[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, dear friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we sit down with two entrepreneurs whose brands are redefining tradition. Kelly McShane, the co-owner of nostalgic iced tea brand Granny Squibb, and Daniel Danes, the founder of Teton, a new premium Spanish olive oil brand. Love both of those brands. I had samples of both at the Naturally New England Naturally Rising Pitch Slam competition, which was held about two or three weeks ago. And I've been using Teton every single day since. No joke. It's such a good brand.
[00:00:56] John Craven: Ray, I listened to the last Naturally New England interviews that you did. You did a fabulous job with those and so did the founders. I mean, the conversations are ridiculously interesting. I particularly enjoyed the one about meat sticks.
[00:01:10] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think Singing Pastures is quite the brand and Holly Arbuckle, who's the founder of Singing Pastures, is so focused and so determined to bring a better quality product to more consumers. And I think she's doing it. I'm telling you, when you snap open one of those meat sticks It actually looks like meat, which is I'm sorry. I'm sorry to say that a lot of meat stick bread, it just looks like the most heavily processed thing. It doesn't even look like food.
[00:01:41] John Craven: I really liked her conviction in terms of just how she's certain of her differentiating position in the market and how she's leading with, OK, we're making something that's better quality. and premium, and we're not going to apologize for that. But also, she's listening to her audience when she's getting feedback that, you know, the packaging feels like candy. And she said, well, that just means somebody is going to want to reach for that. And, you know, it's going to be sort of a feel-good snack. I thought that was a really good point of view for somebody to hear, you know, that you should always be open to the feedback from your audience, because the brand isn't just you. It is your audience as well.
[00:02:22] Ray Latif: Yeah, I thought she made some amazing points. That was published in our episode last Friday. So if you haven't had a chance to tune in, do so. We also sat down with Swati Olavia, who is the president of a modern Indian food brand, Monsoon Kitchens. They make some amazing products as well. Plenty more to come from that event, including the two interviews I mentioned just now, as well as interviews with Maura Duggan from Fancy Fancypants Baking Company and Alison Elliott, the founder and CEO of Farmer Foodie. All that's coming next week. So a lot of really good stuff from founders of emerging brands. But for now, I want to talk about how awesome BevNET Live was. Oh, I can't actually, because we're recording this the Monday before the event starts. I assume everything went well. I'm really excited for the event and I really hope that everyone who attended enjoyed it as well. But it is our biggest, I mean, even now I can say this on Monday, it is our biggest New York City event ever.
[00:03:18] John Craven: It probably sold out.
[00:03:19] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think within the next, literally the next hour or so, it's going to sell out. It's going to. Yeah, but very excited. And thank you all who came to BevNET Live and are heading back home now. It was so great to see you, I think. Mike, you mentioned candy and everyone knows I really enjoy Joyride's new entry. This is last year when they introduced new gummy strips or candy strips, whatever you want to call them. And congrats to Joyride because they recently announced a $30 million round I think that Joyride has been doing some amazing things, and I'm glad to see that they were able to pick up that money to make their products more available to more consumers. It's a better-for-you candy brand. It used to be called Project 7. John, you know the founder and owner. You've known him for some time.
[00:04:03] John Craven: Tyler Merrick's been on a pretty impressive journey with that thing.
[00:04:08] Ray Latif: He really has. It is funny, again, when you when you talked about that, Mike, you talk about this is not just a brand. It's not just your brand. It's your consumers brand. And it was when it was project seven. It was very esoteric. And it was a project. It was it was like, it just didn't feel like a candy brand. It felt like, well, it was originally a water brand. Well, yeah, but I mean, Project 7 as a candy brand, it had, it didn't feel like fun. It just felt like something that was out there. That was healthy. Right. Yeah.
[00:04:40] Jacqui Brugliera: Healthy and natural.
[00:04:41] John Craven: And it felt like somebody was trying something new.
[00:04:43] Ray Latif: Yeah. With Joyride, joy is in the name, fun is in the name, and the packaging looks great. The products taste great. And I've been talking about this for a long time. You want something that has no compromise. It doesn't feel like you're Taking away from what you've previously loved for your entire life, whatever it is you're eating or drinking, you want to feel like it's a natural, easy, no compromise transition.
[00:05:03] Jacqui Brugliera: I know they've done like a great job on D2C and then they rolled out in Target and they definitely have made a splash in Target. I went to Target the other day and they have a whole end cap and people are just grabbing it like hotcakes.
[00:05:16] Ray Latif: Yeah, and according to the Nosh article about this $30 million raise penned by our very own Adrianne DeLuca, we learned about the raise through a form filed with the SEC, which noted that Trevor Nelson, who is a founder and partner with Aria Growth Partners, which is a private equity firm, was named on the form, but Joyride could not be reached prior to publication to confirm whether Aria led the route. I mentioned this Because we've known Trevor Nelson for some time. He started out with ACG. He went out and has founded Aria. I founded Aria, I want to say about six years ago, five years ago. And they were a pretty significant investor in a brand called Lesser Evil. And as we know, Lesser Evil had a big, very high profile exit earlier this year. $750 million, if I recall, to the Hershey company. So Aria might be onto something with Joyride. All right, shifting gears. I did not see this news coming, which is that Starbucks has aligned with a cold-pressed juice and shot company. That company is Salty, S-O-L-T-I. And Starbucks announced last month that Salty's refrigerated wellness shots that come in 2.1 ounce glass bottles is going into Starbucks stores nationwide, over 10,000 locations. Again, definitely did not see this coming. We've known Ryan O'Donnell and the Salty team for some time. They make a great product. I just didn't see glass bottles, glass bottle shots as something that Starbucks would pick up.
