[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello friends, and thanks for tuning into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food The Beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and with my co-hosts for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. Jon Landis I are on the coast that some refer to as the best, which is the West.
[00:00:31] John Craven: Best Coast, West Coast?
[00:00:33] Ray Latif: Correct. We are up the street. We're not in San Diego. We're in Los Angeles, more specifically Manhattan Beach. I think the first time I came to L.A. for BevNET was in Manhattan Beach. We think we went to Simsies.
[00:00:42] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, yeah. Down by the pier. Yeah, we're kind of more in El Segundo over here, but it's around the border. I mean, El Segundo is across the street.
[00:00:49] Ray Latif: It is. It is. It's all good. You know where Zico was founded? El Segundo.
[00:00:52] Jacqui Brugliera: No, I don't think it was founded there. No? I don't think so.
[00:00:55] John Craven: Are you guys gonna talk about how you can detect the rain because of your joint sake? Wait, what? It's like a geography conversation.
[00:01:01] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, we're just gonna really hone in on the geography and the traffic on The Free this morning was brutal. Luckily we avoided that.
[00:01:09] John Craven: What everybody wants to know is, John, have you had Juicy yet and how many times?
[00:01:15] Jacqui Brugliera: Twice, but I never went there. I had it brought to me. Yeah.
[00:01:19] Mike Schneider: Oh, wow. Bouncy.
[00:01:21] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, even Ray is going to house a breakfast burrito from Giusta as soon as this is over. It's sitting out of camera shot here.
[00:01:28] Ray Latif: I am going to have my burrito. I didn't have it ahead of time because I feel like I probably would have fallen asleep during this recording, which is not a good thing. But you know what is a good thing? The fact that I'm back here. I flew to San Diego last week and I flew home and then I flew back here to the West Coast to LA for two different things. San Diego, I was there to host the Naturally San Diego Pitch Slam, which was a phenomenal event. Jackie, you were there too. I think you can back me up that it was a raucous and fun and very rewarding affair.
[00:02:01] Mike Schneider: Yeah, yeah. No, the energy is always so great at their Pitch Slam. Like they're playing, you know, hype up music as they're walking up on stage. It feels like you're in like, like the pregame of a basketball game. It was really great. The energy was great. The pitches were solid. Everyone was just there to support each other and saw a lot of local San Diego brands and caught up with them, which was really nice. I know lowlies was the one that actually won the competition. They did a great job. They make better for you, clean dressings. And then Madly Hadley was the runner up, which they make plant-based foods. And specifically, I tried their plant-based bacon, which was really, really good. It was like these crumbles. And then... Is it coconut? Yeah, it's coconut. Yeah. And then Sipwell was the audience vote. And then Hillary from Sipwell did a great job pitching their canned wines and they debuted some new packaging, which they worked with Beck's Brands on. It looks really, really good.
[00:02:54] Ray Latif: It does. Yeah. I tried some Sipwell. I mean, I tried a sip or two before I got on stage. I tried another couple sips off stage, but fantastic brand. Also great to see the founder of BAM, B-A-M, which is a maker of plant-based milk, buckwheat-based milk. Is that right, Jackie? Yes. And then Mesa De Vida, which makes a line of marinades. And they were really, really delicious.
[00:03:17] John Craven: And I feel like... Cipo must be good because there was a time when you wouldn't touch a canned wine, Ray.
[00:03:22] Ray Latif: I don't know about that. I don't know about that. I feel like every brand that we saw was polished and ready for primetime. And also, the founders who presented were outstanding on stage. Each of them had four minutes to present, no notes. They just went through their presentation professionally with a lot of poise, grace, and just deep understanding of their business. and that the category that they're participating in. So I was really impressed with the level of entrepreneurship that I saw on stage. I was just happy to be there. And also speaking of Madly Hadley, for folks who are at the event, and there were, what was that? About 350 people attended the event?
[00:04:06] Mike Schneider: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:04:06] Ray Latif: They probably saw me terrified when there was a, what was it? Like a cheetah?
[00:04:11] Mike Schneider: There was someone- It was like a chameleon, wasn't it? It was a chameleon. That's what it was. Yeah.
