[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, and 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 with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. I feel like I'm so far away from Jacqui now, having seen her IRL last week.
[00:00:31] John Craven: I have so much space for activities now in this studio.
[00:00:36] Ray Latif: We were in San Diego last week to record At The San Diego office. That's where we held our WCB meetup, actually it was more specifically the BevNET slash NSD, NSD standing for Naturally San Diego meetup, which was fantastic. We had well over a hundred people attend, but more than anything, it was just fun being around the West Coast branch team.
[00:00:55] Jacqui Brugliera: West Coast headquarters.
[00:00:57] Ray Latif: There's no WCBHQ, baby.
[00:01:00] John Craven: That's what we call it. Makes yourself sound more important.
[00:01:02] Mike Schneider: Yeah, they like calling At The WCHQ. It's like WCBNSDDNS. DNS, baby. WTF.
[00:01:08] John Craven: There are a lot of CFDs.
[00:01:11] Jacqui Brugliera: BBQ. Yeah.
[00:01:11] Ray Latif: Rafflecopter celebration. But I imagine it was a lot more fun for Jacqui to record at 11am than 8am, which is currently when she is recording right now. So sad.
[00:01:22] John Craven: I'm currently drinking my apple pie iced matcha, which is a new thing for me, but I'm trying something different other than pumpkin spice after craving, you know, crapped on pumpkin spice.
[00:01:33] Jacqui Brugliera: So sorry. And then he shows that video that literally. There was a literal video that we don't need to get into at this point. It's legendary.
[00:01:43] Ray Latif: No, the meetup was a ton of fun. Got to see a lot of new faces, got to see some familiar faces, and a lot of great conversations with both. I mean, the networking that happened At The meetup was, dare I say, tremendous. And for folks that are having FOMO, well, unfortunately missed the event, but you can come and see all of us and quite a few people from the Meetup at BevNetLive, NoshLive, and BrewboundLive, all of which is happening in late November and early December. For full details, check out the respective websites, BevNET, Nosh, and Brewbound. I do want to highlight a few folks that we did see At The events, including the founder of a brand called Chibare, which is a brand of probiotic and protein bars. His name is John Eliade, and he came with a bunch of samples, some of which I brought home with me. And I got to tell you, as I told John At The event, I am prone to hyperbole. You told me that too.
[00:02:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Everyone's laughing because it's true.
[00:02:48] Ray Latif: That's outstanding. These are some of the best tasting protein slash nutrition bars that I've ever had.
[00:02:56] Jacqui Brugliera: No one believes you though because you cried outstanding so many times.
[00:02:59] Ray Latif: Yeah, but you know how sometimes you will try a product and it's called a certain flavor. It's a blueberry flavored protein bar or an almond flavored snack. Sure. and it doesn't actually have any of the whole ingredients incorporated into the food or beverage. In this case, you could actually taste and eat and chew on the actual blueberries in his protein bars. You could actually... They're my hashtag snacks on a plane.
[00:03:28] Jacqui Brugliera: You're so right about this. Yeah. I mean, those are really tasty bars.
[00:03:31] Ray Latif: I had two of those in the plane at home. Nice. They were really, really good. And the almonds. So they have a peanut butter and almond variety and a blueberry and I'm forgetting what other flavor is in it.
[00:03:40] John Craven: Peanut butter chocolate chip.
[00:03:42] Ray Latif: Yes. Just fantastic stuff. So kudos to John for creating such an amazing product and also for joining us At The event. His daughter is part of the founding team, Maddie. She joined us as well.
[00:03:55] John Craven: Yeah. And I mean, especially for a functional bar, sometimes they can taste a little chalky. They're not the best tasting, but he really delivers on flavor. And I mean, I don't think we mentioned this, but it's a probiotic protein bar. So it does say that it has 1 billion CFU per bar. So usually you're going to think, eh, I don't know how that's going to taste, but really, really delicious.
[00:04:18] Jacqui Brugliera: But the fun and functional.
[00:04:20] Ray Latif: Yes. What was really cool is that, uh, I had first met John as part of our Elevator Talk series. He joined Must For an episode, I want to say a couple of months back. Uh, and it was just great to meet him IRL. Same with the folks from Improv Cocktails. Improv Cocktails is a brand of Booze-Free Cocktails are based in San Diego or in the San Diego area. Got to meet founder Alex Brooks in person. Also James Murray, who's part of that co-founding team. I love their grapefruit Paloma variety, just dynamically different from a lot of the other non-alcoholic, ready to drink cocktails out there. The experience of drinking it, I think the experience of holding that can in your hand, the branding, it just felt like a very natural alternative to drinking a canned cocktail out or on social occasions. I think they nailed the flavor, the positioning. And as we talked about in a former episode or past episode of Elevator Talk, The description of booze-free versus non-alcoholic or alcoholic alternative just lends a different kind of, I guess, feel and credibility to this product that makes it, I guess, more in line with what I think what people want.
