[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, 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 Melissa Traverse. In this episode, we're joined by Christian Karim Khalil, the founder and CEO of Yaza, an upstart brand of labneh that landed national distribution at Whole Foods just weeks after its launch.
[00:00:39] Christian Karim: Love me some labneh.
[00:00:40] Ray Latif: I'd love me some yassa and labneh.
[00:00:42] Christian Karim: Yes. So good.
[00:00:43] Ray Latif: And I love me when it is time for us to have Melissa Traverse on our show. Great to see you.
[00:00:50] Whole Foods: Great to be here. It's so nice to be back on Taste Radio.
[00:00:53] Ray Latif: Yeah. I think I surprised you a Little Saints with my intro. I yelled. I yell on the mic. I saw Melissa shoot up.
[00:00:58] Whole Foods: You got my attention. You woke me right up. I'm here. I'm here.
[00:01:02] Ray Latif: It's like, ah, I'm ready. I'm good. No, it's great to see you. Thanks for being on the show. Love Community Call. Everything you guys do is magic. It's gold, Jerry, gold. It really is.
[00:01:12] Whole Foods: Well, thanks. Yeah, we're having a lot of fun, you know, talking to a lot of brands. We are on hiatus right now because we're working on a big launch, which might be ready for Expo West. So definitely come seek me out. Let's make a plan to chat at Expo West. You can hit me up on Slack. slack.BevNET.com or you can send me an email at mtraverse at BevNET.com. And I mean, I might even be able to tell you about this big launch that we're so excited about.
[00:01:43] Ray Latif: Can we just say that it is an evolution of Community Call and a really cool one at that.
[00:01:49] Whole Foods: Yeah. I mean, I can't even begin to describe how awesome this is going to be.
[00:01:54] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think without spilling the beans, it is going to be something that is very, very useful to anyone in the food and beverage community. A resource, again, without spilling the beans here, that will be something that I think a lot of folks will turn to daily, if not hourly. I'm not even kidding.
[00:02:14] John Craven: Hourly?
[00:02:15] Whole Foods: Wow, that's going to be Ray on an hourly. You're gonna be on there all day long.
[00:02:20] Christian Karim: I'm not even kidding folks like people think um geez you make it sound like we're launching an online casino or
[00:02:26] Ray Latif: I mean, I think that's where Mike is right now like Mike's in Calgary of all places in Western Canada Yeah, he went really far to go skiing. That's I mean normally you go to New Hampshire, Maine good snow Direct flight.
[00:02:42] John Craven: I feel like that took an all-day Adventure to get to yeah.
[00:02:45] Ray Latif: No yeah Calgary's way out there. Yeah, it's like you get Seattle, and then you have to fly another six hours right wrong part of the country, but No, I thought Calgary's on the western. It's like in the Rockies. Hey, really? Okay.
[00:02:56] Christian Karim: Well, it's still that's the West Yeah, but you wouldn't go to see anyway, whatever you'll fly to you go to Canada and then you fly over or something I don't know for pouches, but Mike's probably Mike's probably doing something dumb I got a D in geography my freshman year of high school.
[00:03:09] Ray Latif: So what do I know? You know, I never got a D in my life Anywho, Yes We we were in Miami everyone was just like yeah, I'm not going to Expo West Ray good good call man. I'm like, oh People seem to like that episode when I when I said here are the reasons why you shouldn't go to Expo West But Melissa's going Jackie's going John's going I'm going and if you are going definitely reach out folks have already reached out to me I sent an army I mentioned in our newsletter and If you are attending Expo West, definitely let me know and let's plan a time to meet up. So if you're going and can have some opportunity to have some time to meet with one of us or all of us, please let us know. DM us, email us, what have you.
[00:03:47] Christian Karim: Did people realize that it was just your ploy to get hotel rooms to free up the Hilton?
[00:03:54] Ray Latif: I wish I had a hotel room.
[00:03:55] Christian Karim: Matt opened it, no kidding.
[00:03:56] Ray Latif: Let me tell you something, folks. If you are listening right now and you have a free hotel room, At the Hilton. I don't mean a free bed, because I can't do that. Not a free hotel room, just a reservation room available. Oh, right.
[00:04:08] Christian Karim: Because I can't do the... No quid pro quo. No, no, no, no, no.
[00:04:13] Ray Latif: Hey, how about that cool brand at Expo West? I didn't get a free hotel room.
[00:04:17] Christian Karim: You only take free Morton's dinners, but... Never done that. The BevNET attorneys might have something to say about that, John. Maybe. And we'll also be at a bunch of different events. I think a Snackshot event.
[00:04:31] Ray Latif: Andrea Hernandez, the founder of Snackshot, is hosting another event on Tuesday the 4th, beginning at 7pm at an undisclosed location. Top secret. It's going to be a very cool event, as all of her events have been in the past. If you want to sign up, go to Snackshot.com, I believe, or is it Snackshot.net?
[00:04:48] Christian Karim: I don't even know. Okay. Just go look her up on Twitter.
[00:04:51] Ray Latif: S-N-A-X.
[00:04:53] Christian Karim: S-h-o-t. Use the Google. If you don't know what that is, we can't help you. Okay. I think we're also going to a start-up CPG bowling alley rally. I don't even know what night that is. That must be Thursday. I believe it's Wednesday, actually.
[00:05:08] SPEAKER_??: Oh.
[00:05:08] Christian Karim: Okay, also Google this. Don't trust me. I have a very, very bad time. It is on Wednesday.
[00:05:15] Ray Latif: It is the Startup CPG Alley Rally. It is going to be at the usual place, 400 at Bolero, Anaheim. 400 miles away. Starts at 7. You want to see us there. We'll be there as well. Ray will buy you a drink if you can beat him at bowling.
[00:05:30] Christian Karim: I still have never bowled there.
[00:05:31] John Craven: Yeah, I feel like we've never bowled. We always talk about it and then...
[00:05:34] Christian Karim: I mean, there's no way my back would allow for bowling.
[00:05:38] Whole Foods: Is it candle pin or the big one? No, it's the regular. It's the big, the real bowling, not that bullshit. Ten pin, Melissa, ten pin.
[00:05:44] Ray Latif: Okay, okay.
[00:05:45] John Craven: I don't know about that. That's like a New England thing, right? Yeah. Like the candle pin bowling. Candle pin is cute, it's fun. It is fun, yeah. Cute.
[00:05:51] Ray Latif: Yeah, there's a great place called Saco's here in the Boston area. There's two locations. There's one in Brighton and then there's one in Somerville. The flatbread pizza. Flatbread pizza, yeah.
