[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello 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 with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. I love how Nate always does this. Every time I start screaming into the microphone, he runs away. During the intro, he comes and closes the door to the studio. He's like, I can't stand the sound of that guy's voice.
[00:00:34] John Craven: Gotta get under a table.
[00:00:35] Ray Latif: Yes. Every week I start screaming and he comes and closes the door.
[00:00:39] John Craven: He scurries into the catacombs.
[00:00:41] Ray Latif: Yes. No, he's doing a great job. We love Nate. He's running the AV, making sure that everything's working. We all look as good as we can possibly look and sound as good as we can possibly sound. That's about it right there. That's a mic. That was a microcosm. No, we're not. Yeah, that's yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, welcome back, John. Welcome back, Mike.
[00:01:00] John Craven: Thanks, Ray.
[00:01:00] Ray Latif: I almost forgot your name.
[00:01:01] John Craven: Yeah, I know. Here it is.
[00:01:05] Ray Latif: It looks like you got that t-shirt in Puerto Rico. Is that right?
[00:01:09] John Craven: Yeah, I got this 413 is the road to Rincón. It goes through Rincón.
[00:01:14] Ray Latif: Rincón is a town?
[00:01:15] John Craven: Rincon is a surf town in Puerto Rico.
[00:01:17] Ray Latif: You went surfing?
[00:01:18] John Craven: That is where I went. Nice. I surfed, drank as much Karibe kombucha as I could. Stuff's really good.
[00:01:24] Ray Latif: I thought you were going to say you drank as many cocktails, and then I paused and realized that you weren't probably drinking that many cocktails.
[00:01:29] John Craven: No, I was basically, I was too busy Surfing With the turtles. What? Sea turtles.
[00:01:33] Jacqui Brugliera: There's turtles? Like big turtles?
[00:01:35] John Craven: Yeah, there's hawkbill turtles in Puerto Rico and they just, they pop their heads up while you're surfing.
[00:01:40] Ray Latif: Okay.
[00:01:40] John Craven: Chill. Yeah. They're awesome.
[00:01:42] Ray Latif: So all the cocktails you didn't drink, John, I assume you had a few for Mike. He did. On his behalf. I had a few. Yeah.
[00:01:50] Mike Schneider: You were in Mexico? I was in Mexico and Cabo.
[00:01:52] John Craven: But there's the war on sugar in Mexico, so.
[00:01:54] Mike Schneider: There is, yeah, basically every margarita is like a skinny margarita now. Is this true? It seemed to largely be true. There's giant warnings on, like, soda and stuff down there.
[00:02:03] Ray Latif: Really?
[00:02:03] Mike Schneider: I like that. Nice. Yeah. It basically existed on ceviche. Okay. So it was a good time.
[00:02:08] John Craven: Did you find the garbage can of ceviche you've been dreaming about?
[00:02:11] Mike Schneider: No, I saw a... That's ceviche bar though. That was kind of... Ceviche master. Yeah.
[00:02:16] Ray Latif: I'm curious about this. So like you would see a warning label on a can of soda like you would on a pack of cigarettes here.
[00:02:23] Mike Schneider: They have these like high calorie, I think it's a high sugar warning too. It's like these black... Oh, I see it.
[00:02:28] Ray Latif: Exceso calorias. Yes. Yes. Exceso azucares. I am fluent. I'm fluent in Spanish as you can tell. Yes.
[00:02:37] Jacqui Brugliera: It's interesting how, like, even, I mean, beyond packaged, you know, beverages, there's still, even with a mixed cocktail, which you're not really privy to what's going in there, they're still trying to dial down the sugar.
[00:02:50] Ray Latif: It's important. I mean, I think I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see some momentum for something like that here in the States, but well, I don't know if big food would allow that to happen. Someday. There was a time when people thought big tobacco wouldn't allow those kinds of things. And now you see like, you know, a terrible person's like a lung, like those like literally black lungs on
[00:03:09] John Craven: On cigarette packs in Europe, for sure, you see those. But it's time for a Ray-Ran, come on. Yeah, Ray, come on. Are you okay? This is your chance.
[00:03:17] Ray Latif: I think I made a mistake this morning, because I wanted a little bit of zen. So I saw this bottle of Aum Gently Zen on my desk, and Aum is a maker Om Mushroom superfood supplements. And this one is made with ashwagandha and gaba, powered by reishi, though.