[00:05:32] Jacqui Brugliera: I like how they're so on brand when they come up to you, they ask you for a place, an object, and a famous person, and then they just pull off a little skit. They didn't do that.
[00:05:42] Mike Schneider: Oh boy.
[00:05:46] Ray Latif: There's a blueberry almond and a peanut butter chocolate chip just want to make sure this is what he's sharing Jacqui It means he's got at least 20 at home I do actually have 20 at home.
[00:06:08] John Craven: So curious what's in his closets. Oh no.
[00:06:11] Ray Latif: A lot of blue shirts. Obviously. John was very kind to send us home with a punch. Also great to see the Tigronis folks and John Craven. You were very kind to share with me some of their new products. I know, I regret sharing them. Well, they have a new Boulevardier and they also have a new Mezcal Negroni. Did you get to try any of these?
[00:06:29] Mike Schneider: I did. They're delicious. I thought they were collaborating with Brad and making a Boulevardier.
[00:06:35] Jacqui Brugliera: He loves Boulevardiers. He does. That's why it's called the Boulevardier. Oh, I see.
[00:06:38] Mike Schneider: You're just trying to jam in a dad joke because we haven't had one in five minutes. But yeah, Vincent and Paul were there. Great guys. Always good to see At The're up to.
[00:06:46] Ray Latif: Absolutely. Now, the question I have with these new varieties is obviously the Mezcal Negroni makes a lot of sense for a brand called Tegronis. A Boulevardier, you know, just a Negroni, but made with whiskey instead of Gin. I'll take gin for $200. But, um, you know, do you think this is just a natural transition or a natural brand extension, given that this is not necessarily a Negroni product?
[00:07:15] John Craven: Sure. Yeah.
[00:07:16] Ray Latif: Yeah. Easy answer. Okay. Fair enough.
[00:07:19] John Craven: Yeah. I feel like people that like Negronis, they know what goes into a Negroni and I think they would know, you know, other varieties.
[00:07:27] Ray Latif: For sure. Also great to see Susan Hartman, who is the co-founder of Recoup Beverage, a maker of better for you sports drinks and energy drinks now as well. I was trying to recruit her to join Jacqui's Komogi team. She is herself a former athlete, was in high school and college.
[00:07:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Not a former, current athlete. Current, yes. She is into so many sports, so on brand. She's played rugby, Australian rules football.
[00:07:54] John Craven: Mm-hmm. Yeah. She played rugby and Aussie rules football, which for people that don't know is very similar to Gaelic football, which is what I play. So I heard that and I was like, no way you have to play with me in San Diego.
[00:08:08] Ray Latif: Yeah. She was also, uh, did the heptathlon in college. She surfs. Yeah. She does a lot of stuff. Yes. Actually walking the walk as it were, as a founder of a better for you sports drink brand and a great tasting one at that. Also great to meet Mark from Machiko. Mark being the founder of Machiko, a brand of ready-to-drink matcha drinks. I think that was kind of obvious.
[00:08:34] Mike Schneider: I'd hope so. Yeah. I mean, I guess it could be a food brand. I don't know. It'd be weird if Machiko was like a gluten-free bread company or something.
[00:08:41] Ray Latif: It's a free break company. Also love meeting Pavan Kalra, who is the new CEO of Salty. Salty being the brand of cold press juice shots and also lemonades and other kinds of refreshment beverages that are made with cold press juice and better for you ingredients. In glass, don't forget that.
[00:09:02] Mike Schneider: In premium glass bottles. First in glass or whatever they say. They're tasty.
[00:09:08] Ray Latif: Nice to have those on hand. Yeah, Pawman was the former CEO of Press Juicery, so definitely bringing a lot of experience to that job.
[00:09:16] John Craven: Also in glass and in a shot format is Tolua. And this one is their Skin Health variety. It has kimchi probiotic, which is very interesting. And it's turmeric ginger, that's the flavor. So Tolua was also At The meetup. Another functional beverage that was featured, I wasn't drinking At The meetup because I would have fallen asleep, but Blue Bear, which is a sleep beverage, which features, I believe L-theanine.
