[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, friends, and thanks for tuning into 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 I'm with my co-host for this episode, John Craven and Jacqui Brugliera. John is in the WCB, the West Coast branch, sitting right next to Jacqui in the studio in San Diego. Good to see you both there.
[00:00:37] John Craven: Yeah, I feel like some people still don't realize that I'm always remotely recording in, but now they can see.
[00:00:44] Ray Latif: Jacqui's real. I'm real. Not just AI. You guys have a better table than we do. You have the Taste Radio logo table. You have some nice, comfortable, white leather chairs that you're swinging back and forth on. We don't have that here.
[00:01:00] John Craven: We have this, but you have all that cool stuff behind you.
[00:01:03] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes, we do. The way you talked about the Taste Radio table, I was expecting the, you know, Merch Lincoln bio sort of... We should start selling tables.
[00:01:10] Ray Latif: Just tables, yeah. If a single person wants to buy a table, the Taste Radio table, just email us at askatasteradio.com. We'll make that happen for you. It's a fine IKEA table with a sticker on top.
[00:01:21] John Craven: Yeah, we can recreate this it looks really good.
[00:01:24] Ray Latif: Yeah, Mike is in someplace called Marion Marion. What Marion, Georgia, New Hampshire? I don't know County is that what it ends in like lockup.
[00:01:32] SPEAKER_??: Oh
[00:01:34] John Craven: He's always locked up when he's not recording.
[00:01:36] Ray Latif: Exactly. We're always talking about how Mike is in prison. He did something wrong and he's in this, he's in the slammer every time he's not here. And then he comes back. He's like, I wasn't actually in jail guys, you know? And then he's, yeah. So.
[00:01:47] John Craven: He's got to clear the record.
[00:01:48] Ray Latif: Yeah, he really does. Well, I'm all alone. I can't ever recall being alone in the studio recording a banter session. So this is a new thing for me. Luckily, I'm surrounded by some good products that I want to highlight a bit later on, but we got to start the show by talking about one of the weirdest things that has come out of CPG in some time. It's the July surprise. You know how they talk about in politics the October surprise, right, just before the election? Sure. This is the July surprise I don't think anyone saw coming. All right, you ready for this? Peter Rahal, who is the co-founder of RxBar. RxBar, very famous for being sold to Kellogg's for about $600 million. I think it was exactly $600 million. As we know, RxBar, a platform brand of protein snacks. Peter Rahal launched David last year. David If you recall, is a brand of rigorously perfected protein bars that was launched in 2024. Each bar contains 28 grams of protein, 150 calories, and zero grams of sugar described as containing the most protein per calorie of any brand in the bar category. All right. So yesterday David launched, quote unquote, launched Raw Cod. So they have a new product. which is raw frozen cod that they're selling direct to consumer described as slightly more protein per calorie than a David bar. And they noted that we're committed to high protein, so we're selling it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's real. I mean, look, there are plenty of people who eat boiled cod and this is what you do with it. It comes in a vacuum sealed pack. I assume you sous vide cook it, just throw in some boiling water and you've got your raw cod. I think all this is...
[00:03:38] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, you can do a lot more with cod.
[00:03:40] Ray Latif: Yeah, yeah. Just want to be clear. Yeah. This is clearly, in my opinion, this is clearly throwing shade at people who have criticized David as an overly processed protein bar that's made with artificial sweeteners, which it is.
[00:03:54] Jacqui Brugliera: Or they were responding to customer feedback. Maybe they had negative reviews that were like, David bar tastes terrible with, in fish and chips or in tacos.
[00:04:03] Ray Latif: I mean, it's possible. It's possible that with some of the feedback that came out, I would doubt it, but it's possible. I mean, no, I think this is definitely a response to criticisms of processed food and where you can get the most protein in your food from. David was created for people to get a lot of protein in a small amount of food with very little calories and no sugar. And I think they thought about this bar as solving a problem for a lot of people who just wanted the protein, but wanted no sugar and very few calories. And yes, you can get that from boiled cod, but boiled cod, I think what David is trying to say, doesn't taste as good as a David bar.
[00:04:55] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. I mean, cod's a component in food generally, or in a dish, as opposed to like, I don't know, who's eating boiled cod, really? I mean, not most people. Bodybuilders? Yeah, like I said, not most people. Yeah. Right? So, and I'd venture to guess that the people consuming David bars are not just bodybuilders. They're just normal people.
