Hello, and thanks for tuning into 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 cohosts for this episode, John Craven and Brad Avery, the Grüns Boom. Peak protein and growing questions about the health halo of bottled water.
We're breaking down trends, shaping innovation across food and beverage. What they signal for where CPG is headed next. Brad, welcome to the studio. Welcome back to Taste Radio. It's been a while. Glad to be here. Yeah. How you feeling about the Celtics? Feeling pretty good. They looked pretty sharp the day we're recording this.
They just dominated game one and looking forward to game two. In addition to Brad being a sharp journalist in the food and beverage industry, he's also a diehard Boston Celtics fan and has been for a long time. I'm pretty bullish about their chances this year. At first I wasn't, and then I increasingly have been feeling more and more like they seem like the best positioned in the East, the Knicks Blue Game two, I'd say them.
And the Pistons are the only real competition, I think they have a strong chance of at least getting to the finals. I don't know how they will stand against OKC or the Spurs, who I think are probably the two top picks for the West, but I think even then they could take that to a six or seven game series.
I just got right into the Celtics 'cause. Brad is wearing a hoodie, a Boston Celtics hoodie, and I could tell he's wearing it very proudly. Yeah, I got this at the garden. Yes. And he is holding a dunks and a cigarette too, just to make him pull Bostonian. And a Bo and a Celtics hat. And Celtics shoes. He stared his car on the way here.
Oh boy. Just for context, Brad Avery, who is a reporter, a senior reporter for Benet and Na, and also a co-host of the CPG Week podcast, is filling in, joining us, not really filling in. Joining us this week with Mike and Melissa oh out of the office. But Brad, this isn't your first time joining us on Taste Radio, and I'm really glad that you're bringing some of the CPG Week fun and banter to our show today.
I think people don't necessarily realize that we have a podcast platform here at Bev net cpg, so many podcasts. Of course, we've got Taste Radio, as I mentioned, CPG week. Melissa hosts the non base podcast, and we have the Brew Bound podcast, which of course is hosted by the incredible brew bound team. So if you are interested in any of those, I highly recommend you subscribe.
To one or all four of the, obviously you're Sin Taste radio, so I hope you're subscribed to this one, but one or all four of the podcast, it'll keep you engaged and informed about what's happening across the food and beverage landscape. Yeah, last week Monica and I sat down. We talked about the Grüns acquisition by Unilever.
We talked about in Grüns, that came outta nowhere. Now what is Grüns? Brad Grüns is a pretty new brand, relatively speaking. It's only a few years old. It is a gummy brand functional and with a lot of institutional investors behind it. It was only found in 2023, but already reached $500 million valuation.
It's crazy 'cause it's a gummy brand that's intended to replace, I would assume, green juice or some of your supplements. It's just an easier form of consuming your nutrients. And I think we've seen a lot of these types of. Gummy plays and Grüns is one that managed to come out the gate really fast, funded and well positioned to compete in a really tight space on the shelf.
Yeah. Where is it even sold on the shelf? Is it sold with supplements or is it sold next to, I guess better for you Snacks? I believe it's a supplement. Okay. I believe it's more positioned like a supplement, but this is also when you consider what Unilever's doing, where they are. Dividing up their company and offsetting a lot of their, their frozen products and their other food brands, and then focusing a lot more in on these gummies and supplements.
It gives us sort of a vision of where Unilever is also planning to be going in the future. I was shocked by this deal. Frankly. I had never heard of Grüns before and, come on. No, it's true. I, it just came outta the blue. Maybe that's just reflective of me as a poor journalist and poor podcaster in this industry.
When I heard about the deal I can't be, I can't be the only one. I can't be the only one. You'd never heard of Grüns? No, I'd never heard of Grüns. Look. It's one of those brands that sure, if you're just paying attention to like beverage and snack foods, it would be pretty easy to miss because it's neither frankly.
But I think it tangentially, as you pointed out, is like an alternative to something like. And athletic greens, obviously it's edible, right? I would hope so. If we're talking about it and I think the branding of it looks very much like something that you would see in this space.