[00:09:47] Mike Schneider: Definitely some melatonin.
[00:09:49] John Craven: Melatonin. Yes. Yeah. So this is for, you know, when you're ready to snooze and this is white peach tea. That's the flavor of this one.
[00:09:57] Ray Latif: Yeah. Great to meet Alex Vialli, who is the co-founder of the brand. He's actually going to be featured in an upcoming edition of our new on the spot with Taste Radio series. Look for it on social media. The can makes me feel sleepy.
[00:10:10] Jacqui Brugliera: He did a good job on that. They did a really good job on that.
[00:10:13] Ray Latif: It really does. Don't even need to drink the beverage. Just look At The can.
[00:10:16] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't need to. I was having a convo with him and he was like, Hey, you want to try one of these? I was like, I could sleep on, on the, on the pavement here if I wanted to. He's like, Oh no, not you. That was his, uh, you know, sort of the hole in his, in his scheme was that a lot of people can't sleep and they don't need the product. And, but there are so many people that struggle with sleep. So he's, he's excited about helping them out.
[00:10:37] Ray Latif: I like that phrase, the hole in his scheme. The hole in his scheme.
[00:10:42] Jacqui Brugliera: Schematic. He's got a blueprint.
[00:10:47] John Craven: And a couple other products that I just wanted to call out that were At The meetup. So this is Spade. It is a premium sparkling soda. This is their Kiwi Strawberry. Their whole thing is upgrading your soda. It has electrolytes, zero sugar, zero calories, and they have a couple of different flavors.
[00:11:02] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, don't forget to talk about Dr. Spade. That stuff is good.
[00:11:05] John Craven: Yes. Yes. They have Dr. Spade, which I believe is their Dr. Pepper varietal. And also... That stuff. Yeah, Andori. So good. These are electrolyte hydration mixes. And this is lychee. And it's really delicious. Ryan, who's helping with me with production over here. It's a big favorite of his. And yeah, these are really, really good. I love the packaging.
[00:11:32] Jacqui Brugliera: I've already had way more than my fair share of that. I love the chicken. Super cute. Gave some to our designer, Amanda. She likes it. We gave some to our bartender At The airport in the lounge, right? You love giving out products to random people. I was giving out products to people just because, you know, that's one of the things, like, if you've got a good product, I don't know, I just like sharing products.
[00:11:55] Ray Latif: I don't know, Mike shared a can of cha, C-H-A, with a Lyft driver. And it was not, not the best idea.
[00:12:04] Mike Schneider: It made her very chatty. I was going to say, did she like, I mean, are you saying something bad about chat?
[00:12:10] Ray Latif: Basically we learned her life story. I mean, like the past 60 years of her life, we got in like a half hour.
[00:12:15] Jacqui Brugliera: Unfortunately we came BFF. So, uh, but the drivers in San Diego are super friendly. Yeah, do you talk to your uber lyft drivers?
[00:12:25] Ray Latif: I never open my mouth if they start talking to me sure, okay?
[00:12:29] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I try never to engage I just try to be respectful I'm like in their workplace You know right and I don't want to get a bad rating or like yeah, make them annoyed But if you ride in an hour with Ray
[00:12:40] Jacqui Brugliera: He first, he has like the angriest face. And he's usually like, he's like, don't talk to me. And I just want it. I want this ride to be over. He's like gripping. I really need to use the bathroom. So that's what I want. I'm just kidding.
[00:12:54] John Craven: Can you set that in Uber, like beforehand, before you get in? It's like, I want my music off. Oh, so you need that Ray. So you can tell them that you don't want to talk before you get in.
[00:13:02] Mike Schneider: I can't afford Uber Black. I picture Ray is getting in and he's just like 72 degrees. Do not talk to me. And then you push a button for some imaginary glass to go.
[00:13:13] Jacqui Brugliera: Look, I appreciate the fact that I appreciate the Taste Radio glass that he brings with him, which is like a job.
[00:13:24] John Craven: You get into the car and you're. Out of words.
[00:13:27] Ray Latif: The expectation of conversation was something that I guess is part of the taxi industry or being a taxi driver, but it doesn't need to be a part of like this new form of car ride sharing, whatever you want to call it.
[00:13:44] John Craven: The world according to Ray. I don't know. I've learned a lot of life stories in my Lyft drives.
[00:13:52] Jacqui Brugliera: I did learn one or two good travel tips. So you think it was inevitable, even if I hadn't given her the cha, she would have.