[00:04:14] Ray Latif: So a chameleon apparently is the mascot or- Like a lab? Yeah. No, what? A live one? No, it wasn't a live one.
[00:04:19] John Craven: It was a live human. It was a live human in a costume. Wait a minute, how do you mistake a cheetah and a commuter?
[00:04:24] Ray Latif: I don't know. Yeah, that made no sense. I'm not sure. Too much canned wine. Exactly. Yeah, but too much Sephora. No, so while the founder was doing her presentation on stage, All of a sudden, this thing slipped up behind me, and it was someone in a suit, crawling in all fours, and just shocked me. I was like, ah! And as I mentioned at the event, it kind of reminded me of Pulp Fiction. The outfit kind of looked gimpish in nature, and yeah.
[00:04:57] Mike Schneider: I should have warned you, I saw them coming through the side door, so.
[00:05:00] Ray Latif: You were the only one, no one else. I turned around, I saw some other folks and they're like, where the hell did that come from? But anyway.
[00:05:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Interesting.
[00:05:06] Ray Latif: Yes, very interesting. Now, John and I are here in Los Angeles attending an event called The Beverage Forum, which is being run by the L.A. Libations team, Danny Stepper and the folks. This is the second day of the event. As you might expect, The Beverage Forum is an event focused on The Beverage industry. And it's been a good show. We have a Taste Radio studio here at the hotel, the West Drift Hotel here in Manhattan Beach. And we've been interviewing folks all day. Well, I guess yesterday was all day and today we'll be interviewing some more folks for the show. I was extremely happy and honored to sit down with the one and only Emma Chamberlain, the founder of Chamberlain Coffee. Yesterday, I sat down with her and company CEO, Chris Gallant, which was really exciting. John grammed that yesterday and I was happy. That's what I'm here for.
[00:05:56] Jacqui Brugliera: Just a random post to it.
[00:05:57] Ray Latif: We'll be featuring that interview in an upcoming episode of Taste Radio. Stay tuned. Also sat down with top executives from retailers, including Albertsons, Walmarts, Sprouts, and Gelson's. Very excited to share those conversations with our audience. And then I was both exhilarated and terrified to sit down with a man known as Quentin Rampage Jackson, the MMA fighter who could rip my arms off without much effort. Yeah, he was B.A. Baracus in the rebooted A-Team, the A-Team movie. So you might recognize him from that. But he's a very soft-spoken, very nice guy. But I did say one thing that got him a little agitated. Uh-oh. He actually was like, I'm kind of sweating right now. I'm getting all like agitated. I thought he was going to do something to me. Oh my gosh.
[00:06:42] Mike Schneider: You're trying. You're testing the waters.
[00:06:44] Ray Latif: Well, I mentioned a fight that he had won, but he got booed for. So, yeah. So if you want to find out exactly what happened and why he was about to, like, you know, throw me through a window, you can listen to that episode of Taste Radio. It's coming soon.
[00:06:58] John Craven: Ray, you know, it's always recommended to push the buttons of the large man who can kill you with one finger. Yeah, definitely do that next. Keep doing that, Ray.
[00:07:05] Ray Latif: I mean, you know, my whole plan was to get thrown through a plate glass window and then sue the guy and then I'd be set for life. So that's not a good idea. Sounds like a bad plan. Bad plan, Ray. Yeah. Yeah. But John, I mean, you know, you've been here as well, obviously, you know, meeting with folks and it's been, it's been great to sit down. And, oh, by the way, I did also sit down with the founder of a brand called The Free Spirits Co, which is a maker of non-alcoholic spirits and canned cocktails. He dropped off, Milan is his name, Milan Martin. He dropped off some samples of their products, including their new Kentucky Mule canned cocktail and their Margarita canned cocktail. These were just a few of the products that were being sampled here at the show. John, you have a can in front of you that was not sampled here, but it looks like a pretty delicious product.
[00:07:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, the new Erewhon branded kefir soda. I don't know. I haven't sampled it yet.
[00:07:57] Ray Latif: Doesn't it need to be cold? Well, I don't know. Doesn't it also need to be pronounced kefir? I don't know. Whatever. It's too early in the morning. It's doing it all wrong. Too early in the morning.
[00:08:04] Jacqui Brugliera: It's not even nine.
