film launching November 27th in theaters. But for Samara and I, this was really just such an incredible fit. being born and raised in Hawaii, Moana, having the tie to the Pacific, and, you know, being a strong female character, and us being a WBNC-certified women-owned minority business, and us being originally born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands, there was just innately an obvious cultural fit. My kids are 9 and 11, so with Moana, the original film that, like, I think I know all the songs by heart, that is one of my family's personal favorites, But it was really serendipitous. We met some incredible folks from Disney at a trade show and we just kind of took it from there and it's a perfect cultural fit and alignment for our women owned business.
[00:38:44] Mike Schneider: Yeah, and I would just add that this was a great example of. you know, combination of luck, being at the right place and the right time and being able to jump at an opportunity like this when it presented itself. We weren't expecting to have access to this kind of a partnership this early on in our brand career, but when it presented itself and given the alignment between who we are as a brand and Moana, the franchise, we were in a position that we were able to take advantage of that and bring it to fruition.
[00:39:21] Ray Latif: I imagine even if you wanted to turn it down, you couldn't because it's just too great of an opportunity. But when the right place, right time comes about, you still have to be buttoned up. I would think that Disney wants all their partners to be ready for a seamless rollout, not have any problems or as few problems as possible with the rollout. How are you buttoned up in that regard? How do you make sure that you could say, yes, we've got our flavor drill in right. We've got our label design, correct. We've got the lead time for production and the rollout itself. There's so many moving parts. How do you make sure that everything is running or should be running the way it's supposed to be?
[00:40:03] Mike Schneider: Again, this is the situation where luck played a great timing and luck played a really important role and having that hustle and hard work as well. We were already planning to release a passion fruit flavor this year. It is such an iconic, beloved fruit in Hawaii. A lot of people have it in their backyards. My parents have a trellis. So we were already planning to do this we were already planning you're thinking about kind of our branding we're working with great designers at our VH studio. And so we had our, our team ready even though we are very small team. We had access to these outside partners already who we had retained and kind of established relationships with. So when the opportunity presented itself, we were ready to hit go. Of course, it's a lot of work. With any new product launch, a lot of work and planning goes into it and add on top of that a major collaboration like this. But we had all the elements, you know, to allow us to be ready to go when the time was right.
[00:41:10] Ray Latif: Now this product, as you mentioned, is already in Sprouts. It's the exclusive retail partner for this product. And as I understand, Better Sour did a test at the retailer, which went quite well. And I know there are listeners right now who want to get into Sprouts and want to do well on that chain. First of all, how do you ensure that once you are there, that that test does well? and that you work together well as brand and retailer going forward on products and launches like this?
[00:41:47] Pizza Hut: Well, Sprouts has been such an amazing partner for Samira and I, you know, we launched at the beginning of this year with our initial two SKUs in the innovation test. And we really, that was Just Ask test and we did extremely well. And we were thrilled to learn that due to the performance, we were going to be made a permanent item that just started rolling out in October. And you're talking about two best friends, 37 years of friendship. So we're very loyal people. We immediately, once we knew we had this collaboration with Disney on our new Moana 2 SKU, of course went to Sprouts and brought it to them and offered them to be our natural channel national exclusive partner for the launch in 2024 to really honor just them giving us the shot nationwide with our initial two SKUs. So you can find it now in the candy set in the foraging table. They're also getting shippers right around when the movie opens on November 27th. And you know to us loyalty and just seeing how we as a brand can be of service is everything and Just Ask huge shout out to their team. I mean, to Brody, Burke, you know, who's out there and, you know, Madison, amazing people. And these are, these are, you know, the buyers at Sprouts, the buyers at any retailer. These are the folks that make entrepreneur dreams come true.
[00:43:10] Ray Latif: Now Sprouts is the natural channel retailer, exclusive partner for this product, the Moana 2 product. But as I understand it, it's going to be available in a lot of other stores as well.
[00:43:22] Mike Schneider: Exactly. For example, we are launching it in our home state of Hawaii, which we're very excited about. We will be at Foodland, 7-Eleven, Long's Drugs, which is CVS, and in the coming weeks, we'll be available on Hawaiian Airlines, who will be our exclusive airline provider for this SKU.
[00:43:42] Ray Latif: I'm a customer and I think about this brand as being a mature kind of candy. And then when I see the Moana 2 product, I think, Oh, you know, you could skew younger to younger consumers. How did you, or what did you learn about who's buying your product and who's eating it?
[00:43:58] Mike Schneider: You're right. I mean, our product generally, I mean, our target market are Gen Z and millennials, but Bell and I both being parents and doing over a hundred demos each being very handsy and, you know, in terms of checking with our customers and understanding the market have learned that kids also love it too. So Moana has just been an additional opportunity to ensure that families become aware of us. So parents may get it and enjoy it, but their kids also will have a healthier candy option and seem to love it as well. Bella can tell you, you know, her son has been very popular in school trading Better Sour for all kinds of contraband food and drink items.
[00:44:43] Pizza Hut: that our more natural skewing family does not buy on a regular basis. But I think for Samira and I doing all these demos, like she said, we're super handsy founders. And my kids do demos as well with us, because they're older than her daughter. But one of her favorite demographics, and especially on the weekends, grocery shopping tends to be such a communal family event. Our favorite demographic is when we see families, because that is the best. The kids always get the parents over, and when the parents see, oh, this candy is lower sugar, then the kids love it, then they pick up a couple bags.
[00:45:17] Ray Latif: I am Just Ask thrilled for both of you. I remember when The Free of us were chatting at an Expo East about two or three years ago, and you were hinting at this new brand that you were creating, and there was a lot of secrecy about it, but you said, it's going to be really cool. And you are right. Better Sour is a phenomenal brand. I'm so excited for the Moana 2 collaboration. I'm so excited for the future of what you're doing. I mean, 2025 is right around the corner and I can't wait to see what you guys have in store.
[00:45:51] Mike Schneider: Thank you. Thank you. You've always been such a supporter, Ray, and we're truly grateful to you.
[00:45:59] Ray Latif: That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just Ask 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.
[00:46:50] Bella Hughes: you