[00:03:31] John Craven: Because normally you'd be like, big food, sugar, children, they shouldn't be eating. That's exactly what I sound like too.
[00:03:39] Mike Schneider: And then he bust out a package chocolate cake. Never going to let that down.
[00:03:42] Ray Latif: And then I had my Kaplitz, my Kaplitz of Om Zen with a swig. Yeah, what'd you put in there, booze? No, a swig of coffee. Coffee? No, so I'm not sure what I did to myself. Who takes pills with coffee? I don't know. It was a huge mistake. A huge mistake.
[00:03:58] Jacqui Brugliera: I think your brain's currently calibrating. You know, you got the caffeine and the Zen and it's trying to figure out what to do right now.
[00:04:04] Mike Schneider: conflicting drugs in his system.
[00:04:06] Ray Latif: I also got my, my liter of green juice. You love that stuff. It's not, you know, like liter of cola. Like that's what it is. And what's the name of that movie? Lidricola? Yeah, Lidricola. Oh my goodness. How are we? Super Troopers.
[00:04:17] John Craven: Oh, Super Troopers. I don't remember that one.
[00:04:19] Ray Latif: Lidricola?
[00:04:20] John Craven: I don't remember that one verbatim right now.
[00:04:22] Ray Latif: Yeah, sorry Ray. That's not a verbatim. That's a very famous quote from that movie. Oh my gosh. It's not a good movie. Anyway. Okay. You know what? People are going to send you an email. That's fine. Lots of people. That's fine. All right. Let's talk about the wine in Mexico. You told me that you almost spent $300 on a bottle of $10 wine. Is this true?
[00:04:38] Mike Schneider: That's not what I said. That's what they call a leading statement in question. I said I witnessed some Taurus spending $300 for wine labels like La Crema.
[00:04:52] Ray Latif: Now, to be fair, those are fine bottles of wine. They're just not $300.
[00:04:56] Mike Schneider: I mean, if they're like $10 and you're at a gas station.
[00:04:58] Ray Latif: $10? Come on, gas station.
[00:05:00] John Craven: I mean, that's the kind of stuff you find in a wine shop in Vermont to put on your table. It's like $15, $12. Why Vermont? That's where I find it.
[00:05:10] Mike Schneider: That's weird. But yeah, Mexico has some pretty, pretty solid wine. I got a bunch from this winery that last summer when took a trip with Jackie down to Mexico, we went to one called Casa Magone, which is like pretty solid stuff and relatively widely available in Cabo too. So enjoyed that. It was only, I think, 50 bucks. So.
[00:05:27] Ray Latif: Yeah. I recall you guys talking about the wine scene in Mexico and how it is up and coming, which is really cool to see. You wouldn't think in that kind of climate, I'm making big assumptions here, but I'm assuming where you were was pretty warm that you could grow good grapes, good wine grapes out there.
[00:05:43] Mike Schneider: Yeah.
[00:05:43] Ray Latif: There's some different climates down there. So.
[00:05:46] John Craven: I mean, Mexico City's like a mile high city. So there there's definitely elevation in Mexico.
[00:05:51] Jacqui Brugliera: And in wine country, like in Valle de Guadalupe, like there's a lot of valleys and things. So similar, you know, Sonoma where there's some cooler climates, even though it's like a hot area. So they grow a variety of grapes. And even in San Diego, a lot of restaurants are serving a lot of wines from Valle now. It's trendy and it's new and a lot of like new winemakers coming onto the scene.
[00:06:15] Ray Latif: Well, guess what? I'm going to be in your neck of the woods later this week, Jackie, and I'm going to have to find myself some Mexican wine.
[00:06:20] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, if only you were here longer, I could take you to Mexico.
[00:06:23] Ray Latif: Oh, man, I was thinking about doing that because I'm going to be in L.A. next week and I'm going to be in San Diego later this week. And so I said, OK, well, why don't a normal person would say I'm just going to stay for the weekend?
[00:06:33] John Craven: You know, Ray's such a jet setter. I'm going to be in L.A.
[00:06:39] Ray Latif: I mean, you know, this is all this is all work related. If I were if I were a real jet setter, I would be in L.A. You are the Taylor Swift.
[00:06:45] John Craven: of food and beverage.
