[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 Mike Schneider. This episode features a conversation with Dr. Farnoush Fadavi, the co-founder of Bala Enzyme, an innovative brand of plant-based drink mixes developed to speed recovery and reduce inflammation. I sat down with Dr. Farnoush Fadavi just before I sat down with Lance Collins, the creator of several iconic beverage brands, including Body Armor, Fuse, Nos, Core Hydration, I've been to that guy's house. We've all been to that. Actually, Jack, you haven't been to his house.
[00:01:00] John Craven: I haven't, but I've heard stories.
[00:01:02] Ray Latif: It's a very nice house. He has very nice cars, as one would think for someone who's created multiple billion dollar brands. Landis also saved our lives on the way. He did.
[00:01:12] Jacqui Brugliera: How so? I mean, there's a guy just blew through the stop sign.
[00:01:15] Mike Schneider: On a random intersection in Beverly Hills. Also, when you get like T-boned in Beverly Hills, the guy who hit you probably sues you.
[00:01:24] Ray Latif: I've heard that happen. Yeah, Landis saved us that day. But yeah, so we just published that interview with Lance Collins earlier this week on Tuesday. It's an eye-opening episode, that's what I can tell you. Or maybe an ear-opening episode in this case. But you can actually watch the video as well, which is on the YouTube. So tune in to the audio or video and hear all about what Lance is up to these days. Jackie, what you're up to these days is attending summits. Particularly one summit. It's called the Vegan Women's Summit, which you attended last week.
[00:01:58] John Craven: Yeah, I was right next door to Beverly Hills. I was in West Hollywood and it was great. It was a great event. I mean, it was inclusive to all genders, all people that had, you know, different dietary restrictions, but the main core of it was to support people that are trying to eat plant forward. And there was a great mix of both brand founders, consumers, just. people that I met that just wanted to meet their next best friend. It was kind of funny and cute, but a lot of great brands that were there Beyond Meat was there and spoke the CEO Beyond Meat. They're launching a fourth iteration of their, their meats focused on both health and flavors. So I know they've gotten kind of some, some crap for some of the ingredients that go into their products. So they're really focused on removing some of that crap and using some avocado oil. But it was cool to hear because I think a big theme across all of it was that there's some infighting amongst like vegans and people that are all about plant forward eating about whether you want to be very simple in your eating or whether you can rely on more technology to build some of these vegan meats. And they were all like, why are we fighting? This doesn't help our common cause as far as helping the world and having a more compassionate world towards animals. So I thought that was a nice, a nice little through line. And I saw a good amount of, you know, tech backed meats and vegan products that are just entering the marketplace.
[00:03:32] Mike Schneider: Did you try the new Beyond Meat stuff? Were they sampling it?
[00:03:35] John Craven: Yeah, they were using it to create like these little croquettes and they had empanadas and it was really good. I noticed a difference in taste.
[00:03:44] Mike Schneider: Well, see how that fares for them, I guess.
[00:03:48] Jacqui Brugliera: The impact of just, you know, grazing cows on the environment is certainly something that I've heard a lot of vegans talk about. And, you know, also just general cruelty to animals is a huge theme. So somebody who wants to make meat from other means, there's definitely still some argument about that, though, Jackie, whether, you know, lab-based meat because it's still technically meat is something that vegans want to eat anyway. So there's definitely not agreement about that.
[00:04:19] John Craven: Yeah, I think the key thing I took away was that there's definitely a spectrum of people that are, you know, like, for example, I'm pescatarian, but I primarily eat plant based. So they kept saying plant forward, and trying to, you know, just incorporate more plant based eating, even if you're not like hardcore vegan, because no matter what, that's going to make an impact on the environment. and it's probably going to benefit your health. You might not be eating clean, fully plant-based foods all the time, but if you're doing it at least part of the time, then I think that is just a step in the right direction.
[00:04:55] Jacqui Brugliera: They made Jackie go through the fish detector and they took all the fish life out of her backpack on the way in here.
[00:05:01] Ray Latif: Took away all your ceviche. All your ceviche. I mean, I think the consumer is going to determine where this category or this segment of, I don't know, meat goes. You know, right now it doesn't look great, honestly. I mean, Beyond Meat, their recent earnings report was Not so great.
[00:05:22] Mike Schneider: Hey, if you invested in Beyond Meat five years ago, you've lost 85% of your money. That's not a good thing. That's not a good thing. No, I mean, I think, you know, sounds like crypto sounds like you should have put your money in crypto or GameStop or something. It sort of felt like a step backwards in terms of the long-term commercial viability of this stuff and a lot of questions about that. And, you know, it is, I think, a good sign if companies like Beyond Meat are trying to pivot or, you know, there was Meaty that just raised a bunch of money. You know, I think it's just one of those, like, the ups and downs of anything that's new and trying to implement significant change.
[00:06:05] Ray Latif: I would rather see people eat less meat. I'd rather see, you know, myself and people in my family. Well, I mean, as someone who eats steak and appreciates premium beef, I just would prefer that the nutrition or the nutritional benefits are at the forefront. of this conversation, because I think the environmental impact is a little bit more nuanced. And yes, people are going to scream at me and say, have you seen the slaughterhouses? Yes, I've seen the videos and so on and so forth. But I think for people to resonate or have a point of reference when it comes to alternative meats and plant-based meats, I think the nutrition is that way to start that conversation and continue it. have it be an easier conversation to have if you're trying to convince others to eat less meat or eat more plant-based foods.
