[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hey folks, thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Latif and I'm here with my show co-hosts, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. We are recording in New York City at the Metropolitan Pavilion for BevNET Live Summer 2023. Gang, day one done, day two about to begin, or it already has begun in so many ways. Yeah, it's on. It's started. People are here. And we've been here for hours, unlike you, Ray. You know, I had to put my face on, literally, actually, so that I can get on stage and host the New Beverage Showdown.
[00:00:45] John Craven: We had a debate yesterday about who puts on more makeup, you or Jackie. Really?
[00:00:50] Jacqui Brugliera: I think everyone voted you.
[00:00:52] Ray Latif: Yeah, Jackie voted for you, yeah. Jackie voted for you, so. You know what? Like, at my ripe old age of 32, I just have to do what I can. Oh, yes. That might be a lie. Yeah, yeah. Jackie, how was the Women In beverage breakfast this morning?
[00:01:05] Jacqui Brugliera: It was great. Yeah. Lots of talk and networking. It was great having Gorgie, Maddie, Michelle kick it off with Melissa from our team. But yeah, it's great to have some conversation, have the community start to build. I know it's the first time we've done this at WebNet Live and it's a starting point and I'm excited for another one.
[00:01:23] John Craven: Definitely a lot of room for growth there. They said they have 150 members so far, so got to get some more people joining.
[00:01:30] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, we definitely Seed To.
[00:01:31] John Craven: The industry and then also Women In beverage.
[00:01:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. And I mean, they also brought up a great point that there's not a lot of Women In beverage. And I know Maddie comes from tech. She said even less women are in tech. It's true. But that like even, you know, the Women In beverage Seed To be mentors to the women that are entering the industry and just help support women as they grow.
[00:01:54] Ray Latif: Well, I did see a lot of women at the Bar Convent Brooklyn event that took place a couple days before BevNET Live. John Craven and I visited the event, which is open to bar and beverage industry professionals, specifically in the beverage alcohol industry. Pretty amazing event. I think there were about 5,000 people there, maybe 600 exhibitors from all over the world showcasing innovative spirits. ranging from things like Amaro to whiskey to vodka to gin. So many tequilas. So many tequilas, aperitifs, digestifs. I really had a good time there. I thought it was a really good event. Yeah, no, cool show. Fun way for us to kick off our New York City trip here, too. Yeah, absolutely. I think you made the comment that we didn't see a ton of non-alcoholic spirits. which is interesting given that we have been seeing a lot of consumer demand and interest for those kinds of products. But I mean, there were a few. I mean, they were the ones that we typically see, like a Liars, Wilderton. Ritual. Yep. Ritual, exactly.
[00:02:50] John Craven: Are we in a bubble because we're us and people are just sending us so many? Yeah, we could be.
[00:02:55] Ray Latif: Yeah. Also, RTD Cocktails. Not a ton, but the few that were there I thought were pretty good as well.
[00:03:01] Mike Schneider: Yeah, no, I think it definitely seemed more kind of like what you'd expect, you know, the whiskey brands and all the other stuff that you mentioned. And yes, I think to Mike's point, you know, maybe that's just, we're inside the bubble where we're just seeing all these like non-ALC, you know, entries, but they're maybe not yet Ready For sort of go out to a show like that.
[00:03:20] John Craven: Yeah. We had one of my favorites on stage yesterday, Parch and the New Beverage Showdown. Very nice sort of mezcal vibe going on there. I'm so into that. I had it also during the happy hour, too. It's great.
[00:03:33] Ray Latif: Yeah. Also, they're exhibiting as a brand called Chinola, which is a citrus forward spirit that's helmed by Andrew Marinoff, who has a long history in the beverage alcohol industry. His family has a very long history in the beverage alcohol industry as well. He's also the founder of Dispact Ventures, which is a private equity firm that finances innovative concepts in all sectors or all industries, but primarily focused in spirits. I sat down with him for an interview for Taste Radio. They'll be coming out pretty soon. And I also saw someone who I had already interviewed for Taste Radio. I think it was about four years ago that we published that one. And that's Mr. Steven Soderbergh, the Academy Award-winning director known for films like Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, and Out of Sight. Out of Sight being one of my favorite films of all time. He's also the creator of a brand called Singani 63. Now Singani is a spirit that is made from grapes that are indigenous to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia. And so trying to explain all that and communicate that is kind of challenging. It's a lot. But it's even more challenging when you don't have a specific designation for Syngani, something that he's worked on for the past eight years. And recently, Syngani has been given an approved designation in the United States. Prior to this, it was called and described a brandy. Who likes brandy? Apparently old people, right? So how do you market a brandy to the hip kids of, you know, Metro New York and L.A. and places like that? Anyway, long story short. He's worked on this distinction longer than some of his films. Yeah. Yes. No.