I think, yes, I remember the first time I saw it a couple years ago and it was definitely one of those I stopped and was expecting it to be like a traditional food or beverage product and I think what they. For sure managed to do is brand, essentially a supplement in a way that made it look like an approachable like CBG product rather than something that is just I don't know.
Traditional supplement, like selling you on hardcore science, technical branding type of thing, so it's competing more with like goalie and those types of brands. Yeah, a hundred percent. But I also believe its footprint isn't that huge? I think we had about 7,000 doors, which is not that much, but I believe they do a lot of online business and that's how they've been able to get to 300 million in revenue.
Yeah, I think what's really interesting about it though is you know, the low footprint. Probably, or retail footprint probably also means that the consumption by the individual consumer is really high. And meaning that if you start taking it, you're probably not oh, I'm gonna take this rando supplement.
Like occasionally you're taking it like every day. And I think that is an interesting lesson for a lot of CPG brands, just to remember that, certain categories really require like. Intense repeat consumption, and I think that is something that separates, like I value CPG companies from sometimes lower value CPG companies.
Yeah. It reminds me of the deal that Unilever did with Liquid iv, which was done in 2020. They acquired the brand for a reported $500 million. And from what I recall. So much of Liquid IVs business at the time was at Costco. I think it was a really high percentage of their sales was in Costco, but the deal with Unilever clearly gave them a much broader presence and ability to go into different channels, into different retailers.
And not just put all their eggs in one basket or at least most of their eggs in one basket. It feels like Grüns has that opportunity as well. And for a numpty like me, maybe I'll start seeing in places like CVS or where places that I shop normally. Yeah, exactly. And it seems like a CVS type of product and Liquid iv, I now associated in my head with CVS and the Drug channel because it's so prominently positioned there.
To John's point about daily consumption, obviously supplements is. One of the best categories to be in. For that, it's just a matter of being able to differentiate yourself and get that foot in the door in that space because it is so crowded, because it is so competitive and because you need to earn consumer loyalty.
Once you have that loyalty though. I don't wanna say you're good for life, but you are in a strong position if you have that consumer loyalty, because that is a daily product, they're always going to be needing more at a certain point. Totally. If you can get a consumer that's going to buy and eat or drink.
I don't know what's the supplement? Consume your product on a daily basis or even a weekly basis. I think that is the key. If you're fi, if your consumer is someone who will pick up your product once a month or once every two months, it might be a tougher, longer. Journey for you and your brand. For sure.
So I think you're a hundred percent right that the key to Grüns was people using it on a very regular basis. For me, I'm still gonna stick to my green juice, but that's just me. You do you. Yeah, me do Me. I wonder if this there is there. It's gotta be a protein supplement coming out soon, like protein in a gummy, but I don't think anyone's really got to the point where it taste as good as it needs to.
I'm sure it already exists. No, for sure. It already exists, but I haven't seen anything that's. Mainstream or even, it might be pretty hard to pack a meaningful amount of protein into a gummy and. Just due to size, but also not make it literally like God. What would it have to be? Like? A compressed nugget of protein.
A piece of chalk. A piece of chalk is probably, we're gonna see protein chalk pretty soon. Yes. It's a sidewalk Chalk. Yeah, the sidewalk chalk. Like the really big ones. And then when you erase it, when you take the erasers, maybe this is really old school you'd take Oh, you would beat 'em and 'em together.
The chalk dust. How about protein Play-Doh? You make your little stuff and then Oh yeah. You just, you eat it, of course I mentioned protein because it is the hottest functional ingredient in food and beverage right now. How do I know? Because we get samples of new food and beverage brands and products every week, and to my left here is just a sampling, just as sampling of some of the things that we've received over the past couple weeks.
They include clouds, new protein chips. These are. Nacho chips or tortilla chips. This is a nacho flavor. It contains seven grams of protein per serving. I sat down with Cloud co-founder and CEO, Jeff Rubenstein in a recent episode of Taste Radio when he talks about this introduction of chips to their brand.