[00:06:55] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't know, I disagree because I'm not sure what it's going to take for people to really be focused on climate impact and everything that they do, aside from just maybe sitting next to a glacier and having it just melt on top of you. I'm not sure.
[00:07:08] John Craven: I think also we're still at the beginning stages of plant-based meat. And I think just watching Beyond Meat pivot is showing that consumers are telling them that they want better for you options. So I think this is just kind of the beginning and all these things are going to continue to evolve as we move forward.
[00:07:27] Ray Latif: Now, on the flip side of things, there's a brand called Actual Veggies, which is a maker of plant-based burgers and fries that are made with vegetables and whole vegetables, whole foods. And you can see it in the products that they sell. And they seem to be doing quite well. One of the co-founders of Actual Veggies, Jason Rosenbaum, recently announced on LinkedIn that the company secured investment from relentless consumer partners. They are doubling, Actual Veggies that is, its retail presence from 3,000 to 6,000 doors in the coming months. Their super fries, which are made with sweet potatoes, are launching in nearly a thousand stores, including a nationwide rollout at Sprouts. So I'm excited for this brand. This is a brand that I continue to root for. I'm really excited about, love eating, and don't really have any questions about the nutritional value or the environmental impact. of what I'm eating. So I think this is just an easy sell, an easy education for me and one that I can share easily with my friends and colleagues.
[00:08:49] Jacqui Brugliera: and a black burger, which is, you know, beans. So you get a sense of what you're getting from the packaging itself, and then they have a clear window through to show you what you're getting to, and it looks really appetizing. So I just remember meeting Haley Schwartz at one of the expos when they'd first come out, and we geeked out on their packaging, and they've just made some seriously great strides on that product.
[00:09:12] Ray Latif: Yeah, they should get some Actual Veggies at McDonald's and they can call it The Grimace burger. The purple one's gonna be The Grimace burger.
[00:09:19] Mike Schneider: What? Like you're just eating Grimace?
[00:09:21] Ray Latif: I love The Grimace burger.
[00:09:22] Mike Schneider: That's kind of messed up.
[00:09:23] Farnoush Fadavi: The character?
[00:09:23] Ray Latif: Yeah, like we just ground up Grimace and we have a burger. How awesome would that video The Grimace with his short arms making the burger, you know?
[00:09:32] Jacqui Brugliera: Now he would never eat one of those he's he's a he's a carnivore through and through I mean maybe he's turned over a new leaf he went to the Vegan Women's summit and now he's Changed he's interested in Actual Veggies.
[00:09:48] Ray Latif: He's changed, okay I mentioned Lance Collins at the beginning of the show. Lance Collins, one of the co-founders of Body Armor. One of the most key employees at Body Armor is a man named Michael Fidelity, who ran marketing for the brand. Michael Fidelity is back in the beverage business with a new brand. That brand is called Throne Sport Coffee. As the name suggests, this is a coffee for fitness-centric consumers. It has 150 milligrams of natural caffeine. As I mentioned, it comes in, or maybe I didn't mention, it comes in four varieties made with natural caffeine, natural flavors, natural sweeteners, and B vitamins. This brand was launched in partnership with the one, the only NFL three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, who is the lead investor in Throne Sport Coffee. We're all sampling this, at least Mike, John, and I are sampling their Mocha Java variety. So sporty. Yeah, which contains 50 calories per 11-ounce can.
[00:10:58] John Craven: I guess I'm just a little confused. Is this just coffee with a couple of vitamins?
[00:11:02] Ray Latif: Yeah, the way they're positioning this product is coffee plus, and it says it right here on the side of the can. They list exactly what the benefits are in terms of its ingredients. Again, 150 milligrams of natural caffeine made with Arabica coffee, electrolytes, potassium and sodium is added. And they also have BCAAs, which are included in some energy drinks as well.
[00:11:24] Jacqui Brugliera: Right. It's got that energy vibe about it too. It's certainly coffee. You can tell it's coffee. Every single one of the SKUs looks like coffee.
[00:11:31] Ray Latif: Yeah, what Michael told me is that this is a brand of premium coffee, a better for you option for folks who drink coffee on the go and, you know, intended to be a very mainstream offering. I think some of the products and brands that you mentioned, Mike, had a much more natural or specialty kind of focus, whereas Throne is actually launching in the C-Store channel. So very exciting stuff. We have an interview with Michael and Patrick Mahomes coming to Taste Radio next week. I'm not going to reveal too many more details about throwing super coffee because I want you all to tune into that episode. It is a fantastic conversation. The only thing I didn't see in terms of ingredients in Throne Sport coffee that I think would benefit this brand. I think I know where you're going with it. I think I do too. Jack knows, John doesn't know. Immunity, perhaps? Perhaps an immunity benefit. Yeah, I think immunity boosts would be great. I would love to see a muse as a key ingredient in Throne Sport coffee. And you know what? More now than ever. Consumers are looking for ways to boost their immune systems. And Immuse gives them that edge. Immuse is a dietary and food ingredient clinically shown to stimulate immune function at the cellular level. Incorporate Immuse into your innovation strategy and help your consumers optimize their health throughout the year. Learn more at ImmuseHealth.com. That's I-M-M-U-S-E Health dot com.