[00:06:58] John Craven: I mean, do you ever see a Starbucks deal coming, really?
[00:07:01] Ray Latif: You know, I think when we started to see Spindrift and Brew Doctor Kombucha go into their stores, I think that's a natural.
[00:07:07] John Craven: Yeah, I'm just saying there aren't, I don't know, brands that sort of necessarily have like a Starbucks vibe to them that end up in there.
[00:07:18] Ray Latif: Koya, another brand.
[00:07:19] John Craven: Yeah, which, I mean, that's, again, I mean, it seems sort of like a random product for Starbucks to have, but I'm sure that sells well, you know. On that same token, I think salty shots probably will sell well too. It's a good compliment to maybe you're getting your morning coffee, like have a little juice shot too.
[00:07:40] Ray Latif: I mean, it definitely seems like people are paying more attention to the power of superfood ingredients like turmeric and ginger and wanting to consume them on a regular basis. And I guess if you go to Starbucks pretty often, it is an easy way to pick up that superfood and incorporate it into your daily lifestyle. I do wonder about the glass bottle shots, and clearly they've been able to scale. Salty, they've been able to scale quite a bit. They're in over 25,000 points of distribution at this point now with the Starbucks deal. I mean, if you talk about brands like a Vive Organic, which is a bit more established, I would say. I mean, I think they're about the same age, but it feels like Vive is a bit more established. Honestly, I would have expected to see Vive in there before Salty. Don't know. Don't know. All right.
[00:08:22] John Craven: Like I said, hard to guess which brands are talking to Starbucks or, you know, what exactly their priorities are for picking products.
[00:08:31] Ray Latif: Yes. Well, take nothing away from what Salty and Ryan have done getting into that chain. Congratulations. It is an outstanding brand and I hope more people are now becoming more aware of Salty as a result. Well, I don't want to make it sound like I don't understand the Stolte Starbucks deal. I definitely get it.
[00:08:50] John Craven: And now you're going to make it sound like you don't understand the entire industry, I think.
[00:08:53] Ray Latif: No, I'm going to make it sound like I really don't understand why people who don't eat or drink a particular thing have companies that make that thing. Okay. So Blake, Blake Lively, the very well-known actress, she's married to Ryan Reynolds, a very well-known actor and entrepreneur.
[00:09:15] John Craven: An advertising guy. Advertising guy too. That's his primary thing. He's an ad guy.
[00:09:20] Ray Latif: He's an ad guy. Okay. I wouldn't necessarily say that, but anyway, Blake Lively, I think people know has a brand called Betty Booze. Betty Booze. Betty Buzz.
[00:09:31] John Craven: No, it's Betty Booze. Well, I'm saying that's the original.
[00:09:34] Ray Latif: Right, the non-ALC mixer brand that started, that she launched, it was called Betty Buzz. It was launched in 2023, and Betty Buzz came out about a year later, and they are these canned, ready-to-drink cocktails. And so Betty Buzz recently announced that they have ready-to-drink vodka RTDs. They sell two varieties of vodka iced tea, one's made with passion fruit, and one with Meyer lemonade. Authenticity has just left the building. I just don't get this deal. I don't get it at all. It's like the Jennifer Lopez thing from back in the day where she has an ROTD. What's that called? DeSola or something like that? Anyway, DeLola. I think it's called DeLola. And if you are drinking this product and you realize that Blake Lively doesn't even drink her own product, what does that say about the product? What does it say about the brand? Maybe Deadpool drinks it. It has nothing to do with Deadpool, has nothing to do with Ryan Reynolds. It's like, just, I don't get it.
[00:10:34] Jacqui Brugliera: But how heavily is she involved in the marketing? I guess, like, if I just saw it on the shelf, I wouldn't necessarily know that Blake Lively was involved. So I think maybe they're just banking on people not knowing.
[00:10:46] Ray Latif: She was quoted in the press release as tasting this product with a taste that's crisp, easy, comforting, and clean, and beautiful cans to match. Exactly. Maybe she spits it out after. No, no, no. Without alcohol. Our new vodka lineup is Mart lemonade iced tea and passion fruit iced tea. Whether you're at a barbecue, a beach hang, or just spending your time at home, our new vodka teas are made from recipes created in my home by hand, built to share and enjoy. Lies! Lies!
[00:11:15] John Craven: If you're a famous person who doesn't drink, but likes cocktails made by famous people who don't drink, you're gonna love. Her husband did have a gin brand, so I'm sure there's at least someone who likes alcohol in the house.
[00:11:26] Jacqui Brugliera: Maybe he's making them in the kitchen? I don't know. This would be like me dehydrating meat in my house and making meat sticks.
[00:11:31] Ray Latif: Yes! I mean, it's an honest living.
[00:11:32] Jacqui Brugliera: It's not gonna happen.
