[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hey, folks, thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and I'm here with my show co-hosts, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. 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, perhaps If people listen to us on the podcast and then review us, or at least review the podcast on Apple podcasts, they can come out here to BevNET headquarters and use this amazing new boudoir style room that we're recording in. And we'll be recording in for future episodes of the podcast. Now, when I say we, I mean, John Craven, me and Mike, unfortunately, Jackie is still in San Diego. You're stuck out there. If you were only to come out here to freezing cold Boston, you could be in the room with us, Jackie.
[00:01:07] John Craven: Nate hasn't perfected the teleporter yet. It's still sometimes, you know, you end up in the wrong spot. So we'll get you there.
[00:01:15] Jacqui Brugliera: I know, do you have a fireplace in there? It feels like you should have a fireplace.
[00:01:18] Ray Latif: We should have a fireplace in here. But I think Newton, the town of Newton, frowns upon fireplaces in a basement like this.
[00:01:26] Mike Schneider: In a commercial environment.
[00:01:27] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
[00:01:29] John Craven: It's kind of like a speakeasy sort of vibe we've got going on here. Maybe like, I don't know, John kind of likes death and co. I'm sure that was somewhat of the inspiration for this room.
[00:01:38] Ray Latif: Yes, the famous cocktail bar with that's based in New York City, but yeah, I mean for folks who are not watching the video we have Black soundproofing across the walls, and it's but sophisticated black soundproofing. It's not like you know some like nasty studio We have three cameras in front of us. We've got Nate who's our minister of photographic arts I think this is your official title running the board and And yeah, it's a very cocktaily vibe. We're sitting on velour green chairs. These must have cost what 10,000 apiece John?
[00:02:11] Mike Schneider: They feel really nice.
[00:02:15] John Craven: Yeah, they're nothing but the best, right? I'm not over Minister of Photographic Arts yet. I love it. You should have asked for that title instead of director of photography, which is your actual title. Oh, is it?
[00:02:25] Ray Latif: Yes. Okay. Anyway, you know, I think I actually saw these chairs or similar chairs like this in Las Vegas. And I was in Las Vegas the past couple of days for the 2023 Winter Fancy Food Show. Now, this is the first time I've been to the show in Las Vegas, previously been held in San Francisco, but it's the second year running for Sin City, and well, a fancy Food Show in Sin City. And, you know, I was wondering, like, what's this going to be like? What's this going to feel like? But the vibe was actually great, very reminiscent of previous events. And I think actually, frankly, I underestimated the show because I thought it was going to be a little bit quieter. I thought with You know, some concerns about the economy, people might stay away or they're just like a little wary of going to Las Vegas in January. Like it's just not necessarily the place that I think a lot of people think of when they're thinking about traveling, but lots of energy, lots of excitement. I heard only good things from exhibitors that I was speaking with. Early stage entrepreneurs seem to be really happy with the retail presence that was at the show, which was great to see as well. So all that being said, I'm excited for folks that attended and exhibited and, you know, I guess don't judge a book by its cover, even if it's Las Vegas. Now John Jacqui and Mike you guys didn't attend, but I did bring it in right I know I did bring back a bunch of goodies that I could share with you guys and what and virtually with Jackie So I'm gonna pop them out in a second.
[00:03:50] John Craven: You just say I'm going to share goodies with you. Oh This is just like the old days, I love it.
[00:03:55] Jacqui Brugliera: Because he's forced to, he's in close proximity.
[00:03:59] Mike Schneider: I don't. I mean, and it's the Fantasy Food Show, so I assume it'Sweet Nothings but the finest meats and cheeses.
[00:04:04] Ray Latif: See, again, I think that's the stigma, but it's not like that. I think there's- Well, no, those were the old days. Yeah, those were the old days, for sure, for sure. As I pull out this bag here, there was quite a bit to see. I was very, very excited, and this is probably the biggest highlight of my show, to meet and sit down with Stephanie Izard. from The Girl and the Goat. She is a very well-known chef. She has restaurants in Chicago and Los Angeles.
[00:04:28] John Craven: I've been to The Girl and the Goat. Have you?
[00:04:30] Ray Latif: Yes. Fantastic place.
[00:04:32] John Craven: Unbelievable place. It's an experience. It's packed. When you go in there, you can just, you know, you feel the energy and then, and then somehow it just quiets down when the food arrives somehow. I don't understand what's happening there. I think you're just like zeroed in on the food experience. It was awesome.