[00:13:02] SPEAKER_??: Boom.
[00:13:03] Ray Latif: Now I'm hoping And I think we may, Mike's got his fingers crossed. I do. We may see a couple of the founders or at least the founder and a key investor of Throne and Sport Coffee at the upcoming BevNET Live Summer 2024 event, which is happening in New York City on June 12th and 13th. We've got so much. going on, including a big announcement about the agenda. The agenda is out. It's available. You can go to the site and check it out and see exactly all of the amazing stuff that's going to be happening on stage at DevNet Live, including. a conversation with the founder of one of the fastest growing brands in the beverage industry that's Lemon Perfect. The founder is Yanni Hufnagel. Yanni Hufnagel. He is the founder and CEO of this amazing brand. Also going to be hearing from top executives at retailers, including Whole Foods, Diageo Ventures, GoPuff, and many, many more. Now is the time to sign up, register for BevNetLive. Very easy to do so. Go to bevnetlive.com and you will join us in New York City.
[00:14:17] John Craven: Yeah. We also released the full list of companies that are registered. So you can go to the website, check that out, start planning your event, planning who you want to meet with. You can see that at badmintonlive.com.
[00:14:30] Jacqui Brugliera: Outstanding. We've got some great speakers, right? We've got Quinn Vennie from Equity is going to be on stage. We've got Sarah Nguyen from Fast Growing Nguyen Coffee Supply. Our dear friend, Paul Vogt from Ouroboros. There's some. There's gonna be some great talks happening at Bevanelle Live. Paul's great. We've had Paul on the show a couple of times. Ashley Selman and Britt Doherty from Haywell. Oh yeah? Yeah, Haywell. That's a brand that we saw grow from a tiny little brand and they're making waves.
[00:15:00] Ray Latif: I'm also seeing on the list of attendees, quite a few investors, which now is the time to talk to these investors, right? I mean,
[00:15:09] Mike Schneider: I mean, when isn't it the time?
[00:15:11] Ray Latif: But I'm telling you, time is when you don't need money.
[00:15:14] Mike Schneider: Money, investors are writing tons of checks. You still want to talk to investors. Times are a little tighter. You still want to talk to investors.
[00:15:20] Ray Latif: This is true. Yeah. And I'm sure folks are going to be like, yes, I would love to come to Badminton Live. I would love to talk to investors. They get to the show and they're like, I'm not really seeing the people. I don't know the people that I should be talking to. Guess what? We do. So come and talk to us. Find me, find Jackie, find Mike, find John, find anyone on the BevNET team. We'll do our best to make those connections, introduce you to folks, make sure you have those meetings, those introductions.
[00:15:48] Mike Schneider: Come hang out and have a Negroni with us. Delta 9 hemp infused beverage, if that's what you want.
[00:15:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Let's say you're shy. you're not a great networker, just turn to the person next to you and ask them a question. Like everybody there is there to do the exact same thing that you are, which is advance their business. So it's a really safe space. There are no stupid questions. Everybody there is like varying degrees of experience in the beverage industry. There are tons of experts there too. And I mean, people know the answers to your questions and if they don't, they know who can answer them. That's the awesome thing about Bevan LF. This is true. Business gets done.
[00:16:23] Ray Latif: And it's in New York City. Yeah, that's fun too. It's in the heart of New York City too. I mean, I feel like this is the place where you hop in a cab, you hop on the subway, you can be anywhere pretty quickly.
[00:16:34] Mike Schneider: Like a legit cocktail bar or a retailer check-in, you know?
[00:16:38] Ray Latif: Maybe both. John keeps leading with the cocktails. It is a key, key benefit.
[00:16:45] Mike Schneider: That's where his mind's at. I'm trying to promote the, you know, the fun stuff. You know, the sampling.
[00:16:49] Ray Latif: The networking. The sampling. Very important, the sampling. Yeah. Yeah. Now, BevNET Nosh insiders in attendance at BevNET Live will have a bit more information, perhaps a lot more information than they had in previous weeks and months. That sounds very cryptic, but Jackie, what am I talking about?
[00:17:08] John Craven: Yes, let me decipher. So we are rolling out a new partnership with leading data providers where we're going to be publishing frequent reports that cover the industry that give, you know, recent trends, data-driven analysis and insights, information on category size, We're going to be working closely with them to come up with reports that are relevant to our insiders that we know that you need. And these are data points that usually you have to pay for. You have to unlock through other services. This is something that is exclusive to our insiders and we're rolling out first with Brightfield Group. So you'll be seeing the first report launching on Tuesday, May 28th.
[00:17:53] Ray Latif: I love this. I really do. Because getting data is often expensive. It's often difficult to determine what data you need, how it's going to benefit your business. And we are creating this opportunity for folks to have very specific information that is going to help them drive their businesses forward at no extra cost. fee is being an insider, and that is itself a very limited cost. So I would highly encourage folks, if you're not already, to become an insider, to get access to this information because it is extremely valuable information.