[00:05:10] Jacqui Brugliera: It's a long time.
[00:05:11] Ray Latif: So they had an event last night, Singani 63, at Death & Co, which I know is one of your favorite bars in the world, John. Yeah. I didn't I didn't go to the event. You didn't go.
[00:05:20] Jacqui Brugliera: I would say Death & Co is pretty hip.
[00:05:22] Ray Latif: It was pretty awesome, actually. It's dark. It is very dark.
[00:05:26] John Craven: I heard there was The Password to get in last night. Yeah, there was.
[00:05:29] Ray Latif: It was WTF. And I can say it because there's The Password. The event's over. Exactly. But my colleague and dear friend Adam Stern and I walked in. And we sat down, and it wasn't packed. There were maybe like 30 people there. It was a pretty intimate event. Oh, nice. And right next to us, I didn't realize until like 10 minutes in, was Steven Soderbergh. And so we chatted him up and had a great conversation. Did he remember you? Yeah, he did actually. I sit up, I'm like, hey, you probably don't remember. He's like, no, no, I recognize you. I'm like, all right, thanks, Steve. Good to see you.
[00:06:01] John Craven: I recognized you from dinner last week, right? Yeah.
[00:06:03] Ray Latif: So it turns out he's a Liverpool supporter. I did kick him in the back when he wasn't looking. I guess you can't be looking if you kick someone in the back. Yeah, that'd be hard. It'd be weird if you could reach around that way with your leg and kick someone in the back. Could be that. Turns out he's also not a huge fan of the streaming, I guess, explosion that we've seen in media. He's more of a true blue, traditional kind of guy. Likes a VHS tape? Sort of like that. But he's very, very passionate about Syngani63, very passionate about bringing the spirit, introducing the spirit to a lot more people via high-end bars and bars that can do that kind of introduction in a really intelligent and communicative way. What just happened there?
[00:06:53] John Craven: I almost hit Jackie in the face with her mic. I was like trying to scratch.
[00:06:56] Ray Latif: We don't usually use these long arms when we're recording. Anyway, thanks so much to the Syngani team, the Syngani 63 team and Steven Soderbergh. Great night. Was it open bar? It was until 9pm.
[00:07:10] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, okay.
[00:07:10] Ray Latif: Early night though. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was from six to nine, but we had our little mini gathering here at BevNET or for the BevNET team. So we got there, I think 8.15. Okay. So we only had like six cocktails until nine. Okay. I mean, they're 20 bucks each. You got to like slam them down. Yeah. Uh, yeah, we took, we did what we could. Good. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:07:33] John Craven: Mike, how are things with you? Great, Ray. Yeah? Yeah, BevNET Live, it's on. I mean, the energy's here. I'm in it, having fun. Networking.
[00:07:43] Ray Latif: So, on day two, I always wonder, on day two, like, what's your schedule like? Because you don't have the pressure of being up on stage like, you know, some folks do. I think it's basically, I'll translate this, Mike, it doesn't seem like you do anything on day two.
[00:07:54] John Craven: I was getting that same vibe there for a second.
[00:07:55] Mike Schneider: What do you see that you should do here? I pretty much make my way. Make the case to keep your job.
[00:08:00] John Craven: Yeah. Okay. Here we go. Well, what I do is, I make my way through the crowd and try to meet everybody, make sure everyone's having a good time, talk to the sponsors, talk to all the attendees. This morning, for instance, I was networking and I met the founder of Smooch who I'd met once before at Expo East just for a second because their booth was pretty slammed. If you've been to Expo East, you know that doesn't happen a lot. because it's a lesser vibe than Expo West. So this is a regenerative. He says it's a regenerative oat water, 110 calories. It's kind of like wants to be prime, but with oats. And he's trying to figure out what the right positioning is for it. But it's a really cool can. The flavor I have in my hand right here is blackcurrant elderberry. And it's super tasty. And so we just geeked out on this beverage this morning because he's trying to figure out What's the right positioning? What's the right vessel? What should it even be called? Is there anything like it? So, I mean, that's what we do here. Why the name Smooch? I'm curious. Because you can get a smooch. I got a smooch first thing in the morning. Oh, boy. It's a great name. Anywho.