[00:13:59] John Craven: Especially being in San Diego, you know, that's just expected. You get in there and you're going to learn a lot.
[00:14:05] Jacqui Brugliera: But she told us about her kids. So, and she was, she went super deep into the, into the story arc.
[00:14:09] Ray Latif: My favorite form of conversation, if this is a form of conversation, is when you get in and say, oh, you're going to this place just to reiterate where you're going and say yes. And then when you get out of the car, the driver will say something nice like, Appreciate you chief, and I'm like great. I love that you know First of all he said he appreciates me second of all he called me chief with a measure of respect. I appreciated that What if he called you slugger what wait a minute go back for a second wind here why appreciate champ I don't know.
[00:14:44] Mike Schneider: I mean champ behind you was he flipping you the double bird I don't know what you do in his car
[00:14:51] John Craven: Yeah, I guess it's probably like sarcastic like thanks for you know, you're resting bitch face, right?
[00:14:56] Ray Latif: Yeah Appreciate resting Ray face. Oh my gosh. You guys are so cynical. I was heartened Ray Ray was in the backseat.
[00:15:04] Mike Schneider: He's the only one who's ever heard appreciate you chief and Ray was probably in the backseat like streaming your Manchester United eating tinned like oysters or something, you know, I Okay, here's what I normally do.
[00:15:19] Ray Latif: We're going way deep into the weeds with this. Technically, what I do in the car ride, the Lyft or Uber ride, is work. Like, I'm always trying to catch up on stuff that I can do in between where I am and where I'm going. Do you ever get carsick? No. So if someone's like interrupting me with like meaningless conversation and I'm trying to like, I don't know, send a slack or check us on or do something else like that. So how about them Padres? I'm just like, you know what? I understand that you want to talk At The weather, but I'm just not really in the mood. Did you see the pods last night? The pods? Deep into the weeds. Love San Diego. Drivers probably could tamp down on the conversation.
[00:16:07] John Craven: They can pick me up.
[00:16:09] Ray Latif: On that note, nominations for BevNET's Best of 2023 are due on October 27th. We have lots of categories, including a couple new ones that will highlight non-ALC spirit brands and leaders. It's exciting stuff. October 27th, once again, is the deadline for nominations. Head to BevNET.com to learn more. Nosh, we're also accepting nominations for their Best of Awards. Jacqui, same deadline?
[00:16:38] John Craven: Yeah, same situation. Head to Nosh.com. You'll see under submit where you can submit the best of award nominations and also the same deadline of October 27th.
[00:16:48] Jacqui Brugliera: And don't worry about being succinct because Ray will not be the one reviewing.
[00:16:53] Mike Schneider: Never going to let this down. That would be a good rebrand of Elevator Talk. It's like Uber ride with Ray.
[00:17:00] John Craven: Yeah.
[00:17:03] Mike Schneider: He does not like to be talked to.
[00:17:05] Ray Latif: There's a time and a place. Comedians in cars with Cherry Seinfeld. What's the one with the late night gay jams, James Corden? Where you karaoke?
[00:17:11] John Craven: Carpool karaoke. Love that. That could be your version.
[00:17:16] Jacqui Brugliera: Carpool shut the hell up with Ray Latif. Say five words. Shut the hell up in my car with Ray Latif.
[00:17:26] Ray Latif: Good Lord. This has gone off the rails here. This is great. Now going back At The Best of Awards, I'm really excited to see the nominations. There have been so many new brands, new products launched in 2023 and just love, love the innovation that's coming to market, including packaging innovation. And I'm starting to see a lot of brands innovate with their label design via Tetra Pak cartons. And Tetra Pak has been doing some pretty amazing things with their customized printing option. And I do want to thank Tetra Pak because they are our presenting sponsor for this episode of Taste Radio. Tetra Pak is the pioneering packaging solutions company that provides safe, innovative, and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Learn more. Thank you, Tetra Pak. At tetrapak.com.
[00:18:15] Jacqui Brugliera: Thanks, Tetra Pak.