[00:18:35] John Craven: And if you do want to get in on this, I recommend subscribing now because we do have a special discount for soon-to-be insiders. Just head to Nosh.com, find the press release about our new reports, and you'll find that discount.
[00:18:50] Ray Latif: Hoorah, I was never in the Marines, that's why I can't do that correctly. Yeah, I was like, that was weird. Is that a Man U thing? No, that's a Marines thing, and I'm not even... My apologies to anyone who was actually a Marine and listening to this episode. Is that what you say when Man U gets a whooping? You know, you guys keep getting on my case about Man U. I am totally done with this season, so it doesn't matter to me. Worst season ever. I love that. You just took a knee.
[00:19:15] Mike Schneider: That's cool. He did. He just took a knee. We're mixing sports. I'm just trolling you and stuff.
[00:19:21] Jacqui Brugliera: I just reminded Ray that the year I was born was last time that Man United were relegated. 1967?
[00:19:28] Ray Latif: Mike, jeez.
[00:19:29] Jacqui Brugliera: Uh, right. It was 73.
[00:19:31] Ray Latif: Oh, 73. Okay. Oh, geez. I added six years to your age. Don't give out important personal information on the podcast. I shouldn't be doing that. We were all sippin' on some coffee. What are we sippin' now? Can we sip on some wine? Is it non-alcoholic wine? It is de-alkalized wine. Yes, please. Yeah, so, uh... Pass the bottle around first, Swig. Oh, right. Jeez. Every time I bring up a product, the first thing that happens is John shoots his arm out, and it's just like, his left arm... No, you're, because you're... Give it to me.
[00:19:59] Mike Schneider: Okay, what you're doing, you ever... The type of... You've probably been to a restaurant like this, where they put your plate down, and then they're, like, pointing at it and describing it for, like, five hours.
[00:20:07] Jacqui Brugliera: I'm trying to tell you how great it's going to be and you know how special it is and how privileged you are to have it in front of you and then you just want to drink it.
[00:20:18] Ray Latif: Alright, fair enough. Or eat it. Okay, drink it or eat it. Okay, so I recently got shipped a bottle of de-alkalized wine called Saint Viviana and it was sent— Oh, isn't she on the marketing team? She is a saint. It's perfect. Nicely done. It was sent to me by a retailer called The Zero Proof. This has no alcohol, obviously, or it has less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
[00:20:46] Jacqui Brugliera: We talked about- We got to get Viv some Saint Viviana merch.
[00:20:50] Ray Latif: Yeah. We've talked about- I think she would like this. She would definitely like it. We've talked about non-alcoholic wines in the past episodes.
[00:20:57] Mike Schneider: Why are you pouring it over your laptop?
[00:21:00] Ray Latif: It ain't my laptop.
[00:21:02] Mike Schneider: All right. Every single time. I mean, you learn nothing from having this company laptop.
[00:21:08] Jacqui Brugliera: There's a big puddle on his shift key. He's got a puddle on his shift key over there.
[00:21:13] Ray Latif: Oh my goodness. All right. Anyway. Oh my goodness. Did you decant this? I decanted. So this contains 10 calories per serving, a serving is eight ounces. As I was trying to say, we've talked about non-alcoholic wines on the podcast in past episodes, and unfortunately, you know, not a lot of them have been great, at least the still variety. So I'm excited to try this and find out whether or not it's... Okay, the laptop. Right over the laptop.
[00:21:40] Mike Schneider: There it goes again. It's like we need to turn this into a social reel with some smoke coming out of his laptop. You know what? Sparks.
[00:21:47] Ray Latif: You know what? Don't worry, don't worry. We're not trying to talk about this right now. I'm using a packing peanut to dry out my laptop. That's a good use of it.
[00:21:56] Jacqui Brugliera: OK. Now that's going to decompose and then get into the into the keys and just make things worse.
[00:22:02] Ray Latif: All right. So this is tasty. I actually I like this quite a bit. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles, California.
[00:22:10] Jacqui Brugliera: It tastes more like a Chianti though. It's like a lot lighter without the elk. It still tastes like wine to me and it tastes like a good wine, but it just lacks the oomph of a Cabernet Sauvignon. Well, it lacks the like, I don't know. The body. The body, the sweetness almost.
[00:22:25] Mike Schneider: This is very tart.
[00:22:27] Jacqui Brugliera: Uh-huh. I like it. I think it's, I would drink this. I just, I would have a hard time drinking it as a Cabernet Sauvignon.
[00:22:32] Mike Schneider: Yeah. I mean, my thought on this is that if it just said that it was red wine. Yes. I would probably mentally be like, this is great. Yes. A hundred percent. It's fantastic.
[00:22:44] Jacqui Brugliera: Really. I mean, it's like, just, especially for someone who misses wine.
[00:22:48] Ray Latif: Well, it's really good. Mike goes in for a second. I'm going in for more. He goes in for a second. Did you want to? I'm good. All right. Well, we'll get some of this to you. The smell is phenomenal too.