[00:11:33] Ray Latif: Yes, Jackie just said exactly what I was thinking here. Yes, it doesn't make sense. Try Jackie Meat Sticks, the brand I've never eaten.
[00:11:41] Jacqui Brugliera: You know, I tasted it and I spit it out. Yeah.
[00:11:45] Ray Latif: No, but meet my queen. I mean, this is the thing with authenticity. It's just it. She literally says our new vodka teas are made from recipes created in my home. Now, granted, you're getting really hung up on this. She didn't say I created these recipes. She said created in my home. So maybe I don't know. He's fired up. Somebody came. Maybe Brian was making these vodka teas at home, but.
[00:12:05] John Craven: I mean, or a flavor company came to her house and did the work there. I don't know. It's just I don't know what's even matter.
[00:12:12] Ray Latif: I'm just telling you this is OK. Listen, this is the point I'm trying to make here. Authenticity actually matters. And if you're going to say something and say that you actually believe in something, well, you better back it up. I don't think you need to consume alcohol to have an alcohol brand. A mic drop right there. OK, I just don't.
[00:12:30] John Craven: I don't know. I think authenticity is like I just think in this case like the brand itself is pretty good. I don't know. I just don't think it matters that much. You don't have to finish above 15th in the Premier League to be one of the biggest clubs in the world either.
[00:12:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Authenticity.
[00:12:49] Ray Latif: Jackie, I don't know if you want to pipe in there.
[00:12:52] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't know. I guess like she must not drink for a reason. So if she doesn't think it's healthy, why is she pushing product that might not be healthy for consumers?
[00:13:04] Ray Latif: Jackie just seems like a money grab. Said everything I wanted to say, but I was so animated and irate and just out of my mind that I couldn't articulate exactly what Jackie just said. You need a drink to chill out, buddy. I don't know about that.
[00:13:19] Jacqui Brugliera: You need a Betty Booze.
[00:13:20] Ray Latif: Okay. I'm not, I don't want to, I don't want to go any further with this cause I've already said it. All I can say is yet. Here you go.
[00:13:25] John Craven: Here he goes. He's just gonna, he's doing a stomp, stomp on them more.
[00:13:29] Ray Latif: So before we had Slack, we had an internal social tool called Yammer. Yeah. And every so often, someone in the company would go off the rails on Yammer, and we'd call it a Yammer bomb. This is my Yammer bomb. This is a Taste Radio rant. This is my Yammer bomb.
[00:13:49] John Craven: A Taste Radio Ray rant. It needs a little theme song at the beginning.
[00:13:53] Ray Latif: I should have skipped it. It's just glass breaking. You know what? You know what I do like? You know what I think is really authentic? Okay, here we go. So the Coca-Cola company and our Coca-Cola, the brand and Jack Daniel, as we know, they collaborated to launch an RTD product. I believe that was last year, probably a little bit longer than that. And recently they introduced new flavor varieties. There's a Coke, Jack and Coke vanilla. There's a Jack and Coke. Well, there's a regular and there's a Jack and Coke. Cherry. Cherry. I see, I think these make sense, right? This makes sense.
[00:14:28] John Craven: Jack and cherry Coke, huh?
[00:14:30] Ray Latif: Yeah, Jack and vanilla Coke. Makes a lot of sense, sure. I think that these products are products that people are looking for and they've stood the test of time and there's nothing that's like, okay, it's a natural combination, has been for a long time, unlike Blake Lively and alcohol.
[00:14:44] John Craven: And I just, I mean, what if the brand manager doesn't drink? What are you talking about? I'm saying, sorry, what if the brand manager at Jack Daniel Danes't consume alcohol?
[00:14:56] Ray Latif: I don't think that's possible. I'm going to look into this and get back to you on this. But anyway, as I've mentioned in the past, I've tried the Jack Daniel Danes Coke, just the regular non-extra flavored variety, and it's really, really good. They nailed this. And I'm not a big Jack and Coke drinker. But if I were to have one of these once in a while, I would be like, you should try this too, because it's really well crafted. You would be like that. Yeah, I would be like that. And I'm excited to try the cherry. Pitchman Ray just put it right out in front of him. Pitchman, you know what? Just because of that cynical remark, Mike, you're not going to get it. That's not cynical. I mentioned Lesser Evil before. You're not going to get any of these new Lesser Evil products.
[00:15:36] John Craven: What do we got?
[00:15:37] Ray Latif: So Lesser Evil, the maker of Better For You snacks, best known for their popcorn, has introduced a new, let's just call it what it is, Cheetos alternative. These are called Crunchy Cheezmos, C-H-E-E-Z-M-O-S. And they have two varieties, a Blazin' Hot Cheddar and a Cowboy Cheddar. They're both made with organic avocado oil. According to this, no alien ingredients. They're both USDA organic certified. I'll be honest, I do like the Cheetos from time to time. I buy the Trader Joe's ones. And I'm excited to see that Lesser Evil has tried these. They seem very, very crunchy. John, Mike, would you like to sample the goods? I would, but I'm not allowed.
[00:16:27] SPEAKER_??: Why?
[00:16:27] Ray Latif: Oh, that's right, because I banned you. Yeah, you banned me.
[00:16:31] Jacqui Brugliera: I feel like Lesser Evil always delivers on flavor, and that's why people love their popcorn, so I can see this being delicious.
