[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello and thanks for tuning into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and I'm here with my co-hosts for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. Mike Schneider, back from the Big Apple. where he was on a scouting mission for the upcoming BevNet Live Summer 2024 event. How are things in New York, Mike? Ray, they're, you know, they're great.
[00:00:42] John Craven: It's New York City. What more could you ask for? They have everything everywhere, anytime you want it. Choice paralysis at times, but, uh, yeah, I got to go to the, um, the Met Pavilion. Uh, we've got some additional space this year. We're really opening up, uh, the ability to have one-to-one meetings with retailers and, uh, pretty excited about that. We also have, I mean, we have so much space that we're going to have workshops for the first time in New York City.
[00:01:09] Ray Latif: Like woodworking workshops, so you can like carve your own like spatula or something?
[00:01:13] John Craven: Make a burn house at BevNetLive. Arts and crafts. They generally tend to be about the food and beverage industry, right? So it tends to be something about product formulation or, you know, just anything that can help you level up your game in terms of building your product. We've had workshops on these things in the past, so that's what's going to happen at BevNetLive.
[00:01:35] Ray Latif: Awesome. Well, I keep getting questions from a lot of entrepreneurs about tactical advice, in particular, working with service and supplier partners, you know, trying to find the right co-packer, the right ingredient supplier, you know, the right financial partners. And so I think these kinds of workshops are going to be extremely valuable for anyone attending BevNET Live. It's also going to be extremely valuable for anyone participating and joining the one-on-one meetings that you referenced, Mike. Once again, we'll have Whole Foods representatives at the show to be able to sit down with folks who want to pitch their product, introduce their brand to Whole Foods, which is really cool.
[00:02:15] John Craven: Whole Foods and Lowe's will be there as well.
[00:02:17] Ray Latif: Yep, Lowe's Foods, another retailer, will also be available for one-on-one meetings at BevNET Live.
[00:02:23] John Craven: I mean, that's the great thing about BevNET Live, Ray, is that you're, as a brand, a founder, or a decision-maker at a brand, you're the attendee. We make the content for you, or we're trying to give you a drink from the firehose about what's going on in the food and beverage industry, inspire some conversations, and then you're bound to have questions, and the people that can answer the questions are always in the audience. And if they can't help you, they know who can. And it's just a really great opportunity to get together and advance your business a milestone or two. Don't forget distributors. Distributors as well. Yeah, they're there.
[00:03:00] Ray Latif: June 12th and 13th, 2024 in New York City. It's going to be the event for the food and beverage industry. So you don't want to miss it. I got to say, one of my favorite parts about the New York City BevNET Live is that it's like the beating pulse the heartbeat of beverage, you know, seems to be making it, seems to be aligning with the right people in the biggest city, arguably in the world. And so, you know, you not only get all the information, all the networking, all the great insights inside the Met Pavilion, but you get that opportunity to be outside and meeting with folks and sort of feeling the energy of the city and what's possible for your brand in the Big Apple. So definitely something that I love about BevNet Live in New York City and I think something that Whether you're a first time attendee or someone who's been there a number of times will feel as well.
[00:04:00] Jacqui Brugliera: And if he gets stressed out, we've got the industrial hemp beverage sampling again. It's going to happen. Got to mention that since I think we were maybe the first event to do that. Some people told us that, but I guess this will be the second or third or something.
[00:04:17] John Craven: What we've heard from the industry is that we're doing a fairly good job of leaning into hemp beverages and cannabis beverages and treating it very seriously and helping it become like a business conference for, for cannabebs. I'm personally super proud of that and want to continue to make it a friendly space for, you know, anyone building a beverage, come on in. We'll help you get your beverage to the next level. I mean, that's what it's all about.
[00:04:41] Mike Schneider: There's great like sampling opportunities for pretty much any experience that or use case you see your beverage being used in. Like we have our non-alcoholic bar too, which is great for non-alcoholic cocktails and better for you options for people that aren't trying to drink as much alcohol. And we are going to have a panel about that at BevNET Live as well, featuring some non-alcoholic retailers, which is Sashay and Boisson.
[00:05:10] Ray Latif: Boisson.
[00:05:11] Mike Schneider: Boisson.
[00:05:12] Ray Latif: Boisson. I took French in high school, so I can correct you.