[00:04:49] Ray Latif: Well, that's how you know you have really good food if no one's talking right right just like stuffing their faces with good food Yeah, yeah, many people know Stephanie. That's it who's an ass Lots of people know Stephanie from Top Chef she actually won that television competition And I think it was 2008 season 4 of the show But she's since gone on to do a lot of great things with her restaurants. She's also the founder of a consumer brand called This Little goat. Now I'm holding in my hand a tiny pouch of their Hong Kong spiced pecans. This is not actually a product that they sell, but it does use some of the ingredients or some of the products that This Little goat markets, including marinades, spices. They have a new chili crunch line, which was really awesome as well. I actually got to sample some of her food at the booth, which was fantastic. But just talking to her about How she's gone about you know sort of transitioning from or not really transitioning, but adding a consumer brand to everything else that she does Was really awesome We sat down for a little over a half an hour and that interview is gonna be featured in an episode in a couple weeks from now So please stay tuned for that does anyone want these pecans yeah? There you go, haha, I made sure to Yeah It's It's like hey ray Yeah, it does it does that resemble that size of bag that one might hold powders and such Mm-hmm nice and spiced mm-hmm very cool Right now, I'd like to thank our sponsor for this episode of Taste Radio. That's Cognizant. Cognizant is a clinically tested nootropic ingredient that delivers a patented form of citric choline to support your brain with the energy it needs to stay sharp. Check them out at cognizant.com. I also was able to meet with the founders of a brand called Nuffs, N-U-F-S, which is a Canada-based brand of superfood bites and crackers made with no natural or artificial flavors, no fake sugars, and no preservatives or additives. Sat down with Jess and Christine in the booth, I'm sorry, in the press room at the Fancy Food Show, and they shared with me some of their new crackers. These crackers are fantastic. They had an everything bagel flavored cracker, and these are their hot honey flavored crackers.
[00:07:09] John Craven: That looks like a secret vial, so pass that over here.
[00:07:12] Ray Latif: So I ate... Okay, so folks can't see this, but it's a... Was it full?
[00:07:17] Mike Schneider: It was full. Ray ate about a pound of these already.
[00:07:20] Ray Latif: It's a plastic bin Hot Crackers, and I am embarrassed to say that... Share Hot Crackers love down this way. I probably had half... Oh, what are you embarrassed about? Half of those... I had half of those, like, when I got back to my hotel room and I just, like, sat on the bed watching TV and... Yeah, I'm surprised any of them made it back.
[00:07:37] Mike Schneider: Yeah, they're great restraint. Yeah, it's really really good
[00:07:47] Ray Latif: Just a kiss of spice. Yeah, you eat Hot Crackers Mm-hmm, but you don't actually feel the spice until about six dates, and they were very specific later six to six to eight seconds later And I think people are like when they sample they do they do demos at markets and whatnot People were like oh you said this was hot honey, but I'm not getting that the heat I'm not getting the hot oh, and then all of a sudden exactly exactly I'm just in that time Mike did edibles where he just kept eating them eating them waiting for it to kick in then oh Can we get through a certain Taste Radio without talking about how Mike was like, you know stoned out of his mind Nope, the things we got to talk like on it Mike being stoned out of his mind.
[00:08:23] Mike Schneider: I did that got to talk about man you and Arsenal Well, you're gonna get to that for sure Mike maybe a latte or messing something up, right? Ray not sharing snacks. We already hit that For a successful podcast
[00:08:40] Jacqui Brugliera: This is the episode when Ray shares all.
[00:08:42] John Craven: Speaking of which, Ray did walk in and start trolling me about the match this weekend. We just weren't recording it.
[00:08:48] Ray Latif: Before we get to that, let's get to Chili Chews. Okay. I did have some of these along with the hot Hot Crackers from Nuff's and so that was like double spice action. Chili Chews is a brand of gourmet gummies dusted with chili powder. They are so addictive. I don't know if addictive begins to describe. It's fantastic So maybe we can put some of those in This Little plastic pouch that you just had Yeah comes back around so they were very kind to give me a bunch of their products they were slam they were very very busy at their booth, but They were kind enough to make some some time for all right here, which was them and Yeah, so it was interesting so last year Chrissy Teigen and John Legend the model slash entrepreneur Chrissy Teigen and the musician John Legend who are married actually attended the Winter Fancy Food Show and I guess one of their... I'm glad you differentiated from my neighbors John Legend and Chrissy Teigen.
[00:09:44] SPEAKER_??: Thank you.
