[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, 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 I'm with my co-host for this episode, Melissa Traverse and Mike Schneider. Consumer expectations are changing fast, and brands of every size are being forced to adapt. In this episode, we discuss what PepsiCo's response to GLP-1s and inflation signals for CPG. We also dive into Vita Coco's acquisition of a super-premium rival and sample everything from cereal-inspired protein shakes and date-sweetened cola to birch water and caffeinated banana milk. Today is July 31st, 2026. Where did the month go, Melissa?
[00:01:04] Melissa Traverse: It went right into thin air, but we still have August. Don't forget about August.
[00:01:09] Ray Latif: I don't like you. Yes. Mike is shaking something up and he's going to stop shaking momentarily while we can continue this intro. We're going to get into whatever it is that he's shaking. But yeah, August is on the horizon. And along with it, our Taste Radio Chicago meetup, which is happening on August 13th. from 5 to 7 30 PM. It's happening at Pilot Project Brewing in Logan Square. It is outstanding. I am really, really excited for it.
[00:01:39] Melissa Traverse: There's no substitute for seeing people in person and having a, like a nice conversation face to face. And yeah, I totally agree, Ray. It supplements all of the email conversations and social media conversations. It really rounds things out in such a nice way. And I feel like I always get good ideas for content to produce afterwards by talking to all of the brands and partners that we have in our community.
[00:02:04] Mike Schneider: I've seen the can, the Remember Can IRL, they sent us some, but I can't wait to discuss it with them too and hear the whole story. Cause there's just something special about that too. We just, it's just so great to be able to have the community get together and talk about whatever's going on with your brand at this time. And, you know, whether it be packaging or formulation or distribution or new retailers or, you know, just questions on how to get any of the aforementioned, we're here for you.
[00:02:36] Ray Latif: Yeah. And just a reminder, if you are a founder, please bring samples to the event. We would love to taste your products and we'd love to share them with our community and the attendees of our Taste Radio Chicago meetup. Now, of course, we have other meetups upcoming San Diego on September 15th, San Francisco on September 17th and London on October 21st. Please RSVP for any or all of those events. If you can make, you know, if you can make all those events, you will be. A super, super Taste Radio VIP.
[00:03:11] Melissa Traverse: People follow fish like that. I mean, why not follow Taste Radio like that?
[00:03:15] Ray Latif: We are, in a sense, the fish of the food and beverage community.
[00:03:17] Melissa Traverse: You can sell grilled cheese in our parking lot, gluten-free bread, dairy-free, whatever it is. Do it.
[00:03:23] Mike Schneider: That makes you a Bevnetter.
[00:03:24] Ray Latif: So head to Taste Radio.com slash meetups to RSVP and learn more. All right. Mike, have you finished shaking?
[00:03:31] Melissa Traverse: I think I'm done shaking. It sounds like you're going for a jog with a half-empty CamelBak.
[00:03:36] Ray Latif: Okay, I don't know if our listeners can take any more that's shaking right?
[00:03:39] Mike Schneider: I'm sure they're happy to hear the shaking and they love when we test out products so what I have in my hand here is Meals, I think and my ILS M I L S M I I L O two eyes, okay I think is why it's meals and it has a Sun and a star over the ice which of course that makes it pronounced II and
[00:04:01] Ray Latif: And it comes in a pouch. What's the size of the pouch?
[00:04:03] Mike Schneider: I was going to say, Ray, this comes in a really interesting package here. It's a, well, the net weight is 1.59 ounces, but it's a pretty large pouch because what you do with meals is you add either milk or water to the pouch and you get a cereal protein shake. Okay. So it's just dry powder in there. Well, it's also got little cereal bits in it too.
[00:04:27] Melissa Traverse: There are crunchies, right?
[00:04:28] Mike Schneider: Yes, there are crunchies, Melissa.
[00:04:29] Melissa Traverse: Everyone loves crunchies.
[00:04:30] Mike Schneider: Everyone loves the cereal. Amanda, who is our producer today. She tried the cookies and cream. I've had the chocolate crunch and I did something a little bit unorthodox here. I made super strawberry or banana. So I've got some spilt banana milk here, which is caffeinated banana milk. Okay. We got to pause here. You can't just skip over spilt. We're not, we're not skipping spilt.
[00:04:54] Melissa Traverse: And we're not spilling it either.
[00:04:56] Mike Schneider: Hold a second and you can go into spilt because spilt is definitely worth another conversation, but okay. I've taken 22 grams of protein, 19 vitamins and minerals, added some spilt, and here we go.