[00:05:16] Mike Schneider: I did not, so I'm going to butcher it.
[00:05:17] Ray Latif: That's pretty good, Rae. Wasn't it? Isn't it pretty good? When I was in Spain last week, I could not speak a lick of Spanish. I felt like such an ass trying to actually keep up with people. It was pathetic. Actually, I was speaking French, Spanish, and English, but it was all in single words. I was like, si, oui, no. It was just like, none of this makes any sense. People were actually laughing at me. It's embarrassing. But anyway, it's not the first time people have laughed at me or right in my face. Switching gears here, you know, in June we'll be on the cusp of Euro 2024, which I know Mike and I are extremely excited about, but we're right in the thick of the NCAA tournaments. And Jackie, I am sure you are watching every second you can.
[00:06:01] Mike Schneider: I am. This tournament's been insane. I've definitely been more closely watching the women's basketball. And I'm so happy that women's basketball is getting, you know, their day. Um, and hopefully it will just drive awareness and exposure for women athletes moving forward. But every game's been neck and neck and I did create a bracket. I have some of the Bev netters in there competing. Unfortunately, I'm not in the lead right now, but you know, hopefully I have going forward. I will. move up the ranks.
[00:06:31] Ray Latif: Jackie, national champion of your national team, and you're not even in the lead in your workplace tournament bracket. Come on, what is going on?
[00:06:43] Mike Schneider: I think I led with like emotion rather than, you know, just looking at the numbers.
[00:06:48] John Craven: That'll happen. Some good chats about it in Slack. I mean, we're just we're talking about Juju Watkins the other day from USC. What a player.
[00:06:56] Mike Schneider: She's unreal, and she's a freshman and she's freshman you and a guard. She's just unreal.
[00:07:01] Ray Latif: She plays like a do years old bossing the game It was awesome to yeah, yeah, yeah Caitlin Clark obviously Paige Buckers from UConn my pricing her last name correctly
[00:07:11] Mike Schneider: Paige Bukers.
[00:07:13] Ray Latif: Bukers. Yeah. Bukers. I think people call her Paige Buckets. She's a dynamite. That's a good name. But Bukers I think is correct. Yeah. But yeah, maybe you think about the NIL opportunities, name, image, and likeness opportunities for these folks. And I saw that Caitlin Clark is making like $3.1 million this year in NIL money. And it's funny because like remember back in the day when you could like get WNBA stars or like rookies and any professional sports team, and you could kind of get them on the cheap. Because it was like, these are people who are relatively new or that people don't, you know, the general public doesn't know much about. And now it's like, you know, if you participate in the NCAA tournament, you have a breakout season, smaller and early stage brands can't just be like, hey, you know, here's 10 grand. And you know, please endorse our product. Like, yeah, I can't imagine any early stage brand that would be able to afford Caitlin Clarke at this point. It's like, you know, she's dealing with massive legacy brands probably, you know, knocking on her door.
[00:08:13] Mike Schneider: Oh yeah. I mean, she's sponsored by Nike. She's in like all these Nike ads right now, but also it does create an opportunity because there's a lot of athletes that aren't the Caitlin Clarks that still have an audience and have fans that are following them. So they're pretty much influencers in their own right. They're just maybe more micro influencers. So yeah, NIL has changed the game. It wasn't a thing when I was an athlete, but now they can, you know, get paid for being, you know, little celebrities.
[00:08:42] Ray Latif: Did you hear the level of remorse in Jackie's voice? That I'm a Taste Radio I Can maybe afford to buy a condo in San Diego had I had some of that money down payment would be nice but Times are different Times are different. Times are different. Now you just have to rely on the generosity of BevNET. Yes. On your home. Really? Are we going there? Jeez. Mike you've mentioned hemp earlier and in last week's episode John had talked about how there was certain singular trends or ingredients that used to sort of dominate the conversation at past Expo West and in 2019 that ingredient was CBD and it seemed like the entire show was soaked with in CBD, just on the tip of everyone's tongue. Anyone who was creating a new product or like, you know, had sort of under the table innovation seemed to be interested in or working on a new CBD infused product. Five years later, not so much. In fact, there was an article in the New York Times that was published about a month ago titled, Companies Were Big on CBT, Not Anymore. That's pretty straightforward. And it interviewed some folks in the industry, including the founder of Vibes, Jonathan Eppers. Vibes is a brand of CBD beverages, as well as Ben Witte, who is the founder of Recess, which began as a CBD infused brand. And now, as he mentioned in the article, CBD infused products represent less than 10% of sales to recess at this point. And, you know, I think it's kind of strange to me because there was so much interest. It seemed like there was a lot of consumer demand as well, and it just fell off a cliff. John Craven, I mean, you were following this, this ingredient and this trend really closely. I mean, is there any chance that it could make a comeback? CBD? Yeah.