[00:09:45] Ray Latif: And one of their representatives who was attending this show, I told him about Chili Chews and they're like, you need to come see this brand. And they were in Las Vegas. And so they came out and they decided to do a partnership with Chrissy Teigen's lifestyle brand called Cravings. And so this was the result of it. It was a pineapple mango variety. It's Chili Chews X, which I guess means times or works with cravings. So they're planning on doing another one, which is really cool. And the watermelon bites are incredible.
[00:10:11] John Craven: I'm going to try the watermelon bites. Yeah. I'm going in. First of all, let's, because we can now look at the package. All right. So first, I mean, this is what it is. It's really nice packaging. Chili cheese is like flying out at you. The peppers, they're Fresno peppers on the front telling you, look, this is, this is going to be a bit dangerous, but there's that watermelon. That's super nice and friendly.
[00:10:32] Ray Latif: Okay. Try the watermelon ones. These are good. DNS. DNS means does not does not suck you can use that as a hashtag Every time I post that on Instagram it means does not suck exactly.
[00:10:45] Mike Schneider: It's like a fancy Adult oriented gummy bear yeah exactly oh my god look at this the amount of spice in this bag is just so spicy Yeah, I should have asked okay.
[00:10:56] Ray Latif: Maybe I said dusted with chili powder. It's probably more like oh
[00:10:59] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, what's like the spice level on a 1 to 10?
[00:11:01] John Craven: I should clarify, there's zero THC in these, right?
[00:11:04] Ray Latif: The spice level, I would say, Jackie, is actually, it's a little bit like the hot Hot Crackers that we just had from Nuff's, where it's like, you get a lot of that good spice, but it's not too, too hot, but it's very easy to eat an entire bag. So once you do that, then you're going to be, you have a bunch of chili powder in your stomach. These are pretty good.
[00:11:21] John Craven: I like the watermelon better than the pineapple. Watermelon's good. Watermelon's really good. The pineapple, mango,
[00:11:28] Ray Latif: It's good, too. Yeah, that's why I love the watermelon one.
[00:11:30] Winter Fancy: It's great.
[00:11:31] Ray Latif: If only we had some Latini with us. Latini is a newish brand of sunflower seed-based milks. They have three varieties, an original, an unsweetened, and a chocolate. The mouthfeel and viscosity were fantastic. It's a lot like whole milk, actually. It was really, really good. And I think that's, for me, where I think a lot of plant-based milks fall off. You don't want No Compromise, and people have been, I think, compromising with a lot of plant-based analogs to the quote-unquote real thing. But Latini, you don't have to do that. And it's just a fantastic product. They really nailed the formulation.
[00:12:04] John Craven: I'll be the judge of that. Latini, could you please send to... Yeah. Well, okay.
[00:12:10] Ray Latif: Well, we should, we should mention that. I obviously I couldn't bring these with me because, um, I believe they're shelf stable, but just that would be too much. But, um, I did ask a lot of folks, particularly beverage brands, if they could ship us samples and they were very happy to do so. And I think sometimes people hear us say, please send us some samples. They think, you know, we're just hoarding like food and, you know, we're definitely hoarding food and take pictures of it. Yeah, but that's the thing, you know, I think we're asking for samples so that we can highlight it on, you know, BevNET and Nosh and on Taste Radio. And we also take photos, you know, our Minister of Photographic Arts, he has a whole studio where he takes photos of all the samples that come in. And we do do, we do feature them in roundups. We do post all that content on social media too. So when we do ask to send samples, there is a, Feature the brand kind of element to everything what we do so if you have an opportunity Please send some samples to Bev net at 65 Chapel Street Newton mass 0 to 4 5 8 is that correct? That's right.
[00:13:11] John Craven: Yes there We go it's good chance for a little increased awareness and two cents from you know a couple people have maybe had a few beverages and few snacks Jackie's chomping at the bit to talk about the San Diego crew
[00:13:25] Jacqui Brugliera: I have another address for you. Send it to 2645 Financial Court Suite D, San Diego, California, 92117. We do have a crew of 10 crew members over here, some of the social media teams. So we definitely love to try as well and get you onto our stories.
[00:13:44] Ray Latif: Well, you have easier access to a brand called Bitchin' Sauce because they're based out there in San Diego. Now, I know they're nationally- Yeah, my favorite. I'm sure if you knocked on the door of their manufacturing facility and were like, hey, we're from BevNET and Nosh and Taste Radio, they might be inclined to open the door. You never know. They might call security. They'll probably call security. It probably depends on who it is. If Jackie knocked on the door, they would definitely open it up. If it was Landis knocking on the door, he'd be like, call the army, you know, or the Navy. The Navy's out there. The Navy? Call the Navy.