[00:06:00] Christian Karim: They have bowling and then they have- This is so weird. Yeah. I just want to overhand it.
[00:06:03] Ray Latif: It doesn't work out well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's heavier, but I don't typically bowl at these events because You don't have time number one and then always be networking always just people you know licking their fingers You know touching the bowling balls and what I can't know I like to bowl and then just go use the buffet that they have at that party Yeah
[00:06:26] Christian Karim: Totally kidding.
[00:06:28] Ray Latif: Totally kidding. I mentioned our Miami meetup, which was just phenomenal. Incredible. All the adjectives. It was just so incredible to meet the food and beverage community out there. But before we get to all the wonderful things that happened in Miami, I can't let this pizza get any colder than it is right now. Okay. Yes. Don't get so disgusted Melissa. It may not be the best thing that we have to eat this morning.
[00:06:52] Whole Foods: Not even close.
[00:06:53] Ray Latif: Got it. So folks probably recall when we talked about and sampled Pizza Hut's wine. It was a wine developed specifically, red wine, specifically to pair with pizza, their pizza. And so lo and behold, one of their competitors Has a wine as well dominoes dominoes paired up with yellowtail. Everyone knows what yellowtail is According to their press release. It's america's best-selling imported wine And yellowtail and dominoes teamed up They announced that this team up in late january To create the limited edition yellowtail and dominoes red blend quoted in the press release uniquely crafted to provide the perfect sip with every slice This special wine release is guaranteed to pair with everything cheesy, making your pizza delivery nights extra easy. Okay, so I have it here. And this is a big, big, this is a Magnum.
[00:07:53] John Craven: Yeah, what's up with the Magnum? That's what you need when you're eating a large pizza.
[00:07:58] Ray Latif: Yeah. So a Magnum, for folks who don't know, a Magnum is a liter and a half. So it's basically two bottles we got here.
[00:08:04] Whole Foods: Good thing it has a screw-off top so you can, you know, tap it up and... The perfect closure.
[00:08:09] Ray Latif: Oh boy, Greg reflex coming on. No, this is the perfect closure for your Domino's knees here.
[00:08:15] Christian Karim: Don't you think a box would have been better, Ray? A box? Like one that has the same footprint as a Domino's pizza. And then you just turn it up on its end and pull out the little hose.
[00:08:27] John Craven: Oh, that's interesting. You know, they just open up the thing that keeps the pizza warm. You got warm wine.
[00:08:32] Christian Karim: I mean, granted, I don't think any Domino's pizza has alcohol, do they?
[00:08:37] Whole Foods: You could warm the wine a Little Saints with the heat of the pizza.
[00:08:40] Ray Latif: Who knows but you had to get pizza with this we didn't have pizza with the pizza hut wine last time So I got us a delivery actually came at 10 30 a.m. This morning I didn't either but I ordered in advance. They ordered a couple days ago.
[00:08:53] Whole Foods: John just gagged I was saying I've only had it once before in my life and I I was thinking maybe I would keep it that way.
[00:09:09] Christian Karim: Yeah. Well, I'm here for the wine, not the pizza, Ray.
[00:09:12] Ray Latif: Let's just do this. Folks who have listened to our show in the past, and I assume that's every single person in the food and beverage industry, and heard Melissa on our show know that she participates in the fasting.
[00:09:25] Whole Foods: Intermittent fasting. Yeah. Usually till like noon, sometimes one.
[00:09:29] Christian Karim: Love it. We're breaking it with Domino's.
[00:09:30] Whole Foods: Yeah. And wine. This is very off protocol. I don't know if that's part of the rules. I'm doing it for Taste Radio.
[00:09:36] Christian Karim: Did you get the the cheesy crust?
[00:09:38] Ray Latif: No, definitely not.
[00:09:39] Christian Karim: I don't do that. You should have you should order like the nastiest Yeah, I don't think this isn't nasty. This looks like a white pizza with like shrimp scampi on top And here we go.
[00:09:49] Ray Latif: I mean like look so I got us a pizza with pretty much the good stuff, you know?
[00:09:56] Christian Karim: Oh, man.
[00:09:57] Ray Latif: Hawaiian pizza? Are those croutons?
[00:09:59] Christian Karim: Just meat. No, that's meat.
[00:10:00] Ray Latif: That looks like a crouton. No, this is sausage, pepper, pepperoni, and onion. And so we're going to pair it with, like I said, the yellowtail.
[00:10:12] Christian Karim: Sutter Home yellowtail. No, it's not Sutter Home. Wait, isn't it? I don't know, does Sutter Home own this? Oh, no, sorry. God, yellowtail. Why am I confused? I don't know. Different crap. Okay. They were so kind to send this to us.
[00:10:24] Ray Latif: Let's not Call It that.
[00:10:25] Christian Karim: Well, no Sutter homes, different crap. Just to be clear.
[00:10:28] Ray Latif: It doesn't tell me what's grapes are in here. You're asking the wrong question. It does say it's a product of Australia.
[00:10:34] John Craven: Let's just crack this open.
[00:10:36] Ray Latif: No pizza, just one.
[00:10:37] Christian Karim: What are you talking about? I'm not going to eat that pizza.
[00:10:41] John Craven: You put in so much effort for the pizza. I really did. I thought about this.
[00:10:45] Whole Foods: I mean, I'm going to eat the pizza and I'm supposed to be fasting right now.
[00:10:51] Ray Latif: Alright, let's see here. I'm gonna crack open the wine. Just a scotch. Just a scotch. Would you like any wine, Melissa?
[00:10:56] Whole Foods: I mean, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it.
[00:10:58] Ray Latif: Melissa just swallowed hard.
[00:11:01] John Craven: I don't know about this. Prepping the system.
[00:11:04] Ray Latif: Okay. Actually, here, if you don't, can you do me a favor and get me a, get a, get a good shot of this. You want me to video you pouring? Yes. Yes. Okay. Let's make sure I've got the hand sanitizer.
[00:11:13] Christian Karim: Don't want to get any hand sanitizer with the wine. BevNET's attorneys that you like to mention don't like you pouring over to the company computer.
[00:11:21] Ray Latif: There goes dry February.
[00:11:23] Christian Karim: Level three sommelier here. Yes.
[00:11:25] John Craven: Does it have a hint of smell of oregano?
[00:11:29] Ray Latif: Okay. That was funny that you mentioned that Jackie, because then the Pizza Hut wines say that it tastes like pizza.