[00:22:59] Jacqui Brugliera: The nose on it is really spectacular. I think there's a lot of good things going on. Thank you, Saint Viviana. Exactly. Hey, you want to talk about, want to talk about Levo? Levo? What's Levo? Levo is a soda that is, it's a prebiotic soda. There's a orange creamsicle, there's voodoo cola, there's a lemon lime. It's backed by super chef Timothy Hollingsworth formerly of. French Laundry and also the French Laundry the French Laundry. Sorry you Uncouth Swine. Sorry uncultured swine. I know I'm uncultured swine. And my fellow Newton Mass Hall BJ Novak. BJ Novak of?
[00:23:44] Ray Latif: Of the office. The office. Yes indeed. And other things. So it's a it's a better for you soda that contains probiotics.
[00:23:53] Jacqui Brugliera: This is a prebiotic soda. I'm sorry, prebiotic. This one's about the fiber and the flavor. Fiber and flavor, zero caffeine, zero aspartame, zero sucralose. Easy for me to say. 80% less sugar. It's five grams of sugar. The flavor's awesome. You know what I really enjoyed, and unfortunately there was only one in the office, but the cola is excellent. And we don't say that a lot about colas that we, you know, like prebiotic soda colas. that we just really liked the cola. I thought it was stellar and I'd be curious to hear what you guys think.
[00:24:25] Ray Latif: Can I see the front of the can? So I like this. I like the idea of a prebiotic soda with a really uncommon flavor, like orange creamsicle. The problem I have with this, and maybe it's not that much of a problem, is that the brand name is kind of hard to read. It is vertical. It blends in with the color of the can. If I saw this from far away, I would think the name of the brand is Lee or love.
[00:24:51] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, I'm not sure I don't I just don't think that's very important. I think the most important thing is that you know, it's an orange Yeah, what are you irrelevant? I don't I mean it it does look like If you just look at the top of this can, it looks like an orange slice in a creamsicle. And then what is this part? What is that supposed to be? But you turn it on the side. Oh yeah, there you go. Okay. But the orange creamsicle is easy to read. So it's prebiotic soda. You've never been a fan of vertical logos?
[00:25:18] Ray Latif: No, I'm not a fan.
[00:25:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Definitely not. No. All right. All right.
[00:25:21] Mike Schneider: Also, FYI, our dear friends at Olipop make an orange creamsicle too. Do they?
[00:25:28] Ray Latif: Yeah. I was not aware of this. It is also very tasty. Okay. We also got some new protein cookies from a brand called Good Word. These are individually wrapped cookies that contain 11 grams of protein per cookie. They are in... Oh, there's two sizes. of those cookies. So watch yourself there. Oh, OK. Yes. Oh, good call. OK, so, yeah, one of them contains six grams and one contains 11 grams. The three varieties or three flavor varieties that I saw upstairs were chocolate chip, double chocolate and peanut butter chip. I have not had these yet, but I'm excited to try them. I'm hesitant to try this right now because we're about to have lunch. I wouldn't.
[00:26:07] Jacqui Brugliera: They're a little on the heavy side to eat right before lunch, but yeah, it's a super tasty. Yeah.
[00:26:13] Ray Latif: 210 calories for the 11 grams of protein variety and 110 for the six grams of protein.
[00:26:20] Jacqui Brugliera: I really like the double chocolate. The peanut butter, the peanut butter is good too. Peanut butter is good.
[00:26:25] Mike Schneider: Those are solid.
[00:26:26] Ray Latif: No gluten, grains, dairy, refined sugar, or whey.
[00:26:30] Mike Schneider: Very good. I like the packaging on those, too. It's, like, clean, you know? Like, it's not filled with a lot of, like, technical stuff like a lot of protein products are.
[00:26:38] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. You know how I always say there's Good Word on the package? Hey, there you go. Literally. They ran with that whole idea. I don't—I'm not saying it was my idea, but they only want Good Word on their packaging. Now, that said, it's a—there is no this, no that, no the other thing, so that's—there are some bad words on the packaging, but They're negated. Like, no way.
[00:26:59] John Craven: I was like, bad words.
[00:27:02] Jacqui Brugliera: Jack swears? The F word is not on the package that I've seen yet.
[00:27:09] Ray Latif: Jack and I were both like, what words are you talking about, Mike? Now, yeah, very straightforward in terms of the label design. You have the flavor name, label hierarchies, flavor name, and on either side of the flavor name it's gluten-free and grain-free. The brand name is very bold and eye-catching, and then protein cookie at the bottom of the package. It has dairy-free and the number of grams of protein on either side of the protein cookie call out cookie But it's better for you.
[00:27:35] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I mean I kind of wish the Like the flavor name and the protein cookie were flip. I think so I think that's a great great call because then it's sort of Hierarchically correct, but the hero is supposed to be protein. Yeah, but actually the hero is good Don't don't change that I love the Good Word right in the middle.
[00:27:53] Ray Latif: You know we call you in Central, Massachusetts and A nitpicker. Nitpicker. Yeah, picking nits. Picking nits, kid. Yeah. Yeah. See, Jackie knows what I'm talking about.
[00:28:04] John Craven: I feel like I have this, like, reserve of Boston knowledge and like a dictionary for all of the references that still lives there, even though I live in California and I say the five, but Boston's still ingrained in me.
