[00:00:00] John Craven: BevNET Live, the premier event for beverage industry executives, is coming up fast on June 10th and 11th in New York City. Hundreds New Beverage founders, investors, and retailers are already confirmed. Don't miss your chance to build momentum mid-year and set yourself up for a strong finish. Early registration pricing ends Friday, April 24th. Register now and save $100 at bevnetlive.com.
[00:00:39] Ray Latif: Hello, friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast Or The food New Beverage industry. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and I'm with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we sit down with Luke Holden, the founder and CEO of traceable and sustainable seafood brand Luke's Lobster. Happy solstice to everyone here. We're recording on June 21st. It is finally summer. I would say the temperatures here in the Boston area are appropriate Or The season, 75-ish. Jackie, how are things in San Diego?
[00:01:21] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, we're finally out of May, gray, June gloom. So it's summer here too. I left for New York. It was cloudy and pretty lame. And now it's a lot better. It feels like summer.
[00:01:32] Ray Latif: No, it was nice in New Or The weather. I mean, it was weird because, you know, at points Or The day you would have a downpour and then it would open up and be beautiful. It was like New Orleans. You know, New Orleans is a lot like that. Yeah. Hey, at least we weren't in sepia filter like it was before. The skies were clear. Is that a Wes Anderson reference?
[00:01:49] Mike Schneider: No. Okay.
[00:01:51] Ray Latif: Because that new movie Asteroid City's out. I'm gonna go see it at some point.
[00:01:54] Mike Schneider: Same here.
[00:01:55] Ray Latif: Can't wait. Big fan. John Craven, you don't seem like a Wes Anderson fan.
[00:01:58] Mike Schneider: I saw the trailer for that it looks interesting you ever seen Rushmore of course come on yeah life aquatic fantastic movie I mean just watching horse phenomenal just watching like the cast like lists Or The asteroid city movie is like Hurts You Had.
[00:02:17] Ray Latif: There's too many people and there's a lot of people in that movie It's like independent films Or The odds where they would have to like name like a hundred different people and like hopefully you'd be a fan of one of them, but yeah my favorites I think Rushmore is probably my Well, that's hard to say. Tenenbaums. The Grand Budapest Hotel. That was amazing. The Darjeeling Limited and Rushmore I think are top three right there.
[00:02:36] Mike Schneider: Darjeeling Limited for me, I wanted to like it and then right as I started to get it, it ended. So then I had to watch it again. I think that's the idea.
[00:02:45] Ray Latif: Probably is it I think it's one Or The one of his shorter films.
[00:02:47] Mike Schneider: Yeah, did you see the social media trend where it's like your life as a I made a guy I made a dude with sign that says leave Wes Anderson to Wes Anderson
[00:03:01] Ray Latif: Well done. We missed that. We could have done that for BevNET, but would that have been lame for us? Probably lame.
[00:03:08] Mike Schneider: Very lame. Leave it to Wes Anderson. Let's not overdo Wes Anderson.
[00:03:12] Ray Latif: I think Nate would do a good job at doing a Wes Anderson vibe for BevNET videos.
[00:03:17] Mike Schneider: You know what Nate does a good job at? Being Nate. Nate's stuff's amazing.
[00:03:21] Ray Latif: Nate's in the corner of our studio right now running the board and doing an amazing job as always. Shout out to Nate. Nate Brescia, the man behind the studio. Photographic arts yes, and Nate always takes good photos of me unlike Some I was about to say the B word as in begins with a B ensign Astrid stole my identity Well, not really. I mean there's a website out there called muckrake which apparently you're talking about me for a second It's called muckrake. Is this the dark web? No, it's not the dark web. It's a site I guess that lists journalists or gives out information about Journalists so you can I don't know do research on people before they interview You Had so this one has it's it's a muckrake.com slash Bev trade which is my social media handle and And there's this random dude who was taking a selfie in front of a mirror wearing a red shirt, a red button-down shirt, at least he got that right, and gray slacks. When was the last time you saw me wearing slacks?
[00:04:23] Mike Schneider: I clicked that link, and that guy looked like he had a neck tattoo. Oh, he does. If you look closely, he does. Maybe it's the Taste Radio logo. I'm just putting ideas in You Had.
[00:04:32] Ray Latif: He's just got straight out the pen. That's not me. But our newest colleague Brant, I don't know how to pronounce Brant's last name is a gears Just say Branson Brant.
[00:04:45] Mike Schneider: I mean, it's not like there's ten Brant's here.