[00:11:35] John Craven: Yeah. I feel like that's what pizza was going for. Like you're drinking it to taste pizza. Whereas this one sounds like it's just a pair with pizza.
[00:11:41] Christian Karim: Yeah, I don't know kind of a jammy Host yet red wine It's quaffable yet far from transcendent This is when Ray holds his pinky out and talks about when he was in Aspen or something, right?
[00:12:00] Ray Latif: Okay, well Melissa you and I I guess would you like any hand sanitizer for your pizza, or are you just you know? Grab it with the paper towel here. Yeah Because that's the most important part we got to see if it pairs well, right hmm. I mean it probably will it's like kind of sweet full disclosure I put this in the Refrigerator to Call It down a degree Did you decant it for wine not the pizza Okay, let's see how it is oh god He's going all right. Let's see here
[00:12:32] John Craven: You know, it's not bad. It's fine.
[00:12:35] Ray Latif: I think it's pretty good.
[00:12:36] John Craven: If you're eating something super greasy and like cheesy, you know, you just need like a basic juicy wine.
[00:12:44] Ray Latif: I think they did what they needed to do. They made a wine that, you know, is an everyday sipping wine. And they didn't make it something that was going to overpower the pizza or vice versa.
[00:12:56] Christian Karim: But they also gave you a crap load of it.
[00:12:59] John Craven: Right.
[00:12:59] Christian Karim: That's kind of interesting. What do they think you're doing with that? Having like six glasses of wine?
[00:13:04] John Craven: No, it's for a party. Yeah, it's like a party trick, you know, like, hey, I got the Domino's wine. Lots of pizza, lots of wine. Yeah.
[00:13:10] Whole Foods: Yeah, it's really not bad, actually. It's fine. No, it's fine. It's fine.
[00:13:14] Christian Karim: It's fine. Okay, well, thank you. Well done, you one-upped Pizza Hut. Better than Pizza Hut, which was just wasted. Literally be anything.
[00:13:22] Whole Foods: I do think that was the right combination of toppings. You got that right. Thank you.
[00:13:26] Ray Latif: Thank you, Melissa. I appreciate that. I did think about this. I spent, I don't know, 72 hours or so thinking about how to make this a pleasing experience for everyone. I think we kind of did at least half the team because Jackie didn't get to partake.
[00:13:40] John Craven: Raven refused.
[00:13:42] Ray Latif: John refused.
[00:13:42] John Craven: You held down the fort. You guys crushed it.
[00:13:45] Ray Latif: So cheers to you, Melissa.
[00:13:46] John Craven: Yeah. Cheers.
[00:13:47] Ray Latif: Cheers. Cheers. And John was texting. Yeah, I was tweeting. All right. Cheers. Anyway, I'm glad that we did this. You're all good sports. Thank you very much. Okay. We didn't have any pizza in Miami. We did have some delicious Cuban food. We hit Joe's Stone Crab, which is a Ken Sadowski mainstay. Ken being the beverage whisperer and one of our dear friends who helped us put together the Miami meetup. which was presented by New Water, Matriarch Wealth Capital, and Lallypack, all amazing partners who helped make the night a really successful one. We Had Our a hundred people attend, all from the Miami food and beverage community. And people stayed way later than we intended for everyone to stay. We started the event at 6 p.m. We were there until a little after nine. People were there mingling, talking, sampling. I mean, it was a really, really good networking event. And I think people were craving it. How many times did people tell us we needed this? And when are you doing the next one, John?
[00:14:54] Christian Karim: Yes, a lot. It was very, uh, I don't know. Great to see that. I mean, very interesting community down there that. Obviously, it's not like it's some new city or whatever, but you know, I think it's got a real energy right now where there's young founders that have moved there. You know, from talking to a couple of them, they all commented about how great the investor scene was there. I thought that was great. Really interesting. And yeah, lots of excitement. And like Ray said, I think it was like, when are you guys coming back? So pretty sure the Miami, uh, meetup will have to be on our calendar for next year. But in the meantime, we've got to figure out where we're, we're going next.
[00:15:34] Ray Latif: Yeah, well, we are planning more events throughout the year. On the agenda are New York City and Austin. Stay tuned for more information about those meetups.
[00:15:42] Christian Karim: And don't forget London. Yes. And probably San Diego again. And probably another city to be announced. And if anyone wants to reach out, you know, happens to have maybe a space in a cool city. Yes. Wants to host a bunch of CPG people, just hit us up.
[00:15:57] Ray Latif: And I felt like we had some great conversations, or I had some great conversations with three folks at the event, including Stephen Santangelo from Matriarch Wealth Capital. Matriarch Wealth Capital is the family office of Mike Rapoli. Mike Rapoli is the co-founder of Body Armor and Vitamin Water. He is a very successful entrepreneur. We also sat down with Kenny Sadowski, the Beverage Whisperer, talked about his investment philosophy. And we also, or I, Pelted him with a few questions about his take on different beverage categories and why an angel investor might or might not invest in their brand. So stay tuned. We're going to be releasing those interviews in an upcoming episode of Taste Radio. I also sat down with Chris Hunter, who is one of the co-founders of Fusion Projects, which was the maker of 4Loco and of course of Koya. He's built a couple hundred million dollar brands in succession, which is just amazing. And he was just dropping knowledge left and right. So stay tuned for those interviews coming too. future episodes. I definitely want to Call It a few folks that we met with at the event. Please forgive me if I don't mention your name or brand, but Shadi Atassi from Malanga, Dylan Eisman from SkyBarn, Alan Garcia from Fruga, Lena Garrett from Gorji, Haider Hachem from Shojo's Dojo, Megan Klein from Little Saints, Curtis Knight from Lemonicious. That was great stuff. That was a little shot. Very energetic guy. Totally. Ed Lines from Sisa, Patricia Lynn from Scobucha, Santiago Martinez. I'm going to blow your name up here. Uh, Zorin's, uh, Zorcin, Zorcinon. I think that's correct. From Mati, Carol McGinley from La Gringuita Cookies. I'm going to get that wrong too. Is that how you pronounce it? Do you remember those cookies that she brought? I don't know how you pronounce that that was huge shit, so she brought she's a maker of frozen cookies bag frozen cookies And they have like a molten center, and they're incredible and so she not only brought some samples, but she brought Baked samples which was and they were huge and people were packing bags. Nothing. We had samples like we had The amazing folks from new water were very very kind to have like party bags for everyone there and so People were taking those party bags. We had already had new water and like I think there was like a small soap in there and they were just jamming it with everything else they could put in there there were samples everywhere and So anyway, Carolyn, thank you so much. Steve Michelson from Leisure Hydration. Julia Perez from Owen. Mac from Brooklyn's Best. I didn't pronounce his last name because I'm not going to screw that up too. Tyler Phillips from Hummie. Dominic Perpura from Mela. Dominic was everywhere. Ethan Shapiro from Big Mama Foods, Jay Stefanski from Frutero, Gabriel Gonzalez from Casa Lu. Casa Lu was a humongous hit at the event. It was. Everyone was drinking Casa Lu. Casa Lu is a maker of ready to drink cocktails that are made with rum. And man, those things are good. I first met those guys at the first SnackShop event that we did at Expo West. We partnered with Andrea there. I mean, people were slamming Kasselow down. I mean, they loved it. It was such a good, it's good stuff. Like I said, I'm sure I forgot some folks and I apologize for doing so, but it was so amazing meeting with everyone that came to the event. We will be back. And humongous thanks to Hany and his team at New Water, which hosted us, and the Ampersand Studios, which was the venue, which that was a great place.
