[00:00:02] Ad Read: This week's episode of Taste Radio is sponsored by Ruby Rockets. Ruby Rockets is adding fruit and veggie better bars to the lineup as it continues to create delicious low-calorie and low-sugar snacks for consumers. Ruby Rockets better bars combine fruit and veggies with creamy coconut milk. resulting in a dairy-free, plant-based frozen snack bar. Ruby Rockets's fruit and veggie Better Bars contain only 60 to 70 calories and 5 grams of sugar per bar, lower than competitive frozen novelties in the category. This line is one of its kind in the market, bringing together dairy-free and calorie-conscious for the first time. To learn more, please visit Ruby Rockets.com. And now, Taste Radio. Hey everyone, thanks for listening to BevNET's Taste Radio. I'm Ray Latif, and with me are John Craven, Mike Schneider, Jon Landis, and Brad Avery. We're recording from our studio in Watertown, Mass., and in this episode, we feature an interview with Will & Jaden Smith, the globally known actors and entertainers who discuss their involvement with sustainable water brand Just Water. This episode also includes an extravaganza of Elevator Talk where we hear from and critique four upstart food New Beverage brands that are giving us their best pitch. Just a reminder to our listeners, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to askatasteradio.com. As I mentioned in episode 103, this is our second episode of the week. Episode 104, that is. And we're happy to be able to bring two episodes for the price of one, so to speak. And I hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think of this new testing of two episodes per week. Perhaps we'll continue to do it. All right, as I mentioned, we're talking with Will & Jaden Smith in this interview. They became co-founders of Just Water through an investment in the company. And I just wanted to talk a little bit about celebrity involvement, investment in food New Beverage brands. I know we touched on this a few episodes back, but I thought it would be a good time to kind of revisit this topic. John Craven, in your time as New Beverage industry observer, you've seen a lot of celebrity beverage brands come and go. What makes for a good, successful celebrity backed brand? Well, for better or worse, I don't know how many are successful. I mean, I think, you know, you have people who want to take their established brand that they have for something else, I don't know, music or acting, whatever the heck it is, and, you know, see it become successful on a consumer product. I think it's almost similar to what you see in cause marketing, where if the brand's only real reason to exist is the cause, or in this case, The Celeb, that seems to be a proven track record for failure. You know, you'd look at that are the most successful. You know, you could look at, say, like George Clooney's tequila brand recently. Like, it wasn't like it had his face on the bottle or something like that, right? You know, that's the type of stuff that probably does the best, where you have someone who, you know, there's a product that can stand on its own and somebody's using their network and their name and their wealth, I suppose, to maybe help add a little rocket fuel to it. So you're saying consumers tend to be savvy enough to not overlook a inferior product just because of a celebrity endorsement? I think so, and I think it's just also, you know, it's kind of weird when you think about it. I mean, we talked about this a lot when 50 Cent's Street King came about, and it's kind of like... Street King being an energy shop brand launched in 2011. Right, and you know, a lot of money was put into that, and it was ultimately, you know, a failure. You know, I think it's it's kind of one of those things where even if you were into, you know, 50 cents music, the notion of like that translating into like, gee whiz, I want to eat or drink something that I'm going to like associate with 50 cent. Like, do you like them that much? You know, like it's kind of. It's a big leap of faith, right? Well, it seemed like they were trying to duplicate some success that 50 had with Vitamin Water and that relationship. It just didn't fly, I think, for the same reason that you just talked about, John, which is that there wasn't really a reason for being for that energy shot. Does it make you rap like Fitty? Does it make you feel like Fitty? I mean, if not... Yeah, it's a hard leap. Well, and it also it had his face on the brand. And again, you know, are you going to buy the energy shot because it does something for you or because 50s on on the brand and at the end of the day, it just not enough people were interested in. It's not like you're going to be an honorary member of the G unit if you drink Street King. He just said the G unit. Let it be noted for the record. I mean, another thing is also why, what about Danny DeVito makes me want to buy a limoncello, for example. Like I love Danny DeVito, but do I need his limoncello? Brad's talking about a thing. Yes. It's a bottled limoncello product that Danny DeVito put out. It does not exist on the market as far as I can tell. But yeah, it had his face on there or at least had his name and a signature on there. And yeah, pretty weird. I think his wife made it for his birthday party or something. I mean, Limoncello? Super high volume category there. It's a good one to Google image search if you want some nice pics of Danny DeVito holding bottles of Limoncello while grinning. Yes, we'll include a note in the show notes, or at least a link in the show notes. Is that what you're doing all day, Brad? But I mean, along those same lines, I mean, we were, remember Soda Shaq that Arizona put out and they had an image of Shaq's face on the soda and like 80 grams of sugar. Nothing about that seems like it was on trend, right? It was just like Shaq is big and there's a lot of sugar, but it was like the end of his career. And it was like, so it is, you know, it was already turning into like public enemy number one. It's just, there's nothing about that seemed right. I think on the other hand, though, you have something like buy in Justin Timberlake, where JT comes in as an investor and as a spokesman. He did that Super Bowl ad that was very well received. And that's sort of something that seems to be working as far as we we can notice. Chief flavor officer. Chief flavor officer, indeed. And he called him JT. You know, you know the man like that? The guy sat with Will Smith. Of course he knows JT. He did. You know, there is one outlier to this discussion in that it's a celebrity-backed brand with a person's face on the package, and it's got a social mission, and that's Newman's Own. And I think there have been a lot of brands that have attempted to recreate Newman's Own for different categories, different food New Beverage categories. It just hasn't worked in the same way. I mean, first, you know, different time, different place. But I mean, that to my earlier point, I mean, that filled some white space at the time where, you know, you basically had, you know, if you think about what those products were in a lot of ways, they're like, you know, the reasons you trust, I don't know, Trader Joe's, right? It's like they made solid value priced products across a whole swath of categories, which I don't know, like I grew up knowing Newman's own. I didn't, you know, as a kid know that it had like a cause. It was just like a brand. To your point, it's just a quality product. And when it came out, it was just needed to be better than Ragu and Presto. Right. The bar was pretty low back then.