[00:04:46] Ray Latif: Yeah, there's only one Brant Brant I think he had a good name for this guy. He called him not Ray Latif, but lay routine a routine my alter ego So I'm gonna get that right. I'm gonna I'm gonna change my profile here on muckrack to layer a teeth to accurately portray this Why don't you change it to Ray Kent? What Mike will do for likes what Mike will do for likes on social media that Yeah, let's talk about that comments All right, so I'm the right Kent Ray Kent. I mean pretty spot-on let's let's Let's give people some context here
[00:05:28] Mike Schneider: We could start with this right here.
[00:05:29] Ray Latif: No hold on Not quite yet. Let's let's talk about this John is a sledgehammer in his hand and we'll talk about that Come on.
[00:05:36] Mike Schneider: No we can't we can't put this no we have to okay fine. Just imagine If you're listening to this that I'm just holding a sledgehammer. He's waiting To hit ray or my alright, but ray was so gasped Because Ray, thank you, first of all, for hosting the New Beverage Showdown, hosting the live stream, and then also networking like a madman during the event.
[00:05:57] Ray Latif: Podcasting.
[00:05:59] Mike Schneider: Podcasting like all the things Us At the end of bed net live ray is doing an interview, and he's just It's just starting to set in and I took a photo of him. He looked just like He looked just like Roy Kenny had that grim look oh He look on his face, and it sounded like he's just gonna be like fuck or whistle or something like that so I I So, of course, I had to put a picture of both of you on social.
[00:06:25] Ray Latif: So Roy Kent is a character Or The hit TV show.
[00:06:28] Mike Schneider: Everybody knows who Roy Kent is.
[00:06:30] Ray Latif: There's some people who do not. I don't think so.
[00:06:32] Mike Schneider: There definitely is. Come on.
[00:06:34] Ray Latif: Yeah, I know. No, not a lot of people. It's a soccer show. It's a show about an American coach who goes to coach a soccer team in England. It's called Ted Lasso. Great show.
[00:06:43] Mike Schneider: An American football coach who they hire as a spoof, basically, to bring a team down.
[00:06:49] Ray Latif: It doesn't work. So there's a assistant coach Or The team he used to be a player Or The team called Roy Kent It's based on a real player named Roy Keane who used to play for Manchester United both of them have very gruff demeanors don't smile much and so I've received comments from some folks that I look like this guy and it's just because We have the same sort of haircut great beard and the same beard is the same great beard yours is slightly better Yes, here's agree But he doesn't smile, and I tend to smile more often. But anyways, Adam Louris, from Mercenary, stop. Adam Louris from Mercenary was the first one that pointed this out, and then everyone started saying it. And then Mike, essentially, just brought everyone together. What's the word, coalesced? Is that the word I'm looking for? I just brought it together. That's not all the the chatterboxes together in one Instagram post Got like 200 likes like a hundred comments, and I was like Side by side that everyone's been wanting to post I bet I could get a hundred more likes if I posted it again
[00:07:59] Mike Schneider: Anywho, I I didn't like it out.
[00:08:02] Ray Latif: I'm definitely gonna trip that again. Yeah, You Had You Had one person that didn't like and that was me Mission accomplished
[00:08:10] Jacqui Brugliera: You are a lot friendlier.
[00:08:11] Ray Latif: I would think so anyway, so Okay, so now we have to do a side-by-side of Mike and Chris Helmsworth One is the actual Thor and Mike thought he was the actual Thor when we received this package from Arizona beverages Which is I guess promoting their newest hard seltzer is this what it is?
[00:08:35] Mike Schneider: So we already got so we made a mic got smacked for that I got I I got so excited about this thing, and I called it a hard seltzer, but it's a hard tea Okay, so apologies to Arizona for that so there. We can set this There's an Instagram post of Mike opening a box from Arizona Beverages with this yo pink sledgehammer that has an Arizona hard logo on it. Yeah, so a hard hat Work gloves and what I would call.
[00:09:03] Ray Latif: I mean safety goggles in quotes and It includes also this concrete block that weighs probably what like 10 15 pound 10 I think it's chalk, right?
[00:09:16] Mike Schneider: Okay, because my kids Well, they reverted back to five and seven years old and colored in John's parking space after we did this. Oh nice. I
[00:09:28] Ray Latif: Yeah, so my street art in all his glory Took this thing outside wearing his hard hat and he had a cape on It was pretty good, and then he proceeded to smash this thing to open it up and
[00:09:51] Mike Schneider: Instagram it showed you smashing this within like 10 seconds it probably took you like half an hour though I Know I hit it twice And I was afraid that if I hit it too hard that I would go right through the can and I was trying to get the can out So mission accomplished there I mean if I would if I'd have gone like like full Jimmy DeSicco on that thing it would have just it would have exploded the whole can I
[00:10:14] Ray Latif: Yeah, well anyway, so there was a can of Arizona hard tea in there did anyone actually try the tea or did it have to? It cut smashed well. We have another one.