[00:19:25] John Craven: Yeah, it looked awesome. I was following along on LinkedIn and Instagram, and everyone seemed super excited to have Taste Radio there to bring the CPG community together. Like it seems like a very fast growing community. I think I also saw on LinkedIn, someone drove like six hours round trip just to go and was super amped. So lots of excitement around it, which is great to see. I had a little FOMO.
[00:19:47] Ray Latif: Yeah. Santiago from Mate, he flew from California. He flew from LA to the event. So double kudos to him. It was funny if someone was asking John they're like so when are you guys doing this again? He's like about a year from now, and they're like what a year Miami part 2 maybe maybe I didn't someone else has a venue or like a maybe a mega yacht to host us on
[00:20:15] Christian Karim: I don't know why I'm looking at Ray when I'm saying someone with a megayacht. I don't know either. Maybe you know a guy?
[00:20:20] Ray Latif: I don't have those kinds of connections. I only have the connections where you have a megayacht and a helicopter. Just a megayacht? Nah, that's not it. Yeah, what's even the point? I got to mention this because this was in the news very recently on BevNET.com, penned by our very own Shauna Golden. So Hailee Steinfeld, who I believe she's a model?
[00:20:40] John Craven: Actress and a model, apparently. And a singer, I think, too. I don't know. I think like a triple threat.
[00:20:45] Ray Latif: Triple threat, nice. I know her best because she and Josh Allen from the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, NFL MVP, quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. Love that we got to explain that. Haley and Josh are engaged and the Buffalo community loves it. And he's in love with her, obviously, but anyway.
[00:21:01] John Craven: I hope so.
[00:21:02] Ray Latif: It's just a financial engagement nothing nothing else, but I I don't know I'm gonna I'm gonna be kind of negative here so Haley is the co-founder of a new ready-to-drink margarita brand called Angel Margarita and I don't know aren't we at like peak are we past P ready to drink cocktails and cans that are backed by celebrities and
[00:21:32] Whole Foods: On the one hand, I think it makes more sense as a celebrity to launch a beverage rather than like a tech product or something. But on the other hand, how many do we need?
[00:21:44] Christian Karim: I mean, it's probably better than another celebrity tequila.
[00:21:47] Ray Latif: I mean, this is essentially that, though, but just in a cocktail form. I mean, right. Yeah. So probably better. But no, I mean like the timing just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Again, no offense to the Angel team or to Hailee Steinfeld. I guess I am offending them, so I can't really say that. I said no offense, but I'm clearly offending them. You're off the mark, no offense. But no, we always talk about timing. Whenever I talk to an entrepreneur, at some point in the conversation, successful entrepreneurs that is, At some point in the conversation, the word timing comes up and understanding that there is an opportunity to participate in a particular category or trend, but it feels like that opportunity has passed. I feel like if you're going to make your mark, if you're going to make a splash in ready to drink cocktails, you probably need to do something before 2025.
[00:22:36] John Craven: I feel like celebrities just don't care. They're like, I got awareness. I got my own audience. I'm just going to tap into that and see what happens.
[00:22:45] Christian Karim: Well, I mean, I think there's always some of that where the question certainly is, does whatever reason your audience follow you for translate to your audience being willing to go out and consume whatever product it is you're slinging, right? That being said, I think also like, I don't know, you know, the RTD markets and such. I don't know. It's like a, a shifting thing anyway. So there's probably some white space out there somewhere, some ability to hop in where other brands have spent all the time and money educating consumers and maybe don't have the money anymore. So now you just hop in where everyone there's built in demand and all that and think you can execute better.
[00:23:27] Whole Foods: And if you have the capital and you have a following, you may as well try it. What's the worst thing that could happen? You just decide not to do it anymore.
[00:23:35] Christian Karim: Right. And I mean, there are plenty of brands that in CPG were not the first, the second, I don't know, the 300th brand to launch in a category. Bang Energy is probably a good example of that, that can still have big success if they do it right. Fair enough. Although, you know, that's maybe not the ending you want, but. I'm just saying, I think there's always, with a product that is timely and has really good execution, there probably is a chance.
[00:24:02] Ray Latif: I mean, if you look at the data, it seems like RTD cocktails are here to stay. It is one of the fastest growing segments of beverage alcohol. So for sure, there's a lot of interest. Household penetration is probably still pretty low when it comes to RTD cocktails. But I don't know if you're an upstart brand right now, even if you've got Hailee Steinfeld on board, I think you're going to have a hard time.
[00:24:26] Christian Karim: Well, of course they're going to have a hard time. Every brand has a hard time, right? I mean, no one's just like, oh my God, this is a lock. It's easy. You know, I mean, heck, even look at, you know, certain celebrities that have attached their names to brands that haven't kind of knocked it out of the park. I mean, there's plenty of them.
[00:24:42] John Craven: Yeah, it feels like she's just throwing her hat in the ring and then seeing how everything shakes out. Because like Craven was saying, like, there's still opportunity. More and more people are drinking at home. Like, maybe they'll pick that up and maybe it will gain traction. But if she's not in the game, she can't play.
[00:24:59] Whole Foods: It sounds like she picked the right spirit in that article that Shana wrote. She wrote about how I think vodka is the number one spirit and then tequila comes in right after that. So, you know, she picked the right team.
[00:25:12] Ray Latif: Yeah, I mean, I still would like to try this at some point. So if I haven't completely offended everyone from Angel yet, or their PR company, yeah, please send samples and maybe I'll be eating my words or drinking them at least.