[00:05:06] Ray Latif: Okay, wow. Mike is drinking some cereal milk with some caffeinated banana milk as the liquid base.
[00:05:15] Mike Schneider: Okay. First, I've had the strawberry banana and it is already fantastic. And now the banana is really intense, but the strawberry keeps up. So I don't know, I'd recommend trying this. What are the macros per pouch? What do you want, protein and calories? Yeah, those are macros. 180 calories, 22 grams of protein. Okay.
[00:05:35] Melissa Traverse: I took some of those home. I want to make a Ninja Creamy with one of them and see, I feel like the flavors would translate really well to something like that.
[00:05:43] Ray Latif: So the spilt that Mike was referring to is a banana milk. It's spelled S-P-Y-L-T. The logo is vertical on this yellow can. It screams 20 grams of protein, zero sugar and 90 calories. It is caffeinated. So this is my first caffeinated banana milk. I'm going to give this a whirl on its own. No meals.
[00:06:05] Speaker: Yep.
[00:06:05] Melissa Traverse: Wait, so Mike, what you have over there has, what, 40 grams of Protein Pints it with the banana milk and the protein powder?
[00:06:12] Ray Latif: 40 grams, exactly.
[00:06:14] Melissa Traverse: You're going to feel like a million bucks. Caffeine and 40 grams of protein? What more do you need? I'm at the gym.
[00:06:19] Ray Latif: Yeah. So I was expecting something that was not going to be very palatable. This is actually pretty good. It's a white liquid, which you would expect out of a milk. It's a little bit sweeter than I thought it was going to be. I would dial up the banana a little bit more, but it's a pretty good tasting product. The sweetener might throw a few people off. It's made with sucralose, which is an artificial sweetener. I don't love it. It's also made with Ace K and other artificial sweetener. Those don't bother me.
[00:06:47] Melissa Traverse: I don't like them.
[00:06:48] Ray Latif: But if you describe this as an energy and protein drink, a multifunction kind of beverage, I think it could appeal to some people. It doesn't say energy anywhere, just it's caffeinated.
[00:06:58] Mike Schneider: It doesn't because it's only lightly caffeinated. It's 60 milligrams per can, so you could have two cans before you have like a full, like a latte, a full latte's amount of caffeine.
[00:07:09] Melissa Traverse: Is there banana in it or is it banana flavor?
[00:07:11] Ray Latif: So it's a skim milk base and it just says natural flavors. I don't see actual banana in here. So yeah, there's that. Well, I mentioned macros because it seems like that is top of mind for, well, everyone.
[00:07:30] Mike Schneider: Yeah. Brands, consumers.
[00:07:31] Ray Latif: Consumers, brands, and then big companies, including PepsiCo. Expectations on Every Calorie. How PepsiCo'Is Ce is Navigating GLP-1s and Inflation. That's the headline of an article in the Wall Street Journal that featured an interview with PepsiCo CEO Ramon Lagarta. I think that's how you pronounce his last name. Could be Lagarta. It's one of the two. But, you know, for a company like PepsiCo, you would think, look, we sell soda, we sell snack foods. That's what we sell. Are customers or consumers really paying that much attention to calories, to sugar, to salt, to things like that? Seems like they are.
[00:08:15] Melissa Traverse: They certainly are. And like you said, it's the combination of inflation, gas prices, GLP-1s. PepsiCo reduced the prices on some of their items, Doritos and Lay's items, in order to drive sales. They're taking a hit on their margins, of course, but they're sort of choosing volume over margins. I thought it was really interesting in that Wall Street Journal article that Ramon said that while they are taking a price cut for some of the items, they are also innovating on others. So they said, for example, that with their Pure Leaf tea SKUs, they are innovating on mental clarity and trying to increase the functionality and increase the value of some of their other items while at the same time they're reducing the prices on things like Doritos and Lays. And General Mills did the exact same thing and both of them have seen a 1% growth by doing that.
[00:09:15] Mike Schneider: Which is a lot for those companies.
[00:09:17] Melissa Traverse: A lot. Yeah.
[00:09:18] Ray Latif: Well, I think there's a lot of pressure coming from all directions to reduce prices, given that groceries are just so darn expensive these days. I've mentioned my own personal experience going to grocery stores, buying literally two bags of products and you end up with a hundred dollar bill.
[00:09:36] Melissa Traverse: Yeah. basket.