[00:06:47] Jacqui Brugliera: We need a BevNET private jet for Ray.
[00:06:49] Ray Latif: BevJet. BevJet. BevJet.
[00:06:52] John Craven: We do have the idea for the beverage copter, which I think is... That's ahead in the queue, isn't it? Beverage copter gets you nowhere, though.
[00:06:57] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's true, but... Yeah, you wouldn't go cross-country in the beverage copter.
[00:07:00] Ray Latif: No, that would be a rough trip. I demand a BevJet. Let's start with an iPad. Can I get an iPad? You've got an iPad. I've got one waiting for you. Yes, we've got you an iPad. All right. Well, Mike mentioned Vermont. And of course, Vermont is famous for many things.
[00:07:15] John Craven: Skiing, cheese, maple syrup.
[00:07:18] Ray Latif: It's also famous for a very well-known spirit brand. That spirit brand is Whistlepig.
[00:07:27] John Craven: Whistlepig.
[00:07:28] Ray Latif: No, no, no. Whistlepig.
[00:07:29] John Craven: Whistle.
[00:07:30] Ray Latif: Are you whistling a little when you talk about it? Whistlepig.
[00:07:33] John Craven: Correct. Whistlepig.
[00:07:34] Ray Latif: John has at his side a bottle of a very limited edition whiskey that was recently launched. I don't even know if it's been announced, but it was recently launched by Whistlepig, which is called, drum roll please. Say it, Ray. Oh god. It is called a badonkadonk. Whistlepig badonkadonk. Now, for those of you who don't know what a badonkadonk is, I'm going to get fired if I say it, so Jackie, you probably should say it. Okay, go ahead, say it.
[00:08:03] Jacqui Brugliera: So Urban Dictionary's definition is buttocks of exceptional quality and bounce.
[00:08:10] John Craven: Doesn't David Chappelle say it's junk in the trunk?
[00:08:12] Ray Latif: Yes. I believe he goes by Dave, but yes. Mr. David Chappelle.
[00:08:18] John Craven: I don't know him, so I don't think I'm allowed to call him Dave, okay?
[00:08:21] Ray Latif: Fair enough. Fair enough. Yes. Exceptional Bounce.
[00:08:24] Jacqui Brugliera: So I wonder if this just bounces on the tongue, you know? Oh, jeez.
[00:08:31] John Craven: Nobody ever thought Badonkadonk would be written in such a font either. It's amazing. Look at this font. I mean, this box is like, it's heavy. Does it have any Badonkadonk to it?
[00:08:41] Ray Latif: We should kind of describe this for people who are not watching the video. This bottle comes in a very heavy wooden crate, which opens up in the front and it says Whistlepig age 25 on the little door handle, which opens up this crate. John is pouring some out right now.
[00:08:59] John Craven: What's the retail price of a bottle of this, Ray?
[00:09:02] Ray Latif: Well, hold on now. Okay. All right. I want to know. Let's lay it out here. All right. So this is a small batch pot still single malt whiskey. This pour is about $100. That'll put it in perspective. Finished in silver oak cabernet barrel. Silver oak is the name of a esteemed winery. All right. Yes. All right. Let's drink this.
[00:09:21] Mike Schneider: So the retail price on this bottle is $1,999. Wow.
[00:09:26] Jacqui Brugliera: I just love that it's like such a fancy, expensive product with such a fun name. They're just like kind of making fun of the fact that it's super expensive.
[00:09:38] Ray Latif: Yeah, I mean it's very nice. I probably should not have had some of my Om Mushroom caplets and some coffee before.
[00:09:44] John Craven: You guys, this box is $200.
[00:09:46] Mike Schneider: I know, send the box back. Don't, you're not keeping that. This thing's awesome. I'm not keeping the box. Don't, oh Jesus, don't nuke my bottle here. Don't, don't break the box.
[00:09:52] John Craven: It doesn't even, I mean, it doesn't even slide. You basically need, you need to be a bodybuilder to lift that box.
[00:09:57] Mike Schneider: You need a forklift. But this stuff is exceptional.