Of course, they're best known for, and their flagship line of snacks is their protein popcorn. Also a brand called Kaizen, K-A-I-Z-E-N, which makes protein pasta. In this box of Fusilli, this eight ounce box of Fusilli, there's 80 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber per serving. Six grams of net carbs.
How many grams of how many grams of protein per serving? Let's see. 20 grams per serving. So there's four servings per container. If you eat one serving, you get 20 grams. It's covered raw steak for extra protein, so of course we have some protein pints, ice cream. I sat down with the founders of this company at Expo West and we recently featured that interview in an episode of Taste Radio 30 grams.
30 grams of complete protein. What's that flavor per pint? Banana. This is Banana Gram. Slam. Slam. Yes. Love it. Banana gram Slam. Of course. Our dear friends at Koya, I dunno why I'm calling their dear friends, probably because, no, we've known some of those folks for a long time. I, Chris Hunter, we've sat down with him many times.
Koya earlier this year, introduced their protein. Which contains 10 grams of protein per 12 ounce can, four grams of fiber and two grams of sugar. This is their Golden whip variety, which sounds pretty good. There's a bunch of other ones I'm gonna, I'll mention layered super food. They've got their unsweetened protein coffee.
It's got lines, Maine mushroom, and it's made with 10 grams a protein. I don't know. I just, and this is why I'm happy you're here, Brad, because you're on the ground in the trenches talking to these founders. Whether they're early stage or established and everyone is just throwing stuff at a wall and hoping it sticks.
I I feels like that's what an innovation strategy is at this point. For so many people and so many brands are you getting a sense that any particular category is resonating more with consumers as it relates to the incorporation of protein? It's hard to say exactly if one category is doing better than another without having the data set in front of me.
But I do think there's an element of natural daily use as we've been talking about with the supplements. Is this a product format where protein is gonna slot in naturally? Or are you disrupting the actual ritual of how you would consume this product? And I think that is what you're looking for. And that's why when I see something like protein chips, it feels a little more natural to me than.
Say, something like the protein ice cream or some other product that you are going out of your way to add protein into your diet that isn't naturally there, or. Protein, pasta, you're making dinner, you're making a meal out of that two ounces of pasta seems like a small serving to me personally.
Four ounces. It's four ounces, actually. Oh, four ounces. Okay, great. So it's a better serving size and it's gonna be filling so it makes sense that you could put protein into a pasta. You have a healthier, product that way. People concerned about carbs, cut past out.
There's solutions. Are you fitting a mealtime? Are you fitting a snack? I will say that as we talk about peak protein and everyone has started talking about peak protein, it seems there is the anecdotal element of the people in my life who are not involved in the industry when they start commenting on why is there so much protein in everything.
Yeah. That's how I know that it's, it's arrived and perhaps it is already at its peak for sure. That. The people who are not in this world day in day out are recognizing it and questioning why the hell do we have protein poptarts? See, but all the things that you mentioned, ice cream, pasta, I guess to some extent chips like the.
Would normally have some level of protein in them anyway, like beverages are the worst offender really. And that soda like would never, ever have protein unless you specifically added it. Protein, ice cream, for sure. They've added protein to increase protein levels, or I guess, dried pasta as opposed to fresh pasta made with eggs, maybe doesn't have protein, but whatever.
Those are all products that would have some level of protein in them. I think it's, it's interesting in that it's. I think maybe part of the issue is just more the marketing and kind of trade dress of this stuff, as opposed to there being a problem with protein being in anything. It's still just, we talked about this on another episode, but it's like we're essentially saying that this product has some sustenance.
To it that maybe it didn't have before or we've increased it. Because I think that kind of is what it does at the most basic level for even a beverage. Like there is a point where I dunno, you're gonna feel full in a different way from drinking protein soda than you are just. I don't know, regular old soda.
And the sodas in particular sort of reflect a different dynamic as well, which is the need to continue innovating in the modern soda set beyond gut health, obviously Poppy and OP have really dominated that space and there's other players like culture pop that have been able to own the gut health.