[00:09:10] Ray Latif: It was available?
[00:09:12] John Craven: Now, those names are taken, Jackie.
[00:09:16] Ray Latif: I just want to give a shout out to Luca Fourgeois, who is the founder of a brand called Velvet Llama. Now, if you recall, Velvet Llama was the winner of our third RTD Cocktail Showdown competition, which took place in Santa Monica in December of 2022. I saw Luca at Bar Convent, and he's been here the past couple of days as well at BevNET Live. Such a great guy. Love his products. They recently moved into a new slim 10-ounce can. They had been in 12-ounce cans, I believe.
[00:09:45] John Craven: But I guess the positioning... Because he was saying it was hard for people to finish them because they were just so crushed.
[00:09:49] Ray Latif: Well, that and also the can also, for some folks, was reminiscent of a hard seltzer. So he wanted to make it a lot more clear that these are canned cocktails and not hard seltzers.
[00:10:00] John Craven: I met with the founder yesterday, Velvet Llama, and I was like, oh, you know, one of the cool things about your can is you can make, like, a super long llama. He's like, I know, there's a hashtag. How long is your llama? So I did that. It's fun.
[00:10:12] Ray Latif: I was talking to Luca about marketing and social media because he's trying to find and Velvet Llama is trying to find like the right cadence for social media. And I was asking about his like how he got into the business and stuff. He has a Forrest Gump kind of life. So he grew up like he lived all over the world as a kid. He was a race car driver, a professional race car driver for a time. And he got Perrier to sponsor him to climb a mountain. And they paid him a certain amount of money, I'm not gonna say how much it was, to climb the mountain and then take a picture of himself with a bottle of Perrier. And then he was working at a high-end cocktail bar here in New York City called Macau for eight years before he launched Velvet Llama. And I asked him, I don't even remember, where'd the name Velvet Llama came from? He's like, oh, well, and hopefully I can say this. He was like, I was doing Mushrooms And I felt something, and it felt like a Velvet Llama. And that's where the name came from.
[00:11:11] John Craven: The can is a vibe, too. Like, I don't know how he's actually captured what he's captured on his can, but it's a really cool can. It just, like, draws you right in. Maybe that was also from The Mushrooms, Jackie?
[00:11:21] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I don't know. It's like the furry wall, you know, in that movie.
[00:11:25] Ray Latif: He's choking the wall. What's that from? Get Him to the Greek? Yes. That's hilarious. That's one of my favorites.
[00:11:33] Jacqui Brugliera: I love his hat, too, though. The llama hat.
[00:11:35] Ray Latif: Oh my goodness, the one he wore on stage at Pendant Live, yes. That was amazing.
[00:11:39] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, the brand is just through and through.
[00:11:41] Ray Latif: Yeah, totally cool guy. And if you have an opportunity to try his products, you should because they are fantastic.
[00:11:49] Mike Schneider: Can we try some products now?
[00:11:51] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I got a lot of products.
[00:11:53] Mike Schneider: Jackie has snack time for us.
[00:11:54] Jacqui Brugliera: I have snack time. I got... Wait, what?
[00:11:57] Mike Schneider: We went to the Pop-Up Grocer.
[00:11:58] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, that's right.
[00:12:00] Ray Latif: Yes. How was your trip to Pop-Up Grocer?
[00:12:02] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, so I saw you all went to the Pop-Up Grocer. I got into New York City a little bit later, but made my way over there because I was jealous. Okay. I bought a lot of different products. I've been eating them throughout the week. And I have a couple for us to sample. Now, they're all in the same room. They're all sampled together. So since it's breakfast time, Finally, I'm not through the screen trying to sample.
[00:12:24] Ray Latif: I have some Pop-Tarts. Yeah, if you recall, Pop-Up Grocer is a curated grocery store. Well, they have a permanent location here in New York City in Soho, but they had limited time locations all over the country where they essentially are creating awareness and interest for early stage brands and products. Their Soho store is amazing. I was going to say, it's not in Soho. It's in Greenwich Village. Yeah, in the village. Yeah. So, okay, what are these products, Jackie?