[00:10:23] Mike Schneider: We're gonna have to do this. We're gonna go smash that one in the parking lot after Craven are you wearing the getup this time? I am going to not partake in that but I might smash the thing Do we have insurance in case someone gets hurt from doing in the parking lot? No, I mean I tested it and I wanted to make sure cuz I didn't know that it was wasn't concrete and I didn't want shrapnel to hit someone's car The space away got a tripod Amanda Huang was our camera person. I was like you got to stand back here We can't risk, you know precious cargo
[00:10:55] Ray Latif: Well, anyway, A-plus for Arizona Beverages on promoting this new hard tea. Really cool way to introduce it Or The industry. Also, an A-plus to our friends at Applied Food Sciences. AFS! The presenting sponsor for this episode of Taste Radio, AFS is the leader in innovation for functional organic ingredients in the natural products industry and is built Or The belief that quality is transparent from seed to label through organic farming, ethical sourcing, and sustainability. Learn more at AppliedFoods.com. Got to see Brian's app. at BevNET Live. It was a quick, not as long as I wanted it to be, that meeting, but we did get to catch up. He was wearing a Denver Nuggets baseball cap. They are based in Colorado. And of course, the Denver Nuggets won the NBA championship a couple of weeks ago. Was it a couple of weeks ago or a week ago? But a week ago. We'll call it a couple. Yeah. Well, congratulations to everyone who was a fan Or The team. And it seemed like anyone from Colorado is claiming them as their team now, which I guess is what happens.
[00:12:03] Jacqui Brugliera: It's their first title right, so it's a big deal.
[00:12:06] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's the basketball team's first title right yes Denver definitely throws down whenever their teams win championships whether it's the avalanche Or The Rockies Or The Nuggets Or The Broncos.
[00:12:18] Mike Schneider: I'm doing the same thing with Man City Speaking bandwagon Wow Guy was a Nottingham Forest. Well, they were at the top.
[00:12:31] Ray Latif: I don't even know if I can work for this company anymore And also a big congratulations to Parch Parch Was the winner of New Beverage Showdown 25 Parch is a maker of canned non-alcoholic cocktails That are analogs to mezcal and tequila based drinks. They make a Paloma and I'm forgetting what the other one is Yes, spicy pineapple Yeah, we've talked about parts Or The podcast a couple of times. Beautiful packaging, outstanding flavor, is a true replacement for mezcal and tequila based drinks, cocktails. And Isla Byrne, who's one Or The co-founders presented both in the semifinals and the finals. I thought she did a fantastic job in her pitches and the judges agreed as well. Everyone who participated in New Bayward Showdown did a really amazing job. This was one of our strongest slates of participants, 12 brands. I really feel like everyone had a good shot and had a good reason to be up on stage. And, you know, I heard from so many people at the show that this was the toughest competition that we've had.
[00:13:43] Jacqui Brugliera: The pitches were on point and the professionalism, the branding, everything just was really tight for a lot of these brands. And it was really hard to try and figure out who was going to win. I think it was definitely close.
[00:13:56] Ray Latif: Yeah, there was some drama at the end because I think there were out Or The six finalists, I think there was some, I don't know, there were always some disagreement among attendees about, you know, who won and who should have won. But I think this one was was really tough.
[00:14:13] Mike Schneider: The first thing that we said when we got back into the judging room was that this is going to take a while. This is going to be a very difficult decision to make because of what Jackie said. Everybody's presentations were so good and the liquids were good and there were compelling reasons to let any Or The 12 move forward. And I think we've seen that in the past few competitions where we are fortunate to attract the best Or The best in terms of New Beverage.
[00:14:41] Ray Latif: Absolutely in five out Or The six finalists did not use notes on stage which actually blew me away because I mean for all the number of times that I've hosted the showdown and the Nosh pitch slam and the brew bound pitch slam I always use notes and people were like oh, you're so professional on stage. Yes, because I have a I Have I have no cards Holding cue cards in the back for you.
[00:15:04] Mike Schneider: Yeah exactly I
[00:15:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I think we all were talking about, too, how passionate they all were. So they oozed their brand. They knew what they were talking about because it was coming from the heart. So it wasn't something scripted. And I think that came through in their presentations.
[00:15:20] Mike Schneider: I think the edge here was just that Parch is doing something that kind of hasn't been done yet in terms of just replacing an occasion with something that was so close Or The actual occasion. And, you know, it's just a tiny bit of innovation when you're saying, we've got this non-alc cocktail that tastes like a cocktail and even has a little bit of burn like a cocktail and that edged it.
[00:15:45] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, and it's something that you could hold and you wouldn't know that it's not alcoholic. You know, you could be at a party and it looks cool. So I think it has both the Taste Radio the experience and then it pays off and the branding.