[00:16:39] Ray Latif: Charles Coristine, who is the owner of the company, the CEO of the company, well, I guess not since they sold it, but he has, every time I've spoken with him, loved talking about innovation. And like any great entrepreneur, he's a visionary and he's always thinking about the next product. He has the most fun creating new products. And I imagine these were in the pipeline for some time because they're always trying to, they have like a fun, remember they came up with the Amunions, which is their Funyuns alternative. The one thing that's a little bit different about this product, this product line in particular, is that it actually uses real cheddar cheese. It uses real dairy. And I think in most of their other products, if I'm not mistaken, they have never used dairy. It's always dairy alternatives. I could be wrong, but I have not seen, if I can recall, dairy in any Lesser Evil products up until this point.
[00:17:31] John Craven: These are pretty tasty. I like, my favorite call-out is no alien ingredients. Yes, Guy, I said that. It's my favorite call-out. I'm just echoing it, Ray. It's my favorite call-out.
[00:17:40] Ray Latif: For a second there, I thought you were Adam Stern. That's why I referred to you as Guy. Guy! Yes. Guy. Guy.
[00:17:46] John Craven: Oh, no. Oh, my belly.
[00:17:48] Ray Latif: Do I sound like Stern now? You do, you do. Oh. Okay, well, jeez. You have a lot of cheese-moes in your hand there. I have too many cheese-moes. I was trying not to dig. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Last but not least, I got some Masala Gossip. Masala Gossip is a maker of masala sauces and they come in these beautiful 10-ounce pouches with a screw cap to dispense said masala sauces. The two varieties I have are a spinach masala sauce and a butter masala sauce. I feel like we have seen so many new Indian brands come to market in convenient formats like these pouches, just making it so much easier for people to make good, high-quality Indian food made with premium ingredients. I'm just thinking to myself, Even if you don't, you don't have to obviously have these with chicken, but how easy is it to just fry up some chicken, pour the masala sauce all over it, have some white rice. Or some chickpeas. Or some chickpeas. And you've got this delicious dinner in 15 minutes or less. Lentils.
[00:18:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I feel like Indian food is like the one thing I can never get right. Like the flavor is just always so complex and layered. So having these, you know, helpers in the kitchen is really useful.
[00:19:07] John Craven: It's because you don't have an Aji who taught you how to make Indian food.
[00:19:10] Ray Latif: No, I don't. And they're beautiful. This is a beautiful package. The spinach masala comes in this forest green color. And on the front, you have this beautiful caricature of a woman who looks like she's playing an instrument, but she's also surrounded by vegetables. Everything about it seems approachable and premium. So really well done, Masala Gossip. Nice looking product.
[00:19:31] Mike Schneider: Yeah.
[00:19:34] Ray Latif: Alright, it's time to get to our featured interviews for this episode, which highlight two entrepreneurs who are shaking up the CPG world with purpose and flavor. Kelly McShane, the co-owner of Granny Squibb, shares her journey into the beverage industry and her role in reviving and growing the New England tea brand. Meanwhile, Daniel Danes, the founder of Teton Olive Oil, reveals how a century-old Spanish family legacy and a purple squeeze bottle are helping him educate and win over U.S. consumers. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with Kelly McShane, who is the owner of Granny Squibb. Kelly, great to see you.
[00:20:19] Kelly McShane: Great to see you. Thanks for having me.
[00:20:21] Ray Latif: Yeah, the last time you and I were chatting was on the roof or on our deck at Bethnet headquarters in Newton, Mass. That was a great event. It really was. Yeah, this is a great event that we're at as well, which is the Naturally New England Naturally Rising Pitch Competition. That's a mouthful. Yeah, but essentially it's a pitch slam.
[00:20:38] Kelly McShane: But it's at the beautiful Farm Fresh Rhode Island in Providence. So, you know, it's our hometown.
[00:20:44] Ray Latif: This is a great space. I didn't know. I don't spend too much time in Providence. You guys are based here?
[00:20:49] Kelly McShane: We are. We're like a half mile from here. We're in downtown Providence. Right now we're on the west side of Providence. And I'm actually on the board of Farm Fresh as well. So I spend a lot of time here.
[00:20:59] Ray Latif: What is Farm Fresh?
[00:21:00] Kelly McShane: Farm Fresh is the leading food access organization. So they help people, they address food insecurity in our state.
[00:21:10] Ray Latif: Awesome. That's a very honorable thing to do and glad you're on the board. Thank you. So Ice-T, Granny Squibb. Granny Squibb. Yeah. I'm just imagining you as a child thinking, I want to start an Ice-T company or at least I want to own one at some point in your life. And here you are.
[00:21:26] Kelly McShane: Actually, it's kind of funny you say that because When I was like 10 years old, my parents gave my sister and I like $50 to invest in stocks, whatever we wanted. My sister picked Disney and I picked Arizona Iced Tea, which is, I mean, she did great. I did all right. But now I'm an owner of an iced tea company. I've always loved it.
[00:21:47] Ray Latif: Arizona is either a privately held company. If they had only been a publicly traded, you might have made some money.
[00:21:52] Kelly McShane: I might have made some money. I might have made some money.
[00:21:54] Ray Latif: Yeah. I interviewed the co-founder of that company and Don Voltaggio.