[00:09:38] Ray Latif: Yes. And so I'm sure consumers are looking for the best value, the best options that are going to also be somewhat affordable for their families. Now, are Doritos, you know, lower priced Doritos the best, healthiest option for families? Probably not. But it also means that perhaps people are willing to accept some of the unhealthiness of some of these products because that's what they can afford at this point. And if there's a better for you Doritos out there and yeah, I know PepsiCo has their naked line and so on, but if there are better for you versions out there, I wonder if they're going to feel any kind of pressure by people, this is probably the wrong term, trading down.
[00:10:28] Melissa Traverse: I think that what they're doing is appealing to both sides of what's called the K-shaped economy. So there's some people who are getting squeezed incredibly hard, and it's such a shame. They're in a really difficult position. And then there's another segment of consumers that, while they are also getting squeezed, they have more disposable income. and they're deciding where to spend their dollars. So maybe they're going to Costco for their paper towels and maybe they're buying private labels, certain things they're going to trade up on others, like General Mills, for example, they're adding Protein Pints their honey nut Cheerios and they're adding fiber to their Annie's fruit snacks. So they're offering options for people who do have some disposable income and will spend a little bit more for some of those items.
[00:11:17] Mike Schneider: But this is what the Maha movement is supposed to be all about in the first place, because you do have food deserts and people who don't have access to better for you foods. And the brands that are making the better for you foods are small. They have high price points, they have more expensive ingredients, and It's a big Charlie Foxtrot for a small brand who doesn't have investment or is bootstrapped and is making a great product that would in theory be better for everybody to have to be able to get it to everybody.
[00:11:56] Melissa Traverse: I think this is really disappointing for consumers, especially that segment of consumers who are just getting squeezed incredibly hard and don't have a lot of breathing room. On the other hand, I do think it offers a really strong opportunity for a lot of the brands in our community. Not only are companies like PepsiCo and General Mills, looking for places to innovate, looking for brands that consumers will pay more for and see a value with. But also the consumers are looking for places to splurge. I had Scott Sanders, who is now at Carbone, and Jeff Lovering, who is a data scientist on the Nonbase podcast, it's episode 141. They were talking about this exactly, the K-shaped economy. and exactly how consumers are choosing to spend their dollars. And so Scott was talking about at Carbone, you know, their consumers may be looking to trade up for a nicer pasta sauce when they can't eat in the restaurant itself. So this does offer a great use occasion for so many of the brands in our community.
[00:12:59] Ray Latif: That makes a ton of sense that if you can't afford to eat out, might as well eat well, but just at home. Right. So instead of buying whatever value priced tomato sauce, you spend three or four dollars more to get carbone and your average cost per meal ends up being what? Another 75 cents per?
[00:13:19] Melissa Traverse: Exactly. That makes a lot of sense. Exactly.
[00:13:20] Mike Schneider: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense if you have another 75 cents for meals to spend.
[00:13:24] Melissa Traverse: Exactly right. Exactly right. But definitely check it out, nonbase.com slash podcast. Jeff and Scott give you tests that you can run to figure out if your promos, your pricing thresholds are working, what to do if you have a price increase and it's affecting your sales. So they really go through and help you figure out, are you a premium brand? Can you command this price and what to do to find yourself in that segment?
[00:13:48] Mike Schneider: And founder out there who's listening to us right now, just take your right hand, grab your left shoulder, your left hand, grab your right shoulder, and just give yourself a nice squeeze, because this industry is so hard, and I know these are the challenges that you're facing right now. That's a hug from me. A self-hug, is that what you're advocating? That's what I can give you right now.
[00:14:06] Melissa Traverse: Hey, I feel supported. I don't have a brand.
[00:14:09] Ray Latif: Well done. Well done.
[00:14:10] Mike Schneider: If you need more, just DM us. We're here to help.
[00:14:16] Ray Latif: Well, a brand that's been around for some time and always been marketing better for you beverages Vita Coco. And I'd say that that company is doing a really good job of getting more products into more people's hands. And they're planning to do even more of that with the acquisition of a company called Copra. COPRA was founded in 2013 and they specialize in coaching coconut water and they use an extract and fill production model to create branded products and private label items. So let me just dumb this down for myself and everyone else. COPRA essentially markets a product that's pretty similar in taste and value to a Harmless Harvest coconut water. make no mistake that this purchase is as much about Vitacoco trying to put a target on Harmless Harvest back as much as it is expanding their current market share. You know, I don't blame Mike Urban. I think, you know, this is an interesting move for the company where you're continually evolving, you're continually, you know, looking for something to motivate you and your team. I mean, they're already the unquestioned leader in coconut water. So why not say, okay, we'll be the unquestioned leader at every tier of coconut water. Cause right now, Harmless Harvest does own that super premium tier, but. I think coconut water in general is expanding. It seems like every other week we're seeing a new brand come to market or we're seeing some sort of variation on coconut water come to market and trying to think about why that's happening. I've got to assume it's people looking at that as a natural source of sugar and refreshments that doesn't include just, you know, added white sugar or processed sugar.