[00:07:07] Brad Avery: Exactly.
[00:07:07] Ad Read: I don't think I even associated with Paul Newman for years. I would be, you know, eating the dressing. And then years later, I was like, wait a second. Did you think that was Colonel Sanders on the label? I just thought it was a general face, some guy. Yeah. And I didn't even think of it as Paul Newman until. Well, look, it's a brand that still lives, and he's not with us anymore, right? So, I mean, it's transcended that, for sure. And they've actually had an opportunity to be really creative with the brand, too. I mean, they have Paul dressed up in all sorts of different outfits for their Greek dressing, and their Italian dressing, and their Russian dressing, and all that stuff. So they've been able to actually capitalize on it in really creative ways, as well. So as I mentioned at the top of the show, Brad sat down with the mega celebrities that are Will Smith and Jaden Smith at Natural Products Expo West 2018. They chatted about their role as investors and advocates for Just Water. They also chatted about the brand's recent move into flavored SKUs and how they're using their media platforms to support the development of a disruptive brand. Hi, I'm Brad Avery with BevNET. We're here at Natural Products Expo West 2018 in Anaheim. I'm sitting with Will Smith and Jaden Smith here with Just Water. Yeah. Yes, with Just Water. Yeah. So you guys got a lot going on. You've got these new flavors with Just Water. Yes, infused water.
[00:08:26] Brad Avery: Right.
[00:08:26] Ad Read: Tell me about them. Oh, sorry. Okay. Because I don't want to disrespect you, you know what I mean?
[00:08:31] Brad Avery: No, no, it's fine. It's fine. Because this is your thing. You brought me along, and then I'm jumping in before you start talking. Well, the thing about the waters is that everybody will think that they're flavored waters, but they're infused, and that actually makes a really big difference, because the way that we actually get the flavor into the
[00:08:48] Ad Read: bottle is completely different because we are taking the essence of the fruit and we're distilling it into the water. So we're kind of infusing water into water, if that kind of makes sense. It's through the distillation process that we actually mix and combine the particles from the fruit and the water. So that's how we make it all happen. So it's completely different than any other type of flavored waters that you would see on the market because flavored waters are just kind of like dropped into the water and then shaken up and then, you know, they become flavored waters. All right, so we got here, we got apple cinnamon, we've got mandarin orange. Yes. And I can't say the flavor.
[00:09:22] Brad Avery: Lemon, lemon.
[00:09:23] Ad Read: We have tangerine over here, apple cinnamon, and lemon.
[00:09:25] Brad Avery: Yeah.
[00:09:26] Ad Read: And it, you know, it's for your different moods. Yeah. You know, so the lemon is really, you know, you wake up, it's a fresh morning. It's kind of like spa water. Spa water, yeah. You know, you start the day, you want to be easy. You know what I'm saying? Then as the day wears on. Lunch comes around and you're feeling a little tangerine-y, a little orange flavor. And then after the sun sets, you're chilling with a special someone. Apple cinnamon. Apple cinnamon.
[00:09:54] Brad Avery: What else would you do?
[00:09:55] Ad Read: A little spice into your life. A little spice. 100%. So, you know, you guys, you're celebrities, you've got a platform and you're building a brand. How do you use that to not only, you know, put out a product, get out a message, but also convince people that you're not just paid to be here, that you're really doing this from the heart? Well, this company was started basically eight years ago. Jaden was 11 years old, and he was studying the environment in school. And at the same time, he had started surfing, and he was learning how to surf. And he saw a plastic bottle. floating in the ocean. And he had a really visceral reaction that was completely out of place to see plastic floating in the ocean for him. And through his studies, he learned about the Pacific patches, and he started to get really inspired about the environment and how human beings were damaging our environment. You know, as a parent, it's always great when you see your child inspired. But at 11 years old, you know, like what's really going, you know, how long is that going to last? But it didn't go away. And he stayed on it. And he started studying and learning more. And he went and went online and he found the companies that were doing the work and he found this Tetra Pak company and he set up a meeting and when the people from Tetra Pak heard the story, they were so inspired that an 11-year-old wanted to do something like this. They said, listen, whatever you guys want to do, we want to be a part of that mission. So this is a company that was born out of an 11-year-old's desire to care for the environment. Yeah. And so what are you doing on the business side beyond getting that message out there? How involved are you in this company in getting it out there and getting it on the shelves and getting people trying it? Well, in terms of launching the company, we purposely, as a family, stayed back for years because we didn't want it to seem like a celebrity brand.