[00:25:25] Christian Karim: He'll even sample it with a Domino's pizza.
[00:25:27] Ray Latif: When I think about Biro B-e-r-o the non-alcoholic beer launched by Tom Holland, so I think the timing the Partnership the celebrity connection. I think it all makes sense. I think the branding is great The liquid is fantastic. It makes sense that it's Tom Holland, you know He's got a whole story about why he decided to stop drinking so on so forth. I And I think that there's still a lot of room for a very premium, non-alcoholic beer that can be consumed by anyone. So this Angel Margarita in particular, I mean, I think it's really geared toward female consumers, whereas Biroa, it definitely has a Little Saints of a male tilt, but I feel like a lot of people would drink it. So that to me makes more sense. That's the last thing I'll say about that.
[00:26:13] Christian Karim: We shall see.
[00:26:14] Ray Latif: We shall see. OK, I'll shut up now because Melissa has a whole bunch of things that she wants to share with us in terms of new products and products that she's tried over the past week.
[00:26:24] Whole Foods: I really do. It's been a while, so I have a bunch of stuff I've been saving up. First of all, I wanted to talk about Chikka Chikka. This is from the package that Kartik sends to us. And when I say us, I mean me and Mike, although Mike almost always gets there first. He did save this for me, though.
[00:26:42] Ray Latif: Now, Mike actually did briefly talk about this, but not in length.
[00:26:46] Whole Foods: It's so delicious. If you're a licorice fan at all, I highly recommend. And I, you know, I've seen in a number of Indian food places, when you like right at the entrance, they have that bowl of the fennel seeds and the candy coated licorice as a digestif. And I think they're just so delicious. However, Chikka Chikka does it all without any artificial colors or flavors or anything. And they have three different flavors, mint, cardamom, and cinnamon. And they're just so tasty.
[00:27:18] Ray Latif: You eat them after.
[00:27:19] Whole Foods: I spent one day eating them like all day long. How was your stomach afterwards? I have a stomach of steel, so it was fine.
[00:27:29] Christian Karim: I'm just going to put this out here. We're probably going to want to eat some of those today after that Domino's.
[00:27:34] Whole Foods: Yeah, I'll leave these here so you guys can partake. But I think this is just such a delicious and fun product. And fennel seeds are a natural gut health support aid.
[00:27:45] Christian Karim: Fennel seeds are tasty.
[00:27:47] Whole Foods: Yeah, they're so good. And I also wanted to talk about Colesvart. This is the Swedish candy that I'm seeing pop up everywhere. Whole Foods has this now, but I actually picked this up at a cheese shop in Portland, Maine on a trip this past weekend. I have here the sour blueberry and the ginger black licorice. Do you guys want to try this?
[00:28:11] Ray Latif: I do actually. And let's get a, let's get a shot here. Cause I feel like this is minimalism personified, or at least, I don't know what the term would be for a packaged food and beverage, but it just screams natural and uncomplicated, at least on the front of the pack. And Coles Bart, it looks European. It looks like it's a really natural and like an original type of Swedish fish versus, I don't know, whatever we get nowadays.
[00:28:40] Whole Foods: The Swedish candy trend has been, I mean, you see it like everywhere, all over TikTok and Instagram and everything. This is the one that I've seen kind of pop up in more of the chains recently, but the black licorice one with the, I love black licorice so much. And I looked up on their website and they have so many different options for black licorice. So I'm going to go buy a bunch. Did you know Had Our very own Colin, the sample captain loves black licorice?
[00:29:08] Christian Karim: I did not know that.
[00:29:08] Whole Foods: I think I'm gonna do a black licorice tasting with him after I order a bunch.
[00:29:13] Christian Karim: Malmo, Sweden. Great day trip from Copenhagen, by the way. Malmo is an amazing city.
[00:29:17] Whole Foods: Yeah, it's beautiful. You know, everyone in Sweden is tall and beautiful and nice. What did they do over there?
[00:29:24] Ray Latif: That's what I was thinking about moving there, actually.
[00:29:27] Whole Foods: I fit right in. And I have one more if I can, just one more. And if this isn't a ringing endorsement of how delicious this is, we got a sample of this into the office. This is Wilderton Apertivio. They're based out of Hood River in Oregon, and it's a non-alcoholic, bittersweet Aperitivo. I went through this so fast. It's so, so tasty. I really loved it.
[00:29:56] Ray Latif: We have more of that. We do? In the sample room, yeah.
[00:29:59] Whole Foods: Oh, well, maybe I'll stop by there on my way out.
[00:30:03] Ray Latif: Different variety, but yeah, I sat down with the founders of Wilderton a couple of years ago at the Tales of the Cocktail event in New Orleans. Really interesting brand based out of Portland, Oregon, I believe.
[00:30:15] Whole Foods: They say Hood River, but... I'm sorry, Hood River, yes.
[00:30:17] Ray Latif: I'm sorry. 100% Hood River. But they just moved to that new bottle. They used to be in a more short squat bottle. And I feel like that definitely...
[00:30:25] Christian Karim: It looks very nice.
[00:30:26] Ray Latif: Very big upgrade. Yeah. It definitely fits into a shelf, a beverage alcohol shelf, a spirit shelf, a lot better than I think the old package did.
[00:30:34] Whole Foods: I think it's one of the best non-alcoholic mixers I've tried. Very low sugar. And I like the fact that you can add it to whatever you want.
[00:30:41] Ray Latif: Yeah, indeed this black licorice is fantastic, but it's so good sweet licorice and ginger. Yeah, and it's vegan. Oh Yes, I looked at Jackie when I said that even though I know she's pescatarian, but for some reason I'll take it no beef Jackie what do you got over there in San Diego?
[00:31:04] John Craven: So we're gonna go from Oregon and travel to Georgia. I have some Georgian teas.
[00:31:13] Ray Latif: Ooh.
[00:31:14] John Craven: Georgia the state.
[00:31:15] Ray Latif: The state, okay.
[00:31:16] John Craven: Yes, yes. I don't know if Georgia the country has tea or what they're known for.
[00:31:21] Christian Karim: Tea literally everywhere.
[00:31:24] SPEAKER_??: Right.