[00:05:17] Ray Latif: But are those who eat boiled cod just bodybuilders? That might have been true like 20 years ago. I think nowadays you might see a lot more people who are fitness oriented looking to eat as much protein as they can or should. I'm just literally talking about the boiled part. That's all.
[00:05:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Because that's like the worst way to prepare this. Yeah. That's all.
[00:05:37] John Craven: But I think like what they're trying to do is you look at the packaging and the nutrition facts are very similar to what a David bar has. So like they're trying to keep it very minimal and be like, OK, well, you're calling us out for having processed things in our bar. Well, how about you just boil because that's the least processed way of cooking this thing and it's not going to be tasty. But yeah, I thought it was really interesting because it's just cod, like it's not even like cooked. It takes multiple steps to prepare it.
[00:06:08] Ray Latif: Well, I think that's the point, right? Yeah. You have the convenience and flavor of a protein bar or, you know, protein that is going to give you exactly what you're getting out of cod. but you don't have to have it defrosted. You don't have to cook it. Obviously you don't need to add anything to a David protein. I assume maybe people add a pinch of salt like they would to some cod, but I don't think so. It's very much, I think, just a little bit of an F you to folks that have criticized David. Maybe they'll sell a good amount of this stuff. I sincerely doubt it. Maybe it will become part of the David portfolio.
[00:06:52] Jacqui Brugliera: In all seriousness though, I do think the packaging that they created for the COD, which is just kind of this super clean white with the David logo, I actually kind of like that design approach better than the current kind of gold David Barr package.
[00:07:10] Ray Latif: Maybe they'll switch to that, but I also think there's a little bit of irony in that in that clean white package, which actually looks sort of reminiscent of a cardboard package for tinned fish. It does or would seem to represent a cleaner product, cleaner ingredient product than the David Bars themselves, so. And to your point, Jacqui, I think if you look at the Nutrition Facts label on a David bar, yes, the amount of protein is similar to what you would get in Cod. But if you actually look at the ingredients, I think that's where people are criticizing the brand. And the brand has also been criticized and certainly drawn the ire of some food brands because last month or two months ago, David acquired ingredient supplier, Epogee. Epogee is the sole supplier of EPG, which is a patented fat replacement, which is the key ingredient in David Bars. It claims to lower calories from fat by 92 percent, EPG that is. So there are some brands that are suing David, claiming that it has unlawfully cornered the market by acquiring the maker of EPG. So perhaps it's also one of those hey, fine, we don't have to make protein bars. You know, we'll just make raw cotton. We'll still sell more products than all of you guys combined. So who knows? I think there was a bit of tongue in cheek response to all this from Peter Rahal. And, you know, he said in a Nosh article that actually covered this yesterday that, you know, maybe this is something that'll live in the David portfolio. You know, they're looking at product market fit is what he said. So, Who knows? It is regardless something that people have been talking about quite a bit on LinkedIn and Instagram and what have you. And it's certainly an interesting response to any kind of criticism that's come David's way.
[00:09:05] John Craven: Yeah. It's almost like the liquid death playbook, like something that's shocking and awing and confusing people. And it's making people talk about it. So I think it's doing what they want.
[00:09:18] Ray Latif: Here we are talking about exactly. Yes. Well, people are talking about the David Frozen Cod. People are also talking about Taste Radio's upcoming meetups. Our next one in Chicago is going to be held on August 14th. at Host Cocktails event space in the Pilsen neighborhood of this city. We are very excited. People are signing up left and right. If you want to join us in Chicago, head to Taste Radio slash Chicago and you can be part of the event. It is free to attend. We're going to have networking, live podcast interviews, food, drink of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety. It's a can't miss event, 5 to 7 p.m. in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. We definitely want to see you there. Bring your friends, bring your products if you're a founder, because it is going to be the highlight of the summer. After that, In California, we will be visiting the WCB, or I'll be visiting the WCB. Jacqui will already be there. I'm coming too. Yeah, John's going to be there. Mike's going to be there.
[00:10:23] John Craven: Welcome, y'all.
[00:10:24] Ray Latif: Exactly. September 16th, also 5 to 7 p.m. at BevNET. It's not HQ, it's WCB. WCB, West Coast Branch. West Coast Branch in San Diego. And then in San Francisco, two days later, September 18th, we're going to be there. All the details, Taste Radio slash San Diego, Taste Radio slash San Francisco, and then rounding out the Meetup series this year. London on October 2nd at the offices of the brand known as Drip. We are very, very excited to be back there. I like how London gets a special voice. London. That's good. London. Taste Radio slash London if you're listening. Sounds so serious. Register. Register for the event. Yeah.