[00:12:05] Jaden Smith: This was a brand that was missionized and it was born of a child's care.
[00:12:12] Ad Read: So we wanted to make sure that that wasn't something that was overshadowed by a celebrity endorsement. So we launched a company, we started the company with friends and with family. In our first meeting that we pitched the idea to Whole Foods, it was the first place we went, they literally said yes in seven minutes. So it's an idea that people are truly connecting to.
[00:12:39] Jaden Smith: So as a family, we're starting now that the brand is having a following and people are connected to the brand, now we'll start to step out more and more using the social and celebrity platform in support of the brand.
[00:12:54] Ad Read: Jaden's been doing the most work. What have you been doing, son, in support of Just Water? My thing about Just is it's completely a mission-based brand. You know, we really want to push the mission of what's happening in the world and, you know, some of the problems that we're trying to address, we're trying to make people aware of those problems as well because it all came from, you know, me watching videos and getting educated on these topics. So I like to create videos of me going to schools and talking to youth about these problems that's happening into the world and saying, hey, you know, we have 9.8 billion tons of plastic in the earth since 1935, but we could use it to make something like a table, you know? And this is something that we're doing with the Just Brand that can evolve from just a bottle of water, you know? It's like, we really just want to reduce plastic. Not only with selling a bottle of water, we want to reduce plastic and CO2 emissions everywhere that we can. And we go above and beyond just trying to promo the bottle of water or just trying to get the water on the shelves, as important as that is, because that's a way for people to get involved with the brand on an everyday basis. But we are constantly trying to push it to the next level. this keychain that I'm giving to you, you know, this is a prototype of something that we want to create of. It's completely made out of recycled plastic, you know, it's completely made out of trash, you know, and not even ours, just trash that is found on the street.
[00:14:10] Will Smith: So we are constantly working with organizations and trying to educate people about the problems that we're facing because that's what JUST is all about, you know, it's all about the mission of the 11-year-old that saw a real problem and that problem is only getting
[00:14:24] Ad Read: more and more apparent in our day-to-day lives as we move forward. And so part of that mission, recently you've begun donating to Flint, Michigan. Their water issues are not done. They still don't have clean water. Tell me a bit about getting in on that and providing a product for them. Well, the reason that we want to do that is donating, you know, to the schools, because like we said, the youth is going to be the one that's dealing with all these problems to come into the future. And it's such a shame what's happening in Flint, like what's happening in so many places of the world because 3 million people die every year from not having access to clean water. And as JUST, we really want to educate people on that and make them aware because Only once we know and accept that to be a fact can we move on in trying to create a solution. So we're gonna continue to donate water to the Flint schools until the levels lower and the water gets, you know, drinkable and showerable for people. So we're gonna just continue to donate because as just, it's not just water as in just simply water. We use just in the term of justice, of trying to do better for the world. So if we see people struggling, we definitely wanna do whatever we can to help them and to give back. You know, so we're going to continue to be donating water to the Flint schools. Great. And, you know, as you continue on, as you guys balance entertainment careers along with this project, you know, how's the rest of the year going as far as what is happening next for Just Water with these new flavors, with all these programs? Where else can you take it? Yeah, you know, we're just launching the infused waters now, but this is a company, our family mission statement is improve lives.
[00:16:00] Jaden Smith: So it bleeds into our entertainment, it bleeds into the companies that we create.