[00:18:17] Ray Latif: Now, I mentioned as part of the Best Of Awards, we're going to be highlighting non-alcoholic spirit brands. And speaking of non-alcoholic, I was a little surprised to see this news, despite the fact that we are seeing more consumer demand for non-alcoholic spirits and cocktails, RTD cocktails that is. So Boisson, which is a retailer of non-alcoholic spirits and RTD cocktails, picked up investment from Pernod Ricard's Venturarm. Pernod Ricard, a wine and spirits conglomerate, a global one at that. I guess conglomerate is, it's kind of redundant to say global, isn't it? Sure, go with it. Okay, fair enough. I don't know. I think, you know, these retailers are quite niche in At The offer. I mean, yes, there's a lot of new brands coming to market. Yes, there's a lot of interest and seemingly demand for non-alcoholic spirits and cocktails. But do we need a chain, a retail chain that sells these types of products and only these products?
[00:19:20] Mike Schneider: I think right now we do.
[00:19:21] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think so. Yeah. I mean, why are you so bullish on this, John?
[00:19:25] Mike Schneider: Well, bullish is maybe a twist of the words, but I think for right now these retailers are instrumental and important in the development of the non-ALK space. At some point, if this category does really, really well and is, you know, assimilated into more mainstream, then we probably don't need these types of retailers. I guess maybe as a comparison thinking, you know, craft beer shops were kind of cool at one point, and now you can get craft beer anywhere, right? So I think the individual shop just dedicated to that. has a little bit of a harder time, you know?
[00:20:09] Ray Latif: So you think that retailers like Boisson are more short term in their life cycle?
[00:20:14] Mike Schneider: Well, I mean, short term is how long, right? I mean, it could be a retail concept that, you know, works for a decade or two, which in the grand scheme of retail, it's not really a fail. That's certainly a success. So I think for right now, while there's a massive need for like, discovery and actually properly retailing these items. You know, as opposed to like, I don't know, where else do you buy this stuff? In a liquor store? Probably in a place that's kind of hidden in a hard to find place, right? It certainly helps with the education.
[00:20:48] Jacqui Brugliera: You know, when you walk in what you're getting and then there's a chance for it to become a bit more epicurean because there's somebody in there that can explain to you At The differences are or at least categorize it in the way that makes a lot of sense. So it could help the industry at large. for them to lead in that respect.
[00:21:08] Mike Schneider: And, you know, definitely makes sense for, you know, a Pernaut to get involved in that. It's something that clearly they should keep their eyes on. And like some of the other, you know, we've seen Diageo get behind some NA stuff. I think it makes sense.
[00:21:23] John Craven: Yeah, there's also the opportunity for them to be the expert in the field and to partner with other retailers in the future. Like I know Pop-Up Grocer, I believe partnered with, was it Nordstrom or some larger department store where they set up like a shop within the retail because they just know At The brands are. They have a curated experience, they have those relationships, and they have the expertise and can talk to consumers about it. So that might also be an opportunity down the road to help more traditional retailers get into non-elk.
[00:21:55] Jacqui Brugliera: Is that called a pop-up grocer pop-up or pop-up pop-up grocer? I think pop-up grocer pop-up.
[00:22:01] Ray Latif: Okay, thanks. And just to give a bit more information At The investment that I mentioned, In the story on BevNET, it noted that Boisson had received funding in a $5 million bridge round from Pernod Ricard's venture capital arm. Also notable in the article is that Boisson is attempting to enter into a new phase where they are an omnichannel platform with domestic and international expansion and strategic partnerships. Maybe it's not just, you know, brick and mortar, more brick and mortar stores as Poisson continues to evolve. Maybe it is something more along the lines of, you know, meeting the consumer where they are and looking for non-alcoholic spirit options.
[00:22:46] Mike Schneider: I believe they also have some of their own products too.
[00:22:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Ray, have you heard we've got a new podcast?
[00:22:55] Ray Latif: Mike, I have because I work for this company. I know.
[00:22:59] John Craven: I'm glad you're informed.
[00:23:00] Ray Latif: Community Call is coming in podcast form. Nice, nice. Community Call, the regular series in which Melissa Traverse, our director of community for BevNetNosh, Taste Radio and Brewbound, speaks in a live session with experts, industry experts, and entrepreneurs who have been there, done that, and hopefully can share lessons about how to scale and succeed in our industry of food, beverage, and beyond. There's a familiar voice in the beginning.
[00:23:28] John Craven: There is. So I've been co-hosting with Melissa to get the ball rolling with Community Call and introduce the podcast to our audience. And she's been doing these for the last year, I believe so, every week. And now we are super excited At The're going to be in podcast format. Because, you know, video is not for everyone. Sometimes people like to multitask. They like to listen to a podcast on their way to work. So now you're going to have access to all these insights with a variety of topics that are specific to food and beverage and the CPG industry. And you can listen on any platform.