[00:16:00] Mike Schneider: Yeah, that's my my guess as to what engine I wasn't in the final judging room. Maybe maybe Maybe we could get something from the person who's in that room.
[00:16:08] Ray Latif: Well. There are two people in that room right in this recording so yeah, yeah, I don't want to speak Or The judges, but I think the The winner speaks for itself right like yeah agree.
[00:16:19] John Craven: Yeah, yeah, yeah Vibrant Ingredients is the natural ingredient partner powering food New Beverage innovation, delivering flavor, function, and protection through a science-backed portfolio. Vibrant delivers purpose-driven solutions that help brands create extraordinary experiences. Discover what's possible with Vibrant today. Visit VibrantIngredients.com.
[00:16:49] Ray Latif: Well, staying Or The theme of non-alcoholic cocktail brands, some big news in the world of that space in that Ghia, the aperitif brand or non-alcoholic aperitif brand helmed by Melanie Masserin has just announced that they're going into sweet green locations in New York City and Southern California. Congratulations Or The brand. It seems like a really good fit. If you listen to our episode with Nicholas Jeme, the co-founder of Sweetgreen earlier this week, we talked about how Melanie and Nick have a close relationship. He mentored her as she was building her brand and just seems like a natural partnership in that way. So I'm excited to go to Sweetgreens and get some idea. And also big news in that De Soi, New Beverage company that has Katy Perry as a co-founder, has a new rosé variety. De Soi rosé, well, it's actually called Tres Rosé. It's described as a bold and balanced rosé inspired RTD canned aperitif. It is made with a blend of adaptogens, including lion's mane, soothing saffron, and relaxing botanicals like rooibos. What does that do? It gives you balanced flavors and feelings. They should pay me for that. Was that an ad that we just did? I know. No, it sounded like that at the end, but no, props to Morgan McLaughlin, who is the co-founder of De Soi as well. I think the new can looks pretty outstanding. I hope they use this imagery and we'll include it in the show notes Or The rest of their lineup because it looks really, really good. And also, like, the description Or The front, like, you see DSOA in big letters at the, or toward the top Or The can, and then, very specifically, it calls out that it is a sparkling, non-alcoholic aperitif. So, really just being clear as to what it is. Speaking of new products, I'm very excited to head back to New York City Or The 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show. A bunch of us from BevNET and Nosh and Taste Radio are heading out there. If you are also heading out there as an exhibitor, as a backpacker, please let us know, especially if You Had new products to announce. If you're a new brand that's attending the show, if you're New Beverage company, upload that news to BevNET.com slash submit news. If you're a food brand to Nosh.com slash submit news. If you want to introduce yourselves to us and you're a new brand, please do send Us At email to ask at Taste Radio.com. Would love to See You, put you Or The socials. 10 seconds with Taste Radio is our new series that does promote new brands, emerging brands and disruptive ones as well. So yeah, let us know. We've already talked about one new product that we have here in the studio obviously. That's the Arizona iced tea the soon-to-be smashed Concrete box of Arizona trying to sell my hammer.
[00:19:47] Mike Schneider: It's not working John Craven has a very delicious product in his hand tell us all about it Yeah, this is the new Lesser Evil and rind snacks pina colada popcorn which is Yummy collaboration. Pretty tasty. It's like a little sweet, a little savory. I don't know. Somebody wants a popcorn.
[00:20:11] Jacqui Brugliera: It's like fancy kettle corn.
[00:20:13] Mike Schneider: We got a special delivery to kind of founder Ryan founder Matt Weiss. He came over on a scooter scooter It's kind of cool. You don't see that every day.
[00:20:21] Ray Latif: He scooted over right at the end Or The event, but it'See You know special delivery Popcorn with some Ryan snacks built into it. Yeah, so this is a Lesser Evil Ryan snacks collab so good and I've actually been buying this product Or The last two Or The weeks and on Imperfect Foods, imperfectfoods.com. It's the website that sells about to be expired or just excess stock, excess inventory products.
[00:20:48] Mike Schneider: How does this fit into that?
[00:20:49] Ray Latif: Well, because if You Had a long relationship with the company, I think the brands and Imperfect Foods kind of work together. Gotcha. Offer some interesting items to their customers, and this is one of those products that I've been just craving And I actually I think I bought like six bags just Or The summer yeah, it's a really cool I'm glad I brought popcorn because this conversation you guys are having is really interesting John doesn't listen Or The podcast in a regular basis. He participates. He just doesn't listen to it Why would I listen to myself talk? I think you actually if we if we added up the amount of talking that happens Or The podcast I think you would probably have the fourth most Mmm, which is another way of saying the least That's right. It's another way of saying at least one person tries to Choose their words wisely It's true, but you know what this actually comes up in like sitcoms and movies when like some people feel like they don't get enough lines So this actually happened. This is a true story in that in Star Trek the old Star Trek, William Shatner used to always complain that Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, and Shatner played Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy was always getting either more Or The equal amount of lines. And Shatner would be like, I'm the star here. I'm the star. I deserve the most lines. Star yes Star Trek, I'm Captain Kirk.