[00:08:06] Ray Latif: Pretty tasty.
[00:08:07] Jacqui Brugliera: Watermelon lime. It's like 40 calories sweetened with Demerara sugar.
[00:08:12] Ray Latif: I thought you were going to say it was 40 bucks.
[00:08:15] Jacqui Brugliera: It might have, because I didn't actually go to Air One. I just got Instacart to bring me a really expensive bag of groceries.
[00:08:23] Ray Latif: Do you tip well?
[00:08:24] John Craven: We don't go to Juiced anymore. We don't go to Air One anymore. We just have it all.
[00:08:27] Jacqui Brugliera: Of course I tip well.
[00:08:29] Ray Latif: What's your tipping percentage?
[00:08:31] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't know, I'd probably go at least 20%. Oh, that's good. Outside of, I don't know, I won't even get into it. I feel for the Instacart driver, though.
[00:08:39] Ray Latif: Oh my gosh, absolutely.
[00:08:40] Mike Schneider: I want to be your Instacart driver.
[00:08:42] Ray Latif: Seriously. You know, here's the thing, though. Here's a tangent on tipping. I don't even know what to say to that, Jackie. Can we talk about something that sort of grinds my gears? What grinds your gears? I think it makes a lot of sense to tip an Instacart driver or an Uber driver or any kind of delivery person well, to tip them well. 20% is great. I am getting agitated and frustrated when I go to a store and buy, say, groceries and you get ready to pay, and then they flip the screen over, their iPad screen, so that you can tip 20% on the groceries that you picked out and now that you are expected to tip on. I get that tipping was important for folks and people who are working during the pandemic, but tipping for groceries that you're buying?
[00:09:30] Jacqui Brugliera: First of all, I'll give you a tip that maybe don't buy your groceries at the bougie wine shop in Brooklyn because Typically, when you go to a Whole Foods.
[00:09:38] Ray Latif: That's the only place they have The Taste that I like, though, you know?
[00:09:41] Jacqui Brugliera: For sure, understood. Just go buy The Taste, Ray. But they don't normally have those at grocery stores, so.
[00:09:46] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I don't know what grocery stores you're going to. Mine don't do that.
[00:09:51] Ray Latif: I got a discount for bringing my own bag. No, there are some, there are some places that do this and it just, it really drives me nuts. And it's Just Ice, can you, I mean, you're really. Uh, don't be one of those guys. No, but you're not. I mean, like that is, that's aggressive.
[00:10:05] John Craven: That's aggressive. At the store at the Four Seasons. All right. That was my, that was my. That's his rant.
[00:10:10] Jacqui Brugliera: I just want to clarify also that I tip 20% unless the 20% amount is some embarrassingly low amount. Okay. Or the times I've done Instacart from Best Buy. That's Naturally San thing. Tipping 20% on a single electronic device could be rather costly.
[00:10:27] Ray Latif: So you don't always tip 20%? I would probably tip a flat, reasonable fee for the... So if you were buying a VCR...
[00:10:34] Mike Schneider: There's an asterisk.
[00:10:35] Ray Latif: If you were buying a VCR that cost $90, how much would you tip?
[00:10:39] Jacqui Brugliera: Well, I wouldn't get a VCR, but let's use a real-world scenario of like, there was this one time at BevNET Live that a certain someone, we'll call him Josh, needed a bunch of like, or their SD cards or hard drive, what was like 300 bucks, little tiny thing. Sure. That guy just went with 20 bucks as a tip to get one thing.
[00:10:56] Ray Latif: The Josh he's referring to is Joshua Pratt, who is BevNET's technical director. I referred to him yesterday as BevNET Gandalf, and I think we're going to start using that as his nickname because he does have a big gray beard. He doesn't wear a wizard's hat, at least in front of us. I bet Josh wears a wizard's hat at home all the time though. I think he's plotting to kill you.
[00:11:15] John Craven: He has a better nickname, and it's Waffle Jesus. Waffle Jesus. Yeah, we'll have to show the image on a reel.
[00:11:21] Ray Latif: I do recall when he did come into the office once, and he wouldn't let me into his office for some reason. I was really upset about this, and he just kept going, you shall not pass! I was like, Josh, what is your problem, man? I don't know. Anywho.