[00:16:00] Melissa Traverse: And I think the hydration component is a big one. I think folks are looking for electrolytes. I also think this is something that's somewhat being influenced by people who are on GLP-1s and looking to make sure they have enough electrolytes and enough hydration. I feel like in our office we get coconut water and coconut water based products in every which way, sparkling coconut water, powdered coconut water, coconut water with caffeine. There are so many iterations and we're seeing them all.
[00:16:27] Ray Latif: I want to see Vitacoco come out with a cola. Vitacoco cola. Why not? Vitacola. Vitacoco cola? Vitacola. Nobody does it.
[00:16:34] Mike Schneider: Vitacoco cola?
[00:16:35] Ray Latif: Vitacoco cola. It seems like every cola that's ever come out.
[00:16:39] Mike Schneider: I think they'd get in trouble for that one, but yeah.
[00:16:41] Ray Latif: What's the last cola brand, entrepreneurial cola brand, that actually has made a mark on the industry? I'm gonna go with Jolt. Jolt Cola.
[00:16:49] Melissa Traverse: Yeah, I mean Ollipop, Poppy, they all have... Oh my gosh, yes. Well, not really in a Cola sense. No, but they have a Cola SKU.
[00:16:55] Mike Schneider: They have Cola, so... Yeah, I'm gonna go with Jolt, even though that's more of an energy drink. The one that really got me was Nixie. I think Nixie makes fantastic Cola.
[00:17:04] Ray Latif: Yes. Yes. But are they really known for Cola is what I'm trying to say. Well, not yet, but they will be.
[00:17:09] Melissa Traverse: Okay. Stillers has one too, don't they?
[00:17:11] Ray Latif: Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I'm holding in my hand a can of unpop which is described as sublime cola No cap does no cap. Have a cool.
[00:17:21] Mike Schneider: I'm sorry. I was still I was still thinking about Cola
[00:17:24] Ray Latif: So it markets itself as having 16 grams of sugar from dates. That's right on the front of the pack here. It's in this magenta colored can. Is that a good description of the color?
[00:17:38] Melissa Traverse: I would say it's maroon with magenta type. Okay.
[00:17:41] Mike Schneider: My first thought is that's going to be cherry cola.
[00:17:43] Ray Latif: Okay. 80 calories. We got, as I mentioned, 16 grams of sugar. Let's give this a whirl. Have you had that yet? No. 12 ounce slim can. I love cola. Let's try this.
[00:17:56] Mike Schneider: Let's see what you think of this one.
[00:17:58] Ray Latif: It's good. It has an essence of dates or cherry or something like that. It definitely has more going on than just a straight cola flavor.
[00:18:07] Melissa Traverse: Do you drink Coca-Cola or Diet Coke or Pepsi or one of those colas?
[00:18:11] Ray Latif: I have a Coca-Cola about twice a year, and it's the greatest beverage experience I have that year.
[00:18:15] Melissa Traverse: What are those?
[00:18:15] Ray Latif: Mexican Coke, right? No, just regular Coke.
[00:18:17] Melissa Traverse: Regular Coke? Yeah. What inspires your twice yearly Coca-Cola?
[00:18:21] Ray Latif: Probably the same thing that inspires me to drink. Burgers and fries.
[00:18:24] Melissa Traverse: No.
[00:18:25] Ray Latif: A burger and fries, you know, have like a fountain cola.
[00:18:28] Melissa Traverse: For me, it's like an Italian sub. Yeah.
[00:18:30] Ray Latif: Yeah, something that's cold and refreshing, fizzy. Coke is the only coke out there.
[00:18:35] Melissa Traverse: It's true. It's true.
[00:18:37] Ray Latif: Yeah. It's got tons of sugar. Probably not something you should drink every single day, but it is one of the best tasting beverages, period.
[00:18:46] Melissa Traverse: Agreed.
[00:18:47] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:18:47] Melissa Traverse: On a plane for me too sometimes. Diet Coke on a plane is always kind of a treat. Really?