[00:16:06] Ad Read: Just will probably remain in New Beverage category over the next few years, but I believe that it's certainly an idea and a concept that we will be expanding. Well, Will & Jaden, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Thank you very much, Brad Avery a great rest of the show. You too, man. Absolutely. Thank you so much. So, Brad, you've covered Just Water for other stories and previously spoken with Jaden. What was your approach to this interview? just as a journalist going into kind of do an interview with, I guess, someone who the average person would find intimidating being like, it's a mega celebrity. I mean, I was definitely kind of, you know, heart racing a bit, but I, you know, just got to keep your cool and just go in and like, I'm going to work and they're going to work. And we both are sort of trying to, I'm trying to find out about this brand and they want to share and are trying to, get the word out about this brand. So as far as that, I got to speak to Jaden a couple months ago for a story that's in BevNET magazine in the January, February issue, just a brief bit about Jaden's involvement in the brand. And, you know, I talked to him on the phone then and he's a fun interview because, you know, he's pretty well known for going off on spiritual musings, I would say, talking a bit about how he believes that, you know, water is just this force in the universe and we're 90 percent water. So we're part of that force and things like that. And we didn't get into that in this interview because I kind of wanted to keep it more focused on how this rollout of the new infused products is going. As far as sort of talking to them goes, is they're they're very friendly. They're very approachable. And I mean, that's what they do for a living. is that they are there to deliver a message, and I'm there to try and just sort of, you know, pierce through it. And, you know, one thing I sort of brought up that we talked about at the top is that how do they prove that they're not just paid spokesmen to be there doing a job, but that they're also involved in this company? Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the involvement. I mean, from a from a business perspective, you know, they're a little hands off, they're not, you know, deep into the weeds with sales and marketing. But they do have a serious role when it comes to social media and other different types of promotion. So, you know, they've been featured on Instagram and Twitter via JustWater's accounts, but how are they tapping their personal networks to promote JustWater? Yeah, you know, I don't think they're overdoing it because I know that Will Smith has his YouTube videos now. The ones I've seen, I haven't seen JustWater anywhere in them. But I do know that Jaden has put out the word on his Twitter, on Instagram. I've seen both of them using Facebook as a means of putting it out. The day we did the interview, they also did some social media work and we're putting that out there, talking about being at Expo West and promoting the brand. So I think they're kind of striking a good balance where they're not trying to bombard people with it, but they're also, you know, strategically using social media when it makes sense. So you touched on this earlier, Jaden called just a mission-based brand and brought up a few of its environmental initiatives, including repurposing trash. What are some of the other things that they're doing to support their mission? You wrote about these things in the magazine story that you brought up. Yeah, and I mean, they sort of have that brand story about Jaden being 11 years old and kind of learning about pollution and wanting to do something better for the environment. So I think that they are kind of trying to get out a message at the same time, and they're trying to use that as a means of promoting environmentalism and promoting a sustainable approach to CPG products. And I think that's something that's very difficult to do in CPG is to create something that's truly sustainable because you have all these issues of supply chain, of distribution that are going to be creating a carbon footprint. And so I know that Jaden in my phone interview with him mentioned that they try and use hybrid vehicles as much as they can when they're traveling or distributing to the degree that they can use that. Trying to run these recycling initiatives, which they talked about in the interview. They're not shipping overseas either, is one of the things they talked about. No, oh right, that's a good point. They're not. They're waiting to try and create production facilities overseas before they begin selling in Europe or elsewhere because they don't want to be, you know, shipping that far. These stories are always fascinating to me because it's almost like a little bit of a catch-22, right? You want high sustainability, but you also want high volume. And they don't always play hand in hand. The more volume you have, I mean, obviously you make as many efforts as you can with everything that you do, but the name of the game is to sell as many bottles of product as you can. And that creates waste no matter really whatever you do. So I mean, I love these stories and I love the efforts that these people are doing and the environment and the society really needs this. But at the same time, it's always just kind of like makes my brain hurt. I think it's definitely better than a typical plastic bottle, but there's no way you can do it without creating waste.
[00:21:23] Taste Radio: Exactly.
[00:21:23] Ad Read: And I think that's ultimately the issue that comes with these products. So you can do something that's better, but I don't think you can do something that's completely waste-free at all. You don't think we're going to see a day that it just rains just water? Just go outside and infuse apple cinnamon rain? Yes. Well done. Brad, thanks so much. Great interview. You're going to keep in touch with Jaden and Will? I'll try. He's got his phone number. They're texting. You got invited to any pool parties? No. No. Matter of time. All right, respected listeners, we are just weeks away from the summer 2018 editions of BevNET Live and Nosh Live, and with them, the New Beverage Showdown and Nosh Pitch Slam. So we thought it a good opportunity for an extended edition of Elevator Talk, where we'll hear from a few upstart brands, some of whom have participated in past competitions, and offer a few words of feedback on their pitches. So first up, we have Christy Goldsby, who is the CEO and founder of Honey Mama, which makes honey-sweetened, cacao-based snacks specifically for Mike's pleasure. It's time for our Elevator Talk, where we put a founder in an elevator with their dream investor. Let's hear what happens. What is your company's mission?
[00:22:38] Brad Avery: My company's mission is to create playfulness and positivity out in the world. through this little, beautiful, healing, honey-sweetened, whole-food chocolate treat. What is your product and how is it different? So it's a raw, honey-sweetened, whole-food, essentially a whole-food chocolate bar. And it is different in that it is not a bean-to-bar chocolate bar, and we're kind of created a new category. I use raw honey, unrefined coconut oil, cocoa powder, either sprouted almonds or coconut meat, and a little bit of Himalayan pink salt as the base of all of our bars. We have eight different SKUs. And what's different about it is that you will find it in the grab-and-go refrigerated section. It is a fresh product. It has a great shelf life of six months, but it is kind of a fresh, whole food product. and that I would say is probably the biggest kind of difference that we're making in the in the world of like both chocolate bar and protein bar because we do kind of cross those two those two categories.
[00:23:42] Ad Read: Who is your target audience and how do you quantify the market opportunity?
[00:23:46] Brad Avery: Well, first of all, let me say this. Our target market is anybody who loves to eat beautiful food. To be more specific, our target market is people who have allergens to foods generally. I tend to probably sell a lot of the product to people who have gluten intolerance and other food allergies. And it is a wellness focused demographic for sure. Anybody who cares about high quality food that is healthy. What stage of growth is your company in? We are at about two and a half million right now, planning to go to about four and a half by the end of the year. So early, I guess.