[00:14:17] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I was, um, I was stalking your Instagram story and I saw that they have some new flavors, including dill pickle and Penang. Dill pickle is one of my favorite flavors, so I want to try it.
[00:14:30] Ray Latif: Yeah. Dill pickle, Penang, and then hatch chili is coming out too. And, uh, They said they're coming out this year. They don't have a specific date for when they are launching, but, uh, there was a ton of excitement about those flavors and they already have a huge lineup of flavors. What do they have, Jackie? Like, you know, at least 10 or 12 flavors at this point.
[00:14:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. They have a lot. I mean the OG, like they have their Chipotle, which they sell in Costco and then they have just a million different flavors now and they're all quality. They're all really good.
[00:15:00] Ray Latif: Absolutely.
[00:15:00] Jacqui Brugliera: But it's cool to keep seeing them like evolve.
[00:15:04] Ray Latif: Yeah, I didn't mention that Bitchin' Sauce is a brand of almond-based dips, probably like, what, five or six ingredients per variety, really fresh tasting, like really good for you, or at least, I don't know if I can say good for you, but better for you. They're tasty. And yes, very, very tasty.
[00:15:20] John Craven: That's the most important thing, they taste really good.
[00:15:22] Ray Latif: You can use them for as dips. You can probably use them as sauces or marinades as well. So fantastic stuff. I actually sat down with the founder star in L.A. Edwards in a past episode of Taste Radio that was titled, The Bitchin' Way to Build an Iconic Brand. Speaking of recent episodes of Taste Radio, it was great to see Maxime Pouvreux, who's the founder of Petit Pot, or as some people call it, Petit Pot. Petit Pot? Yeah, but he says Petit Pot, so I say Petit Pot. It's a maker of organic, premium, single-serve puddings. They make it- So good. Speaking of things that taste good. Yeah. Incredible stuff. They actually have a new line of single-serve desserts that they're launching I think they said in March or April and they're launching nationally with Whole Foods and that includes a cheesecake a strawberry cheesecake and a creme brulee It's hard enough to get through the chocolate.
[00:16:15] John Craven: I mean, they're there's they're tiny you're talking chocolate pudding They're so tiny but they're so rich like one spoonful is enough to just make you just feel satiated and then you go for more and you You're like wow, that's enough
[00:16:28] Ray Latif: Well, that's I mean, that's the whole point you you know, there's small I don't know I think it's probably two ounce pots glass pots of pudding and that's this whole thing It's like you just want a little sweet don't want something that's just gonna overwhelm you especially if you just had a big meal And that's like it's French culture in a nutshell.
[00:16:41] John Craven: It's like you're not trying to overdo it You just have a little snack little dessert after yeah, but you're trying to indulge just not overindulge Yes, you want each of those each of those spoonfuls to just I don't knock your socks off and they do oh
[00:16:53] Ray Latif: Yeah, I'm actually interested to see how much how satiating the Cheesecake and creme brulee are because those are kind of heavier kinds of desserts for sure.
[00:17:02] John Craven: Yeah, I'm expecting those to be next level.
[00:17:05] Ray Latif: Yeah That was swarmed when I visited to there were and I saw investors. I saw retailers. I saw exhibitors I saw people just trying to grab stuff. It was they were pretty busy for sure also slams was the Three Spirit booth Three Spirit is a UK-based company that markets botanical elixirs and non-alcoholic analog wine analogs. They're making some pretty significant inroads in the United States. They're sold and carried by a lot of really high-end bars and restaurants. And I got to tell you, this was the first time I tried their wines. And I think they've had them for a little bit, but they just recently underwent a package revamp or at least a label revamp.
[00:17:45] Mike Schneider: Yeah, they look a lot better now. Yeah.
[00:17:47] Ray Latif: Really, really good. They have two varieties. One's called Spark and one's called Sharp. I believe the Spark one is the one that has a little bit of caffeine in it. I mean, you can't taste it, but these products were so delicious. And I think, you know, with wine in particular, it's really hard to do a non-alcoholic variety. And these weren't, I guess, you know, I don't even know if like grape was the primary ingredient. I should probably know that or look that up, but it was just great tasting beverages that you could use as an alternative to wine. I don't think you'd be missing anything. And again, I think that kind of approach. where you don't feel like there's any kind No Compromise. You feel like you're actually having something that could replace that wine or that wine experience is sort of the holy grail for all of non-alcohol spirits, wine, and beer. And yeah, they really knocked it out of the park.