[00:22:00] Kelly McShane: Yeah, he's... That must have been a fascinating interview.
[00:22:02] Ray Latif: So, just quickly, when I went to New York, this was like the day before Thanksgiving, like six years ago. Weird time to drive. And I went to his office. His office is the size of, like, a large hotel suite. He has a commercial kitchen in one part of the office.
[00:22:21] Kelly McShane: For what?
[00:22:22] Ray Latif: You know, in case he wants, I don't know... To make some iced tea? Well, I would assume it's if he's hungry for anything, his chef is going to make it for him. So at one point you'll get there too.
[00:22:34] Kelly McShane: We'll definitely get there. Arizona, we're coming for you.
[00:22:37] Ray Latif: There you go. Granny Scripps. I love this brand. You see it pretty often in the New England. You're not the founder, but you're running the show now.
[00:22:47] Kelly McShane: I'm running the show now with my team. Obviously, we're a tiny team. There's four of us, so we're all running the show. The founder started the company in 2009, and it's based on her grandmother's recipe. Sally Squibb is Granny Squibb, who developed our sweet lemon recipe in the 1930s in Saunderstown, back when drinking tea cold wasn't a thing. So it became this, you know, Narragansett staple and Robin, our founder, her granddaughter, after a long career in the film industry, ended up retiring and moving back to Saunderstown and started seeing, you know, Granny Squibb's iced tea just like in pictures, you know, the recipe. In pictures, in restaurants, and in friends' fridges, you know, so she saw a business opportunity and decided to start bottling it. which is like wild. There's entrepreneurs and then there's people that start beverage, CPG beverage companies in their 70s. It's like so badass.
[00:23:49] Ray Latif: Anyone who starts a beverage company is a badass person. I mean, it's not easy. It's not easy. The failure rate's very high. This is all well known. But it's really exciting. Yeah. I remember when I was in college, I thought about beverages as a potential career path. Really? Yeah. What were you going to make? I was going to make Better For You sodas, if you can believe it.
[00:24:10] Kelly McShane: Oh, look at that. You would have been way ahead of your time.
[00:24:12] Ray Latif: I really would have been, actually. But wait, what are you saying about my age? Kelly, come on. I thought we were friends. No, it's amazing because this industry has seen such a roller coaster of trends. You know, at one point it's You know, this is hot. At another point, this is hot. And I think throughout, taste has always been the most consistently important thing, even if people kind of forgot about it a few years ago. And it's really come back to the forefront. And Granny Scripps, you guys make amazing tasting products.
[00:24:42] Kelly McShane: Thank you. And the recipe has lasted for 100 years.
[00:24:45] Ray Latif: Yeah. But when you are introducing this product to a retail buyer, when you're talking to consumers, what really stands out? What are you talking about specifically?
[00:24:53] Kelly McShane: Well, the integrity of the tea. So we're the only company that makes solely New England iced tea. So we use all of our, the bases for all of our SKUs are the same. It's black tea, mint, and then juice, whether that's lemon, lime, peach, or cranberry. all of our teas Vive Organic, they're vegan, they're gluten-free, which like, a lot of people are like, it's iced tea, of course it's vegan, but you know, a lot of people don't realize that sometimes sugar is like bleached with bone char, so we make sure that all of, I know it's not bananas. I know, and you don't have to say that on the label. So we make sure, we Vive Organic vegan cane sugar, but we really, you know, It's important to us that our iced tea is for everybody. So that's one thing. We're also a B Corporation. We're B Corp certified. And then we also have a philanthropic part of the company, which we're by far the most proud of. Every new flavor we come out with, we match it with a different New England state and then a nonprofit from that state. And we donate a portion of the proceeds to those nonprofits. So our peach is matched with Massachusetts and we donate to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Our cranberry is matched with Rhode Island and we donate to Save the Bay. And then we're coming out with a raspberry and a blueberry. Our raspberry will be matched with Connecticut and our blueberry will be matched with Maine. And then the lemon and the mojito lime will be Vermont and New Hampshire.
[00:26:23] Ray Latif: Awesome. Very, very cool stuff. I kind of skipped a part. Yeah. When did you, why did you want to buy this company? Why did you want to take the reins?
[00:26:32] Kelly McShane: Well, so I have a background in social services and actually I taught math for years, linear algebra, calculus, and number theory.
[00:26:40] Ray Latif: I can't see you as a math teacher. I don't know. I'm sorry.