[00:24:02] Jacqui Brugliera: On your listening platform of choice.
[00:24:05] Ray Latif: Because everyone has a choice when it comes to their listening platform.
[00:24:07] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. So many to choose from. Yeah. That's true. And we
[00:24:12] Ray Latif: May throw one or two into the Taste Radio stream just in case you forget, but please go check it out and I like me if I knew that you knew that Yeah, very cool stuff excited to hear and be able to listen to community call At my leisure because sometimes even I don't get a chance to watch it live. So it's exciting to have that sometimes It's while we're recording. Yeah. Yeah, very cool stuff.
[00:24:41] SPEAKER_??: Mm-hmm
[00:24:41] Ray Latif: All right. Today is October 3rd, the date of this recording. And I know there are some folks that are already planning for their Office Holiday parties. I'm sure our team is probably doing some of that behind the scenes as well.
[00:24:56] Mike Schneider: Maybe not because there's a lot of... Not sure, but thanks for the reminder. Okay.
[00:25:00] Ray Latif: Because for some folks, you know, that Office Holiday party is only two months away and you gotta find a venue, you gotta figure out how many people are coming, all sorts of other stuff. More importantly, you gotta figure out what you're going to have to drink. And folks, you gotta, in my opinion, have this to drink at your Office Holiday party. It is, of course, Fireball's Dragnum. Fireball's Dragnum is a magnum of Fireball whiskey, a liter and a half. Okay, for folks who are not familiar with Fireball Whiskey, I don't know where you've been, probably hiding under a rock. But like, let me tell you, this is probably the most popular shot in America. And to have a liter and a half means that everyone gets a shot of this product. This sounds like an advertisement. It's really not. This is like, everyone can get fall down drunk on Dragnum.
[00:25:49] John Craven: Are you gonna do like Edward forty hands?
[00:25:54] Ray Latif: With those this is this would be Edward leader and a half hands Did you buy this? No, I didn'At The the kind folks from Sazerac were sent this to me. What's the retail price on a dragnet? 7,000. No, the retail price is $25 So not bad, right? I mean like, why? Only $25? That's kind of insane. Wow. Why is that insane? Because that's a lot of alcohol. What that can do. It's a lot. Apparently it's out there in stores nationwide right now. So, um, but you know, I think there's going to be a run on this stuff for Office Holiday Party season. So you want to go out and get your Dragnum.
[00:26:30] Mike Schneider: I'm going to hide from all these Office Holiday Parties. Mike, drink. I want to give those out as, like, stocking stuffers.
[00:26:40] John Craven: It's the whole stocking. Like, leave the party and you just hand them one?
[00:26:44] Ray Latif: Stockings stuffed. Our Secret Santa rules are clear. $20 or less.
[00:26:49] Mike Schneider: This is $25. You got it for free.
[00:26:50] Ray Latif: I am not partying with this.
[00:26:52] John Craven: Just pour a little bit Must For, like, $5 worth. Save it for later. That's actually not a bad idea.
[00:26:58] Ray Latif: That it meets our criteria for a Secret Santa.
[00:27:01] Jacqui Brugliera: You know, we do a Yankee swap, but we're New Englanders, you know?
[00:27:06] Ray Latif: Anywho, can anyone beat my dragnet of fireball? I don't think so. No, no, but just end the show now.
[00:27:12] Mike Schneider: We're just, we're done. We're no. Yeah. How about something also holiday focused? Okay. We got some, uh, Malk holiday nog here. Oh wow. You're going to have a sample, right? I think we should mix some fireball dragnet. I mean, I'm kind of actually that's.
[00:27:28] Jacqui Brugliera: Probably not a bad pairing.
[00:27:30] Mike Schneider: Yeah, you will you will like this one. It has no gums or carrot genins or you know any of that stuff that you are Those cups come straight from the dishwasher because if not very much. I think so here have one Mike Here pass one down Mike. Sorry. You're allowed to pass it to me.
[00:27:48] John Craven: I Bet it's tasty
[00:27:49] Ray Latif: Malk, which won the New Beverage Showdown back, I want to say, 2016? A long time ago. Yeah. Stone ages. Yeah.
[00:27:57] Mike Schneider: That is way better than eggnog. I mean, it's basically almond milk with maple syrup, nutmeg, and salt. It's delicious.
[00:28:05] Ray Latif: If you want to call it nog, I'm down with that. You make fun of me, John, but the first thing At The top of the bottle is what? Well, it says organic, but then the next thing on the top of the bottle says gum free. I know you like that. Why would I want gum in my almond milk? I don't know. That would make a great holiday latte.