[00:11:11] John Craven: You need a top hat. What?
[00:11:13] Ray Latif: Is that what they do in London? They wear top hats?
[00:11:17] John Craven: That's what I'm envisioning.
[00:11:18] Ray Latif: That's a different era. That's a different blast to use current terminology.
[00:11:22] Jacqui Brugliera: I can see Ray and Mike in top hats. 100%.
[00:11:25] John Craven: Yeah, we should make that happen for the meetup.
[00:11:26] Jacqui Brugliera: Different kind. Yours would be more serious and formal and Mike's would be like a, I don't know. Dr. Seuss kind of cat in the hat.
[00:11:34] John Craven: I see an AI video incoming soon.
[00:11:36] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, we've got some, we've got some good ones.
[00:11:38] Ray Latif: Don't worry. I'm definitely going to wear a top hat, pull up to trip headquarters in a penny farthing. It's that bicycle with a huge wheel in the front and a small one in the back. A monocle. Definitely a monocle. I've got to have that. I'm going full Monopoly man. That's what I'm doing. Yeah. All right. Remember last week when we talked about trends and products that have quote unquote, jumped the shark to those kids today that don't know what that means. It means it's past its prime. Yes. Yes. Let's add espresso martinis to that list. At least in RTD form. Now, espresso martini is still very hot in bars. Every other bar I go to, no matter what temperature it is, it could be a hundred degrees. It could be two degrees. People are drinking espresso martinis, but the freaking stuff in the cans, we got to stop with this. Just too much. We're saturated. You go into our alcohol or beverage alcohol fridge, it's just all espresso martinis. No stain on brands that are doing it. But I mean, like new brands that are coming into the market. Good God, man, you're not going to find much of an audience. This is too much. It's too much already out there. I say this because some dude, who I don't know, his name is Justin Glaze. Is that his real name? Justin Glaze, who is a star on a TV show called Bachelor in Paradise, has introduced his own, guess what? Espresso Martini RTD. Good for you, buddy. All right.
[00:12:56] John Craven: First of all, I don't even... So much hate.
[00:12:58] Ray Latif: Cheese guy. Well, okay, number one, Bachelor in Paradise sounds like a show that I would never in a million years watch. Second of all, Justin Glaze sounds, I'm just going to call it, he sounds like a porn star. And third of all, of all the things you could come out with, an espresso martini? Really? Original thought? I don't think so. Jacqui, what the hell's going on here?
[00:13:20] John Craven: It's not original, but he does have a loyal following probably on Instagram. There are the people that watch Bachelor in Paradise all the time, and he's selling it online. So maybe he's just like, I got to give my people what they want, and they want an espresso martini, and that's what he's focused on.
[00:13:40] Ray Latif: Okay. He has a lot of Instagram followers, but it's not like an overwhelming number. He's got 165,000 according to his account here. And you know, there's probably like half of those are bought. I'm really hating on this guy. Sorry.
[00:13:53] John Craven: You know, celebrities are coming out with all of their different alcohol brands, RTD cocktails. And he's like, you know, I want to be that level of celebrity and I'm gonna Launch my own.
[00:14:05] Ray Latif: I mean, this is like celebrity tequila, celebrity espresso martini. I mean, just you got to stop. And here's this post on this from February 7th. I guess he launched it a while ago and we just covered it. I don't know. So excited to finally introduce, it's called Love Potion. This is very, this is sounding very porn star-ish. Okay. His damn name is Justin Glaze. The brand is called Love Potion. He says, for the past three, four years, I've traveled around the world searching for the best espresso martini in every city I could. I wanted to have that same behind the bar experience in RTD form. When I couldn't find one on the market that I liked, I started to start the journey of developing my own. What copywriter wrote all this? I don't know. I couldn't be happier with this launch of this brand. I can't wait for you all to try it. I don't know, John, look, you know, you want to drag me into this? All the data we've seen, all the trend reports that have come out, and you can get those if you're an insider, BevNET.com slash insider, Nosh.com slash insider, have showed and told us that RTD cocktails are on the rise. People love them for their convenience and their affordability as compared to going to a bar. But the fact of the matter is that I think this is the wrong product at the Wrong Time. I don't know.