[00:10:00] Ray Latif: I actually sat down with two of the key leaders of Whistlepig in an episode of Taste Radio published in July of last year. Those folks are Liz Rhodes and Megarin Ireland, who are the head of whiskey development and chief blender respectively for Whistlepig. It's a really interesting conversation talking about how they are leading the brand forward amid just different trends and changes in the world of spirits. So also really cool to see two women leading this brand or part of the leadership team of Whistlepig as well. So. Yeah, exciting stuff for the brand. Mike, I know that you've, you know, going on vacation and you gotta get back into the swing of things. Yeah, gotta get back. Gotta get your immune system back into gear.
[00:10:46] John Craven: If only there was something that could get my immune system back into gear, right?
[00:10:49] Ray Latif: Do you have a suggestion? I do have a suggestion. What is it? It's Amuse. Amuse! Of course! I-M-M-U-S-E. Amuse is a dietary and food ingredient clinically shown to stimulate immune function at the cellular level. Amuse is the primary sponsor of today's episode of Taste Radio. And if you incorporate Amuse into your innovation strategy, you will help your consumers optimize their health throughout the year. Learn more at amusehealth.com. That's I-M-M-U-S-E health dot com.
[00:11:18] Mike Schneider: Pretty impressive. You got through that after all that whistle pig.
[00:11:21] Ray Latif: I did not have more than, it just like basically coated my palate.
[00:11:26] Mike Schneider: Well, this is going to boost my immunity right here.
[00:11:29] Ray Latif: It's going to kill all the germs in your mouth. Yes. What do you have, you have a magazine in front of you?
[00:11:35] John Craven: I've got more, it's more like a coffee table book. It's by our dear friend, Mike Lee.
[00:11:39] Ray Latif: Can I pause for a second? I said, do people still read magazines? You know what's kind of funny though?
[00:11:42] Mike Schneider: That we have a magazine?
[00:11:43] Ray Latif: No, we have a magazine, but people love the magazine. They do. People like our subscriber, our subscription rate keeps going up and up and up. And people are like, I want to be in the magazine, the magazine, the magazine, the magazine. It's like, if you see your name in print and you see your brand's name in print, somehow it's just like, you've made it.
[00:11:57] John Craven: Do you know you can get the magazine for free? You can just go to BevNET.com.
[00:12:01] Ray Latif: All this time I've been paying for it, 13 years I've been paying for the magazine.
[00:12:04] John Craven: This is crazy. We've been docking this pay since you started here. We'll send it to you. Just go to the website, sign up for the magazine.
[00:12:10] Ray Latif: BevNET.com slash magazine. Magazine.
[00:12:12] John Craven: Made it really simple.
[00:12:13] Ray Latif: Super easy. Also, in the magazine, I'm going to keep going for one more second.
[00:12:18] John Craven: Yeah, go for it.
[00:12:19] Ray Latif: I'm sure we're going to be letting people know. that registration for BevNET Live is ending. Early registration. Early registration. Early, not registration. Early registration. It's gonna sell out anyway, but I mean, early, excuse me, early registration.
[00:12:33] John Craven: Can you let a professional handle this, please? Jackie? It's the whistle pig striking again.
[00:12:38] Ray Latif: It's the damn whistle pig.
[00:12:39] John Craven: This is early, early registration weekend is ending, and Jackie has literally begun every meeting that I've been in with her, which has been a lot, with, hey everybody, early registration.
[00:12:50] Jacqui Brugliera: It's like a holiday for us, you know?
[00:12:53] Ray Latif: When is early registration ending Jackie?
[00:12:55] Jacqui Brugliera: It's ending this Friday, which at the time of this recording, well, by the time people listen to this, it will be today. So it's ending today, but I'm known to be a little bit lazy.
[00:13:07] John Craven: Oh my God, you guys.
[00:13:08] Jacqui Brugliera: I forget to close it down. So if you're listening to this, you need a little extra time. You got the weekend.
[00:13:15] John Craven: You guys, there's like two times of year that Jackie gets like ridiculously lazy. We're like, damn it. Midnight on Friday, this thing closes down. Jackie, you got this? Yeah, I got it, Mike. I got it.
[00:13:27] Jacqui Brugliera: I fall asleep or something, you know, and I forget to turn it off.
[00:13:31] John Craven: She's like sitting on the couch, watching basketball, watching like basketball replays, eating Trashy Chips. You know, I mean, which is the new Pulp Pantry, by the way.
[00:13:44] Ray Latif: The new name of Pulp Pantry.