[00:28:23] John Craven: A lot of people don't know At The have gum in their almond milk, but it's nice. It's super clean and simple.
[00:28:29] Mike Schneider: So since we're sampling kind of I don't know funky milky beverages here, so yeah some Koya protein Cocoa cereal for us to sample they just introduced a new line.
[00:28:43] Ray Latif: I know Mike wants a little real Inspired products there comes down a little one they also have one that Mike believes is inspired by Fruity Pebbles races trick I think it's more tricks where I'm gonna fight stone circle Well, they have three varieties At The just introduced. They have a fruity cereal, a cinnamon cereal, and a cocoa cereal. Each has a suggested retail price of $4.50 per bottle. They're available at 7-Eleven, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Publix, Kroger, Safeway, and more.
[00:29:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Not tried the fruity one, but the cocoa is good the fruity one whisks me back to Miami University when we used to take a salad bowl like a It's called Miami University It's in Ohio damn it we had shirts to say Miami's in Ohio small damn it I Um, so we had these salad bowls, giant salad bowls, and of course, unlimited cereal. So we'd just go grab Fruity Pebbles. I'd grab Fruity Pebbles and have this giant bowl and just feel like At The end when I was drinking the cereal, I'm like that. It was, let's just say it's barfalicious. And they nailed that whole experience in the fruity version. The cocoa one's a little less like that oomph of the cocoa that you get from Cocoa Pebbles or Count Chocula, I think.
[00:30:04] John Craven: I think I'm a weirdo because I would only put a tiny splash of milk in my cereal. Like I prefer dry cereal with just like a hint of milk. Just a dash. Just a hint. Just a touch.
[00:30:17] Mike Schneider: One more product before... My time is up here. I got these. Those are two, not one. Okay, well, whatever. You know what I mean. One more set of products. Sorry, Ray. We got these beers from Talea Brewing. That's in Brooklyn, New York. Two collaborations. One is with Fish Wife. What is that? Salmon flavor? Super smoky lager. I tried this one. It's like super good, like drinking campfire.
[00:30:45] Ray Latif: Fish Wife being the brand of upscale or super premium cans. seafood products. With the glorious packaging.
[00:30:52] John Craven: So there's no seafood involved in the production of that beer.
[00:30:55] Mike Schneider: Uh, that's a great question. I that would be kind of weird.
[00:30:59] Ray Latif: If I think the applewood smoke At The use to smoke some of their fish is incorporated.
[00:31:04] Mike Schneider: That would make a lot. Okay, just gonna clarify did not taste fishy. And the other one is this collaboration they did with Ollipop. It is a strawberry vanilla cream ale. And Ollipop, of course, the
[00:31:19] Ray Latif: The brand of prebiotic, better for you sodas.
[00:31:23] Mike Schneider: Well said, Ray. Yes. So, yeah, these were both pretty interesting. Tasty. Talaya makes great beer, by the way. Love collaborations like these.
[00:31:33] Ray Latif: It just feels like a natural fit, especially with the packaging. They both pop. I mean, the Olipop one looks like a can of Olipop. The Fishwife one looks like a container of Fishwife. They're both really beautiful. Would love to try these. Maybe we'll try them tomorrow At The meetup. Perhaps we will. The Boston meetup. You know, another collaboration that actually came out recently, and this one is great, is This Little Goat and Hidden Valley Ranch, which collaborated to create a ranch chili crunch. This Little Goat is a brand created by award-winning chef Stephanie Izard, who we featured in a past episode of Taste Radio. They create globally inspired flavor-packed sauces, spices, and crunches. And of course, everyone knows what Hidden Valley is. Their ranch is ubiquitous. Everyone has had this in their fridge at some point. I like what Hidden Valley Ranch is doing here. They are partnering with up and coming entrepreneurial brands. They did a collaboration. When was it? Was that this year with Truff? the brand of truffle infused condiments. And it just feels like a huge win for their brand. It's a validation for a legacy brand that feels kind of dated and old, but being reintroduced and worked into products that more younger consumers are eating and consuming. So really nice.
[00:32:50] Jacqui Brugliera: They all follow at Sauce on Instagram for sure.
[00:32:53] Ray Latif: Yeah, really nice collaboration here with Hidden Valley and This Little goat.