[00:24:21] Ad Read: What has been the biggest surprise since starting your company?
[00:24:24] Brad Avery: The biggest surprise since we've launched, I think, is just how quickly people have connected to the product, just because of the fact that it really is a new category and just the amount of kind of love that I've gotten from customers from it. Everybody who puts it in their mouth pretty much freaks out about it because it is so good. It tastes so good and the texture is so different from anything out there that I think that that has been kind of a consistent, really happy surprise for me.
[00:24:52] Ad Read: What do you need from a partner or an investor to go next level?
[00:24:54] Brad Avery: I would need from them to bring me industry experience and to recognize and resonate with the culture of my company to see the value in it and recognize the potential of how it sits obviously in the kind of food landscape right now. And just to help me, because I'm so close to everything obviously as the founder, I would love to have investors come on and help me grow the company in a way where they're bringing that kind of the level of years of experience with them where they can say, yep, this is absolutely, let's dig in, let's put money into it, and let's just let this thing explode as it needs to be. Why should I invest in you? Oh, because it seems to me that, I mean, I've been at Expo West now for three days. I've been walking around, I've been looking at all these other brands. Not only is, I think, our product incredibly relevant right now in the food space that we are currently in, but I think that it has the potential, it is a category creator, and it has the potential to kind of explode because of that, and kind of hopefully set kind of another new level of standard for eating healthy in a very pleasure-focused way.
[00:26:15] Ad Read: All right. Overall, I thought that was a pretty great pitch from Christy. What are some of the things that you liked about her pitch? I really liked what you said about what she wants from an investor, someone with industry experience, someone who can give her that air cover because she's too close to things. I think that's really a really self-aware entrepreneur who says something like that. I'm not an investor, but I got to imagine that it's a lot more attractive having someone say, I need you for your expertise rather than I need you for your money. I like that she knew her numbers. I like that she rattled them right off. I liked that. I liked how she talked about how everybody who puts it in their mouth freaks out, but that was because I freak out when I put it in my mouth. So that resonated. And I usually don't like saying that, you know, you're creating a new category, but in this, I really do believe that she is. I think that there are a number of fast growing refrigerated bars out there and this fits very nicely in that set. She is, to your point, I think you need to find somebody that you're similar to so that somebody has that frame of reference. And I would caution her against saying I'm creating a new category. Yeah, I think that reason for being is such an important part of any food New Beverage brand. And when she was asked about who the target consumer was, I think the answer was anybody who loves to eat beautiful food, which is not a target customer. That's hard to target. Yeah. She did try to refine it a little bit further than that. No, she did a good job. She said allergens, you know, people who have food tolerance issues. Yeah, I guess I would just really tighten it up to know exactly who you're trying to target and why. Because I often hear, you know, who is this product for? And the answer is often, oh, this is for everybody. There are very few products out there that are for everybody. But there's also the how to that, Jon Landis was alluding to this in the planning session. Exactly, and that was what I was waiting to hear. I was listening for her to expand more upon the functionality of the individual ingredients. I know some other brands that are doing raw cacao type stuff and they harp on the functionality of cacao itself as a superfood. That was, to me, it was just missing, but I don't think it's that big of a... She definitely knows it and we've heard it when we've talked to her, so I mean, just adding it to the pitch is key. Good stuff. All right, up next is Christopher Moss, who's the CEO of FIT, which is a brand of alkaline water enhancers. What is your company's mission?
[00:28:34] Elevator Talk: Our company's mission is to bring uncompromising alkaline flavor to a market where everything is acidic. And we basically wanted to spread high pH, but in a fun and tasty way.
[00:28:46] Ad Read: What is your product and how is it different?
[00:28:48] Elevator Talk: Our product is FIT, P-H-I-T. It's the world's first alkaline drink mixer. What's different about us is that we have zero acid. We have natural flavor, natural color, no sugar, no sweetener. It's totally different from anything on the market currently as you can flavor your water or alkaline water and keep the pH high or bring it up to an alkaline state. Unlike traditional mixers or flavor enhancers on the market that actually, when squirted into water, bring the pH down to that similar as a soda.
[00:29:18] Ad Read: Who is your target audience and how do you quantify the market opportunity?
[00:29:21] Elevator Talk: Our target market right now is current water enhancer users or flavor mixer users, alkaline water drinkers, people that are involved in a healthy lifestyle. And the quantifier market, we just launched it about two months ago. So just trial and error, getting customer feedback, seeing who likes it, who doesn't like it, that kind of thing.
[00:29:41] Ad Read: What stage of growth is your company in?
[00:29:43] Elevator Talk: So we just launched it. We've done R&D for about four years. We did a Kickstarter in September. We did 26,000 in that month. So we are looking for distribution in the Los Angeles area and moving it out here.
[00:29:57] Ad Read: What do you need from a partner or an investor to go next level?