[00:13:44] John Craven: The new name of Pulp Pantry. She's rebranded it Caitlyn Mogentale or Mogentale, or maybe that Ogentale is silent. How about Caitlyn? It's just Caitlyn for the chips. But she's rebranding to Trashy. And Jackie's just sitting on the couch garbage mouthing these chips. And she's forgetting to do her job. Yeah.
[00:14:05] Ray Latif: Let's go full circle here. For everyone's benefit. Yes. April 26th, early registration for BevNET Live Summer 2024 is ending. And it's your last chance to save how much money, Jackie?
[00:14:17] Jacqui Brugliera: At least a hundred dollars per ticket.
[00:14:19] Ray Latif: So a hundred dollars, even more if you're an insider.
[00:14:21] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes.
[00:14:22] Ray Latif: That is possibly a train ticket, a seat upgrade, a dinner. So if you're going to come, why not sign up now? And if you're not going to come, I'm not sure why you wouldn't be coming because this is going to be the event of the summer. And I can pretty much guarantee that at this point.
[00:14:38] Jacqui Brugliera: Book your travel now. I just booked my flights. I booked my Broadway tickets. You know you can start saving in multiple ways What are you gonna see this time? He's down nice.
[00:14:49] John Craven: Yeah, it's about Hill
[00:14:51] Jacqui Brugliera: It is about hell and the soundtrack's amazing.
[00:14:54] John Craven: A musical about hell.
[00:14:55] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. I love it.
[00:14:56] John Craven: It's gonna be great.
[00:14:57] Ray Latif: I love this. This is my dream. Why am I not going? You know why this segway is so perfect? Because Mike opened up his Me's magazine.
[00:15:03] John Craven: I opened up Me's magazine.
[00:15:04] Ray Latif: And no, you were at the perfect page.
[00:15:06] John Craven: Gordon Ramsey.
[00:15:07] Ray Latif: Gordon Ramsey.
[00:15:08] John Craven: No, not only is it Gordon Ramsey, it's AI Gordon Ramsey. So this is a, I think Ray said it was like a magazine. It's more like a coffee table book. Maybe it's somewhere in between, but it's by the, you can only describe him as one of the industry's top creatives. And this is Mike Lee. He describes himself as a writer and designer, but I think of him as much more his aesthetic. Like if you follow this guy on Instagram, he finds like the coolest stuff. So follow him on Instagram, check out his story, um, and also check out this, this, uh, future of food magazine called Me's. It's got stuff on AI, soil as a service, intrapreneurship, and more. It's a beautiful, it's a beautiful book. And Mike, thanks for sending this along. Full disclosure, he sent it to me so I could take a look at it. I haven't really gotten too much of a chance to dig in yet, but what I have dug into, it's been fascinating.
[00:15:58] Ray Latif: The future of food.
[00:15:59] John Craven: The future of food. So it's not a trend report, so to speak. It's just more of like musings on things that could happen. MISE is spelled M-I-S-E, by the way, on the future of food MISE. Anyway, check it out.
[00:16:11] Ray Latif: There you go. Now the future of food. I want to say for the last two or three years has included package design that looks like it has embraced a seventies or eighties aesthetic. Not it looks like it has, it has embraced a seventies or an eighties aesthetic. Seems like everything we see these days has that retro feel. And you know, you think about a brand like Graza. Graza is like the ultimate example of this. Now I pulled these from the sample room. These are their olive oil chips. We've talked about these. We don't need to talk about these anymore, but the logo. of Graza, it just feels like it's that groovy 60s kind of vibe.
[00:16:45] John Craven: There are trend aesthetics that, that people follow and, and you know, this is, this is just what's hot right now.
[00:16:51] Ray Latif: Yeah. You can be even more in your face with this kind of stuff. There's this alcohol-free wine that I pulled from the sample room called Tethos. T-E-T-H-O-S. Tethos. This is a black tea Shiraz.
[00:17:04] John Craven: Great liquid, by the way.
[00:17:05] Ray Latif: Is it?
[00:17:06] John Craven: I'd like to try that.
[00:17:07] Ray Latif: And yeah, literally this variety has a Polaroid, an image of a Polaroid camera on the front.
[00:17:14] Mike Schneider: And a cassette, don't forget this one.
[00:17:16] Ray Latif: Yeah, the Sauvignon Blanc variety has a cassette tape on the front. So they really landed on pretty thick.