[00:22:18] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I think raise the star.
[00:22:19] Ray Latif: I'm Captain Kirk You don't mind. I don't think you'd mind being Spock in this situation now Sure, why not well Spock is great Spock is very shrewd. He's the most intelligent person Or The show You can't do it We have popcorn Jackie what while you're doing the Vulcan so I can do it I can do it there we go Okay, yeah, well, you're not a child Or The 60s, nor am I, nor am I. I haven't been practicing long enough, you know, you all had a start on me. Okay, so You Had some jerky in You Had.
[00:23:01] Jacqui Brugliera: I do. I have Theo's Plant Based. It is a beet jerky. And this is sesame ginger teriyaki. And what I thought was really interesting is Or The front, it says that in each bag, you get one large beet per package. so you know exactly what you're getting. It's very simple ingredients. It's literally just beets and spices. And it was really tasty. I love the packaging. It pops.
[00:23:27] Mike Schneider: Wait, so it's just one beet?
[00:23:30] Jacqui Brugliera: One large beet, which, you know, that could vary. Okay.
[00:23:33] Mike Schneider: So how much did that bag of beet jerky retail for? Do you know?
[00:23:39] Jacqui Brugliera: That's a good question.
[00:23:41] Ray Latif: My point like beats not super expensive So you didn't get this from pop-up grocer because I remember in their last episode You'd said you don't look at prices when you go to pop-up grocer.
[00:23:54] Mike Schneider: No you don't you know I barely it's funny I got this jar Or The GIA Hazelnut spread mm-hmm from pop-up grocer Bob a grocer. What do You Had do you think the price is on this? I'm gonna go with 68 dollars. I'm gonna go with 20. I'm gonna go with 14 Well, I guess if we're playing prices right rules Jackie wins $16 should have been a dollar well Jackie went to Papa grocer She probably looked at all the prices scattered all cheater But I wasn't looking at any prices, okay, but we don't know the price Or The beet jerky no all right Let's go to some drinks here.
[00:24:28] Ray Latif: What do you got Or The table Mike well?
[00:24:30] Mike Schneider: I've got you already got an empty can I know I've got an empty can underneath my chair pick up those white clothes I I've got a can here of Once Upon a Coconut, which is pure coconut water and pineapple, and that's it. It's pretty tasty. Once Upon a Coconut.
[00:24:47] Ray Latif: Any relation to Once Upon a Farm, the brand? That would be a negative. No. This brand's been around for a little while.
[00:24:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:24:53] Ray Latif: We've had it. I'm surprised there aren't more brands with the Once Upon a. What else is there, Once Upon a what?
[00:24:59] Jacqui Brugliera: I feel like that's two more than I thought would exist.
[00:25:02] Mike Schneider: Once Upon a beet jerky? This is their pineapple flavor here, and they asked if I'd try the other flavors. I said no, and I think they're Or The way, so that's good.
[00:25:11] Ray Latif: Okay, what's that? That's that Once Upon a coconut?
[00:25:13] Mike Schneider: This is called Beach Ball. It is a cold-brewed white tea with its organic low-sugar antioxidants, and this is the grapefruit basil mint flavor. or basil if you prefer, 15 calories, 40 milligrams of caffeine per serving and sounded just delightful. So I'm going for it.
[00:25:32] Jacqui Brugliera: And Or The name is Beach Ball. So it sounds very summery. Yep.
[00:25:37] Mike Schneider: It's delicious.
[00:25:38] Ray Latif: It looks like it could be a pickleball beverage Probably is yeah Well dying from the popcorn coffee.
[00:25:46] Mike Schneider: Do you need New Beverage? You know all I brought is this Arizona hard tea and a sledgehammer Once Upon a coconut it's not over there
[00:26:03] Ray Latif: Well, while Craven's on vacation, sipping some staycation water, I want to talk about Mina. Mina is a brand of Moroccan-based delicacies. It's a minority-owned business, and they do an amazing job. They market olives, they market shakshuka starters, they market olive oil, and recently they added... So many good words you just mentioned. Recently added a line of stews and soups that are based on traditional recipes There are four of them the one I'm holding in my hand Evil and Moroccan lentil stew then they have a Moroccan chickpea and lentil soup Moroccan chickpea stew and a Moroccan white bean stew these all look amazing. They're in these pouches that you can microwave or boil
[00:26:53] Mike Schneider: So they look like they have maybe that Dozen Cousins ease to preparing them.