[00:12:49] Jacqui Brugliera: All right, so since it's breakfast time, we can start with some Better For You Pop Tarts.
[00:12:54] Ray Latif: Awesome! By the way, this is kind of like now how I feel Jackie is, like every time we actually record. Because we record late in the morning, you record early in the morning.
[00:13:05] Jacqui Brugliera: So this is like good for me, early in the morning. So this is called Flings. And this is like a better for you toaster pastry. What was that? It says the Better Rectangle.
[00:13:16] John Craven: I love it.
[00:13:18] Jacqui Brugliera: The Better Rectangle. And this is like the traditional strawberry with icing. Yeah, the Better Rectangle. It has high protein, keto friendly, sources of fiber. So, I mean, let's do it.
[00:13:29] John Craven: Somebody made the logo from like a frosting squeeze bottle, too. That's awesome.
[00:13:33] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:13:34] John Craven: They saved a lot of money that way. What does it say? No strings attached? Is that what it says on the box?
[00:13:40] Jacqui Brugliera: Here, let me read that while you're up here.
[00:13:42] John Craven: At the top, that top flap. Fling them hot or fling them cold, toaster or freezer. Of course, because who doesn't love a frozen Pop-Tart?
[00:13:51] Mike Schneider: Have a piece of Pop-Tart?
[00:13:52] John Craven: High-protein, keto-friendly, excellent source of fiber. I'm going to hold off on samples for now. 10 grams of protein in a Pop-Tart? Yes, please. Oh, jeez, I'm going to kill you with this.
[00:14:00] Ray Latif: This is why you don't sample it.
[00:14:02] John Craven: The third time was almost a charm. Almost. I'm going to get you with that microphone. I've almost hit Jaguar the microphone three times now. We got to get that on the reels. It's pretty tasty. We should have toasted it, though.
[00:14:13] Jacqui Brugliera: I know. I think toasted would have been a little bit better, but still really good.
[00:14:17] Ray Latif: So what's the price points on that a lot of money thousand dollars?
[00:14:21] Mike Schneider: I Think on the company. It's fine. I think pop-up grocer is one of those places where like if you have to ask the prices You should leave $10 and how many are in there?
[00:14:31] Ray Latif: What is it for? Four. Okay. So, you know, relatively expensive, but if you want a Pop-Tart and you want, like, not all the gross stuff in Pop-Tarts.
[00:14:46] John Craven: I mean, only two grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein, six gram net carbs. I'm in. These are great.
[00:14:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. I think also people are going into pop-up grocery and not looking at the price and just trying to try, you know, new things that they wouldn't find at traditional grocery stores.
[00:15:00] Mike Schneider: I mean, it's basically like everything you see on Instagram. Yeah. In one store.
[00:15:05] John Craven: The caveat is, it's still a Pop-Tart. I mean, like, if you look at the ingredient panel, it's still pretty complicated.
[00:15:11] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's still pretty complicated.
[00:15:12] John Craven: It's better for you, for sure. Now, this one I can't wait to try.
[00:15:14] Mike Schneider: All right, Rae definitely Seed To sample this.
[00:15:16] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I don't know if we Seed To sample this this early in the morning. We can. I brought forks. I wanted to. But this is called Seed To Serve, and it is a plant-based tinned seafood, and this is celery root whitefish made with smoked celeriac.
[00:15:32] John Craven: So there's no fish in it, right?
[00:15:33] Jacqui Brugliera: No fish, all plant-based.
[00:15:34] John Craven: It's all celery root.
[00:15:36] Jacqui Brugliera: It's very simple ingredients. It's just celeriac, which is celery root, sunflower oil, sea salt, celeriac.
[00:15:42] John Craven: That stuff is so good.
[00:15:44] Jacqui Brugliera: And then seaweed, natural flavors, and some smoke.
[00:15:48] John Craven: So I got that in my slurry. I got it in my farm share one time. It's kind of like a cross between celery and a potato. It's epic. And I never got it again. And it's hard to find. Be careful not to spill. I wonder if the sourcing is difficult. Don't get the juice on yourself. Oh, God, it looks like fish.
[00:16:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it does look like fish.