[00:10:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Well, I mean, I don't know if make a comeback's the right way to contextualize it, but... I mean, CBD is still a thing. It just kind of isn't a gold rush of everyone trying to put it in everything anymore, which is totally fine. I mean, there's certainly, you know, it's used as a supplement and, uh, and other types of products than beverages. And, you know, I think in 2019, it was very much like a lot of chatter and not a lot of actual action since. I think if we thought about all the companies that we talked to about their upcoming CBD line, that never happened, there were a fair amount. Right. So I don't know. I mean, why did it fall out of favor? We could probably talk about that for a half an hour, but I think ultimately like the trajectory of. COVID and just where we're at now with hemp derived THC kind of has made CBD slightly the odd man out, I suppose.
[00:11:46] John Craven: It also seems like, Ray, you mentioned Vibes and Recess and another one is Trip. The ones that were pre-Gold Rush into CBD are the ones that are still doing CBD. And a lot of the Gold Rush brands are just kind of not doing CBD.
[00:12:00] Jacqui Brugliera: Well, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say Recess was like a gold-brushed brand which is pivoted, but it's a longer game.
[00:12:06] Mike Schneider: I think there's still a level of education about it, and I think there's also an opportunity to just kind of roll it into hemp-derived beverages. You're seeing a lot more THC beverages that are including other cannabinoids in it, so you're getting more of the plant for a better high and a better experience, so less psychoactive and more like relaxation. So like Calexo, for example, has equal parts THC to CBD in their beverages, and you have a better experience because you have less of the psychoactive effects. So I think there's like an opportunity there, especially with like the regulations for like specifically hemp derived beverages that opens the door to be sold in like more retail stores.
[00:12:45] John Craven: And you see Magic Cactus with the. additional THC-V as well than non-psychoactive THC. Not sure exactly what that does, but I do like the impact of Magic Cactus. It just gives you that. I mean, for me, it just gives you that just chill that you're looking for. And then you're not like knocked out for an hour either or two or three. We're in the matrix.
[00:13:09] Ray Latif: Yeah, well, I think this goes back to the point that you made, Jackie, about education, but also sort of delivery mechanism for CBD and for THC. I feel like, John, you'd noted that CBD is still consumed pretty widely as a supplement. and in tablets or other forms, if less so in beverages and food. But I think, you know, THC isn't like that. I think, you know, THC in terms of supplements, people don't necessarily say, I'm going to have to THC tablet or capsule, or I think that's more prevalent in the CBD market. But I wonder, you know, if the education even matters at this point. I mean, do people, you know, really want to learn about it as much as they, say, want to learn about THC?
[00:13:57] Jacqui Brugliera: Well, I mean, I think the education is sort of like the literal opposite of CBD, which for CBD, it was like, does this stuff work? And now I think there's almost a need to educate about these products not being something that's going to have you like, I don't know, passed out on the couch, right? That they are like social products. And, you know, I think very few of them are using the word high to describe the function. So, I mean, I think THC is a widely understood functional, I don't know, not ingredient, but Ingredient I guess so I think at this point. It's just more like mainstreaming it and you know I think just the stuff we've seen Even in the past week with chains like total wine like putting THC beverages and like all of their California locations Which they've been you know slowly doing that in other states like these things are gonna mainstream these types of products in a way that I I don't think recreational dispensaries ever would have. So it's like the playing field has completely changed and the opportunity has completely changed. So very interesting to see, you know, where this stuff all goes, but seems like lots of, uh,
[00:15:12] John Craven: potential upside here. Also seems like we're starting to see more mushrooms being combined with THC and CBD. I'm not talking about psychoactive mushrooms yet. Talking about lion's mane in this particular, I've got, we just got the new Breeze in which is The previous can was much smaller, two and a half milligrams of THC. This is a 12 ounce can, five milligrams THC, 10 milligrams CBD, 2,200 milligrams of Lion's Mane. John Craven sampling. All right. I'm curious how it tastes compared to the... Why not? I'll go for it too. The old one.