[00:26:42] Kelly McShane: I'm a mathematician at heart. Okay. That's what I am. Okay, cool. So that was my major in college. That's what I, you know, I love it. I still do it all the time. But, So, I had a math tutoring business, but I also worked for a social services organization called Amos House. They're based right here in Providence, and they help people help themselves out of homelessness. So anyway, so I was working there and, you know, mostly as like a volunteer. And volunteers, they're all well and good, but what do these organizations need? They need money. So I was looking for a for-profit business like this where we could kind of channel a portion of the proceeds into nonprofits. So I was already trying to do that with my partner, Nick Carr. And then, at the time, we lived in an apartment building in Providence, and the founder of Granny Squibb lived in that same building. So we used to help her carry cases in. We became really good friends with her. We got to, you know, learn about the company. And then one day we were helping her and bringing cases inside and we're like, oh, Robin, how was your day? And she was like, ah, she's like, I'm burned out. Do you know anyone that wants to buy an IC company? And we were like, oh my God, that's so funny that she said that, walked upstairs. And then we walked into the apartment and we're like, oh my gosh, this might be the exact opportunity we were looking for. So we literally just walked downstairs, knocked on her door, asked if she was serious. She said yes. And 30 days later, we had quit our jobs and we were doing this full time. So it happened like so quickly, which like most entrepreneurial stories do. But if I had, you know, she, we didn't really know anything about the beverage industry. That was going to be my question. Yeah. I mean, I, if I, I don't know if we would have made the same decision if we knew what we were getting ourselves into. But she agreed to stay on for a year to help mentor us and facilitate relationships. So so it was great. And then Covid hit, which was banana grams. And that was a big learning opportunity. So I think, you know, I think at this point we really we have a we have a good grasp on what we're doing.
[00:28:53] Ray Latif: You know, the most the most common phrase is on Taste Radio. If you look at all our 750 episodes, If I had known what I was getting into, I don't know if I would have done it.
[00:29:07] Kelly McShane: That's how you know an entrepreneur.
[00:29:08] Ray Latif: Yes. We jump in. I'm glad you're doing it because you saved an amazing company. Thank you. One that I think really has a ton of residents in this region. But the question is, where do you go from here? Are you looking to expand? Are you looking to become more of a national brand?
[00:29:25] Kelly McShane: We are. We're actually set up with national distribution right now. So it's essentially turnkey when we're ready. But we are right now focused on the North Atlantic region, which is obviously New England we practice what's called the bullseye method. Our company just made it up, me and my team. We want to make sure we nail it here. And we have the volume we need to sustain this growth. We see so many brands that get so excited when they have an opportunity. Chicago or DC or you know, Texas and they grow way too fast.
[00:29:58] Ray Latif: So we want to make sure that this is extremely sustainable Well, you know what they call that they call that inch-wide mile deep even though it's sort of a region versus a city or a state Yep. One other thing I think that really differentiates you is this old-school bottle. You have a 16-ounce glass bottle. It's a wide body. It's very reminiscent of some famous brands out there. Thank you for not saying the brand name. But is this something that still resonates with customers?
[00:30:27] Kelly McShane: It is, it is, actually. So we've talked about changing the shape of the glass bottle.
[00:30:33] Ray Latif: You do have a can, by the way, on your bottle. You have a picture of a can on your bottle, which is interesting.
[00:30:38] Kelly McShane: Yes. So Ray is looking, for those who can't see, looking at our peach label. That is actually a whole story that BevNET did a piece on a couple of years ago. Porter's Peach is the flavor. And we won't go into that because it's quite a story. But if anyone wants to reach out to me and hear it or look at old BevNET articles, please look it up. There you go. And we've talked about going into cans, too. And cans are amazing for places that glass can't go, you know, beaches, stadiums, schools. But I think right now with the retailers we're in, the Whole Foods, you know, the Market Basket, the stop and shops, they, you know, it because everyone's going to cans right now, it does differentiate us.
[00:31:18] Ray Latif: Yeah, and I think it says one word that a lot of brands are missing these days, which is premium. Premium. Premium. What were you going to say? Timeless. Timeless as well.
[00:31:28] Kelly McShane: I like premium.
[00:31:30] Ray Latif: No, for premium. And you can typically charge a premium price point. What is your price point?
[00:31:36] Kelly McShane: Typical about 250 to 350.
[00:31:39] Ray Latif: Okay, so I think that's appropriate. I mean, yeah, you know, it's We talked about Arizona and they're really famous for 99 cents for those large cans, but they're also well known for not necessarily the most healthy ingredients and I think when you're looking for something that's a bit healthier, which a lot of people seem to be doing nowadays when you were looking for something that's not a sugar bomb and looking for something that's maybe a little bit more mature. I think this is something that a lot of folks would reach for. Thank you. At the same time, when you're trying to get younger consumers, how much does that granny play into their minds as being, maybe this is more of an adult product? I guess the question really is...
[00:32:15] Kelly McShane: I think it's more of a charming product. People are like, oh, you know, people associate iced tea and lemonade with like, you know, being at home, being around a table, having it in a picture, you know, with your grandmother. So I think it resonates the same with Gen Z as it does millennials, as it does with, you know, Gen X, Gen Y.
[00:32:33] Ray Latif: Very cool. Oh, I got to say this to folks who are not familiar with Granny Squibb. You should definitely check it out. I mean, it's not only a delicious product, but they make the coolest swag. I mean, your hat. I need a Granny Squibb hat. You've got it. Okay. Thank you very much. I'll pay for it. Don't worry. I'm not asking.
[00:32:49] Kelly McShane: No, no. We'll send the whole team. Are you kidding?
[00:32:51] Ray Latif: It's marketing for us. It kind of is actually.
[00:32:54] Kelly McShane: Makes us look good. Are you kidding me? Representatives from BevNET wearing our gear. That's amazing.
[00:32:59] Ray Latif: I guess that's true. Yeah. Well, Kelly, like I said, you know, we first met on our deck a couple of years ago and we talked about maybe sitting down one day and today is that day. I'm so happy that we had this opportunity. Thank you so much. We need to check in again soon.