[00:18:51] Mike Schneider: Yeah.
[00:18:51] Melissa Traverse: Once in a while.
[00:18:52] Mike Schneider: Once in a while. If it's available and it's whatever the right time is, then I'll go for it. But it's hard for me to choose that over like Jarritos because that's usually right next to it. Right, right, right, right. It's one of those two. But like you guys, once or twice a year. Yeah.
[00:19:06] Ray Latif: I could drink some agua fresca many times a year. You should, that stuff's fantastic. Yes, you should. We're also seeing more agua fresca brands come to market, and tuyo is one of them. T-U-Y-Y-O. I think it's tuyo.
[00:19:18] Mike Schneider: Tuyo. Like you and me. That's what I said, didn't I? You're saying it as one word, but I think it's like tuyo.
[00:19:24] Ray Latif: Okay, fine. The two of you. The two of you. That works too. The two yes. The three yes.
[00:19:31] Mike Schneider: I wonder if it's in Pittsburgh, the two yens.
[00:19:34] Ray Latif: So this agua fresca comes in powder packs. And this is one variety that they market. It is a strawberry variety, or more specifically their strawberry electrolyte variety. It's made with real fruit, sweetened with agave, eight sticks per box. And you mix these together and you have a very delicious beverage. You'll note that that box is fairly empty. Yes. But I have to say. Guess why? Guess why. OK. This isn't the flavor I would reach for immediately from 2U. You know what it is? It's their horchata, which I tried at the Summer Fancy Food Show. I want to try that. Their horchata agua fresca is phenomenal.
[00:20:16] Melissa Traverse: Yes, please.
[00:20:16] Ray Latif: An outstanding product.
[00:20:18] Melissa Traverse: So at the Fancy Foods Show, I also saw them and I took one of their hibiscus agua frescas and I took it home and I did a little taste test with my niece, my nephew, and my kids to see what they thought of all the fancy food products that I brought home. And they loved the hibiscus. Agua Fresca, which I thought was kind of impressive for younger kids. It's sort of a more sophisticated flavor. They do such a nice job.
[00:20:42] Ray Latif: Well done, Stephanie Garcia-Turner, who is the founder of the company. 2U has been around since 2022, and she has been doing a great job building this brand, introducing new products.
[00:20:56] Mike Schneider: I love it.
[00:20:57] Ray Latif: Did I call it 2U? Yeah. Okay. 2U. Well, 2U started out, if I'm not mistaken, they didn't start out in Aguas Frescas, they started out marketing crunchy snacks. Did they? Yeah, today they're called crunchitos, but I think they were originally called agave or like cactus snacks.
[00:21:17] Melissa Traverse: Oh.
[00:21:18] Ray Latif: And so they've since updated the description of these products as crunchitos.
[00:21:24] Mike Schneider: So they make the crunchitos and they make the hydration sticks. Yeah. Agua frescas.
[00:21:31] Melissa Traverse: Can I put an APB out there? So I've been talking to, to EO about doing a non-based podcast about how to get back on a retailer's shelf after you've come off of it because they reformulated and they did some repackaging. But if there are any brands out there who have come off of a retailer's shelf and gotten back on, let me know because I'm, I'm putting together a panel.
[00:21:54] Ray Latif: There you go. I also saw at the Fancy Foods show a brand called Nimble. This is a brand that I was exposed to for the first time, or I saw for the first time. They exposed themselves to me is what I was trying to say. Can you believe that? Oh my. So Nimble is spelled N-Y-M-B-L. It's a brand of high protein ice creams. The founder sent us these wonderful samples. There are three varieties, the chocolate, the cookies and cream, and the vanilla. Now, if you haven't had this product yet, you would never know that is a high-protein ice cream. It is delicious. And I'm wondering to myself, this is like three in a row, right? In terms of high-protein ice creams that we've tried that are really delicious. There's definitely this understanding, I think, of founders at this point. that you cannot come to market with anything that is subpar in terms of flavor. It's just, I think founders finally get it that you got to come strong. You got to come to market with a really great tasting product that tastes like the real thing, quote unquote, real thing. Otherwise you will have a very difficult time scaling.
[00:22:57] Melissa Traverse: It's food. It has to be delicious.
[00:22:59] Mike Schneider: It has to be delicious because I haven't tried it. I'm only two for two because Ray's hoarding this one.
[00:23:04] Ray Latif: No, this is in the freezer over here. Just kidding, Ray. You know, we talked about Protein Pints and we talked about the David line of frozen desserts and, you know, both brands come out with or have fantastic tasting products.