[00:15:47] Mike Schneider: I think like CBD had its heyday of just like this one singular ingredient. And because everyone's kind of just jumping on it, because there was something new and exciting. And you know, people wanted to feel better. But now it's just being added to the mix of all these other functional ingredients to make like a well rounded experience.
[00:16:07] John Craven: I'm not gonna say what it tastes like, because last time you guys lit me up for saying it tastes like squirt. Oh, I still do. It's good.
[00:16:15] Jacqui Brugliera: I like it. It's lemon elderflower flavor and definitely, I don't know, squirt, fresca, sprite. Yep. With some kind of earthy undertones to it. I like the way they're leaning into the terpenes instead of like trying to get rid of them. I mean, this is really tasty. I mean, it definitely is. I want to drink more. This is definitely like a product that, you know, when you think about these as alcohol replacements, where this would be like a bit of a slow sipper yes which seems like what they're going for it's pretty like intense in the flavor bitterness has like a hop quality to it where it's like slowing you down it's really nice yeah it's good it's good i like the branding it's very sort of subtle you know but it does have like this sort of oil slick on it too that's like oh slow down a little bit that could be cycling You know that that's what I want from a beverage like this just a little bit of a warning you want like an indicator that you if you look at this and you see like Leprechauns Are means you stop drinking yeah, or if I see three cans instead of She's didn't you just say it
[00:17:16] Ray Latif: That, you know, it's a good replacement for alcohol beverages. I don't think that's a good endorsement.
[00:17:21] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, if they could have that on the side of, uh, I don't know, like a Tegroni, I'd be okay with that too. Yeah.
[00:17:27] Ray Latif: I hope after one can of Tegroni, you aren't seeing leprechauns.
[00:17:33] Jacqui Brugliera: That would take a lot.
[00:17:35] Ray Latif: Just to be clear, the brand you guys are talking about and sipping on is called Breeze, spelled B-R-E-E-Z, correct?
[00:17:41] John Craven: That is right. That's correct.
[00:17:42] Ray Latif: There you go. It's quite delicious. And to close the loop on this CBD conversation, Jackie, I think you nailed it. talking about CBD as a secondary ingredient almost, as a way to enhance the overall functionality of a product versus being the primary reason that someone is drinking a functional beverage or eating a functional food. So I think that is definitely something, a trend that we're seeing more often. I think the question is, you know, does the cost to add CBD justify the functional benefit that consumers are getting and the price they're paying for whatever product you're selling?
[00:18:18] John Craven: I mean, we still haven't had scientific studies where we can point to what CBD actually does. It's all hearsay. Like, I don't know, someone like me who you know, had shoulder issues and then, and was taking ibuprofen and decided, I'm not taking ibuprofen anymore and replaced it with CBD and then felt better. Was it because I felt better? Just, I just healed? Is it a placebo? What is it? Who knows? But like, that's what we have right now when you're talking about CBD.
[00:18:44] Ray Latif: Now, one ingredient that no one can debate the efficacy of is, of course, Cognizant. Cognizant is a clinically tested nootropic ingredient that delivers a patented form of acetylcholine to supply your brain and those of your consumers with the energy it needs to stay sharp. Learn more at Cognizant.com. That's C-O-G-N-I-Z-I-N.com. Of course, Cognizant is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Taste Radio. Don't take ibuprofen. It's bad for you. I stopped. My doctor told me to. There's my soapbox moment for this episode. Don't take ibuprofen, folks. It's killing you. Okay. Don't trust the government. No, I'm just kidding.
[00:19:26] Jacqui Brugliera: I was like, we need that. Can we insert that disclaimer that says that those are the opinions of Ray Latif only?
[00:19:34] John Craven: The opinions of Ray Latif about ibuprofen and blue foods do not necessarily agree with those of BevNET.com, Inc.