[00:33:15] Kelly McShane: Absolutely.
[00:33:16] Ray Latif: In a few months, maybe next year. We'll see how we're doing. Maybe you'll be national by then.
[00:33:19] Kelly McShane: Maybe we will. Maybe we will.
[00:33:21] Ray Latif: In the meantime, thank you again.
[00:33:22] Kelly McShane: Thank you so much, Ray.
[00:33:27] Ray Latif: Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with Daniel Danes, who is the founder of Titan. Daniel, great to see you. Thank you very much. And Daniel is spelled D-A-N-I-E-L, but I'm pronouncing it in the European way.
[00:33:41] Daniel Danes: That's perfect. Yeah. It's Daniel Danes, whatever you want.
[00:33:45] Ray Latif: I was going to say that because you're here in Providence or were here in Providence for the Naturally New England, Naturally Rising pitch competition. But you're originally from Spain.
[00:33:54] Daniel Danes: Correct. I'm from Madrid. From Madrid.
[00:33:56] Ray Latif: OK. Real or Atlético? Real Madrid. Real Madrid. Well done. Well, we're here to talk about something else other than soccer. We're here to talk about olive oil, which is your family's business. And you have a consumer brand, Titen, which just launched on the market. Tell us a bit about the origins of your family's business in olive oil and the launch of Titen.
[00:34:17] Daniel Danes: When I came to America to do an MBA at Babson College and I went to the supermarket, it was very difficult to find good olive oil from a trusted source and at a fair price. And I started to do some market research about the product, the industry in this country. So I decided that after my MBA, I will start my own company in olive oil. And why Titin? Because Titin is the nickname of my great-grandmother, who started an olive oil business more than 100 years ago in the south of Spain, in a place that is called Jaén. Jaén produced 30% of the olive oil in the world. So after my great-grandmother, my grandmother also teething and my mother teething followed the business. And I think that it's a good name for a brand because it shows a story, a family story of olive oil.
[00:35:11] Ray Latif: I think it's a great story and one that I think a lot of people would be interested in hearing more about. But what's most striking about your brand is the packaging. You are in a squeeze bottle, a large squeeze bottle at that, and they're becoming much more popular for the olive oil category. Talk about your decision to use a squeeze bottle and why that size.
[00:35:32] Daniel Danes: A lot of people told me, why are you going to do a 500 milliliters size bottle? And the reality is like Spanish people consumes one liter per month of olive oil. Wow. So I decided to do a bigger size in order to give most to my customers. Why I squeeze bottle? Because it's very practical. You don't lose any drop of your olive oil in your breakfast, in your food. So I decided to do a squeeze vault of all 100% recycled plastic and with a different color. It's a purple color. And why purple? Because the Piqual olive, the Piqual is the Spanish variety most famous, should be harvested when it's purple. And also it's a way to differentiate among 100 green bottles on the shelves in the supermarkets.
[00:36:21] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's very striking. I feel like if I saw this on shelf, it would definitely be a difference. look for the category than what we've typically been seeing in the category. But at the end of the day, olive oil is the commodity business. I would assume that most olive oil sold in this country, in the United States, that is, consumers don't really consider brand. That's changing. But how are you contributing to that change? How are you trying to get people to appreciate the brand, Titin?
[00:36:51] Daniel Danes: I think that I'm focused on the new generations, like Jen said, and millennials. and a lot of marketing, for example, micro-influencers, normal influencers, newsletter, clavillo emails, everything digital in order to get those customers. When I go to a retail, to a specialty food store to close a deal with them, I have to explain all the story of my family, all the story of the brand, the packaging. But in the end, the product is the most important thing. And the product is really outstanding. The product speaks by itself. So when they try the product, they want the product. The price also is good because we control everything. The growth, the harvest, the factory, the bottling, the shipment until our warehouse in South Boston. So this allows us to have full traceability of the product at the best price and with the best quality.
[00:37:47] Ray Latif: What is the price point for a bottle?
[00:37:50] Daniel Danes: We have two SKUs. The normal harvest is from November to February, but we choose always the sooner November because it's the healthier, has the most properties, like polyphenols, and it's for cooking and dressing. That costs 25.3 fluid ounces, $20. And the other, the early harvest, the same size, is $30. Early harvest is from September or October. It depends on the quality. It's only for dressing. It will be a sin if you cook without olive oil.
[00:38:19] Ray Latif: I mean, I don't want to mention the brand name, but I think the one olive oil brand that has really made waves over the last two, three years, Graza, we'll just call it what it is. You know, they've done really well to make it clear that you don't necessarily need to buy your father's quote unquote olive oil. You don't necessarily need to buy an olive oil that doesn't really speak to you. You know, you can own a brand, you can appreciate a brand and make it part of your pantry. That said, I think when you're talking to Gen Z and millennial consumers, how much does price point impact their decision making when it comes to buying products like yours, which it is a fair price for sure. It's $20 and $30 for what you're selling, but it's still a little bit more on the high end, perhaps, for consumers. You don't think so.