Moment, but that category has started seeing shakeout of brands that, aren't able to compete at the level. And protein is the new way to continue growing that space, and which is why we're seeing koya and a lot of other brands come in. Now with Koya, you have a protein drink brand. This is a protein brand that is extending into soda.
Whereas I think we see a lot of soda brands trying to extend into protein, and that's a little more questionable in my opinion. That's a really good point, Brad. It makes sense for Koya because they already started out as a protein smoothie or protein. How would you describe their products?
They're vegan protein shakes. Yeah. Maker, plant-based products. And they've always played around. They had a keto line for a bit when keto was the trend, and they were able to, pivot away from that and, pivot into, juice smoothies at a certain point and other types of product formats.
And at Expo West Koya was actually sampling a to be finalized, still enhanced water protein drink. Interesting. And I wanna go back to one thing you said, Ray, which was the throwing stuff at the wall. To see what sticks. Look, I think, and to be fair, I'm not saying that's true of all brands and their innovative strategies.
No, but look, it is it is true of all emerging brands and entrepreneurial efforts regardless, and I don't think that's a bad thing. There is, and I guess my point of saying this is I don't wanna like crap on anyone. And I think that. A lot of brands are just trying to figure out what the consumer wants next, and that is just by virtue of what it is, like a messy, ugly, try, fail, repeat, kind of situation.
And again I think you are seeing a lot of entrepreneurs and even bigger companies following this just in that it does. Plug one of the big holes that exist in a lot of, snack beverage products. Which again, is that sort of what does this do for me? And protein is a little bit of a, cure all for that to some degree.
Whether or not the consumer will actually accept that. Tolerate the flavor, et cetera. Like you just gotta get out there and try. And I think that this does seem like one of the more worthy sort of trends that we've seen where, it, it does feel like a lot of these products that are doing this are going to stick.
Or if nothing else be a catalyst for, their category evolving. And my guess is that at some point. The difference will be that we just won't see protein in giant letters on so many packages. The protein will probably stay there. But this whole like, you're holding one, what is that?
A purely E It's a purely Elizabeth protein granola. And again, I'm not crapping on purely Elizabeth grape product, but that is what a lot of companies are doing. It's like trying to get your eye right to the protein. It is the biggest font on this package. I would absolutely agree with that.
That part of it is that protein is just an essential ingredient for life. We need it. You need our diet. So it's funny to have it as a trend when it's something that you, it's never gonna not be a trend in a way. Sure. You need it. But I think your point about the marketing trend of pro, of pushing protein really hard.
As we talk about evolving our food system overall, the entire push for health and wellness and better for you and, getting rid of dyes and getting rid of, ultra processed ingredients. Protein is gonna sub in very well into, I think, formats like chips as I mentioned. Or, I'm looking at the protein pretzels right there.
Brand is that Ray The protein pretzels are, it's called Crisp Power is the name of the brand. I'll tell you personally, we've had those in the office for a little while. On days where I've come into the office, I've skipped breakfast, I'll grab those 'cause it's gonna be more filling it, serves as a meal replacement as well as a snack.
That way there's use, useful approaches for this. Particularly as, innovation improves, flavor improves and we can fill in for that, area where we were just shoving sugar and dyes and other additives into our snacks. And look, we've seen this before. This is not like an anomaly here.
Two really recent situations that feel somewhat similar are like the plant-based trend where, there was giant as plant-based on products or even organic. Brands for a while really wired their brand into being like organic, in some cases as part of the name. And now it's kinda like we've just got that USDA organic seal and you say it in a more kinda low key way.
And I think that's what we're gonna see with protein at some point. Like the badges that everyone has on the front of their bag. Or canned container, whatever of how many grams. I think that's generally like a pretty good shift that we're seeing, calling out protein, calling out calories, calling out sugar or carbs.