[00:11:38] John Craven: Fly, you fools.
[00:11:40] Ray Latif: So here at The Beverage Forum, I was really happy to see the folks from Cognizant. Cognizant, as we know, is an ingredient that boosts cognitive health. And Cognizant is owned by a company called Kiwa Hakko. Kiwa Hakko also markets one of my favorite functional ingredients, and yours too, Mike. That is an ingredient called Imuse. Now more than ever, Consumers are looking for ways to boost their immune systems and Immuse gives them that edge. Immuse is the primary sponsor of today's episode of Taste Radio. It is a dietary and food ingredient clinically shown to stimulate immune function at the cellular level. Incorporate Immuse into your innovation strategy and help your consumers optimize their health throughout the year. Learn more at immusehealth.com. That's I-M-M-U-S-E health.com.
[00:12:32] John Craven: You know what you should have done, Ray? You should have had an amuse before you interviewed Quentin. Then you wouldn't have asked that question.
[00:12:38] Ray Latif: I don't think any amount of amuse would be able to stop that man from ripping me apart.
[00:12:44] Mike Schneider: So you would have been really healthy going into that interview.
[00:12:48] Ray Latif: You know, I think I would have been overconfident and he still would have torn me apart.
[00:12:52] Jacqui Brugliera: So I just body slammed you into this table right here. I can actually offered him 20 bucks to do that. He wouldn't do it.
[00:12:58] Ray Latif: Good man. Good man. That rampage. Before we hopped on the mic, Jackie shared with me something that I didn't know about her, and that is that she is a big Walmart shopper, someone who shops at Walmart on a regular basis, groceries in particular.
[00:13:11] Mike Schneider: Yeah, so I won't go into a Walmart. It just still scares me.
[00:13:19] Ray Latif: I would never step foot inside of a Walmart.
[00:13:24] Mike Schneider: I will gladly get like two hour express delivery from Walmart. And I mean, with a lot of people that have Amex cards, it's included with your Amex Walmart subscription. Yeah, Walmart Plus, which is their delivery. And I get primarily like packaged goods from them. And they've done a really good job in The Taste year to get more emerging brands, better for you brands onto the platform. So I'll usually, you know, buy my packaged goods and then I'll go to Whole Foods for my produce and for my proteins. It's worked out really well.
[00:13:58] John Craven: What are your Walmart go-tos, Jackie?
[00:14:00] Mike Schneider: I get a lot of bonza from Walmart. Uh huh. Siete Foods like their tortillas. I even get like eggs from Walmart.
[00:14:07] John Craven: Grabbing your granola butter.
[00:14:08] Mike Schneider: Calafia. Interesting. Kind of like the essentials, the basics, you know?
[00:14:14] Ray Latif: Yeah. I never would have guessed that. But Walmart is the biggest brick and mortar retailer in the world. And so it was great for me to have an opportunity to sit down with their VP of beverages, his name is Will McDonald, and he was up on stage at The Beverage forum as well. And at the end of our conversation, I was doing some word association. I would throw out a category, he would tell me all his thoughts on the category. And The Taste category I mentioned was kids' drinks. And kids' drinks, as you guys know, is near and dear to my heart. It's near and dear to his heart, as he mentioned. He has four kids. And so we were like, You know, why is it that when you go to an event, you go to a soccer game, and then the drinks are busted out, and it's like, okay, everyone knows the brands, I'm not gonna say the brands. The brands are there, it's, you know, a six ounce juice box or pouch, and there's like 25, 30 grams of sugar inside each one. Like, can we not, can we not do, exactly, exactly. Can we not do better? I mean, really, Honest Kids is the, I guess, only better for you one that's widely distributed. And so he said, no, actually, I challenged him. I said, well, you know, Walmart, with your influence and the amount of buying power that you have, why don't you put pressure on some of these suppliers to reduce their calorie count, to reduce their sugar count? And he's like, well, you know, he gave us, he gave a good political answer. He's like, you know, we want to have a broad variety of products in our stores, but You know, we also have the opportunity and the ability to create a private label products, including kids beverages that we feel will benefit our consumers, our customers, and will benefit, I think, just kids as a whole. And he mentioned, and he, I guess, alluded to Walmart's new private label brand, which is called Better Goods. It was announced yesterday. And as we reported on Nosh, Walmart is set to capitalize on consumers' growing affinity for private label offerings amid continued heightened food prices. And the great thing about this new private label line is that it looks good, the products that they're selling look like very high quality products that you would want to have in your home, and they actually look better for you. So as an example, they have an organic reduced fat chocolate milk that comes in an eight ounce plastic container for kids. And again, I mean, I think chocolate milk, a good beverage for kids, organic reduced fat, checks every box that I would want from a kid'The Beverage. They also have plant-based mozzarella, chicken wings, restaurant style chicken wings, premium ice cream, campfire roasted salsa. So all these things that actually look like, if you didn't know that Walmart produced these products, you would just think this is a high quality brand using better for you ingredients. and speaking to a consumer that can afford these products, whether they are middle class or otherwise.