[00:26:58] Ray Latif: Yes. Yes. And, uh, I'm embarrassed to say I haven't tried these yet, but I wanted to share them with you guys so we could all eat them at the same time.
[00:27:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Are they vegetarian?
[00:27:07] Ray Latif: Yes, I believe they're all vegetarian. I can double-check on that. Yes, they're all vegan. Or The back, we have non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, and BPA-free across the back. So heat and eat. That looks great. Yeah, yeah. And this is the kind of stuff, like A Dozen Cousins, Mina, and Pheo, I think I'm pronouncing that correctly, F-I-L-L-O, all market these. ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat meals in these pouches. I just, I love, love that this category is expanding. And Whole Foods does as well, because these products entered Whole Foods Market Global Flavors category. And yeah, you should be able to find these.
[00:27:44] Mike Schneider: I think about this category when we were kids, just the ready, easy-to-prepare stuff and how it was then versus how it is now. It's so much better now. I mean, all those brands that are local Whole Foods here are like super picked over. Like people buy that stuff quick.
[00:28:01] Ray Latif: Yeah. I bet they'll be buying this stuff quick too.
[00:28:04] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I was going down the Whole Foods aisle of like, ready to heat meals and things like that. And so most was pretty picked over. They have some great ready to heat rices. They have a Mexican street corn rice. Also, I've been buying AumSum noodles every week. And it's been like literally battling people to grab the shelf.
[00:28:25] Mike Schneider: Really?
[00:28:26] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:28:27] Mike Schneider: I'm like grabbing one while there's like two other people waiting to grab, you know, they have knife earrings Maybe you should take those with you Just look a little more dangerous I pictured shoving an old woman who was shopping like one of those pushcarts.
[00:28:47] Jacqui Brugliera: No, it's not my fault Just got a big big bones, you know
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[00:29:48] Ray Latif: Alright, let's get to our featured interview for this episode. That's with Luke Holden, the founder and CEO of Luke's Lobster, a vertically integrated and family-owned seafood company based in Saco, Maine. Luke's Lobster operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants, a CPG brand of frozen meals made with Maine-sourced lobster, and a wholesale business that has made it the top-selling frozen lobster brand in the U.S. Our conversation with Luke follows up on one with Nicholas Gemay, the co-founder of Sweetgreen, which recently partnered with Luke's Lobster on a new lobster roll salad that is exclusively available at the restaurant's Boston locations. In the following interview, I spoke with Luke about the collaboration with Sweetgreen, the origins of Luke's Lobster, the company's focus on sustainable sourcing and the traceability of its seafood, how it communicates quality to consumers, and its efforts to promote diversity and inclusion within the lobster industry. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now I'm honored to be sitting down with Luke Holden, the founder of Luke's Lobster. Luke, great to See You. Thanks for having me today. We're here to celebrate the launch of a new partnership between Luke's Lobster and Sweetgreen. Tell us all about it.
[00:31:02] Luke Holden: So I've been after the Sweetgreen founders for nearly a decade at this point in time to smash Luke's and Sweetgreen together in the form of a collaboration. Here we are. I'm very proud Or The work that the Sweetgreen team and family community has accomplished Or The last 15 years, so it's really exciting for me to be able to supply Sweetgreen with super high quality, sustainably sourced, traceable back Or The source, Maine lobster meat Or The signature lobster roll salad.
[00:31:35] Ray Latif: Yeah, and we have it right in front of us. It looks delectable. There's a heaping portion of lobster in one corner Or The bowl. There's cabbage, purple cabbage, there's carrots, there's croutons, there's leafy greens. It all looks amazing. My mouth is literally watering right now. Talk about the timing for this collaboration, because it is the summertime. We're about to hit the summertime here in Boston. It is a regional bowl. Why now?
[00:32:02] Luke Holden: Or The partnership is exclusive Or The Boston locations that Sweetgreen has. Super focused on serving Maine lobster.
[00:32:13] Ray Latif: Which is the best lobster, folks. If anyone wants to know, Maine lobster is really the OG lobster.
[00:32:19] Luke Holden: Certainly when you're eating lobster in Maine and New England, you want your lobster coming from Maine. Maine is a harvest where we catch lobsters 12 months Or The year, but traditionally we catch the most lobsters right when lobsters start to shed, when the water warms up, and so that basically kicks off at the start of summer. So we've got a run of super high quality lobsters starting in Maine. And when I was working with the Sweet Green team to get this partnership up and going, again, they were super dedicated to quality. And this time of year affords us the opportunity to be sourcing drugs from our wharfs, our co-ops, our partnerships with fishermen, bringing it to our production facility just in Saco, Maine, which is 90 miles from here. steam it and ship it directly Or The Sweetgreen locations so that they can have fresh meat seven days a week. So this time of year enables Us At get them super high quality fresh meat and that was very important Or The Sweetgreen team that they had access Or The best quality meat and certainly timing wise people think of lobster when the sun is out and it's warm and so it's a great time to kick off a partnership.