[00:17:21] John Craven: Alcohol-free, hangover-free, black tea Shiraz, get in my belly. Go ahead, there you go. Yeah, I want to try this.
[00:17:26] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I mean, people are listening to, you know, CD players again, they're listening to vinyl, like that's all recycling themselves. Like Mike was saying, fashion's recycling. Like what am I wearing right now? It's like ripped jeans and like an acid wash shirt.
[00:17:42] John Craven: You're in the 80s right now.
[00:17:44] Jacqui Brugliera: You know, I have bell bottoms to, you know, when I feel like being in the 70s.
[00:17:49] Mike Schneider: And no longer shaming Ray for his use of a VCR. So that's where we're at.
[00:17:53] John Craven: Yeah, Ray, it's come back around. Ray also has Laserdiscs, you guys, because he found three Laserdisc players on the side of the street and also the Laserdisc.
[00:18:02] Ray Latif: I would love to have a Laserdisc. You know, those things are pretty rare. Laserdisc players. Yeah, there's even a more rare, rare type of laser disc player where it's, it's like, it's a record. It's actually, I think it's made out of vinyl, but it plays video somehow. It's this weird, weird dance. Anyway, if anyone has one of those machines and wants to get rid of it's in their basement, please let me know. I'll, I'll pay for shipping and handling. I also saw in the sample room, this is really interesting. Actually, this was in the, what do they call it, fridge upstairs? The danger fridge. Yes. Even though this is not a danger fridge type of beverage, it's called Wineo, which is a non-alcoholic sparkling rosé. But even this, I mean, I think that the brand aesthetic looks very throwback and retro. John, what do you know about this one?
[00:18:44] John Craven: Nothing.
[00:18:44] Ray Latif: Nothing. Nothing. Okay. It's a, I think it's wine. Uh, wine. Uh, yeah. Wine.
[00:18:49] John Craven: Uh, like the guard that's in. Oh, with the slash through it. Or it's like the, Oh, with the umlaut.
[00:18:54] Ray Latif: Yeah. But it's very, very minimalist on the front. It's a very, uh, red, like cherry red can. Yeah. Very cool.
[00:19:00] Mike Schneider: That also looks. How about Not Beer?
[00:19:02] Ray Latif: So Not Beer is an interesting one for me. I feel like that does have some of that retro aesthetic, but it, I mean, it looks like a can of Budweiser and it's intended to look like that. I mean, it looks like American lager, but it's American sparkling water. That's exactly what it's described as. So Not Beer. I'm sure a lot of our listeners have already seen this on the Twitters, on the Instagrams and stuff. I mean, it's. It's very much of that cheeky, uh, Liquid Death kind of mold where they're making fun of, you know, sparkling water and, uh, just poking fun at the fact that this is nothing more than what it is. Just water. Just water. Yeah.
[00:19:42] Mike Schneider: It's chill.
[00:19:43] Ray Latif: Yeah. And on the side of the can, it says never a bad time. I'm assuming because you're not going to get a hangover from drinking this product and...
[00:19:49] Mike Schneider: I just like to put my thumb like this, covering the knot, so I look like a real DJ in here.
[00:19:55] Ray Latif: But I wonder if they're going to get in trouble for that, because Budweiser might.
[00:20:00] John Craven: It looks Budweiser-ish, but it doesn't look enough like Budweiser.
[00:20:03] Ray Latif: What's there to trouble? It looks exactly like it. It doesn't look exactly like it. No, it doesn't. It's just the same colors. No, it has the same oval white front.
[00:20:13] Mike Schneider: It's got the same chicken on the front. Look, tonight, instead of having a nice glass of Bordeaux or whatever you do, just crush a couple of Bud Heavies and you'll see they do not look the same. Yoggies. Oh, it's a yogurt covered.
[00:20:34] John Craven: Is that covered fruit snack? 80 calories a pack and Probiotics just what we need probiotics. Yeah, but but yeah probiotics Mm-hmm. Give it a trillion probiotic 2 billion CFU's billion Probiotic culture. Yeah, these are tasty. They also have a trail mix too.