[00:16:57] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I believe that most of the products too are under $5. So from like an accessibility standpoint, I think this is great for people to have better for you options that might not be able to afford like a brand that's at Whole Foods.
[00:17:10] Ray Latif: Exactly. Yeah. So in the story, the products will sit on shelf between $2 and $15. But as you mentioned, Jackie, The Taste majority will be available for around $5. And I think this actually speaks to a topic that we've been We're eating around at the edges, we're biting around at the edges for a while now. And John, you mentioned this. As I do, I sit in my soapbox and talk about the need for big food companies to do better when it comes to formulations. And you talked about food insecurity and the ability for people to need to afford better-for-you products. I don't know how this line is going to do. I haven't had any of these products yet. But on the surface, this looks like this addresses that concern of people being able to afford better food.
[00:17:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Well, I mean, it's a start for sure. I think the point I was trying to make ultimately was that, you know, to fix what you're talking or we're talking about, we sort of, you know, an ongoing evolution of products and certainly seeing kind of biggest retailer in the country and Walmart, you know, taking a step in that direction is positive. But, you know, I think it ultimately needs to prove that it's successful from a business perspective for them to stick with it and for others to follow suit. So. You know, I will definitely compliment them, nice looking products. And again, I think, you know, it is, it is a good move.
[00:18:28] Mike Schneider: And also looking at just the product mix from my own personal experience, ordering on Walmart Plus, they've just, you know, really doubled down on getting better for you products. And I think that they've probably had a lot of success with bringing in, you know, emerging brands and that showed them that, okay. This could be, you know, a great revenue stream for us, but also we need to provide something that's a little bit more affordable. So now people have options rather than, you know, just the standard brands. And I think this will just open the door for hopefully other better for you brands to get in the mix as well.
[00:18:59] John Craven: Jackie, I know you are a discerning customer, so you must be reading these labels. How do they look? I haven't, I don't have any experience yet.
[00:19:07] Mike Schneider: I mean, they look better for you. I mean, I think like, I think that's the key thing. And I, I mean, they're not perfect, but when you're looking at it and you're looking at that compared to what they usually have on shelf or what, you know, you would expect from Walmart, I think it's a step in the right direction.
[00:19:22] Ray Latif: If you, if you step foot inside of Walmart.
[00:19:24] John Craven: Big corporation, is it like big corporation better for you or is it like.
[00:19:28] Ray Latif: So if you go into, well, actually you're, you don't have your phone with you, but on the, on our Slack channel, um, I posted a link on the random Slack channel to these products and John you can see them now. I don't know if I can I can turn my my iPad over to see them but they I mean they look private label ish but they also look like a brand and I'm sure there are some brands that are listening right or some founders of brands are listening right now and like that's not a really good thing for us. I mean I'm looking at You know, they have a guacamole flavor tortilla chip that's made with cassava flour. And so I'm sure there are some brands out there being like, uh, that's kind of stepping on our toes. And, you know, is this a good thing for us? But to your point, John, I think it's just better to have all this stuff out there and be more available for lots of folks.
[00:20:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I mean, it is certainly like, I think, a rising tide floats the boat, but also get, you know, for brands that make similar products that, you know, some of these might undercut and, you know, it kind of changes what competing brand maybe has to do to stand out. But I think that's kind of the nature of the beast, so.