[00:39:11] Daniel Danes: I think that my olive oil is the best value olive oil for the quality that I give in all the country, literally. It's true that Graza made a fantastic marketing job with the squeezable bottle. They changed the olive oil sector around the world. It's the brand that has the most growth in the world regarding olive oil. But also it's true that in America, in order to give you some numbers, the market share right now in the olive oil industry is $5 billion in America, in the States, in the United States. In four years, it's going to double to $9 billion, almost double. And only 50% of the household population consumes olive oil in America. So there is another 50% that they are going to consume olive oil. And not only that, the ratio for consuming is one gallon per family per year. In Spain, we consume one liter. Sorry, I changed gallon liters because I am from Spain.
[00:40:08] Ray Latif: No, I think you did that quite well, actually.
[00:40:10] Daniel Danes: One liter per month.
[00:40:12] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:40:12] Daniel Danes: Per person. So there is plenty of market for more brands of olive oil. My main difference between Graza and TTIM is like, we control everything. We have a full traceability code, we have a BGA protection. That's the main difference.
[00:40:31] Ray Latif: You're going to lead with that type of marketing. I know we talked briefly about marketing, but what are you leading with? Is it taste? Is it traceability? Is it packaging? I mean, how are you trying to get people to try TTIM?
[00:40:44] Daniel Danes: Well, right now, I just launched 10 days ago. Okay. Congratulations. Thank you very much. After 11 months of hard work, it's here. Yeah. I closed in the top stores in Boston, and I have a distributor who trusts in the project from Vermont. They're going to start next week to distribute in New England. How are you going to differentiate? What's the question?
[00:41:08] Ray Latif: Well, it's about the marketing, right? So what are you leading with when it comes to the marketing? Is it the traceability? Is it the family story? Is it the taste? Is it the packaging?
[00:41:18] Daniel Danes: When I pitch to people, I say that it's single origin, single variety, and full traceability. It's very important. My goal is that everyone and should know where their olive oil comes from because you know the market is tricky there are a lot of blends not from different varieties only that to be honest it doesn't matter if you change if you mix varieties because for example a good wine could be from different varieties, okay? But when you change different varieties from different countries, you know, different countries has different regulations, different standards, soils, different minerals, different water. It's completely different. And the most important thing is, it's blended by harvest, like from which harvest? 2020, 2021, 22, 23, 24. The fresher, the better. always, okay? So my goal is, hey, this is teething. It's a trust olive oil that you can trust in the brand and it's the fresh one.
[00:42:19] Ray Latif: I like that. The fresher, the better. Yes. And I think that's something that has never been marketed in olive oil. Typically, I think people think, oh, what's olive oil? You know, it was pressed one day and, you know, whether that was three years ago or one year ago, it's the same. I think most people consider that. I've never heard a brand marketed that way.
[00:42:39] Daniel Danes: Even in Spain. Even in Spain, we are the first producer of olive oil in the world. We produce around 52% of olive oil in the world. My Spanish friends don't know anything about olive oil. I have to explain to them, like, hey, this is singular origin. What means singular origin? What means singular variety? What means fresh olive oil? What is the process? So, yes, it's a job that you need to educate the consumers. But I think that right now, people are more concerned about the oil that they use for cooking. And they are realizing that the extra virgin olive oil is the best olive oil in the world right now. You know, it's the core of the Mediterranean diet.
[00:43:18] Ray Latif: How are you navigating, how do I put this, changes in the way that you can import?
[00:43:28] Daniel Danes: That's an excellent question. So, well, right now, my first container, I paid the 10% tariffs. I have to say that the distribution and the retailers are very kind with the new brands and with the current brands because we share the cost. We are not putting the cost to the customers. At least right now because it's 10%, because who knows, maybe tomorrow it's 20%. Right now I am assuming half of the cost and my distributors, my retailers assume the other half.
[00:44:07] Ray Latif: Is that a negotiation or is that just something that they're willing to take when they take your product on?
[00:44:12] Daniel Danes: Well, you need to have a relation with them. You need to talk. You need to explain the situation and they are. They are open, they are open-minded, they understand, and it's not only olive oil, it's a lot of food from Europe, you know, so. Other thing will be if tariffs are in Spain, and in Spain, I don't know, to give you an example, okay, suppose that we have 20% tariffs of olive oil in Spain and 5% tariffs in Italy. That would be a disaster for the olive oil industry in Spain, you know, because you play with different cards.
[00:44:46] Ray Latif: Yeah. You all, I mean, you have a business in Spain, you have a business in the United States. How are you balancing both?
[00:44:52] Daniel Danes: Well, that's that's a very good question also. I think that Spain is not the place to have an olive oil brand because there are thousands or millions of good brands and the olive oil there is amazing. The place to make business in olive oil is America. It's the United States right now, in my opinion. So yes, we sell in Spain, but we are focused 100% in the United States. We're coming full circle.
[00:45:22] Ray Latif: America, the land of opportunity.
[00:45:23] Daniel Danes: Yes.
[00:45:24] Ray Latif: I'm trying to make the American dream. I think you're on your way, Daniel. This has been a great conversation. I've really appreciated everything I've learned about Tizen. And I think you're on your way. I'm really excited for your brand. Let's definitely stay in touch.
[00:45:38] Daniel Danes: Well, thank you very much. And thank you for hosting me. Absolutely. Thank you.
[00:45:45] Ray Latif: 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.
[00:46:35] Mike Schneider: you