What else do you need to know? Like you don't need to scream protein at me at a certain point, like the consumer will just get that. The one thing I hope not to see on front of Pack is the term GLP one Friendly, which I know a lot of these brands. Their innovation strategies are focused on the potential for more consumers to be using GLP one drugs and need this added protein, need that added fiber because they're not getting it in other foods that they should be eating throughout the day.
But I feel like a lot of brands and people have talked about this. Jeff Rubenstein from Cloud very much is big and bullish on the fact that more consumers are gonna be on these drugs and they're innovating to that. To that trend, but. I just think general, again, everything always comes back to moderation.
Everything always comes back to does it taste good? Does it fit into my lifestyle? Am I trying to force something into my diet? And if you're trying to do that and that's why you're coming out with these new products, I just don't think that's a great strategy. My take on that is that, GLP one.
Very much a real major trend. I'm not like denying that, but it is the new form of keto for sure. Keto is a new form of Atkins or whatever. It came before, it is the next diet trend that we put on product formats. What I think, to John's point and what we were just saying earlier about protein being a natural part of the food system, of what we need for life.
Protein is never gonna just go away. It'll always be a mainstay. And I think by not putting GLP one on your product label, what you're saying is this isn't a specialized diet product. This is just a better for you food. And the. Consumer that's not on a GLP one drug isn't gonna think, oh this is a specialized like diet food just for people on that particular track.
Yeah. It's a turnoff for everybody else. I, that's always how I felt about I remember all the Atkins products, and some of the keto ones, it's okay, so you're telling me I need to read the ingredient label here? Yeah. Is it worth eating, keto, this keto product if I'm not on the diet and so I know it's gonna be high fat and therefore my body's not eating ketosis, so I'm not gonna be burning that fat.
Should I avoid this entirely? That's what goes through my head. 'cause I never did the diet. Yeah. One of the best parts of our New York City meetup held last week on April 17th at the offices of Anin. Thank you again to everyone who came out thanks to Anin for hosting. Just an outstanding event was how many people brought samples?
All. We had a ton of attendees who brought samples. I think we had at least 30, 40 different brands represented at the meetup. And it was interesting to see where early stage entrepreneurs are going in terms of innovation and launching new products, and I certainly expect that we're going to see even more of that at our next meetup, which is being held in Austin.
Austin on May 7th at the office of Nutrabolt, the maker of C four and the primary investor. Bloom Nutrition. Very excited for that meetup. It's happening once again on a Thursday, May 7th from five to 7:30 PM You can learn more about it and sign up at taste radio.com/meetups. Thank you so much to all of our partners for the events.
Including Vibrant Ingredients, BELAY Solutions, corner Market Communications Next Foods. But these are all amazing brands and service and supplier companies that you need to know. Check 'em all out. Taste radio.com/meetups. Of course, we cannot talk about events unless we're talking about the event. Bev Net Live, New York City 2026 is happening on June 10th and 11th.
Early registration is ending. What does early registration mean? It means that you can sign up today. And you can save money on your ticket. I've said this a thousand times on the podcast, you know you're going, why would you not get your ticket now and save money? It's just, it's a total no-brainer.
And if you go to bev net live.com, you say, okay, of course I'm going to the event. You sign up now, you'll save money. And then I want you to come to me at Benet live and say, Ray, thank you for that tip because you saved me money that I'm gonna use on dinner. Or a hot dog. You'll definitely save more than you can buy a hot dog for.
Yeah. How expensive Hot dogs got. I know. Whatcha doing? Where do you eat? There's new protein infused hot dog carts in Manhattan. I was there last week as I mentioned, so you're getting like 50 grams of protein per hot dog. It's 8 95 now for a hotdog. Okay. So you do need to save that money.
I'm making this all up. Is this like one of those what was that brand of hot, was it ballpark that had the cheese filled with hotdog? Yeah. I don't wanna talk about that. Or maybe they could just fill it with a cheesy protein slurry sort of thing. Everything about that sounds horrible on a protein bun.
On a protein button Anyway, Benet Live New York City 2026. You're gonna be there. Go to bev live.com. Registration is ending this week, as in Friday. Save money and get your tickets. Now. I believe that we're going to see no less than 15 to 20 water brands at Bev net Live. And why? Because everyone loves water.