[00:33:32] Ray Latif: Any possibility that this will extend to other regions Or The country?
[00:33:36] Luke Holden: That's really up to them. It's early, right? If this is a big success, I hope they consider it. Again, I'm very proud Or The two brands to sit side by side, but humble and excited just to execute Or The 20 some odd locations that they have in Boston and make sure that all of their guests have a great collaboration experience.
[00:33:59] Ray Latif: Oftentimes we will talk to entrepreneurs in the podcast about brands that are based on sort of a commodity type of product. And, you know, lobster is in so many ways a type of seafood that you can get in a lot of places, but you've branded yours in a way that speaks Or The really high quality nature of what you catch and how you prepare it and how it's sold and served. How do you communicate that to your partners and Or The end consumer?
[00:34:27] Luke Holden: It's a great question and I really appreciate you recognizing us in that light. We spent a lot of time and effort trying to be a business for good. It really started in day one, but recently formalized in 2018, we became a certified B Corp. In 2021, we recertified as a B Corp and actually earned the mark of being the world's highest scoring seafood company and the US highest scoring restaurant group. So, we very much put purpose ahead of business, and all of our actions stack up to represent that. And so, we are serving seafood that's sustainable, traceable back to a source, and that source is always run through our sourcing standards to prove that the resource is sustainably managed. Maine lobster is one that absolutely fits that criterion. It's had a lot of sustainable practices in place for over a hundred years and we've seen strong, in many cases, growing annual catches as a result of it. It's a wonderful heritage, sustainably managed fishery. But beyond that, it's about being a business that constantly looks at all of our stakeholders, looks for win-wins, and tries to be a beacon of responsibility. And in the seafood world, that's about building trust, and it's about building a supply chain Or The future. So we're out there right now, really working on trying to electrify the fishery, electrify the industry. We'Or The first seafood company that we know of to actually do a carbon assessment Or The lobster supply chain. And so now we've done that assessment, we can kind of look at the heat map or where carbon is heavy and start to work initiatives in place to pull carbon out Or The supply chain. We're predominantly a super homogenous industry. and specifically what I mean by that is that it's one Or The measures of sustainability is that it's a closed fishery so You Had to go through an apprenticeship program to get on a waiting list to get a license or you can go through a student lobster license program where you can get a license as early as seven years old and get your fishing days and your gear days and work towards a commercial license, and then if you achieve all of those days before you turn 18, then you automatically commercial license. But the way that that's structurally set up is actually ends up being a barrier for any type of diversity to enter the fishery. Most Or The existing fishery right now is white, Or The sons and daughters of white fishermen are the ones that are getting access to these student licenses. So we're spending a lot of time now exploring how we can introduce BIPOC children into the supply chain. and have it be more representative of really the workforce that's out there marketing and selling lobster each and every day. When you look across the big marketers and sellers of lobster, whether it's Luke's Lobster or Red Lobster, You Had people of color that are predominantly running these big food service restaurant groups. So specifically what we set up last year was a program called Lift All Boats and we have 18 students with us this year who will all get student licenses, all get free traps, ropes, buoys, and water safety courses and get access to actually go out and try the commercial fishery and if they love it, continue on with us or go get a job as an apprentice. and work commercially. And so it's great because it's bringing new energy into the resource. It's bringing more help into the resource, which is something we dramatically need. And it's starting to build a pipeline of diversity that hopefully can bridge the gap between those that sell the products, process the product, and those that catch the product.
[00:38:30] Ray Latif: It's all amazing and I had no idea that these were the types of initiatives you were taking to advance the lobster industry as a whole. It's really admirable and I commend you guys on doing it. Social responsibility, sustainability, you know, a focus on diversity within the supply chain, all amazing. At the end Or The day, your consumers are buying your products more for taste though, right? They're buying it because Or The quality Or The lobster. How do you align the two in a way so that both are top of mind with your consumer?
[00:39:02] Luke Holden: It's really challenging. I agree with You Had most of our consumers care about Taste Radio value. I mean, the reality is that I'm a third generation lobsterman. My father was the very first licensed lobster processor in the state of Maine.
[00:39:17] Ray Latif: Wow.