[00:23:17] Mike Schneider: What flavors do you have over there? I see vanilla.
[00:23:18] Ray Latif: I said the flavors. I said chocolate, cookies and cream and vanilla. Oh, you have them all. OK, great.
[00:23:22] Melissa Traverse: You know, it's interesting. I see French ice cream on the top. I'm wondering what French ice cream is.
[00:23:28] Ray Latif: Oh, that's an interesting question. I don't know, but there are high fat might be. There are 15 serving and the first ingredient here is milk. I think you'd appreciate that. The second is cream. The third Is Ce sugar. And then the fourth ingredient is the nimble protein blend.
[00:23:48] Melissa Traverse: See, this is what I want to see in my ice cream.
[00:23:50] Mike Schneider: French ice cream is a rich, custard-based ice cream made with egg yolks, heavy cream, milk, and sugar. It differs from standard American Philadelphia style, which contains no eggs. Is there eggs in there, Reg? Yeah, there's the egg yolk. I think that's what makes it French. That's what makes it French? Yeah.
[00:24:06] Melissa Traverse: I like the name and I like the way they spell it. N-Y-M-B-L. It's cute and it's fun, like ice cream should be.
[00:24:14] Ray Latif: I think the NY, if I'm not mistaken, has something to do with where they're based, because they are a New York brand. Cool. Gotta be. Love it. Makes sense. Yeah. Last but not least, another brand. Also gone. That we were exposed to. Twins. And we just keep saying we were exposed to brands. Another brand that we encountered at the Fancy Food Show is one called Ooze, O-O-Z. It's a brand of birch water. And I've seen probably four birch waters. I think the founders would do well to increase the size of the label. There's so many good things happening inside this bottle, but it's really hard to read exactly what the macros are and why someone should be choosing this over water or some other tree based beverage.
[00:25:05] Melissa Traverse: Even just putting a color behind the print on that label, I think would make a big difference.
[00:25:09] Ray Latif: Yeah. I think you just need to increase the size of the label and then make sure that the macros are very clear. Because again, you want to know why you're drinking this. Like, why is this something beyond refreshment? Why would you be drinking this? All right. So I was lying about it being last but not least, because I didn't see the products that Melissa has in her hand there.
[00:25:26] Melissa Traverse: Yeah, this is last but not least. I just wanted to give, first of all, a huge shout out to Halfday. I'm such a huge fan of their product. I was at the UNFI Mohegan Sun show and I was chatting with them and they said, come on back for a can before you leave. And I was leaving and I was like, I actually really want an iced tea to drink on the way home. So I did. And I don't know if it's been a while since I've had half day or if they've reformulated since I enjoyed one last, but I just think it's such a tasty product. It has just the right amount of caffeine in it. The sweetness isn't too intense. I stocked up on these at the grocery store. They were running a promo. I love the half and half. This is the raspberry tea. You know what?
[00:26:07] Mike Schneider: The funny thing is I've talked to the founders and they're always talking about the perfect use occasion is driving home from a trade show.
[00:26:14] Melissa Traverse: You know, this is also such a great treat to have in the afternoon when maybe you want a little caffeine, but you can't do like a 200 milligram, you know, C4, that kind of thing. It's a great product. I just love it so much. And I don'Date Drink it for, I know there's fiber in there. That's not why I drink it. I just think it's the perfect amount of caffeine and just the right amount.
[00:26:35] Mike Schneider: That's probably what reeled you in though, initially. The fiber, I was like, ooh.
[00:26:39] Speaker: Fiber.
[00:26:40] Melissa Traverse: And then I also have this product that came into the office, Matcha DNA. These are stick packs of powdered matcha and some kind of milk. So it's a powdered matcha latte. There's a coconut skew and a dairy skew. And this is the same thing. In the afternoon, you want a little bit of caffeine. You want something to get you through the rest of the day, but you don't wanna be up all night. I mix these with water and put it over ice. My only issue with the dairy skew of Matcha DNA is that it has erythritol in it, which I don't know, I don't love. That's something that I try to stay away from. But otherwise, though, I think such a tasty product and really easy to use.
[00:27:22] Mike Schneider: I actually mistook it for a Minor Figures when I first saw it because the art's a little on the similar side.
[00:27:28] Melissa Traverse: Absolutely. Same aesthetic.
[00:27:31] 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 Kratchy. 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.
[00:28:21] Jacqui Brugliera: you