[00:18:38] John Craven: You can have as much as you want and you don't end up like spinning around like Anthony.
[00:18:42] Ray Latif: That's a Manchester United reference, folks.
[00:18:45] Jacqui Brugliera: Barf. Would you say it's a one-to-one experience? Like you wouldn't even notice that it's not wine? Because I know with a lot of non-alcohol, that's the challenge is making the flavor hit the same notes as the alcoholic option.
[00:19:00] Mike Schneider: I mean, that's definitely different. I mean, it's not like athletic is pretty damn close to real beer. I haven't found a non-alcoholic wine that is like literally just replicating the same experience. I mean, I think the closest thing you'd probably get would just be grape juice, honestly. But like, yeah, those, I mean, the Three Spirit products, they had those at Expo East as well. And yeah, they've come a long way for sure. And kind of neat that like, it feels like they're almost like getting their own identity a bit, where it feels like a credible like alcohol replacement. it still is something that feels different and unique. I guess pros and cons to that, of course.
[00:19:44] John Craven: When we went to the UK and we got to meet them and test some of their earlier product, the new stuff, the packaging's certainly come a long way. And I just remember them and Everleaf as being two of my very favorite non-ALC beverages and just like hoping that, you know, the industry would move in the direction that they have because they really have done a good job of trying to replace the experience without the impact.
[00:20:11] Ray Latif: Yeah, and you know, to your point, John, I think grape juice is probably the easiest comparison to a lot of wine. And I think some of the non-alcoholic varieties that I've tried out there or non-alcoholic brands I've tried out there do taste more like grape juice than wine.
[00:20:24] Mike Schneider: Well, to clarify that also, I'm saying like, you know, there have been companies that produce like single varietal grape juice with grapes that are typically used in like, you know, California wine and like, Yeah, I mean, that will grape juice from Chardonnay grapes will kind of taste like Chardonnay, totally different. But I just meant purely from the like, flavor of the grape, you know, like, I haven't seen anything in a non-alch form that just straight up translates that way.
[00:20:52] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:20:52] John Craven: Right. You're not, you're not mistaking it for Zinfandel anytime soon.
[00:20:56] Ray Latif: No. Well, I was talking to one of the founders about that, and I think there's some brands out there that are de-alcoholizing. Is that the word?
[00:21:02] Mike Schneider: Yeah. Yeah. That's been out there for a while.
[00:21:05] Ray Latif: Yeah. But you're definitely losing some of the flavor because interestingly enough, the alcohol actually does add some flavor notes or at least.
[00:21:11] Mike Schneider: Oh yeah.
[00:21:11] Ray Latif: Yeah. Anyway, long story short, if you haven't had an opportunity, or if you do have an opportunity to try the Three Spirit, I think they call it Altwine, please do. It's a, it's a really, really great product. Staying on the beverage front for a sec, it was really great to see the founder of Soda Bossa, which is a Brazilian inspired soda brand, Denis de Tobol. Denis is the founder, fantastic guy. He has partnered up with a brand called True Roots Brewing Co. which is a maker of mixologist inspired mixers and sodas. The brand markets a bunch of products, including three different varieties of ginger beer. One of which is sugar-free and that product is really good. And I think people have been looking for a sugar-free ginger soda or beer for a long time. And I think True Roots has really nailed it. I think they've done a fantastic job with it. We've got to try that yeah, it's really good is it one of the ginger beers that like hits you in the face like yeah Yeah, it's definitely spicy They use I believe erythritol I don't want to say stevia as the as the sweeteners in that product And I know there's a lot of people that don't like either of those ingredients however
[00:22:33] John Craven: The cleaner packs are getting better though.
[00:22:35] Ray Latif: They are getting better, and I think this is another one of those examples of People don't want to taste something drastically different or even a little different than the quote-unquote real thing This is pretty darn close. I would say like you know if ginger beer is like a hundred This is like regular ginger beer their regular ginger beer in particular. It's like a hundred This is probably like a 97 in terms of closeness. It was really impressive. Okay. Yeah Dani and the co-founders of True Roots have also partnered on a new co-packing facility in Los Angeles. It's called BevPack LA. They're working with a number of early stage brands on small runs and limited time offerings. So interesting to hear them talk about that as well. Lastly, and I don't know why I left this to the end, because this is one of my favorite parts of the Fancy Food Show. It was great to visit their incubator sort of area. I think they used to call it incubator village. I don't think that's the term they use nowadays, but they typically highlight incubators from all over the country and their members as well. There is several of their members. I stopped by and met with the folks from the Hatchery Chicago. I actually did an interview with their director, Natalie Shmulik, for Taste Radio, stay tuned for that. And then also Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center, where I caught up with Ben Bacon, the Benjamin Bacon, who's the founder of Lentiful. Lentiful, as you know, as we've talked about on the show, makes instant lentil meals. You just add water, stir in microwave, or you can just add hot water in This Little cups.