[00:15:28] Jacqui Brugliera: Agree to disagree. I mean, first of all, I think you could literally for pretty much any product that launches come up with an angle for being the wrong product at the Wrong Time. I don't know. I mean, there's obviously always a lot of folks who are looking inward at CBG thinking that it's going to be easy or that the path to success is having the world's best of whatever. And it just doesn't work that way as anyone in the industry knows. So, you know, is there some niche that this brand could carve? I mean, maybe, who knows? Do we need more espresso martinis? Does the consumer want more? Probably not. So I think that part of it's, I don't disagree with, it's always hard to guess why someone's starting a brand too.
[00:16:18] Ray Latif: Yeah, I mean, I'll give him credit because the espresso martini, which comes in 200 milliliter cans, is crafted with La Colombe espresso. So, I mean, there's that. And our very own Ferron Salniker, who is BevNET's spirits editor, penned this story. She actually talked to Mr. Glaze himself. He, I don't know. I wonder how you tell this story. How do you tell the story without Love Potion? Right. Cause that's the key. You got to know Love Potion. You got to know glaze and otherwise, like why are you buying this stuff? Yeah.
[00:16:50] Jacqui Brugliera: But I mean, we all know, like telling the story is just part of it. It is like, how are you going to execute? And you know, that's always sort of the, the variable that's really hard to guess when someone's launching, you know, are they going to be someone who's just. aggressive, doesn't give up and just, you know, figures out how to make their brand work or not. And I think part of your bias on this, I'm guessing, is that we've seen a lot of celebrity brands over the years, ranging from A-list celebrities all the way down the line, where they're just kind of slapping their name on something and not really caring about execution. They're thinking like the consumer is just going to flock to them. Right. And again, that part we generally know like does not happen.
[00:17:35] Ray Latif: Yeah, I would say so. This is being sold direct to consumer though. So in retail, different story, you know, execution, a very different kind of business.
[00:17:42] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, I'm sure that's a temporary approach. Like that's not a workable approach for Bev Alk just to be DTC.
[00:17:48] Ray Latif: No, no. But again, I think he's trying to get the word out, trying to get the hype going about this brand direct to consumer. And then hoping, I think that he'll find some traction at retail.
[00:17:59] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I mean, that in itself is a tough strategy, you know, build hype and then consumers can only buy it from you, like is a pretty long road for beverage of any kind.
[00:18:10] Ray Latif: There you go. I like that you pulled this back and offered some lessons, whereas I was just ranting and raving and going crazy.
[00:18:18] Jacqui Brugliera: Sometimes my job on here is just to make some sort of, it's like someone's hurled a pile of garbage at me.
[00:18:26] Ray Latif: So. Well, and to throw shade at Mike and create interesting and creative AI videos of him doing strange things. No comment. But check out his Instagram. Yeah, poor Mike can't defend himself. No. Yes, yes. All right. I gotta talk about this pretty cool initiative, marketing initiative that I saw. So everyone knows, I've said this a thousand times on this podcast, I'm a Snickers fiend, love Snickers. And so Snickers has come out with a new variety that is made with pecan, or some people might say Jacqui. Pecan. Pecan, yes. How do you say it?
[00:19:05] John Craven: Pecan.
[00:19:06] Ray Latif: Pecan, right. In the Northeast, we call it pecan pie. I think in the South, they call it pecan. Yeah. So anyway, Snickers has come out with this new variety and to support the launch, they have a new Snickers pecan sized platter to help you eat said Snickers bar.
[00:19:27] Jacqui Brugliera: It looks like a
[00:19:28] Ray Latif: framed Set almost it is a frame set so it comes it's a collector's item It's this gold plate and on top of the gold plate is your Snickers pecan and it comes with a gold plated Fork and knife now obviously they're not really gold-plated, but I haven't checked action Yes, here we go so I have my platter and Wow, this is actually nice and head.
[00:19:52] Jacqui Brugliera: I'm just picturing you eating a Snickers brain.
[00:19:54] Ray Latif: You probably do knife and fork Yeah, I could see that like a napkin with your doctor your shirt Well, I do like the fact that I can actually eat this and not use my hands because I don't have any hand sanitizer with me You need a knife for everything wrapped up like one of those annoying toys you guys Like an action figure, okay, so I'm going to show everyone once again for the video. This is what it looks like. Here's my fork and knife. You can see all this. This is kind of sad. What? Don't ruin my experience of eating the Snickers pecan. Pecan. Okay.
[00:20:28] John Craven: I don't eat steak, but like you need like a steak on that plate or something.