[00:16:06] John Craven: It looks a little. Yeah, it definitely has that sort of.
[00:16:10] Ray Latif: Yeah, I'm trying to do it. Here we go. Break apart consistency of tuna.
[00:16:17] John Craven: Yeah. Yes. I need a monkey brain if you made me. Here.
[00:16:24] Jacqui Brugliera: I like that it's simple. Simple ingredients because I'm not as sketched out to try it. I feel like a plant-based seafood in a can.
[00:16:29] Ray Latif: It does really look like fish. It does. I think my only concern with something like that is the packaging looks exactly like a high-end tin fish brand. It does. And so I think some people, is it clear that it's plant-based? It says it right on the front.
[00:16:45] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, right here. Plant-based, you've been on the top.
[00:16:47] Mike Schneider: But that's in small letters. Yeah. Well, they had it on the shelf kind of like on its edge, like the blue. I got to go. Yeah. Like that. Okay. Yeah.
[00:16:56] John Craven: So the look and feel is fish, but the consistency and taste is vegetable. Eat it, it's good for you. I like it. And it's weird how it's like dripping oil too. I like it.
[00:17:07] Jacqui Brugliera: They also had a crab as well, which I want to try.
[00:17:11] John Craven: Let's go back and get it.
[00:17:12] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, we gotta go buy it.
[00:17:13] John Craven: Another round. So weird but good.
[00:17:15] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I'm going back for more.
[00:17:17] Ray Latif: There you go. That's a good healthy breakfast you got going there. Some pop-tarts. How much protein are we talking about there? Celery fish.
[00:17:23] Jacqui Brugliera: My stomach. And then I'm gonna go sample a bunch of beverages.
[00:17:26] John Craven: So are we getting protein? Is it like eating fish or not? So is it like a full fish replacement?
[00:17:32] Jacqui Brugliera: Uh, no.
[00:17:32] Ray Latif: Anything to wash down the plant-based fish there, Jackie?
[00:17:35] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, so I'm not gonna wash it down right now, but I'll wash it down later. It's called Wink, which is a low-THC seltzer. It has 2.5 milligrams of THC, so similar to other micro-dosed products that we're seeing, like Can, and this is Lime Twist. And it says that the onset is in 10 to 15 minutes. It's great to see, you know, low dose options. Cause still, when I go into the dispensary, there's like 30 milligram beverages. And I mean, I don't know who can handle that, but I can't.
[00:18:07] John Craven: We're going to go back and get the crab and I want to get one of those.
[00:18:09] Jacqui Brugliera: Okay.
[00:18:09] John Craven: Let's do it.
[00:18:10] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:18:10] Ray Latif: And the brand is spelled, the brand name is spelled W Y N K. It's so cute too. It's got a little wink on the can.
[00:18:16] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. It's very cute.
[00:18:17] Ray Latif: But I still, I think, you know, THC beverages, they all should have that closure that is specific to THC beverages that the one that is like a child proof kind of closure, right? Yeah. And that one does require it for regulated products. And that one does not have a regulated product. OK.
[00:18:36] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. And it was interesting because it was that Pop Up grocer. So I didn't buy it at a dispensary either.
[00:18:41] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:18:42] Jacqui Brugliera: And just had to check my ID. And yeah, it just looks like a normal beverage.
[00:18:48] Ray Latif: I love that you have a specific day part use for THC, because every time we're on the podcast, you're like, I'm not going to have this right now. But maybe around 6 p.m. after I get off work.
[00:18:58] Jacqui Brugliera: It's great to decompress instead of having a glass of wine.
[00:19:00] Ray Latif: It's not a Jeffrey. It's not a Jeffrey. That's the second get into the Greek reference of the episode. Very well. Nice, nice. Well, you know, I just wanted to say to you guys, thanks so much for another great session of Taste Radio. This has been really fun being here at BevNET Live and being here with the entire team, or at least most of the team here. And I'm really excited to start day two. And of course, as part of day two, I'm really excited to hang out with the team from AFS Applied Food Sciences, the presenting sponsor of this episode of Taste Radio. AFS is the leader in innovation for functional organic ingredients in the natural products industry and is built on the belief that quality is transparent from Seed To label through organic farming, ethical sourcing, and sustainability. You can learn more at AppliedFoods.com. 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 askatasteradio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time.
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