[00:31:24] John Craven: So Georgia the State, which usually you would think like sweet tea, which I believe this brand does have sweet tea varieties, but they also have a couple options that are black tea, hibiscus tea, and also green tea. This one I have right here is called the Longarm Citrus, and this is a black tea base. They also have Charmed Voodoo, which is hibiscus, and then the Side Winder, which is a green tea. So you have a bunch of different options. Obviously, iced tea is trending and people want Bang Energy. They want low caffeine or no caffeine. I think maybe just like if they could Call It the caffeine a Little Saints more, like I didn't know that the hibiscus. Well, obviously I know hibiscus is caffeine free, but people might not know that. So having that called out and having the type of tea on the front, I think would be a Little Saints more helpful, but I tried it and it tastes pretty tasty. So they're doing good. I think they just launched and sprouts in the innovation set. So they're, they're making their way into retail.
[00:32:28] Ray Latif: And that's Blue Durango tea. Yeah. Very cool.
[00:32:32] Christian Karim: Can I open this giant box that I have? Yes, so John has a secret box of stuff here It's from a company called First Look First Look dot VC First Look dot VC This is entirely caused by the fact that you and Mike Keep having these like mystery boxes. So someone else who ships out boxes Send us a box. Okay. And First Look, basically, this is supposed to be a box of like emerging brands for investors. Hence, you know, they got the like lewd face emoji on the box here.
[00:33:05] Ray Latif: Now I feel like you, I understand how you feel sometimes, because I'm just like, open the damn box already.
[00:33:10] Christian Karim: Yeah, well, I haven't actually looked into it. Colin cut it open, but so I don't know what's in here. Oh, okay. I see some newish I mean we got a delightful reusable bag nice. Can't have enough of those Yeah, we got some new brand launched by Sarah Nathan pretty good stuff. We got some The UK based protein drink brand yeah, there's a couple flavors of that in there. We got a kimana mesquite superfood Coffee alternative okay, I don't think I've had that one.
[00:33:39] Ray Latif: Okay. This is comes in a big pouch. It's already ground and 10 ounce pouch here No, it's it's it's described as an all superfood coffee alternative made from the pods that grow on mesquite trees when roasted ground and brewed Mesquite looks Taste Radio makes like coffee. This is a true alternative. It sounds like okay. Try it up come on caffeine free on it yes
[00:34:05] Christian Karim: Got some cuddle. I'm a fan of this stuff.
[00:34:07] Ray Latif: I'll definitely take this home Yes, cuddle launched by our dear friend Hugh Thomas Hugh Thomas based in the UK and what else we got in here?
[00:34:15] Christian Karim: chubbies crumbs chubbies chocolate chip Buttercream cookies hmm. Is that a UK brand? They're not all UK brands. Okay. I don't think Too small to read the print Chubbies, okay.
[00:34:32] Ray Latif: Yeah the cookie sandwiches. They look like soft. Yeah red velvet white Chocolate buttercream. Oh my my gosh.
[00:34:38] Christian Karim: My mouth is watering. Yeah, right.
[00:34:39] Ray Latif: This is very extreme here I also have this although there are like 10,000 ingredients in this thing, but a lot of ingredients
[00:34:47] Christian Karim: But yeah, pretty cool box. I guess if you're like an investor or brand, you can go First Look.vc and submit your product or try to sign up to get a box. I don't know exactly how it works or what it costs, but nice looking box. Love the barfing or not barfing, the loot emoji guy. I was thinking of the barfing money face.
[00:35:07] Ray Latif: I guess it's not a barfing money. I wouldn't Call It barfing as much as it would. He is like licking a dollar bill or something. You know what I mean.
[00:35:16] Christian Karim: Yeah.
[00:35:16] Ray Latif: I will say that out of all these products, obviously we know Newish, Grounded, and Cuddle. Chubby's looks interesting, but the Kamana, K-A-M-A-N-A, looks really interesting. Their font, not the font of the logo, but the font of everything else on the front of the pack, looks like that's Blank Street Coffee. Brand doesn't it you know that yeah like athletic greens, right? Totally yes that athletic greens dark forest green color on the good stuff We get another one of these boxes in the future who knows who knows who knows? All right, let's get to our featured interview for this episode. As I mentioned at the top of the show, Christian Karim Khalil is the founder and CEO of Yaza, an emerging brand specializing in Lebanese-style labneh, a creamy, dairy-based bread that has long been a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine. Launched in 2024, Yaza sets itself apart by emphasizing authenticity and health benefits, including high protein and probiotics. Now distributed nationally at Whole Foods, the brand has quickly captured attention with its unique flavors and commitment to quality. In this conversation, Christian shares how Yaza overcame early production challenges, why Whole Foods recognized the brand's potential, and how he is strategically evaluating potential collaborations to fuel further growth and expansion. Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I am honored to be sitting down with Christian Karim, the founder and CEO of Yaza. Christian, great to see you. Good to see you, too. Thank you for having me on the show. Yeah, it's been a minute, as you mentioned. I think the last time I saw you, was it at Expo West? Expo West. We've spoken a few times, but the last time we met was Expo West. Expo West 2024. It's January 2025. And Yaza has been on fire since that time, I think. In June of last year, you guys went national at Whole Foods, right? That's correct.
[00:37:16] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. Congratulations on that. How's it going? It's going really, really well. It was actually our best week last week since we started Whole Foods. Things have been, you know, we've been growing really good and the feedback has been amazing. Yaza is a brand of Lebna.
[00:37:29] Ray Latif: I love Lebna. I grew up on Lebna. I've been eating it for all 26 years that I've been alive. Don't laugh too hard, Christian Karim think it's somewhat familiar to a lot of folks, but not necessarily fully understood.
[00:37:42] Jacqui Brugliera: What is labneh? So labneh is what, like you said, it's what we grew up on. I'm originally from Lebanon. Labneh is what we have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. It's the first thing that any family has in their fridge. It's a Mediterranean dip. It's a dairy-based dip made of milk and salt. These are the two ingredients, milk, salt, and obviously the probiotics, the cultures that are added to it.
[00:38:05] Ray Latif: And it's a Little Saints of a thicker consistency than yogurt. It's spreadable, not like a cream cheese. It's sort of in between a yogurt and cream cheese in terms of consistency.
[00:38:13] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. So what I like to say, tell people and explain to people who don't know what labneh is, if Greek yogurt and cream cheese had a baby, that's labneh. There you go.
[00:38:20] Ray Latif: And there's a tartness to it as well, which is really delicious. You started the company in 2022. Correct. And At the time, I think there was maybe one big brand, I think it was like a Cedars, that was marketing a Labneh and you couldn't necessarily get it everywhere. And now I feel like we're starting to see more and more products come to market, more brands come to market that are selling Labneh. Has there been a change in how Americans have seen the product, how they use it?