[00:20:31] Ray Latif: You know what? I'm actually going to wait to eat this because there was some glue that stuck the Snickers bar.
[00:20:35] Jacqui Brugliera: Now you got to wash the plate? Now I got to wash the plate. Rick can not be bought with actual cash, but he can be bribed with press kit for an overly processed food product.
[00:20:48] John Craven: Yeah. And I'm so surprised that you love Snickers. Like you give so much shade to every other brand that has a bunch of crap in it.
[00:20:55] Jacqui Brugliera: Ray, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the cheese, but give me a king size Snickers over here.
[00:20:59] Ray Latif: Hold on. Hold on. I want to respond to a couple of things there. A, you can't buy me. I was very happy to receive this from Snickers and I know that they know I love Snickers bars and they put some gold in there. Yeah Well, they put some gold there was like $500 and $100 bills as well, but I'm not gonna talk about that right now anyway John looks so concerned And be you know Snickers bars are the classic quintessential snack bar and There's very few things that taste as good as a Snickers bar And this is one of the things that I have God maybe Yeah, I've had a hard time pulling sneakers completely out of my diet, which is why I've been happy to see, what? I've been happy to see, you know, better for you replacements out there. Obviously, Harkin's Sweets has come out with some good stuff. Justin's came out with a better for you version of this as well. Gigantic. So these are three brands that I think are doing some good stuff in that regard, but it's hard to completely eliminate sneakers from my lifestyle. I'm going to try this later on. I'll talk all about my experience on the grams. So stay tuned for that. Yes. Yes. I'm going to do some video. Okay. I was going to, I was going to put a little bit of this Jacobsen Salt Co my Snickers pecan. Yes. So Jacobson's, as we know, is a maker of premium. For an elevated experience. Hold on, hold on. You got, you got to wait here. If you were in the room, you'd understand. Jacobson's is a maker of premium sea salt that is sourced from Oregon. I actually sat down with founder Ben Jacobsen Salt the Summer Fancy Food Show a couple of weeks ago. Stay tuned for a really amazing interview with that man coming soon to Taste Radio, but no, This is a Jacobsen Salt that is infused with Oishi strawberries. You guys know Oishi strawberries. Those are those like ultra high-end Japanese pristine, exactly, pristine strawberries that cost like 15 bucks for eight strawberries. And so they come in this little jar, this 2.64 ounce jar. It's this like finishing salt. It's like a granular kind of salt. And I'm going to open this up. So it's strawberry flavored salt? Yes, it's strawberry flavored salt. I don't know why I would need that, but I'm going to use my Snickers fork here to try some of this.
[00:23:25] John Craven: Oh, you're just eating salt.
[00:23:26] Ray Latif: Oh, this looks kind of weird.
[00:23:28] John Craven: Of all the things.
[00:23:30] Ray Latif: Very salty.
[00:23:32] John Craven: No way. Is it sweet?
[00:23:35] Ray Latif: Not at all. OK. It has the essence of the oishi berries. And I've had the oishi berries and it tastes exactly like it. So strange.
[00:23:42] John Craven: Interesting stuff.
[00:23:44] Ray Latif: Salty berries. So probably we go nice on cod. Not even joking. How do you use this? Yeah, you're probably right. They sent a nice little card that says how to use it. You can use it on cocktails, fruits and veggies, baked goods and ice cream. I think, um, I could see ice cream. I think ice cream. Yeah. I think ice cream, maybe just a bit of this, maybe on a margarita, like a strawberry margarita would be good. Yeah, maybe on a peanut butter cookie or something like that, or something that was already a little sweet to begin with. You have the contrast with the salt. Anyway, good stuff. Good stuff, Jacobson's. See, when John comes back to the office, he's like, Ray, let me get us up. You're not getting one grain. One grain of my salt. You already ate out of it.
[00:24:28] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, that sounds like a great product, but it's not the one I would personally seek out. What would you seek out when it comes to salt? Morton's? I mean, I'd take away your Snickers just for fun, but, um, I don't know. Salt is like, I like that, uh, the, what do you call it? The Maldon flake salt would be my go-to salt. The which one? Uh, Maldon. Maldon?
[00:24:48] Ray Latif: It's like M-A-L-D-O-N. Maldon. Okay. Maldon. Well, I haven't tried that yet. I I'm a, I'm a Jacobson's guy, but that's just me. The flavor part of it seems a little too specialized, I would say.
[00:24:59] John Craven: You need it for specific use cases.