[00:30:00] Elevator Talk: Yes, currently we're not looking for any investors. We are looking for a strategic partner, that being an alkaline water brand that we could link up with. We have hundreds of thousands of single serving packets that we're looking to put onto a water bottle to increase their sales and get the word out about Fitted. Why should I invest in you? Well, we're totally different. We do not compromise on taste, quality, that is our other big thing, and that we're in a realm that hasn't been discovered yet, so we're the first ones to market with this. If you're basically into alkaline water, this is the best solution there is out there, and it's cheap. It's only 27 cents per serving, so you can put it into your tap water at home, create alkaline water, flavor it, it's really tasty, it's natural, that's about it.
[00:30:49] Ad Read: John Craven, what do you think of this pitch? Well, a couple of things, just constructive feedback. I think there's a lot of emphasis on being the world's first, which is something that, you know, I feel like is sort of self-serving more than something that actually helps, I don't know, an investor or I suppose a consumer relate to it. You know, there might be a reason why it's the first time that it's being done. The second thing that I guess, you know, just cause for concern was kind of seeking, you know, this strategic partner to attach it to a bottle, which I think is just something that's going to be really complicated and distractionary for the company, as well as for, you know, anyone who'd actually take that partnership. So I think that didn't really feel so great to me hearing that. Yeah, I think it's absolutely unique product. But I think as far as a pitch goes, talking about that whole world's first type angle, sometimes just it starts to turn me off when I feel like I'm being told this is so unique. But it is unique and sort of speaks for itself in that sense of once you explain what the product is, I think you get that. You're like, oh, this is different. This is original. I mean, and I guess the other, you know, just challenge with it real quick is that, you know, look at the end of the day, like you still need water to use this product. So it doesn't necessarily make, you know, your life any more convenient if, you know, you could right now just get a bottle of alkaline water that seemed to be in abundance on the store shelves. I mean I think one other question I have is sort of he's talking a bit about how other products on the market are acidic and like you said there's other alkaline waters out there but why is standard water not acceptable? Why do I need to make my regular water alkaline with his product? I like this product and I think starting with the, I had a 26K test we just launched would be a good thing to do. It's a complicated scientific pitch. I would move the functional benefits up sooner and talk about also the size of this thing. I mean, it's a tiny little package that you take with you and you get a lot of beverages out of it. So it's a pretty interesting, cool product that when I heard about it first, I didn't understand, but once I saw it, once I used it, I got it. I agree. I think that there's a lot of competitive advantages that were not mentioned here, that it fits in your pocket, that it's to go. It's, you know, it's, I mean, he called it cheap too, but, you know, I would say it's inexpensive or something, you know, use a different word. On the positive side of things, I do like that they're focused regionally and that they're working on trialing. And, you know, that to me is, good. I want you to figure it out on the market. I don't want you to figure it out in your lab. The constructive criticism I have complements a lot of what you guys have said. A, even if you're not raising money, you want to meet investors, especially if you're not raising money. That's when you have leverage when you actually talk to these guys. And also B, I don't saying that it's totally unique and totally different than anything that's on the market is not a positive thing for me. Most of the times when I hear something like that, I think, well, there's probably a reason why there's nothing on the market like this. You want somebody else to say that. You don't want to be the one to say it.
[00:33:53] Brad Avery: Exactly.
[00:33:53] Ad Read: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Chris, stay uncompromising. That'll help you with your journey for sure. Good luck. We dig. Yeah. All right. Next up, we have Stuart Dimson, who's the co-founder of Dr. D's, a maker of sparkling probiotic beverages. What is your company's mission?
[00:34:13] Jaden Smith: So our company mission is to provide a replacement for high sugary drinks, one that is healthy and tastes good.
[00:34:22] Ad Read: What is your product and how is it different?
[00:34:24] Jaden Smith: Our product is a sparkling probiotic drink that is a water-based kefir or kefir or kefir, however you want to say it. It is different than kombucha. It does not have the heavy vinegar flavor that kombucha has. So it's really easy to drink and it's loaded with lactobacillus bacteria.
[00:34:44] Ad Read: Who is your target audience and how do you quantify the market opportunity?
[00:34:48] Jaden Smith: Our target market is probably primarily in the millennials at this point, but it does span up into even baby boomers, really anybody looking for a healthy beverage that can help with digestion and tastes great. So we quantify that through our in-store demos and we try and get our hands on data when we can afford it.
[00:35:13] Ad Read: What stage of growth is your company in?
[00:35:16] Jaden Smith: I'd say we're in the adolescent phase right now. We've left behind the proof of concept phase. We just got national distribution. We're partnering with some bigger chains now. So we are just at the start of a big growth spurt, but we're still kind of young.
[00:35:35] Ad Read: What has been the biggest surprise in starting your company?
[00:35:38] Jaden Smith: I think the biggest surprise has been the process to take this cool thing that I was doing in my kitchen for two years and turn it into a national brand. Just how much that takes to do that, the different layers, everything from the brokers out in the field, the sales teams we had to develop. back down to how do we scale this thing up. I think it's just been how much there is to do with that. It's a welcome surprise, but it was a surprise.
[00:36:11] Ad Read: What do you need from a partner or an investor to go next level?