[00:24:09] John Craven: Wait, did you actually age in reverse in front of you, or? Wait, what? That's Benjamin Button, sorry. Oh, geez.
[00:24:16] Ray Latif: You know, in terms of Dad Dokes, That was a Dad Dokes.
[00:24:20] Jacqui Brugliera: That wasn't even a Dad Dokes.
[00:24:26] Ray Latif: Along with Lentiful, I also was able to meet with the folks from Portland Salt Company. which, as you might guess, is a brand of salts based in Portland. And they have some really outstanding varieties. There are three flagship varieties, if you can have three. Can you have three flagship?
[00:24:46] John Craven: Sure, have as many as you want.
[00:24:48] Ray Latif: Okay. But they make these artisan blends for, you know, they say these are specific uses, but I think you can use them for a variety of foods. But they have a steak salt, made for steak, Jackie, sorry, no steak for you. They have a pita salt, but they're going to rename this, I think, za'atar salt. Yeah, I was guessing that was some za'atar in there. Good idea. That looks pretty tasty. It's made with thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, coriander, and cumin, which are the ingredients that you use for za'atar. And I forgot to mention, the salt that they use is harvested from the Pacific, specifically in the Pacific Northwest. So it's Pacific Northwest sea salt. And last but not least, they have a toast sugar variety. If anyone remembers making cinnamon toast growing up, you put some toast, you slather it with butter, and then you put some cinnamon and sugar. That's what this is for. And I tried all of them and they're all fantastic. Really cool brand and it was really nice to meet the founders as well.
[00:25:40] John Craven: That was like a new segment, cooking with Ray. That was a good recipe there, Ray. You like that? Yeah, quick one. Yeah.
[00:25:45] Ray Latif: Uh, not too far away from the folks at the Oregon State University Food Innovation Center area. That was a little, that was a mouthful. were our friends from Mojave Mallows. Folks might remember Mojave Mallows from the Nosh Pitch Slam at Nosh Live Winter 2022. They are makers of gourmet marshmallows that are made with agave and dates.
[00:26:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Love the new packaging.
[00:26:13] Ray Latif: Yeah, so they just introduced this new packaging, which is a pouch format, and I think this is recyclable or compostable paper.
[00:26:23] John Craven: If I was gonna pick some nits, I'd say that from far back, Mojave Mallows doesn't quite pop out as much as I'd want it to. I'd probably suggest outlining these, the lettering here, but I mean, this is a big step up from what we had before, but here, I'm gonna let John Craven rip into these. Live taste testing. Yeah, live taste testing Mojave Mallows.
[00:26:42] Ray Latif: Get all the ASMR going here. Doesn't include grunting yes Did you sit on these right? Okay, no, I didn't sit on them. That's Okay, you know what hmm just to make it clear. They were probably a little flattened because they were in my suitcase So they ran in his pocket. No.
[00:27:07] Mike Schneider: I don't want people to think that back Ray preemptively just stomps on the snacks loud
[00:27:14] Ray Latif: Uh, anyway, I'm pretty sure that's all I have from the show. Um, that was quite a bit actually, but it was a lot. Thank you so much to all the founders that I met at the show. Just your enthusiasm, your passion for the industry, your excitement for sharing your food with others, your food and beverages with others was really contagious. I had a lot of fun at that show. Now, while I was there, it looks like you guys got some new products that you've been sipping on here. And Jackie, I'm sure you've been doing the same and sunny San Diego.
[00:27:43] Jacqui Brugliera: So in the office, we have a new skew from motto. So motto, they had one skew is sparkling matcha. And they're evolving their platform to be, you know, better for you, sparkling teas. So this is sparkling rooibos, which is cool to see. I know that they've spent a long time and just developing this product. They, you know, really take quality and sourcing as like key values of theirs. So it's great to see a new SKU, love their packaging. I love their sparkling matcha. I haven't tasted it yet. Should I taste it on air?