[00:38:48] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, what's going on here? So, yeah, so I think Labneh is having a moment. It's been trending. The Washington Post had it for 2024 as a trending food item. Cottage cheese was 2023. You can imagine 2024 Labneh, how big that is for us. So the timing of launching Gieza, we did start the company in 2022, but we launched in the market last year. Properly, we've been in the market for a year again a bit. And the momentum that we've gotten and the other brands have been following up, it's been really amazing. because of people understanding what labneh is. So yes, it's trendy, but I think it's here to stay, and it's not just one trend that's a short-term trend, but it's a longer-term trend. And I think we've seen that growth as we go. People are interested in the Mediterranean diet because it's healthy, it's good for you. You know, labneh is high in protein, low fat, low calories, and it has a lot of probiotics. It's really the perfect additive to someone's diet. You know, I like to add it to everything I eat, whether it is, you know, rice and chicken or dinner. I always add a spoon or two spoons of labneh to increase my protein intake, get some probiotics, good for the gut health. Yeah, I think Americans are into now, they start to understand what's good for them. The Mediterranean diet is really, really big and really growing. And I think it's 10 years running. It's been voted the best diet consecutive 10 years. And Lebanese is part of that now.
[00:40:09] Ray Latif: I think I consume most Lebanese in the morning with breakfast. If I have some fried eggs and some toast and Lebanese, it just feels like a natural combination. My mouth is watering because I'm thinking about how delicious it usually is. Do you have to educate a lot of people about use case though? Like what the best time of the day? I mean, again, you and I will eat it anytime of the day, but when do people typically eat it? How do they use it?
[00:40:29] Jacqui Brugliera: I would think like a hummus, right? Yes. So the American consumer, the way we've launched Labneh, yes, like you said earlier, it's a spread. It's a dip. We kind of cook with it as well. It's a condiment. We marinate our food with it back home. It was hard to kind of introduce it to the consumer. So the way we focused on, we did some kind of market research. And the best approach was using it as a dip. So we kind of compare it to hummus and people are familiar using hummus and they started using it more for lunch and dinner rather than breakfast. We back home have it for breakfast, you know, almost every day. And education wise, we focus more lunch and dinners. And then little by little, we've seen people being creative with labneh. So the New York Times came up with a labneh and za'atar pasta recently, which we do it all the time. But it's nice to see New York Times coming up with that.
[00:41:18] Ray Latif: Yeah, absolutely. I think there are people who are listening to this conversation and they're saying, Ray, did you skip over something? Because Christian just said the company started in 2022, but they actually launched in 2024. And Yaza also went national at Whole Foods in 2024. This is not necessarily common to go from launching a brand to being national at Whole Foods the same year.
[00:41:42] Jacqui Brugliera: How did you do it? So we started the company in 2022, and just to kind of go back and kind of explain the process of labneh. So labneh back home, the way my grandma would make it, she would use a cheesecloth, start from the milk, heat it, pasteurize it, and then strain it. And the problem we've had in the market here, so back in Lebanon, the shelf life of the product is three weeks. That's the max you can get because it's exposed to bacteria, it's open air. The problem in the U.S. market, there's two types of Lebanese. When we started, when Cedars and the other brands were starting. the Turkish labneh, which is a bit similar to cream cheese, and it's imported from Turkey. It's double cooked, so there's no probiotics. It's high in fat. It's a completely different product. So you have those types of labnehs in different brands like Olker, Ichim, and now we have Bezi. And that's a different product. We don't like to be compared to Yaza or to Lebanese labneh because it's a different product completely. And then you have the cedars, you have the caroons and the other brands who, to be able to replicate the Lebanese labneh, One for, I think, probably for cost savings and two because they just couldn't figure it out. They were blending milk powders with the milk to get the thickness of the labneh. Very inauthentic. Yes, it's cheaper to make, but that's kind of the advantage that Yazza has. Yazza was able, that's why it took us a year and a half to get that process done. We were able to replicate the Lebanese grandmother recipe using the American standard machines because you're not allowed to backstrain it in the U.S. and sell it. It's against the FDA regulations. So that's why we took a long time. And then when we were able to do it, we soft launched at the trade show, at one of the big trade shows, and Whole Foods came by and said, we love it. What's your capacity? Can you do it nationwide? And we said, yes. I went back to the team and I said, we're doing nationwide. They're like, we can't do it. I was like, we'll figure it out. We have to do it. And we went back, worked hard, start scaling, spent the first six months of 2024 just working on getting ready for Whole Foods. So Whole Foods said yes, and you said yes to Whole Foods. When was that? So we met them. We applied. The application deadline was August of 2023. At the time, we didn't even have product in the market. Right. In September, we started having in some stores in New York kind of testing velocities, proof of concept at the time. And the big launch was planned to be February, March of 2024. So they said officially yes in February. In February we got the official Yes We had to be set up by May and we launched end of June.
[00:44:18] Ray Latif: Again, as you pointed out, difficult Had Our team said you can't do it. You could have said no and said, well, we've got to wait because you might only have one shot at getting it right, being national Whole Foods. Let's say you did a production run and something went wrong and you weren't ready for that launch date. I mean, they're going to fill the shelf with something else. You might miss your chance. What gave you the confidence and why did you feel like you needed to meet that deadline at that time?
[00:44:44] Jacqui Brugliera: So one is because Labneh was having a trend. We had to get it right. There's no no. You know, when you get such an opportunity, it's something, you know, people dream for. And that was my dream. When I started Yaza, my dream was to be at Whole Foods. So I was not going to take no for an answer from the team. Did we mess up? Yes We messed up four or five production runs ahead of the launch with Whole Foods. And we had to throw product away. We lost a lot of money on that. And that's part of the learning curve. It was a lot of work. I spent a lot of time in the plant in upstate New York to get it right. And we got it right the last chance production. So we delayed Whole Foods first delivery by three or four days. Luckily, we had a holiday to kind of help us and we kind of, you know, delayed it a few days, but we got it right. And the feedback has been amazing. The velocities are really, really good. Some stores were doing up to 140 units a week, average velocity, which is, you know, unheard for for Lebny.
[00:45:40] Ray Latif: I've heard of brands that have closed their doors after one production run went wrong. You Had Our or five that went wrong. It's a lot of money because the co-packer is not going to say, oh, well, we'll just make it again for you. No problem. You've got to show that out if I'm not mistaken, right?