[00:19:42] Ray Latif: Well, speaking of canned cocktails like Tegronis, everyone knows the brand Crystal Head Vodka, which was co-created by the actor Dan Aykroyd, who I interviewed last year on Taste Radio. Great episode. If you haven't had an opportunity, go to Taste Radio.com, look for Dan Aykroyd, or just look for Crystal Head Vodka and listen to that episode. It's a great one. Crystal Head Vodka came out with some new canned cocktails. So they have two varieties. They have a Cosmopolitan and they have an Espresso Martini. They come in these wonderful little steel cans. They're 100 milliliter cans. I think everyone's seen these. It's like Tip Top or Post Meridiem or Tacronis. And, you know, these are two very well-known and trendy types of cocktails as a Cosmo and certainly an Espresso Martini. I haven't tried either yet. I'm excited to, but both are made obviously with Crystal Head Vodka. I love these cans and to me they indicate quality and they indicate convenience more to me than a lot of the full-size 10, 12, 16-ounce canned cocktails. But the proof is in the pudding. Does this taste good? And if it does, I'll certainly be a consumer. I mean, I like the can too. It's black with the little skull that you. It's a really cool looking can. With the Crystal Head vodka brand. You know, those are the ones that come in those glass skull shaped bottles. So good stuff.
[00:21:07] Jacqui Brugliera: I think we're going to need an office taste test.
[00:21:11] Ray Latif: You want to try these two? Yeah, why not? Because they belong to me. Here we go, I'm just kidding. I'll bring him in. I'll bring him in. I have a million, not a million, but I have so many espresso martini can cocktails. There's like, I think I have about a dozen. I'm not kidding. And I was going to bring him to the office so we could do like a taste test, but. I don't know, maybe maybe you can get Uber or Lyft to sponsor our our taste test, because, yeah, you know why I'll pay for your Lyft ride. Oh, okay, yeah. Just don't have any of your three leprechaun beverages before you do. Can we sample a new... I said I'd pay for your Lyft, not participate in the taste test.
[00:21:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, my God. Is it swill time? Hey, I mean, you're jumping to conclusions here, but we got this new Reese's International Delight iced coffee beverage that... Oh, no. It could be good. It says that it's made with real milk and cream. It's a product from Danone. It's got 220 calories in this 16-ounce can here. Oh, God. How many grams of sugar? Uh, it's looking like 38.
[00:22:20] Mike Schneider: Does it have a million ingredients in it?
[00:22:23] Jacqui Brugliera: A million ingredients. Hold on. I gotta have a sip first. Wow. It really, it smells like, like Reese's peanut butter cups. It tastes like almost like a liqueur.
[00:22:33] No Habla: Hmm.
[00:22:35] Jacqui Brugliera: Strange. It's not good. Doesn't have a million ingredients. I don't know.
[00:22:40] John Craven: I don't know.
[00:22:41] Jacqui Brugliera: That's like peanut butter flavoring, right? It says natural and artificial flavors, cane sugar, processed, you know, I don't know. I guess it is what it is here. Isn't International Delight a creamer? Yes. Yeah. So it's kind of weird to have that as like the focal point of a drink. Well, the cream makes the coffee for a lot of people, right?
[00:23:06] Mike Schneider: I guess it's like people that get iced coffee and like it's all cream and like a splash of coffee.
[00:23:11] Ray Latif: It's like for the people who buy Yankee candles that smell like Dunkin' Donuts coffee, you know, it's just like, can you ever do that? You go into someone's home, it's like some home in, I don't know, I was gonna say a town, I'm not gonna say the town.
[00:23:21] Jacqui Brugliera: I mean, look, this product, I'll give it props for it delivers on what it says on the can. It does. It tastes like Reese's, it tastes like International Delight. Not my personal cup of tea, but. For me, it delivers on everything except for the delight part. And I don't know about the, 38 grams of sugar. But it's in there.
[00:23:41] Ray Latif: You guys get to try the chameleon coffee, the Girl Scout flavored chameleon coffee at Expo West. We did not. Yeah, I didn't either. But, you know, an indication that indulgent flavors are still hot or still at least of interest to consumers, even at Expo West.
[00:23:58] Jacqui Got: So. Vibrant Ingredients is the natural ingredient partner powering food and beverage innovation, delivering flavor, function, and protection through a science-backed portfolio. Vibrant delivers purpose-driven solutions that help brands create extraordinary experiences. Discover what's possible with Vibrant today. Visit VibrantIngredients.com.