[00:28:19] Ray Latif: Yeah, because it is good. While you're popping that open, I just want to note, like, I used to see more Rooibos teas on the market. And I feel like, I don't know why they've been less of them.
[00:28:30] John Craven: I love Rooibos. They come and go. Yeah. It doesn't seem to be as trendy as it was.
[00:28:35] Mike Schneider: Yeah, no, but I it's like a lot of herbal teas. They're still just in Education and yeah, I don't know.
[00:28:44] John Craven: Rooibos is that tea like that it hits heavy, but it's not Caffeinated so you aren't getting your butt kicked by it, but you get like the oomph that you want It's also hard to pronounce rooibos if you don't know how to pronounce it.
[00:28:56] Ray Latif: What do you think Jackie?
[00:28:58] Jacqui Brugliera: It's delicious. Yeah, I feel like this is like a great almost soda alternative. It's a little bit sweet. And it's Yeah, it's really flavorful.
[00:29:08] Ray Latif: Nice. Good. Mike, you've got like what, three different beverages in front of you?
[00:29:12] John Craven: I've got a few things here. I've got Gorgi first, which says energy drink with benefits, but I think it's the energy drink for gorgeous people. So I'm not sure why they sent it to me, but it's five calories, 150 milligrams of green tea caffeine, no sugar, L-theanine, biotin, B6, B12. It says no nasties, no aspartame, no artificial flavors. I mean, it's an energy drink without the energy drink taste. I've had a few of these now, and this one is Sparkling Peachy Keen, by the way. I also have Sparkling Watermelon Crush if anybody wants to try. And I think, you know, functionally, it's not like a kick you in the face, kind of give you the jitters kind of energy. It's a really nice clean energy that I did not crash from or haven't crashed from yet.
[00:29:57] Ray Latif: Is Gorgie short for gorgeous? Is that what it is? I'm sure it is.
[00:30:00] John Craven: Right.
[00:30:00] Ray Latif: Cause look. Yes. G-O-R-G-I-E. Right.
[00:30:04] John Craven: Yeah. Gorgie.
[00:30:06] Ray Latif: Okay. I don't know how I forgot to mention this. This is one more thing I want to mention from the fancy Food Show. And I did talk about this brand at Expo East as well. And it's called I Eat My Greens and they make soup. They make a line of refrigerated soups that are packaged in 20 ounce pouches. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but this is the best soup I've ever had in my life. It is, just slays every other, at least packaged food brands. It slays anything you've ever had before. And they just launched a new variety that is a black bean and chipotle with cacao soup. Now I know that all sounds like it's, you know, kind of maybe weird ingredients to stick together, but it was so darn good. I mean, but everything they make is amazing. And they are, I Eat My Greens, they're launching with a national retailer sometime in March or April. They're not able, they weren't able to share the exact retailer with me, but that's coming soon. I'm not surprised because this is fantastic stuff. So well done, I Eat My Greens.
[00:31:09] John Craven: We've also got some new stuff here from Siren Shrub Company. It's an apple cider vinegar beverage. This one happens to be carbonated, but they don't have to be, according to Ray Latif. And everybody. This one is basil sparkling shrub, which I haven't tried yet. I did try- Basil? Or basil, basil. You can say it either way. And then also, they sent us a coffee variety, which I did try this morning. And I'll say that it was interesting.
[00:31:36] Ray Latif: Son of a gun. Okay, so the coffee variety, so we actually featured the founders of Siren Shrub in a recent episode of Elevator Talk. And this coffee variety that they had was so intriguing to me. Do we have another one upstairs? I think we do have another upstairs. I asked them about that, because I was like, coffee in a shrub?
[00:31:53] John Craven: It is definitely an acquired taste, Ray. I mean, it was like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup before it was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I was like, oh, your coffee, my shrub, put them together. I don't think it has quite the same impact.
[00:32:05] Ray Latif: Well, they work with a local coffee company. They're based in, uh, not Minneapolis, Wisconsin. I want to say the coffee company's called Ruby. Okay. That sounds familiar.
[00:32:17] John Craven: Um, but we can, we can fact check that and cut that if it's not true.
[00:32:21] Ray Latif: Yes.
[00:32:22] John Craven: And I mean, it's a quality product. I just don't know, you know, how much apple cider vinegar and coffee flavor I can take together as a purist, you know?
[00:32:31] Ray Latif: Fair enough. Jackie, what's that you got?
[00:32:35] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I have another tea. It's called space tea. Oh, yeah.