[00:20:54] Ray Latif: Here you go. I Don't know I when I'm seeing this stuff though I mean like the package design and you know getting back to that for a second is I'm trying to figure out, you know, how much longer this is going to last. And I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I'm just wondering, you know, for all the stuff that we're seeing, you know, that is intended to be a little differentiated, is intended to appeal to younger consumers and, you know, their embrace of retro aesthetic, you know, what's, what's really, what's really standing out anymore? I don't think almost anything is, cause everything kind of looks the same.
[00:21:29] Mike Schneider: I mean, this is always the case though. It is. There's always trends where, you know, I think the majority of brands tend to gravitate towards. And I think now the colors that we're seeing, you know, the design aesthetics or I don't know, there was a stretch where everything was like green, you know, and now it's like, we've got a lot of like, you know, yellow, orange, gold, red sort of stuff going on. Um, and I think there was also a stretch where things were trying to look like I don't know, kind of tech and like, you know, lots of straight edges and now we've gone away from that. So, but I think it's usually like, it's like a slow boil and then it's very noticeable. And obviously that presents an opportunity for brands that don't look that way to stand out. Right. I mean, that's kind of how it always works.
[00:22:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, and I think also it's just who they're targeting. I think the brands that are really going for younger consumers are going with the retro vibe because that's what Gen Z is all about right now and what they're doing, what they're wearing and what they're consuming. Whereas like brands that are maybe targeting some older, like an older demographic might Not Beer tapping into that. But and then again, it's like, we'll see this and then slowly it will shift and we won't really notice the change like right away, but it just kind of like flows into the next trend.
[00:22:52] John Craven: Then you've got like the go against the grain art project that just pops in like case or something like that. You know, it looks like they've got the Mr. Dew apple, which I've talked about before. And then, you know, they've got their little yin yang, awesome logo. And it's just like, what's going on here? It looks a lot different than the rest of the aesthetic you see out there. Also pretty tasty with their ooo be dazzling.
[00:23:14] Ray Latif: It's a jasmine tea beverage. I mean, I think it's a beautiful brand. I think it's a great tasting brand, but I feel like it does very much fit into this mold of I'm just going to call it what it is because it's been on my tongue. These snack shot type products. And, you know, Andrea Hernandez has been following modern package design or contemporary package design for the past four years now. And it seems like when you go onto her site or follow her on Twitter or Instagram, you see a lot of these types of label designs, which almost always use like one of four different fonts and Yeah, I mean really they really do and have this sort of counterculture copy and well, there's also just the hierarchy is usually different on these there's a you know, it's it's
[00:24:03] John Craven: probably something that somebody with an art degree and less experience in food and beverage put together. Somebody who's a designer, somebody who, you know, knows a little bit about making something that's eye-catching puts these together. And, and you're also looking a lot of times on SnackShot at Rev zero packaging. So it's like the thing before they actually have a full, a full release. And so you get a chance to see you know the renders in some cases before somebody's actually put a package before they put something into an actual package or you're seeing like really rev 0.1 that they're trying to get some feedback on too so I like that about I like that about the quote snack shot aesthetic
[00:24:50] Jacqui Brugliera: And beyond just like the retro, like aesthetic too, I think brands are like one of the brands you were showcasing are going for more minimalist packaging because there's so much marketing and there's so many like messages out there and people and consumers just want to know exactly what it is and what's the function or why should I drink this? And I have like heel tea right here too. And very minimalist packaging just says exactly what it is, but has like a pop of color on a can.
[00:25:20] John Craven: Huh, it looks like rx bar.
[00:25:23] Jacqui Brugliera: I literally just you know says exactly what's in there on the front says caffeine-free Organic says that it's peppermint and dandelion which are you know? People know those as functional ingredients in tea, so I think what's real water Everything's our water.
[00:25:38] John Craven: Yeah Okay, I would think it would be capital L. But okay. Yeah, I
[00:25:44] Ray Latif: It's the new Rohan Oza.
[00:25:49] John Craven: His tears. Does he cry?
[00:25:52] Mike Schneider: For your information, it's the main ingredient in most beverages. Gotcha. Rohan Oza doesn't cry though. He's such a happy dude.
[00:26:01] Ray Latif: That is a really random tangent there, but hey. Just quickly going back to the, what you said about good enough, Mike, you know, but good enough for the first mover, yes. But is it good enough for a mainstream audience? And I think- Probably not yet. Well, a lot of these products we see at your Erewhons of the world, and then, you know, there's a drop-off, pretty significant drop-off in terms of where we see these products. Yes, that might be available direct to consumer, that might be available on Amazon, but how do you create a package for the longterm that has lasting value beyond Those initial independent or, um, you have to listen.