[00:28:18] Ray Latif: Throwback. Throwback. The five. I want to make one final call out. This is just me. The fine folks from Cien Chiles founders, Maria and Felipe. I saw Felipe at the Naturalist San Diego Pitchland, but they sent over some more Cien Chiles. Cien Chiles is a maker of better for you, authentic hot sauce. They sent me their habanero variety, which only contains in terms of ingredients, vine, tomatoes, onions, water, Sunflower oil apple cider vinegar lemon juice habaneros sea salt and garlic which is There's a jar for you John.
[00:29:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, I have one final shout out to Ray so the the folks that the fine folks at fish wife They have a billboard. They were really excited about their billboard. And I was thinking about, you know, if any brand should have a billboard, it should be theirs because the aesthetic is so beautiful. I just feel like it's, you know, it makes the environment just that much nicer. I want one above my house.
[00:29:27] John Craven: It's art.
[00:29:28] Jacqui Brugliera: What a nice aesthetic of that brand. Not Good Word property value. I'm not going to put up a billboard, a fish-white billboard. On your house.
[00:29:35] Ray Latif: I'm tempted. You know what they call a billboard in central Massachusetts, right? A billboard? A billboard. Billboard kid? Alright, let's get to our featured interview for this episode. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Farnoush Fadavi is the co-founder of Bala Enzyme, a brand of plant-based drink mixes formulated with a proprietary blend of turmeric, bromelain, and papain that contain no sugar. When taken regularly, the products are said to help regulate the body's inflammatory response and improve circulation to accelerate recovery and natural healing. Dr. Farnoosh and her husband and co-founder Dr. Arash Aftabi are both dental surgeons whose research helped develop Bala's formulation. Bala launched in 2019 and has since picked up distribution in over 2,000 retail locations, including nationwide at Sprouts, and has also sold direct to consumer via its website and on Amazon. In this interview, Dr. Farnoosh explains how a confluence of her education, career, and an unfortunate accident spurred the creation of Bala, why the company is emphasizing brick-and-mortar retail as much as e-commerce, its package size and pricing strategy, and the key terms that help drive trial. Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with Dr. Farnoush Fadavi, the founder of Bala Enzyme. Farnoosh, great to see you.
[00:31:09] Vegan Women: Hi, Ray. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:31:12] Ray Latif: Or should I say Dr. Faye, as they call you on social media?
[00:31:15] Vegan Women: That should be fine.
[00:31:16] Ray Latif: That works too? Yes, definitely. We're here in Los Angeles in Manhattan Beach at the Beverage Forum. You're here with your husband and partner of Bala Enzyme. And this is an amazing brand because I feel like there are very few like it on the market. Anytime that you have a product that doesn't have a lot of peers, it is amazing. Because it's just so difficult to be differentiated in this industry. What is Bala Enzyme?
[00:31:45] Vegan Women: Bala is an anti-inflammatory hydration powder drink that is one of a kind, is very differentiated, is very efficacious, and the name comes from balance because we feel like by reducing inflammation in the body, your life can be balanced with us.
[00:32:04] Ray Latif: So you and I have a shared history in that we both attended Boston University back in the day. We attended at different times in our lives. But was this something that you were, was this a brand that you were considering and developing at that time?
[00:32:21] Vegan Women: Great question. I actually went to Boston University for my postgraduate study. So I grew up in Boston and I went to Harvard for my undergrad, Tufts University for my DMD program. I'm a dental surgeon. And for my postgraduate, I went to Boston University. At that time, I did research with Arash, my husband, on bromelain enzyme, looking for an alternative to reduce inflammation on the face and bruising after oral surgery. So we brought that into our practices in Southern California. I practiced 20 some years. and giving bromelain enzyme to patient after oral surgery to reduce their inflammation and bruising. And when the patient came back, you know, for suture removal, like within a week to 10 days after, they were all reporting back to us for years that how much they feel better overall. So our elderly patient, they felt much better on their arthritis, on their, you know, joint. and they were wondering what was that all about not getting you know inflammation and bruising on their face after like sinus leaf implant or anything like that and they were wondering and our younger generation patient like after oral surgery extraction of wisdom teeth, telling us after when they exercised, they felt so much better. So we knew all along it was from bromelain enzyme, which is a very strong anti-inflammatory. Bromelain comes from core of pineapple that everybody toss when they eat pineapple. The hard little piece in the middle is full of enzyme called bromelain enzyme. So, for years, we hear testimonials from our patients that how much I felt better, but we were not thinking about branding anything. Loving our job as a dental surgeon, very busy, great practice, having two young daughters. And in 2018, unfortunately, I fell in the office, really badly broke my shoulder and my hip, and I had to retire from dentistry. I cannot lift my left shoulder up. I have a bar and eight, nine pins in there. I have pins on my hip. I was diagnosed with severe onset of osteoporosis, which I'm very sensitive to pharmaceutical. That's how I became osteoporotic, not be able to take any meds, pharmaceutical medication. And I cannot take NSAID, which is anti-inflammatory. I get internal bleeding. So I had to retire from the job that I loved and, you know, helping patients day after day. And basically I was left with chronic pain due to getting treatment for osteoporosis, which the side effects are having chronic joint pain, muscle ache, and overall fatigue. So at the time I decided I got to have to make something to help me, you know, get over my chronic pain. And, uh, I grew up with turmeric, which is a amazing, um, root. Exactly, it's an amazing thing. And then taking some papain, which is coming from papaya fruit in the past. So we got a chemist, we formulated BALA. So BALA was born after I fell in 2018. We launched into D2C, Amazon and our website in 2019. And it changed my life. If I don't take it, I have pain from head to toe. So I do take one stick pack or sometimes two stick pack a day. And it's a miracle. It really subsides all my discomfort and I can work, you know, do my daily life. Of course, after we hit COVID-19 in 2020, but we still survived. And in 2022, I pitched to Sprouts. at the Expo West and we got actually accepted nationwide by Sprouts. It was our first account. And then after that, we just keep growing. So it's very exciting.