[00:32:42] Ray Latif: I first saw that I first saw it in New Orleans, actually.
[00:32:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Yeah.
[00:32:47] Ray Latif: Yeah. Random. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe, maybe it's too many.
[00:32:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Okay, yeah, I found out my local grocer, and they claim to be the world's first mushroom tea plus lemonade. It tastes like an Arnold Palmer, so it is black tea and like a lemonade mixture. It's brewed with reishi and lion's mane. To me, it comes off as like an energy drink, the fact that it has a tea base and that they have a ratio in lines main, which is for cognitive health and performance. I would say it's a little bit confusing though, just because when you go to the back, it says, created to drink on your journey has some like psychedelic mushrooms on the front. I think it could be a little confusing.
[00:33:32] John Craven: Yeah, a little bit.
[00:33:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Are there magic mushrooms in this? What's the function of this? Am I supposed to trip?
[00:33:38] John Craven: Is this supposed to give me energy is supposed to be we've said this before, Jackie, but people doing it, you know, where the psychedelic questions always there when there's a mushroom product.
[00:33:49] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, and there's also like no call it as far as caffeine or the actual function, they just really lead with the fact that there's mushrooms in this. So for someone like me that loves mushrooms, I'm going to grab it. But for someone that still doesn't know the functions of these specific mushrooms, they might be confused. So I think they could do a little bit better job of that. But the flavor is definitely approachable and something that's mainstream, like everyone knows what an Arnold Palmer tastes like. So that makes mushrooms more approachable. But I think it just needs to come together on the packaging on the back of pack, though.
[00:34:22] John Craven: Yeah. Because, like, I think still putting all the trying to put all the functions of mushrooms on front of pack, like saying this one does this, this one does that, you know, is still kind of difficult and. I think if you say that it's a mushroom beverage, people are going to expect some kind of benefit, turn it around and maybe pick up the benefits.
[00:34:43] Jacqui Brugliera: Even leading with like energy or like cognitive health or something that's more general, whereas right now they're leading with the ingredients.
[00:34:50] John Craven: Yeah, that makes sense. I wonder if the founders of Space Tea have played Space Team. We should play Space Team on the podcast. That'd be funny.
[00:34:58] Ray Latif: I don't even know what you're talking about, but I do like I do like that Jackie had the question of am I supposed to trip because if that's a question That's your consumers are asking of your brand you probably need to do something a little different.
[00:35:11] John Craven: Yeah Well the same way we had the same question with papadelics remember because it's they've got the same kind of kitsch And I think they use it to draw you. I think we decided that they use it to draw you in and then you're You're not disappointed by eating them for sure you just you're not you're not going to trip.
[00:35:27] Ray Latif: Yeah I do want to mention one more brand as I trip over myself over here, and that is a brand called Sweet Nothings. Sweet Nothings is a maker of frozen, ready-to-eat, healthy smoothies. Oh, yum. Yeah. Made from organic fruits, nuts, and seeds. Their flagship products are these 3.5 ounce cups of smoothies and in the cap or underneath the cap there they have like spoons that you can use as well. So you really don't need anything except to just take these out of the freezer for a short time and you'll have a great start to your day or a great snack in the afternoon. The one I'm holding in my hand is their mango variety. This one has no added sugar. It's plant-based. It's made with mangoes bananas cashews dates chia and flax Mike since you're in the sharing mood.
[00:36:14] John Craven: I will also I can't wait to try this ooh mango.
[00:36:18] Ray Latif: Yeah, they also market squeezable smoothies these are They come in tubes They have no added sugar, they're plant-based, they're dairy-free, organic. They come in packs of six, six two-fluid-ounce tubes. And what I really like about these, they're made for kids. They have no nuts. They're entirely allergen-free, which is great for kids if they want to take them, you know, for sort of a play date or maybe even take these to school. I don't know if you'd be able to take these to school because they do need to be frozen. But I love these and this with this particular variety is their strawberry one strawberries water bananas dates beets ground chia and lemon juice and again all this is organic Really interesting because the the variety that I have in my hand here the spoonable smoothie is not allergen free That's right you right so she butter their kids line is intended to be allergen free and is made a very in a separate facility They're Sweet Nothings there the flagship line is is very cool. Yeah, it made separately. Yeah, so cool really good stuff Sweet Nothings's well done All right, that was quite the episode, I would say. A lot packed in there. And thank you all for listening. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to askatasteradio.com. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt. And our video editor is Ryan Galang. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening. And of course, we will talk to you next time.