Everyone loves water in any format can plastic bottle, glass bottle, but I think the healthy halo of water is under attack. And Brad, you wrote about this very concept, this very topic. In a recent article on Bev Net, actually, more specifically in Bev Net Magazine. Yes. Both in print and Bev Net Magazine and on the website I wrote about the, I'd say the shifting health halo.
Okay. Of water. And one of the things that came up when I was looking at the water category, this. Past month that really fascinated me was a few people mentioning the rising concern of microplastics and PFAS and those types of contaminants that are having an impact on, the healthy perception of water.
It's very funny that the FDA just finally updated their labeling requirements to say that yes, you can call water healthy. This was something you couldn't actually do on a label until very recently, which is the strangest thing. It is so funny. It's, you just gotta laugh and you can't say water's healthy, but now you can.
And as that's happening, there is this rise in concern though, is the water I'm drinking pure and. The packaging is gonna have a big perception on that. And plastic is still king in the category. It's still the most convenient format, but this is where we're seeing brands like Path, when Path is a maker of, or aluminum water aluminums bottles, aluminum, or canned water brands.
Like open water coming in and. They're seeing some people beginning to adopt the product, both because they care about the environment and the sustainability message, but also because, hey, is my PET plastic bottle leaching into what I'm drinking? And that's a rising concern. And I think I tried to look a little bit into the science of it.
There's, some concerns that majority of microplastics come into the water from the source rather than from the packaging it's in at the moment. There's some reports that go both ways about it, but. Overall, this is the perception that consumers are definitely increasingly taking, and that's what's driving at least some purchasing decisions.
It's definitely driving my purchasing concerns. I haven't changed my consumption or purchase habits as it relates to Essentia, which I drink a lot of. I, which tray is holding right now? I'm holding a one liter bottle of Ascension in my hand right now. I probably drink one of these a day, and frankly, I'm starting to wonder if.
It's not a good idea to do. I am a big fan of alkaline water and I feel like Al Alkaline water has been to the benefit of my overall health, but in a plastic bottle that I drink a liter of each day, it's a little concerning, and so I think. Water companies are gonna have to address this and address this in a very prominent and public way because people are getting more concerned, especially for younger consumers who have heard about the dangers of microplastics for a long time.
Grew up on hearing about the dangers of microplastics if you're cultivating the next generation of your consumer base. What are you gonna do? How are you gonna start talking to people about this? Certainly it's not as broad and mainstream an issue as it is as it might be. It's plenty of people are drinking bottled water, but it's something that's in the back of my mind often and it's concerning.
Yeah, I think a lot of the challenge with this concern, or whatever you want to call it, is that right now there isn't really like a path for a consumer to. Truly make change in their life to avoid microplastics. I think it's one of those things that right now, like obviously it's a concern, but I would just caution brands that are out there trying to be the educators of this, that I think there's still something bigger that needs to happen here to get consumers to really.
Kind of care about this and be aware of it in a way that will make that sort of a meaningful, differentiator outside of course, maybe some really high end consumer. But, I think it's right now just this thing that we know is not good, but also know is like super prevalent.
I think of, you're thinking about it when you're drinking bottled water. I don't know, I was thinking about it. I was in a restaurant, if you look in the. You can see in the kitchen, there's like a million plastic containers touching like every element of your food, right?
So cool, I've stopped bottled water, but what do I need to do? Is this even achievable? What's a target? Et cetera. It's a hard onus to put onto the consumer and onto the individual when it's the type of issue that really does need to be addressed. Federally, it needs to be an industry initiative to, to work on cleaning up the system.
It's something that. I think as an individual, like you said, there's no avoiding it. You go to a restaurant, it's they're putting everything in plastic. So just because your home is all pyres glass and you'll never microwave a plastic container ever doesn't mean that, if you go eat out, that they aren't just sticking a plastic container in a microwave.