[00:20:30] Mike Schneider: And I think also some of the consumers may have not even known that some of these products are an option for them or they've never tried a plant-based mozzarella and then they're going to try it and think it's great and then look for other options. So I think it, again, like it's allowing consumers to have better options and then maybe expand beyond this private label.
[00:20:51] Ray Latif: I did mention this new line of products to Seth Goldman, actually, who was here yesterday. I think he's here today as well. Seth Goldman is the founder of Honest Tea or one of the founders of Honest Tea and one of the co-founders of, what would you call it? A rebooted Honest Tea, Just Ice Tea. And he had mentioned that, yeah, Walmart's getting to the private label game and coming out with a kid'The Beverage. And he kind of paused for a second there. And it made me wonder, is Just Ice Tea launching a kid'The Beverage. Cause he was like, uh, what is this? And then I showed him a chocolate milk. He's like, oh, that's fine. So I, uh, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Just Ice Tea kids coming soon. Mike, do you approve of the labels? Did you get to see them there? Do you like them?
[00:21:33] John Craven: I'm having a look here. They, I mean, they definitely look better for you. They're pretty Rev1, uh, super simple. I guess, uh, I'll, I'll dive into the ingredients and report back.
[00:21:45] Ray Latif: Okay. Maybe you can use Jackie's Walmart Plus membership. Now, today is May 1st. The day of this recording is May 1st, May Day. I don't know if anyone celebrates May Day. Do you, do you, Mike? You prefer Cinco de Mayo. No?
[00:21:59] John Craven: You know me, right? I celebrate every day.
[00:22:01] Ray Latif: You really? Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is the 5th.
[00:22:04] John Craven: Yeah, I said I prefer it.
[00:22:06] Ray Latif: I'm planning for it. I thought you said...
[00:22:08] John Craven: I'm a May 4th guy myself.
[00:22:10] Ray Latif: Ah, May the 4th. Yeah, there's a lot of those, aren't there? May the 4th, there's May 1st, or May Day, and then there's Cinco de Mayo. Anywho, there's also BevNET Live. BevNET Live is happening on June 12th and 13th. That's a Wednesday and Thursday in New York City. That makes BevNET Live a little less than three, six weeks away. And, you know, the industry as a whole will be there. And some of the most important people that you know and want to meet will be at BevNET Live in New York City. I always talk about this. I've said this on the podcast in The Taste. It is the critical mass for our industry. It's where people who are quote unquote gatekeepers, the most influential distributors, retailers, investors, all in one place. So I think we've talked about this in The Taste. If you're not there, we're wondering where are you going to be? You don't want that FOMO. You want to be in New York City with the team. To register for BevNET Live, it's extremely simple. Jackie, how do you do it?
[00:23:09] Mike Schneider: You just go to BevNetLive.com?
[00:23:11] Ray Latif: BevNetLive.com.
[00:23:13] John Craven: Just go to BevNetLive.com. We've got great content for you. We've got phenomenal networking where you're going to get your hardest questions answered. Just bring two or three of them. Ask everyone. If they can't answer the question, they're going to know the person who does. And you're going to move your business a milestone or two just by attending the event. We've also got retail one-to-one meetings, so you can get registered for those as well. There's of course the The Beverage Showdown. There's so much going on at BevNET Live. We can't wait to see you there.
[00:23:44] Ray Latif: Absolutely. And I believe we extended early registration. so that if you sign up now, I think you get two days, probably, or less than that, to save at least $100 and more if you're an insider, if you register now for BevNetLive.
[00:23:59] John Craven: The point is you can save, and you can find out how at BevNetLive.com.
[00:24:03] Mike Schneider: Just to recap.
[00:24:04] Ray Latif: We'll find some savings. There you go. I just got, my beard is stuck to my microphone. I sit way too close to my microphone. Obviously. All right. While I'm getting the hair out of my microphone, Mike, what are you sipping on these days?
[00:24:17] John Craven: I'm not sipping on it. I'm simmering.
[00:24:19] Ray Latif: I'm simmering. Look at that.
[00:24:20] John Craven: I thought that was bone broth. I've got some new simmering sauces and, well, sauces in general from the good folks at Red Boat who make my favorite fish sauce. They've got this Vietnamese simmer sauce here. And then there are two curries with one of my favorite words, lemongrass, spicy Vietnamese lemongrass curry and Vietnamese lemongrass curry. Can't wait to try these.