[00:39:18] Luke Holden: That's amazing. So I grew up Or The back of boats, Or The working waterfront, in production facilities. Lobster is really all I know. Or The relationships, the deep relationships we have Or The sourcing side with fishermen and communities that that harvest lobster. The knowledge that we have and the expertise we have as the state's premium quality lobster processor enables Us At source the best lobster, take care of it the right way, and ship it to partners like Sweetgreen better than anyone else in the supply chain can. We already own, in my opinion, the taste category and the value proposition. And then what motivates the team is to build a business that puts purpose over profit and builds a better future.
[00:40:10] Ray Latif: It seems like the partnership with Sweetgreen makes a lot of sense then because they do have that emphasis and that mission to serve better food and make better food more accessible to more people. When you are vetting potential partners, Is that the most important thing or I guess, how do you vet potential partners? Because I'm sure there's a lot of people knocking on your door asking, hey, how do we align with Luke's Lobster?
[00:40:36] Luke Holden: Mission alignment is critical. And then trusting a partner to execute your brand is, I don't know if You Had children, but it's like offering, you know, your children up to a babysitter, right? Like you're not going to do that to anybody. In 2019, we were actually Whole Foods global supplier Or The year. So we have, we've got the restaurant group, but the bigger part of our business is seafood processing and distribution. And so we do majority of all oyster products for Whole Foods. And that's been a long developing relationship for us, but very proud to be recognized as their global partner Or The year. And last year, we were actually recognized as Benihana's supplier Or The year, partner supplier Or The year. So we find opportunities to partner with like-minded brands and really create partnerships instead of just transactions. Do You Had a branded division? Do You Had a packaged food division at this point? We do. So we have a CPG or consumer packaged goods business where we sell lobster bisque, lobster ravioli, lobster mac and cheese, and then our signature lobster meat to make lobster rolls. And we've got a couple of really awesome split lobster tail value added packs with compound butters that are super easy Or The home consumer to make a center Or The plate.
[00:42:03] Ray Latif: With your CPG line, it seems like there is a pretty long runway. And I recently spoke with a couple of entrepreneurs who have developed restaurant chains first and then built a bolt-on CPG brand. And for some of them, they think the CPG brand can be the biggest part of their business going forward, has the most potential to scale. Is that the case with You Had Luke's Lobster?
[00:42:25] Luke Holden: Our brand mission is to become the world's most respected seafood brand. And so we definitely believe that the brand is a lot bigger than the footprint that we have today. Can the CPG business be larger than the restaurant group? You would think so, but we're rather early on this journey. COVID almost put us out of business. And the team pivoted from mostly being a restaurant group to being a more well-balanced seafood company. And part of that was creating CPG products. So we've really just been learning as a team how to create these products and sell them and get feedback and iterate and sell them and get feedback and iterate and sell them and we're really proud Or The lineup that we have today and I'm sure it'll change tomorrow but it's a totally different business and I believe it can be a lot larger than our restaurant group but we're just learning to walk at this point in time.
[00:43:28] Ray Latif: Do You Had a general manager for that group or is it all part Or The same organization?
[00:43:33] Luke Holden: It's all part Or The same organization. We certainly have structure and areas of expertise, but it's also like the same people who are digging in this trench or digging in that trench, right? We're a family-oriented community of people and problem solving is problem solving and bring in expertise certainly whenever we can and can't afford to. But often, we like solving problems and learning.
[00:44:04] Ray Latif: Luke, this has been such a great conversation. I really appreciate the time. Last question. When it comes to lobster rolls, is it hot and buttered or is it mayonnaise and celery?
[00:44:16] Luke Holden: They're both good, but I want to split the difference a little bit on you. At Luke's, all Or The lobster rolls are made to order. And most Or The year we offer a warm butter lobster roll and our original lobster roll. And my favorite is our original lobster roll with actually no mayonnaise. So it's a little bit of fresh chilled lobster roll. lobster meat with a dash of lemon butter, warm lemon butter on top and a little bit of our secret seasoning and a perfectly toasted bun. And like that's how I take my lobster roll all day. Not to say that those that like mayonnaise and a swipe of mayonnaise isn't value add Or The that like their warm butter are off the mark, but I think the best roll is that OG roll without a little bit of mayonnaise.
[00:45:08] Ray Latif: Folks, you should see Luke's smile on his face right now. I can tell you're so passionate about lobster. You're so happy when you're able to deliver that Taste Radio the value that you feel to your customers. And it's a great thing to see. It's one Or The reasons why entrepreneurship really is the best kind of business. Luke, thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate it. Congratulations Or The collaboration with Sweetgreen, and hopefully we can catch up again soon. I love it. Thanks for having me today.
[00:45:32] Luke Holden: It was a pleasure to See You. You as well.
[00:45:38] Ray Latif: That brings us Or 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 Had on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us Or 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 At email to ask at Taste Radio. On behalf Or The entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:46:28] Luke Holden: you