And to be clear, I'm not at all suggesting that CPG companies should not care about this or should not. Try to do anything about it. My point is more that I think if it is like the literal. I don't know, cornerstone of a brand's marketing. I would really caution on that. Just in that I think that's not a good business decision.
That's it. Yeah. I don't think I've seen any brands that are specifically marketing about around that. I think we will, there are definitely are some that are starting to like, talk about this, or testing their product or taking steps to like. Reduce it. But yeah, I think it's a challenging message right now.
It's a challenging message, but again, I think it's one that brands should get ahead of and have a strategy for, because consumers are going to be asking a lot of questions and continuing to ask even more. It's not a topic that's going to go away. Slightly disagree that it's imminent, but we'll see.
Okay. Maybe not imminent, but I think again, if you consider. Gen Alpha, gen Z, and all the information they're getting about microplastics and its impact, or at least potential impact on your long-term health. Drinking bottled water, even if it's a very convenient format, may be something that people avoid more often, and if you avoid it more often, of course you're not going to sell as much product, I would still say that this is a, an emerging behavior shift and emerging in the sense of like truly just beginning to take note. Because, I, I spoke with Nicole Doucette over at Open Water and she mentioned this to me, but that's not like what they're leaning into. They're still focused on sustainability and on better for the environment.
There is this little trend that they're beginning to notice of consumers adopting the brand because of concerns about plastic packaging. But that's not at all involved in their messaging or what their focus is on, but it is something that's happening. I same at Iceland, glacial I spoke to in that story, and they have glass package products.
They also have a products and they have plastic products and glass is one of their strongest, fastest growing categories, but it's still. A minority of their portfolio. Plastic is still the dominant seller. Yeah. Yeah. It's a story We'll continue to follow for sure on bev net. You're gonna need some water with these sour watermelon dates.
I we've highlighted and spotlighted the emergence of dates as a candy alternative via flavoring that is reminiscent of candy. So Daal is a new brand that's come to market. D-A-D-D-L. You just got some samples of their new sour watermelon flavor and their Sour Cola flavor. Which Brad, have you had these yet?
No, I haven't. Curious, do you wanna try the sour watermelon and the sour? Cola, I'm curious about the cola. Yeah. 'cause that sounds the most unique. Okay. You gotta catch this on three. 1, 2, 3. We did it. I got it. All right. Okay. All, let's rip this open. He's gonna rip that bad boy open. John, I know you've already had these, right?
I've had those. You've had those. Okay. Brad? No, it smells Cola Brad smelled that first. Okay. I like that. I don't typically smell my dates, but that's a new one.
Don't even go there, John Craven. Just why? Why? Oh, that is very good. That tastes like cola. It tastes sour. It's sweet. I definitely see it as a true candy alternative for sure. Yeah. Alright, how about some actual candy for sure Behave, which is a maker of Better For You Candy, including their gummies.
It's excuse specifically gummies. I'm going back for another date. There you go. Go ahead. Let's do it. It has introduce a new super sour skulls variety. This one has grapefruit, tangerine, and yuzu flavors. Two grams of sugar per pouch according to the package. It's extremely sour. Brad, be the Guinea pig on this one too.
Yeah, let's give All right. On 3 1 2 there. Oh, okay. We got it. Yeah. Just 'cause Ray can't throw it doesn't mean I can't catch it. Oh. All right. So super sour skulls. Let's see. Yes, I like behave. I just super, oh, he didn't, you barely smelled that one. It's a gummy. It's not extremely sour. It's sour. I'm worried that you need, you might need some plastic.
It's not melting. Some plastic water bottles. It's not like a warhead. Okay. Okay. It's like a sour patch. It's like a little above a sour patch. Good. Okay. Okay. Yeah I like it. I'd eat it. You can keep that package, Brad. Oh, thank you. Yeah, so generous. Brad, thank you so much for joining us on TAs Radio today.
Can you come back soon? Absolutely. Okay, cool. And in the meantime, folks tune into CPG Week. New episodes drop every Thursday and you can find them on Nosh, and you can also find 'em on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your listening platform of choice.