[00:32:59] John Craven: I have something with a very obscure ingredient. I don't know if you've heard of it, but these are like green ramen noodles. So, you know, if you order ramen to go, you have the option of maybe a kale noodle. This is very similar. And it's made with Moroaya, which I guess is an ancient green originally from Egypt that is supposed to be packed with all these nutrients. It's kind of like a super kale.
[00:33:26] Jacqui Brugliera: Get that in my belly.
[00:33:27] John Craven: Yeah. So, I mean, a super noodle, green noodle. And I just thought it was really interesting At The're specifically calling out that ingredient. A lot of people don't know what that is. I have no idea. And that's kind of why I picked it up, but I'm also a little bit more adventurous than the average consumer. So just something that caught my eye and it's tasty. It tastes good. It tastes similar to a kale noodle. But I think they're going to maybe have some challenges with the education on what that is.
[00:33:59] Jacqui Brugliera: As long as it's a green noodle, we'll know what to do with it. So, you know, as long as that part is clear and it seems to be on the packaging there, I think, I think it's more of the education of what it does for you. So just kind of leaning into the fact that it's an awesome noodle is going to be a winner.
[00:34:15] Ray Latif: I think Greenoodle, G-R-E-E-N-O-O-D-L-E is a clever name, but I like the name Supanoodle more.
[00:34:24] John Craven: Supanoodle. Supanoodle.
[00:34:26] Ray Latif: Supanoodle.
[00:34:27] Jacqui Brugliera: Jacqui, I notice you also have a brand that we talked about briefly on the last episode, Bollygood in front of you there. I have the lime basil cumin and the lemon pomegranate cardamom. What have you got in front of you?
[00:34:39] John Craven: I also have the lemon pomegranate cardamom.
[00:34:42] Jacqui Brugliera: Should we go for it?
[00:34:43] John Craven: Yeah, let's do it.
[00:34:44] Jacqui Brugliera: All right. Sparkling. Is it sparkling water? No, it's a lemonade. It's a sparkling lemonade. And on the side it says sweet, bubbly, unforgettable, just like India.
[00:34:56] John Craven: Wow. Like the cardamom on the nose, the smell.
[00:34:59] Jacqui Brugliera: You can smell it. And well, what do you think of the packaging?
[00:35:04] John Craven: I think there's a lot going on. I think it definitely reads like Bollywood. Yeah, gives you that Indian vibe. And yeah, I think it's really interesting. It's intriguing. Like, it makes me want to pick it up. I just think that there's a lot going on and it's hard to focus on The flavor versus the branding. You have these elephants At The bottom.
[00:35:24] Jacqui Brugliera: I'm certainly not an expert or one to say what's authentic, but when I think of the Bollywood vibe, I think it's pretty well captured on the can here. And then it also has, like you said, there's a lot going on. Bollywood films typically also have a lot of dancing and a lot going on and big scenes like that. So I think they did a pretty good job of capturing that on the can.
[00:35:46] John Craven: Yeah, the flavor is very unique.
[00:35:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:49] John Craven: And it's very light. It's not too sweet.
[00:35:52] Jacqui Brugliera: There's a lot of cumin. There's a lot of cumin that it leaves you with.
[00:35:56] Ray Latif: All right, before we wrap up, got to make one more shout Must For an entrepreneur that I saw At The West Coast branch meetup. That's Robert Broom, who is the founder of Moosky. Moosky is a brand of chilled oat bars, plant-based and gluten-free. I love these products. Robert gave us, gave me a bar that I wolfed down before I went to bed. It was my little dessert for the evening. And man, these things are so tasty. Thank you so much, Robert.
[00:36:24] John Craven: Yeah. Ray brought it to our team dinner and it was just eyeing him ready for him to eat it once he finished.
[00:36:30] Ray Latif: And it didn't have a pickle inside, which was nice.
[00:36:33] Jacqui Brugliera: Mine did not make it. He comes up behind me At The meetup and he's like, You want any pickles?" And I was like, what? Well, yes, actually I want pickles, but it was him, which I'll take a Moosky bar over a pickle any day.
[00:36:45] Ray Latif: And just to note, there's some really great news in the world of Moosky in that just today, Robert announced At The co-founder of RX Bar has invested in Moosky. So congratulations to Robert and his team. Well done. Well done. That brings us At The end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our Audio Engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci, our Technical Director is Joshua Pratt, and our Video Editor is Ryan Galang. Our Social Marketing Manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our Designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is bevnettasteradio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening.
[00:37:52] At The: And we'll talk to you next time.