[00:24:41] Ray Latif: Are you going to bathe in those or are you going to eat? Just chug it now.
[00:24:45] John Craven: I might chug them. Yeah, I might. I might. I'm either going to chug them, bathe in them, shave with them. No, Ray, I'm going to make chicken or fish.
[00:24:53] Ray Latif: I'm just thinking about when you chug some sriracha and then you said, you know, you'll do anything for BevNET, Nosh and Taste Radio. So I think The Taste Radio audience would want to see you bathe with those.
[00:25:04] John Craven: Fine. You want me to chug it? You want me to chug some Red Bull?
[00:25:06] Ray Latif: No, I didn't say chug. I said bathe.
[00:25:08] John Craven: I'll go for it.
[00:25:10] Ray Latif: We need a bathtub. We're trying to keep things PG-13. All right. Fair enough. Jackie, what do you have in your desk?
[00:25:16] Mike Schneider: I have the No Alcohol Company non-alc wine. So it's alcohol removed. This is their Chardonnay. They also have, I believe, a red and a couple other whites. I saw them originally at Expo West. They sent in some product. Really? I mean, I feel like Non-alcoholic wine is hard, especially on The Free front to get the flavor. But this is really, really good. The packaging is really fun. I guess my only point of feedback is Just Ice's hard to tell what varietal it is because it has a lot of no-alcohol everywhere. But it's really catchy. I think people are going to grab it off the shelf and want to learn more.
[00:25:53] Ray Latif: Nice. Mike, all of a sudden, just stacked all this electrolyte drink mix in front of his microphone there. It's Just Ice stacks and sacks of these.
[00:26:01] John Craven: I mean, first of all, I think the packaging for MizuLab is phenomenal just because it's really easy to tell what it is.
[00:26:08] Ray Latif: What's the name of the brand?
[00:26:09] John Craven: The hero is MizuLab. It's electrolyte drink mix, obviously, with 1000 milligrams of electrolytes. I mean, if you can't tell. And then the flavor call-outs are really good too. This is Yuzu Mango. It looks super appetizing. This one is Lychee Mangosteen. Do you even know what a mangosteen tastes like? I couldn't remember what a mangosteen tastes like. Lychee though, isn't it lychee? Or is it lychee? You can say lychee or lychee. It depends on where you're from. I say kefir. I say kefir. I say Sutherland. And then my favorite flavor just takes me back to the days when I used to drink a lot of bubble tea. This one's called Asian Yogurt Drink and Strawberry, but it's, yeah, that's, this one's amazing.
[00:26:49] Ray Latif: It's yeah. I like that. We should start using that as a positive affirmation for a product that we like. It's yeah. It's yeah.
[00:26:59] John Craven: It's that level. I mean, it's, it's DNS. I like that.
[00:27:04] Ray Latif: No, I was going to say, I appreciate the fact that you used the DNS button on Instagram the other day.
[00:27:10] John Craven: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:11] Ray Latif: DNS, of course, stands for does not suck. Does not suck. Which is the highest compliment you can get, even though it seems not so high. But anyway. Well, think about the opposite, right? Yes.
[00:27:21] John Craven: Opposite of does not suck.
[00:27:22] Ray Latif: Correct. Correct. But anyway, you can you can use this button if you go onto Instagram, you're trying to promote something or post something on Instagram using the Stories feature. Look for that DNS button or type in Taste Radio. It's a little sticker. And you can put it onto your photo, your video, what have you. And we will be very, very happy that you did. We'll also probably repost again and again and again.
[00:27:45] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, tag me. If you tag us. We're getting Instagram tips from Ray here that technically don't work.
[00:27:51] Mike Schneider: He's saying buttons.
[00:27:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, just use the button and we'll repost you. You gotta tag us.
[00:27:55] Mike Schneider: I don't know.
[00:27:58] Ray Latif: I don't know.
[00:27:58] John Craven: I, I, I, you know, those kids in the gram stuff.
[00:28:02] Ray Latif: All right. So I am not a social media maverick, but, uh, that gramophone anyway, look for the DNS stickers. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe 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. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:29:00] Jacqui Brugliera: you