[00:26:37] John Craven: I mean, that's what social media is all about. You have the chance to, you know, get feedback by putting renders of your packaging out there. You can try a lot of things with, with just, you know, putting the designs out there to try to sell your. Cellular can, so do you have to necessarily deliver the exact package that you quote sold? I don't think so.
[00:26:55] Mike Schneider: I think all I would like to add to this is also that, you know, package design for every brand is, it's an evolution and part of the journey. You know, I think a lot of times entrepreneurs are like, you know, thinking about like their package being this lasting thing, but. You know, in reality, the needs of a brand trying to get its foot in the door versus the needs of a brand that's trying to scale or trying to exit are very different things. And I think if you look at, you know, a lot of the brands that do eventually exit relative to where they started out, it's quite different in some cases, like almost unrecognizable, like I saw on Twitter yesterday, someone posted a picture of a Celsius can from 10 years ago and was talking about, you know, if you put 10 grand into this company, you'd have I don't know what it was like $3 million today, but like, The whole entire, you know, design of Celsius, which 10 years ago was like pretty damn awful, like, it's this burn calories, it's just this ugly, crazy thing compared to like their beautiful white, like, polished, you know, branding of today that looks like a mature brand. Um, and I think, you know, for a lot of brands also, like, yes, there's really bad packaging that needs to be fixed, but I think some of the things you're talking about, even with, you know, case, Mike, you know, I mean, these are small things that are not going to make or break that brand. Like what's going to make or break them or certainly like the overall idea and the execution more than like, you know, the little things on the package, which doesn't mean you shouldn't be pedantic about those, but, um, I think some companies sometimes like over index on, you know, aesthetics is, is really the reason I'm saying that. So.
[00:28:34] John Craven: Right. When I, and like what you need to choose in the beginning is, are you trying to sell your brand or are you trying to sell like a flavor that someone recognizes? I think those are just two things that you have to ask yourself when you're putting together your label hierarchy. And then, I mean, the other pieces and Jackie and I talk about this all the time. You don't really decide your brand long term. You get to decide it in the beginning, but then who picks up on that?
[00:28:58] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, the consumer.
[00:28:59] John Craven: Exactly.
[00:29:00] Ray Latif: The consumer picks up on it.
[00:29:01] John Craven: And they decide what they're doing with your brand. And if you listen to them, you adapt to their lifestyle.
[00:29:07] Jacqui Brugliera: And Graza is a great example of like a brand that is kind of retro aesthetic, but has gone more mainstream is in a lot of retail stores because they do a great job on their social media. People know what the product is. It's very clear, you know, and people like the product. It's a quality product.
[00:29:25] Ray Latif: People have to find these products at retailers though. And retailers, I'm gonna give a lot of praise to Sprouts, which has worked with a lot of early stage emerging brands and brought their products into their stores. I see and hear from founders who are either making small inroads into Sprouts or going store wide, chain wide in Sprouts and really innovative, interesting brands. I think that route used to be very much Erwan and Foxtrot, right? And Foxtrot, we just learned this morning, is ceasing operations. Now, obviously, this is a developing story. We just learned about this news. We just mentioned Andrea Hernandez from Snackshot. She broke this news on her site. Really don't know too, too much about it, but Disappointing, I guess not totally unexpected because Foxtrot and Dom's Market, which is a specialty grocery chain based in Chicago, had merged a few months back and it almost seems like this could have happened. It's just shocking that it did actually happen. As I mentioned, this is a developing story. I continue to follow everything that's going on with Foxtrot on BevNET and Nosh. I'm sure there's going to be much more even beyond the date of this recording. Not to end on a bad note, I'll end on a happy note here. Yes, I just want to let people know that it's been exciting to see all the folks who have signed up as Taste Radio VIPs. It's really cool that you've joined this community. We are continuing to create new and fun ways to support this community and offer benefits that are specific to, I almost said insiders, to VIPs. So if you are interested in becoming one and haven't yet signed up, it's really easy to do so. Go to Taste Radio.com slash VIP. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is bevnettasteradio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:32:12] Mike Schneider: you