[00:36:13] Jaden Smith: From a strategic partner perspective, to go next level, it'd be great to have somebody with the expertise to help us map that out. We believe we have found that person, so we're very happy in that regard. Certainly from an investor perspective, again, we have a good investor team, but it would help to have someone on that team who has an understanding of really the trajectory of how long this takes to really pull off so that we could have possibly even better support around letting this process see itself through fruition and having the funds there available to make that happen.
[00:36:52] Ad Read: Why should I invest in you?
[00:36:54] Jaden Smith: We have a really strong team. We really believe in what we're doing. We've got amazing expertise when it comes to solving problems, and we are very transparent. We have good communication in our team, so people can feel really good about the fact that we are 100% on board with this, and we have the desire and the creative ability to figure out whatever we need to do to make this happen.
[00:37:29] Ad Read: All right, a lot to unpack there. Some really interesting points from Stuart and how they're growing the brand. Let's start with Landis. I saw you writing a bunch of things down here. I have mostly positive reactions to a lot of what he had to say. I think one of the things towards the end there when we asked, you know, why should we invest in you? He didn't mention product at all. And I kind of like that because investors, I feel, are investing in people, Natural Products. And he focused all of the attention on, you know, who they are, what they can do, and not about a product that could be easily copied. You know, you can't copy a team as well as you can copy a product. I do think there are going to be some questions about why, and he should be ready for those if you're in front of an investor and you say strong team belief, amazing expertise. What is that expertise? Why is your team strong? And where does that belief come from? I think what you've also got is a product that's coming into a fast growing category because you've got brands out there like Kavita that are doing something similar that you can then use to explain to a consumer that doesn't know what the product is. So, you know, he's talking about how consumers know what they want, but they don't know what their options are or where they can get it. And I think that what he needs to do is he needs to understand that there Natural Products out there that are kind of coming into the same territory. So he needs to move in and really explain why his is the best. I think that's true and early in the game he talks about the differences from Kombucha and I think he should talk about the similarities with Kombucha and say that he's part of the gut health category or whatever we're calling that category right now so that he has the benefit of being part of something bigger when they're talking to an investor so an investor can say all right well here's a market assessment. I kind of agree, although I would look at it a little, you know, higher level. I mean, I think there's a lot of stuff out there trying to ride the coattails of Kombucha, which is still, you know, a small category, relatively small with somewhat limited awareness. And, you know, I think for a company like this, it seemed like he was pitching something really heavy. when realistically it's like a healthy sparkling play where there's plenty to speak to just in terms of, you know, consumers shifting away from soda, et cetera, et cetera. So, I mean, I kind of feel like I wish the pitch were a little, you know, simple without hitting me with the sort of, I don't know. I felt like it was going to get sciencey there a little bit. The mission is super, super simple, which is a good and a bad thing because it's completable. You know, you get up. Their mission was to something along the lines of provide a healthy, healthy replacement for sugar beverages. And my only other thing I'd say, which is a slight disagreement with what Landis said about the ending is, I think, you know, the thought is right that investors invest in the team, but I do think he should have recapped a little what the opportunity is, because obviously like that at the end of the day is what, you know, an investor is interested in. But overall, you know, definitely like this product. One thing I'd say is that when he talked about looking for A strategic investor, I really appreciated that he said they needed help trying to figure out the timeline for growth for their business development. Having someone on board that can help them identify milestones that they need to reach as they continue to grow. I also really reacted positively to him saying he was surprised at all the work that goes in behind the scenes to this. You know... Kitchen donations, hard, you know? It's a little selfish, you know, shameless promotion of what we do, though, because, I mean, we meet so many people who just see products on shelves and think all you got to do is get the retailer to carry it and then your job's kind of done. And it's good to have that kind of humbling, you know, there's a lot going on here and I'm not an expert in it and I need to learn this stuff. So that's the kind of frame of mind that I'm looking for an entrepreneur to be in. He mentioned two things about awareness and education that I thought, you know, he should probably have a conversation with you. Maybe. Okay. And last but certainly not least is Jimmy Tay Trinh, who's the founder of Naughty Noah's, a brand of Vietnamese instant pho noodle soups. Yum. What is your company's mission?
[00:41:38] Will Smith: Nari Noa's Vietnamese Pho noodles company mission is to change the world of noodles. We're here really to bring something new to the space that's been really old and outdated and not innovative and nothing authentic. So we're bringing Vietnamese noodles direct to consumer. So we're available online. And I think that we have a great opportunity to do that. What is your product and how is it different? So our product is actually instant Vietnamese Pho noodles. It's rice noodles with real authentic spices from our Vietnamese culture. And what also is different is we have avocado oil, which gives that lasting savory finish, which is high in omega fatty acids. And then our packaging is recyclable, dishwasher safe, reusable. It's on the go, convenient. It's a snack or a light meal. So you can really take it anywhere, on the plane, on the car. outdoors, traveling with kids, anywhere.
[00:42:37] Ad Read: Who is your target audience and how do you quantify the market opportunity?
[00:42:40] Will Smith: Yeah, so that has been almost like an indefinite ongoing question. Our target market is young professionals, millennial moms, healthy moms, and college students. Like, you know, I lived, breathed noodles when I was in college and I really got sick. I went to culinary school and before culinary school, I was 180 pounds. So after I brought awareness to what I was eating, I dropped down to 150, I dropped down 35 pounds. And so I've been maintaining that weight for 10 years. So we wanted to bring something fresh to the new space and in an authentic way. And it's really true to our tradition and culture. So that's what we're doing.