[00:36:43] Ray Latif: It is very exciting. And you have some product that you've pre-mixed in a little bottle there. I'd love to have some. Sure. Because sitting in this chair all day, you know, my back is starting to seize up a little bit and I feel like this would be great for me. I've got a cup for you as well. Sure. We need Bala-branded cups, though. These are Starbucks cups.
[00:37:04] Vegan Women: I know, I wasn't thinking about it.
[00:37:07] Ray Latif: No, no, I'm just giving you grief.
[00:37:09] Vegan Women: So one thing I should say, this is actually berry flavor.
[00:37:12] Ray Latif: This is a berry flavor. Yes. And it's orange color, but it's a berry flavor. Yes.
[00:37:16] Vegan Women: So something interesting I need to tell you, we have at this point, we have three different flavors. berry, pineapple, and lime, which I love all three of them. They're really tasty. It's great when you drink it every day. You want it to have a little bit different taste. But they all look orangey, turmeric color, because we did not want to put any artificial coloring.
[00:37:39] Ray Latif: Well, that's a good move on your part. Cheers. Thank you so much. Very delicious. Stick packs. Why stick packs versus a ready-to-drink formulation or otherwise?
[00:37:52] Vegan Women: So because our product has enzymes, as soon as enzymes hit the water, start being activated. So we cannot be ready to drink because when we mix the powder into the water, you just would like to consume it within four to five hours because the efficacy decreases. So it's best to have it in a stick pack and it's very easy to carry with you. You just dump it in your purse or backpack and the shelf life is, you know, two years. Much lighter to ship from Amazon or less space at retails. So it's actually great, but that's the reason you cannot be ready to drink.
[00:38:35] Ray Latif: It's lighter so you can ship it direct to consumer a lot easier.
[00:38:38] Vegan Women: Definitely.
[00:38:39] Ray Latif: I am almost wondering why retail would be important for you because you have proven the concept out. You have done well at D2C on Amazon. You sell on your website as well. I've seen a lot of brands scale via e-commerce and create great businesses. But why did you feel like you needed to get into brick and mortar?
[00:38:58] Vegan Women: I think omnichannel approach is very important. And a lot of people, they may trust the brand when it's on retail and then purchase it on Amazon. Something new, something that is old, is different, you know, that has been out for a long time. But I think omnichannel is very important to have. And people do trust the retailers a lot more than just being on Amazon or even on our website.
[00:39:28] Ray Latif: So you're in Sprouts?
[00:39:30] Vegan Women: Yes.
[00:39:31] Ray Latif: And what other retailers are you in at this point?
[00:39:32] Vegan Women: Mothers, Market, Bristol Farms. You know, we just got actually accepted at H-E-B. Nice.
[00:39:40] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:39:41] Vegan Women: So we're very excited. Raley's, a lot of other accounts. We're almost in 2,000 retailers at this point.
[00:39:48] Ray Latif: So yesterday I was speaking with the vice president of merchandising. I might be getting his title wrong, from Albertsons. And we were talking about the importance of position, price, all the different things that are associated with merchandising. And I'm thinking about Bala. I'm like, where does this fit on shelf? Where do you want to see it on shelf? And how do you talk to retail buyers and merchandising executives about where to put it on shelf?
[00:40:12] Vegan Women: We are at Sports Nutrition at this point. We are actually sitting next to a lot of brands that are Core Hydration, even though we have functionality and we are very different. So we are anti-inflammatory, or you can call it recovery plus hydration. So we're sitting at Sports Nutrition. But on the other hand, at H-E-B, we are sitting into gut health.
[00:40:39] Ray Latif: Oh, interesting.
[00:40:39] Vegan Women: Because papain enzyme in our formulation, you know, it helps you with your gut. And if you think about all our inflammation, like if you have gut issues, it is due to inflammation. And our formula being an anti-inflammatory, you know, helps you with your gut. And there is no innovation in a gut area, actually, because I feel like either it's pills or liquid, like a, you know, how do you say, like other stuff that people take it that is not fun. Like if you have bala, you know, it's great color. You just can put it in a bottle and take it with you to the gym here and there. But people with gut issue, they always like to hide it because Not something that you want to tell your friend, oh, I have got issue, you know. But I think this is something really fun and innovative that, you know, they can just use it. And so H-E-B was very actually happy. I flew a couple of months ago to meet with them. at Texas and then they approved us. So we're very excited to be at H-E-B.