[00:25:01] Ray Latif: It is. This is a limited edition product. So they came out with this once last year and now they're coming, they just re-released it this year. So this is not an everyday kind of product.
[00:25:09] Jacqui Brugliera: No, no, no. I mean, I'd like, we've obviously had a lot of samples of like spice oriented things over the years. I don't know, like, God, I was just using like one, for example, one of the, uh, Fly By Jing kind of seasoning things that came out a year or so ago. And there are things like, I don't know, I kind of like to try them once, but then I don't really find myself constantly using them, you know, where it's like regular salt, obviously use that a lot.
[00:25:32] Ray Latif: Well, just give them to Mike. He eats that stuff all the time. OK, I will.
[00:25:38] John Craven: He'll get all the used spaces.
[00:25:39] Ray Latif: Yes. OK, so I have a table, I wouldn't say full of products. I have a couple of products here. And you guys have a beverage that you want to sample. You even got cups over there. Look at that. Yeah, we got one.
[00:25:50] John Craven: Here we go. Yeah, we have one beverage. It's called Bao Blast. When we got the box, we were like, oh, I wonder if it's full of bao buns. But it's not, but it is a Bob drink. Yeah. So this is Bao Blast. They have pineapple mixed Berry. And what's the one you have over there? Peach peach says excellent source of vitamin C, super fruit beverage, lots of fruit juices. And then it does have the bowel Bob powder. And I feel like we've, we saw like a handful of bowel Bob products in the past and haven't seen one in a minute.
[00:26:26] Ray Latif: All right.
[00:26:27] John Craven: Yeah, let's try it.
[00:26:28] Ray Latif: Let's find out if it's as blasty as it should be.
[00:26:31] John Craven: Does it blast us with flavor?
[00:26:34] Ray Latif: Yes. All right. Craven just took his, uh, shot of Bao Blast. Peach in that one. Instant review. Too much peach.
[00:26:48] John Craven: Pineapple is pretty good. It's like light on the pineapple has other juices in it. Like apple juice, lemon juice. What's the sweetener? The sweetener.
[00:26:58] Jacqui Brugliera: Not bad. Okay. Got a light, I don't know, juice cocktail type beverage, I guess. I feel like I can taste the, uh, monk fruit or something in there a little bit, but it's pretty good.
[00:27:14] John Craven: Yeah.
[00:27:14] Ray Latif: Here's something I always do. Whenever I taste a new beverage and they're using a non-nutritive sweetener or an artificial sweetener, I mean, our pals are trained to taste that stuff almost immediately. And I think that's kind of a bad thing, isn't it? If you can taste the sweetener and you know that it's not sugar, that's not necessarily the best thing, right?
[00:27:33] Jacqui Brugliera: I think it always depends on what your perspective is. You know, if you're someone who's I don't know, used to drinking like Diet Coke. Well, this for sure has less sweetener flavor than a Diet Coke.
[00:27:44] John Craven: Yeah. I think our palates are probably a lot more sensitive to it than the average consumer too.
[00:27:49] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. But I think some types of products tend to hide it better than others too, which makes it for a product like this, probably a little harder to fully kind of hide it.
[00:28:01] Ray Latif: Well, I feel kind of bad. You guys only have the Bao Blast to talk about. Not that that's a bad thing. I mean, the Bao Blast looks like a pretty interesting brand. No Snickers on a gold plate. No Snickers on a gold plate.
[00:28:12] John Craven: Sounds like you're rich in samples over there.
[00:28:14] Ray Latif: But what I would say to listeners is that we love to try samples. We love to talk about them on the podcast. You know, when I was at BevNET Live, a number of people came up to me and they were like, hey, how can we get you guys to talk about what you're doing on Taste Radio? We love when you talk about products on the show. So just send us samples. That's a very good way for us to be aware of what you're doing, to try what you're doing, to offer some feedback and insight on what you're doing. We don't typically hate on things, myself excluded.
[00:28:41] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, unless you happen to be a celebrity.
[00:28:43] John Craven: That's making an espresso martini. Yes.
[00:28:45] Ray Latif: Raise kryptonite right there. Yeah, but I would say that it's never a bad thing to send samples to our office so you can find out exactly where to send products or addresses for both the Newton office and the San Diego office. If you go to the about us section on BevNET.com so BevNET.com slash about us and you can find those addresses. Feel free to do so and perhaps your brand and products will be highlighted, talked about, reviewed and even hated on in a future episode of the show. I'm just kidding. We're all love. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. 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. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:30:13] Love Potion: you