[00:43:21] Ad Read: What stage of growth is your company in?
[00:43:23] Will Smith: We are actually in the early stage growth of our company. We recently launched in September of 2017. We're direct-to-consumer. We're available on our website, Amazon, and we'll be available also in Central Market in Texas, and there are eight locations. And we're also available in Texas Children's Hospital.
[00:43:44] Ad Read: What has been the biggest surprise since starting your company?
[00:43:47] Will Smith: I think the biggest surprise since we launched is the consumer feedback. We've been getting a lot of mixed feedback as far as, you know, oh, your packaging is, you know, it's too big or it's not enough noodles. Well, that's all the noodles that we can put in, you know, our container. So that's, you know, the mixed feedback has been really a great, you know, surprise. And at the same time, it's giving us, you know, good insight on what the consumer is saying.
[00:44:15] Ad Read: What do you need from a partner or an investor to go next level?
[00:44:18] Will Smith: You know, as far as going next level and scaling, we're looking for a partnership from a firm that really is believing in our mission is really changing the world of how we eat noodles. And with the family background, like we want to be family-oriented because we come from a family, right? And really that mission of, hey, how do we bring healthy Vietnamese food to the world? And that's what we're looking for. Why should I invest in you? Well, you know, you would want to invest in us or in me because I'm authentic. It's 100%. I'm Vietnamese doing Vietnamese food and the world would be a better place with Vietnamese food if everybody ate Vietnamese food.
[00:45:11] Ad Read: So I was pretty impressed by Jimmy T's note about his backstory. He went to culinary school. He's been eating noodles for his entire life. He knows the subject. He knows the food. And I appreciate when an entrepreneur has a good understanding of what they're selling. A lot of times I feel like people get into a business and they like a product, but they don't know the ins and outs of it. They haven't lived it. They haven't breathed that product. Yeah, a seller versus a maker, right? Totally. I think he's got a product that's poised for the right time. I think pho is something that's kind of gaining awareness in America. And so having a CPG offering there seems to be good timing. But you didn't really hear him talk about that. No, he didn't. Yeah, that's that's a good point. I think that's one of the things he needs to talk about. And one of the things he needs to focus on is, you know, why this product? Why now? I mean, he talks about changing the world with noodles. But what does changing the world mean? Can you really change the world with a noodle package? Yeah, he didn't say anything about it being a healthier noodle or a lower calorie or anything like that that would perhaps indicate how he's changing the world with noodles. It's more authentic. He did say it was more authentic. It was interesting because it was, why should we invest in your brand? And it was all about the authenticity, which is definitely important, but I just don't know is going to be a driving factor for investment. He also made some insights into who his customers were. And he was very honest about the feedback that he was getting, which was great. And he should highlight this whole idea of being direct to consumer, knowing exactly who our customer is and what our opportunity is going forward. I love the direct to consumer. I think it's super hot in 2018. I also love that he's very receptive to that mixed feedback. And it just shows all the entrepreneurs out there the need for market testing and, you know, to getting this product, whatever product you're working on out there. And being thick-skinned and taking all that feedback and doing what you're going to do with it. I really appreciate that honesty there about kind of getting some criticism from consumers, but I think what he then needed to do was explain, so how are you addressing that or how you communicate to them that you're going to either change this or that this is why it needs to be this way. Overall though, I thought the product had a lot of value propositions. It identifies pretty solid white space. My biggest piece of constructive feedback is that I thought their channel strategy was way unfocused. You know, it's everything from e-commerce to a hospital in Texas. So, you know, that to me is just a little bit of a... You got lucky with that one. Yeah, but it's a bit of a warning signal. You know, you can't say yes to everything. And that to me says maybe he's just every opportunity that's thrown at him, he's going for it. And you definitely don't want to be doing that. You want to be very strategic with how you roll out your brand. I will say as a last comment that I tried this product at Nosh Live Winter 2017, and it is really, really good. Yeah, and the new vegan pork broth that he had at Expo West was fantastic. I do agree. It's a really, really excellent product. I got to try this. Yeah, you do. Jimmy Tay, if you're listening, please send his product. All right, to the four brands we just heard from, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Appreciate you guys being good sports. Hopefully we gave you some good feedback. Please let us know and stay in touch. We want to hear more about your journeys and your stories. All right, that brings us to the end of episode 104. This is the second episode of the week. If you'd like what we're doing, two episodes per week, send us an email, askatasteradio.com. We'd love to hear your feedback. Thank you so much to our sponsor, Ruby Rockets, a maker of delicious, low calorie and low sugar frozen snacks. Something tells me they like our two episode a week format. And thank you so much to our guests, Will & Jaden Smith, Christy Goldsby, Christopher Moss, Stuart Dimson, and Jimmy Taitrin. Again, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to askatasteradio.com. On behalf of John, Mike, John, and Brad, I'm Ray. We'll talk to you next time.