[00:45:55] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes. But with all honesty, all transparency, I think we were very lucky on many fronts. And one of the most important thing is the co-packer. And the co-packer has been really, really, really helpful. So he never said no. They never gave up. They had never done Labneh before. You know, we had never done Lebny before using that method. Any other co-packer would have kicked us out. They kept fighting till the end and we are here now because of them. And we all, you know, it's a, at the end of the day, it's a partnership. Are they investors in your brand? They're not investors in the brand. No. No. So you just found an incredible partner. We just found an incredible partner. And we also had a few hiccups. You know, one of the founders of the Copacker passed away, which kind of delayed a few things as well. We've had issues. These things happen in the industry. But we're lucky to have them because they were about to give up a few times. We were about to give up a few times when things were going wrong. And we kind of sat together and we said, no, we have to make it work. And we did.
[00:46:48] Ray Latif: I want to go back to Whole Foods one more time. You know, when they were thinking about bringing on a Lebanese brand nationally, they could have just gone to one of the big brands, you know, a few of them that you mentioned and said, hey, can you just make it different? Can you make a Lebanese style one? Or, you know, could you just increase the amount that you're selling us or just make more? I don't know. Maybe I'm oversimplifying it. But why did you feel like they wanted to go to an early stage independent brand like yours?
[00:47:14] Jacqui Brugliera: What made Yaza so attractive to them? So one, I think the fact Had Our plain labneh only has milk and salt. It's very authentic. No one else has that formula done. I think that was a big factor. The other factor is we were the first to launch flavored labneh. I think that's what touches to the American consumers because, Yes We know what labneh is. We know what to do with it. We never eat labneh plain with a spoon. the American consumer does not know what labneh is. If you put labneh in front of them, plain labneh, they'd be like, is that yogurt? What do I do? Do I take a spoon and just eat it? Well, that's not the case. You should add different things. You can add olive oil, vegetables, za'atar, garlic, you know, different spices. And the fact that we had flavors Had Our za'atar not only is our bestseller, it's a trend for Whole Foods. So Whole Foods comes up with trends for 2025 or for every year in October of the previous year. Had Our za'atar was one of the top 10 trends for the year. Outstanding.
[00:48:08] Ray Latif: I think about emerging brands these days, and I think about a brand like Little Sesame. Little Sesame makes amazing, amazing hummus. It's a brand that speaks to the modern consumer. And they've done some really good collaborations. The one that immediately comes to mind is the one they did with Fly by Jing. How do you evaluate potential collaborations?
[00:48:28] Jacqui Brugliera: How do you think about working with other brands? So we have done a lot of work with other brands on a few different things, social media. But as we speak, and I can't really mention the name of the brand because I don't have their approval yet, we've had I don't want to Call It partnership because it's not an official partnership, but we're working very closely with another brand, another emerging brand in the space that I met through you guys at the MENA event. Hey, how's it going? At the MENA event at Expo West last year. And thanks for that event. And shout out to Bella for kind of inviting us and including us there. And we are working on something, you know, a few different things that I think would be really big that will help, like you say, grow both brands together. We complement each other. We're both from the region and both items complement each other. And I think that will be a really good partnership or you can Call It whatever you want to Call It. But I think that's really important because when you go to a buyer, Yes, Labneh is good, but what goes with Labneh, they don't know. They don't know what the consumer wants. So we're actually working on different presentations for different buyers where we pitch both brands together. Very cool.
[00:49:33] Ray Latif: Very excited to see what you're coming out with. And what Christian Karim referring to was Mina CPG, which is a community of founders who either are from the Middle Eastern or North Africa or are descendants of people from that region of the world. And it's a really great group. MENA CPG has a Slack channel that a lot of people are a part of as well. So if you're listening and interested in participating, either reach out or Google MENA CPG and you'll find out how to get involved. Last thing, Christian, you know, how do you keep up the momentum that you've had? And what you're hearing, folks, if you're hearing the background right now is the NSD pre-party going on. But I think what I want to hear from Christian Karim now is you got through your first year, you're out there more than I think a lot of other brands could hope to be at this point. How do you keep that momentum going?
[00:50:21] Jacqui Brugliera: So just a few things. We launched the three SKUs. The plain, the za'atar, both of them are Whole Foods, but we also had the spicy chili. And then we've launched a new flavor, roasted garlic and mint. That's doing really well. And that's getting a really high success, not only because it's very authentic, but also because American consumers know what garlic and they know what mint is. So it kind of makes it easier to market it to them. And garlic or tulum is having a moment. So that really, really helps as well. So we have that. We've launched the snack pack, the Yazda on the go line, which is a way to educate consumer. For us, it's more tackling different channels, making sure we can diversify our channels, but also getting younger consumer in at an early stage because eventually these will become, these will buy big tubs. They will initially buy the snack pack, then they'll buy big tubs. And we're launching with a big club very soon. So that's really exciting. Club retailer. Club retailer very soon. Very exciting. And then to keep the momentum going, as you said, you can't stop, right? Because things are going really well. We're growing the team as we go. We are looking at different product lines, which we will have in the market by the end of the year.
[00:51:31] Ray Latif: So much going on. I love it. And I am so excited for everything that Yaza is doing. I'm so excited for you because it feels like you're living your dream. You did it, so to speak. I mean, you had this idea. You went through a lot of trial and error. There were a lot of times where it seemed like it wasn't going to make it. And it did. And here you are sitting next to me now. It's amazing.
[00:51:51] Jacqui Brugliera: Right. So when I moved here, for people who don't know, I moved to the US. I came from Lebanon. It was a big explosion. I left. I came for an American dream. It was in the midst of COVID, so I couldn't really meet anyone or start anything. I spent two years kind of deciding what I wanted to do, understanding the market, learning the market. But then from 2022 onwards, I've spent days and nights in Whole Foods stores, talking to consumers, watching consumer behavior on that aisle in the grocery store. I've spent sleepless nights trying to understand what people want and how to portray it to them. Yes We've been successful and I think we've just started, but it's been a lot of work and I've been really lucky to have built a really good team around me. Because you can't do anything on your own. So yes, I'm the founder, people see me, but nothing would have happened without the people around me. It's the passion and the vision that's coming from you.
[00:52:42] Ray Latif: It's those sleepless nights. It's going to Whole Foods, talking to people, doing the legwork, doing the hard work that comes with creating a successful brand.
[00:52:50] Jacqui Brugliera: Exactly.
[00:52:50] Ray Latif: Yeah. Christian, thank you so much for taking the time. I'm just so elated for you and for Yaza. And I can't wait to see what's next. Thank you. Thank you, Ray. 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, Had Our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, Had 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.
[00:53:54] Melissa Traverse: you