[00:41:48] Ray Latif: So did you help advise them on where it should be in the store or was it their determination?
[00:41:54] Vegan Women: Well, it was, I think, their determination that they were thinking about God's area and then by, you know, discussing it and talking to them, they really like the innovative approach.
[00:42:07] Ray Latif: Because those are two distinct categories, gut health and sports nutrition, Core Hydration. So when you're talking to consumers, it's almost like, does this belong here? I mean, how do you explain to consumers where to find the product on shelf? You can say it's an HEB, but if they're looking for sports nutrition, it's not going to be there. So how do you address that dynamic?
[00:42:25] Vegan Women: This is actually the first time that we're sitting at the gut health area at HEB, so we'll see how it goes.
[00:42:35] Ray Latif: The Grimace point is also really important, and this is a very premium product, but you want to get to trial. What is your demo, your trial strategy? I mean, are you out there doing demos with single stick packs? Do you have bottles of product pre-made? You know, how are you getting the word out? Not just about what this product does for you, but actually, you know, in our parlance, getting liquid to lips.
[00:42:57] Vegan Women: Sure. Actually, our product, because it tastes really amazing, when we do demos in the stores, we do have a demo team. Every consumer, when they taste it, they want to carry it. They want to just even actually buy it. And having zero sugar, being keto-friendly,
[00:43:18] Ray Latif: You have two package types. You have a pouch with 20 packs in there?
[00:43:24] Vegan Women: We have pouches online that is 30, this is 12, and we have 10. For retail, we have boxes of eight that it opens up in the front, if you see with the indentation. Then like at Sprout, we are actually at the check stand as well, so they sell it per stick pack. as well. So either they can sell it by stick pack or the eight pack.
[00:43:49] Ray Latif: How much is the eight pack?
[00:43:50] Vegan Women: The eight pack goes for $14.49.
[00:43:53] Ray Latif: And each individual stick pack?
[00:43:54] Vegan Women: Individual stick pack like $189, $179, something similar to that. But a lot of times we have like a special buy two for $3. Sure.
[00:44:06] Ray Latif: Now, if I were sitting down with you, Dr. Fay, and you told me everything about the brand, I would be convinced. I am convinced. But convincing a consumer in a very limited amount of time that they have to see the product, read the packaging or read the copy on the packaging and then decide if they're going to buy it, you're given a very, very limited amount of time. So how do you share? the story about Bala, about your experience with the key ingredients, about the variety of benefits. How do you do that in a really concise way such that a consumer who's very new to the brand and new to the ingredients are not only enticed by what you're talking about, but want to pay for it?
[00:44:51] Vegan Women: We realize when we tell them that we are recovery plus hydration with turmeric, because a lot of people are familiar with turmeric and having a zero sugar, that's the key that, you know, on our demos, as soon as we say that, people want to try it. And when they taste it, Because we mask, the turmeric tastes really good. Everybody loves it. One more thing that I would like to definitely emphasize here is because this product is enzymes, has enzymes, you need to consume it for five consecutive days in order to feel the benefit of anti-inflammatory. So it needs to be built into your system. so you can start feeling it. So with one, one or two days, you may only feel getting, you know, hydrated and getting vitalized. But in order to get rid of your pain, you need to do five days. And that's the reason we basically did eight boxes, because, you know, you can just do five to seven days and then give one to a friend or double it up on Sundays.
[00:46:02] Ray Latif: Bala, to me, is a great brand that benefits my personal health. But stating that Bala will make you feel better, okay, that's a pretty broad statement. You're not making any specific functional or health claims. But when you are making very specific statements about the brand and what it will do for you, do you have to walk a very tightrope?
[00:46:26] Vegan Women: Yes, so we do have clinical research in our clinic on 60 to 70 patients because no matter what inflammation, we measure the inflammation of the gum, which you call it gingivitis, which is inflammation of gum. So you measure it and by consuming bala or bromelain and everything inside there, the gingivitis, which is inflammation of the gum, it does reduce. And we have a patent on our formulation that is actually, hopefully we're getting it on Q4 this year. So yes, we do have some research in our clinic on a patient that, you know, we follow the patient for a certain period of time and the measurements are less and patients have less inflammation on their mouth or on their gums.
[00:47:17] Ray Latif: Congratulations on all the work you've done with the brand and all the success that you've had since. Excited to see where everything goes from here.
[00:47:24] Vegan Women: Thank you so much. I just want to thank you. I feel like I owe all these to Boston, my city. I lived there 16 years. I did all my education there. It's a great city. And you guys are in Boston. So thank you so much for the opportunity and interviewing me today.
[00:47:41] Ray Latif: You have to make me one promise. The next time you come to Boston, you visit our office.
[00:47:45] Vegan Women: Definitely. Definitely. My sister still lives there, my older sister. So definitely, if I come there, it would be my honor.
[00:47:51] Ray Latif: Outstanding. Dr. Fay, thank you again.
[00:47:53] Vegan Women: Thank you so much. Have a great day.
[00:47:58] Ray Latif: That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just 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.
[00:48:48] Farnoush Fadavi: you