[00:24:27] John Craven: Does this count as an indulgent flavor? Hot dog? Because I've got something here that says it's 100% beef hot dog, and then 10,000% free to top it as you see fit. It's in a big white box from 7-Eleven. Is that from 7-Eleven? Yes. You can't be more than 100% 7-Eleven. But what's in it? Is it from 7-Eleven? What do we got here? Big Bite Hot Dog Sparkling Water. Oh, come on. Founded by artists and R. Tom Stevenson and Jason S. Wright, Miracle Seltzer aims to inspire and uplift everyone that takes a sip. Join us as we delight in this, in these miracles.
[00:25:06] Mike Schneider: So I think it's like hot dog water.
[00:25:07] John Craven: We're going to try some hot dog water here. And we got to save some of that for sample Captain Colin. He specifically requested.
[00:25:13] Jacqui Brugliera: Not for resale, so what exactly is this?
[00:25:16] John Craven: What is the point of this? The point is... There is no point. This is probably the point. Get us to talk about it. Yeah. It's clear, not brown.
[00:25:27] Mike Schneider: This, like, makes me think of, like, hot dog eating contests, where they, like, have to dunk the buns in the water, and then, like, it's just, like... It's actually gonna be hot dog water.
[00:25:36] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, God. It smells. It smells like hot dogs. Here we go. Hmm. Yeah, it tastes like hot dogs.
[00:25:46] Mike Schneider: Really?
[00:25:47] SPEAKER_??: Hmm.
[00:25:48] Mike Schneider: With any like toppings or like just pure hot dog?
[00:25:51] John Craven: It tastes like what you would expect when you're on the street and the hot dogs are in the water and they take it out of the water.
[00:25:56] Mike Schneider: Yeah, no, I'm picturing someone went into a... Boiled like hot dog juice.
[00:25:59] Jacqui Brugliera: Uh-huh, boiled hot dog juice. Someone went into a 7-Eleven and grabbed, there's like probably a little drawer in there where they keep the hot dogs in the water, put them in the roller, just drain that. It's not terrible.
[00:26:10] Mike Schneider: Really? Not terrible.
[00:26:11] John Craven: I mean, if you like hot dogs, it's not terrible. If you don't like hot dogs, this would be your nightmare.
[00:26:16] Ray Latif: Apparently, there is a character on Scooby-Doo whose nickname is Hot Dog Water. Her name is Marcy Fletch, better known as Hot Dog Water, character on Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated. We gotta ask Joshua Pratt about this. I'm sure he knows who this is. but Joshua Pratt is our technical director, excuse me, Joshua, Joshua Pratt, our technical director, but.
[00:26:39] Jacqui Brugliera: Think you're confusing Ninja Turtles and Scooby-Doo, by the way.
[00:26:41] Ray Latif: Yeah, I looked up hot dog water and that's the only thing I see coming up. Oh no, I take that back, there was another one. In 2018, there was a brand, a product literally called Hot Dog Water, and it was sold in Vancouver, Canada, and it looked like it was actually a hot dog in a bottle of water very different than what you guys are drinking.
[00:27:04] Mike Schneider: So asparagus water that like went viral.
[00:27:08] Ray Latif: Yes, I remember that. But the asparagus water wasn't 28 bucks a bottle like this hot dog. Wow.
[00:27:13] Mike Schneider: That's an expensive hot dog.
[00:27:15] Ray Latif: Yeah, yeah. I don't know who. We want to show that out, but maybe these guys are on to something because this is really sick with you, though.
[00:27:23] John Craven: I don't know.
[00:27:24] Mike Schneider: Oh, no. It's lingering a lingering taste.
[00:27:27] John Craven: It's as though I'm in a hot dog eating contest right now. I know how Joey Chestnut must feel. It's like I'm just continuously a little interesting. Yeah, it's still there. It's like I'm still eating buns.
[00:27:37] Ray Latif: And the brand is called Big Bite. Is that what it's called? It is called Big Bite.
[00:27:41] John Craven: So it's created by 7-Eleven. It looks like it's 7-Eleven stunt. Okay, well, we're researching. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:27:48] Ray Latif: Okay. Novelty is still alive and well in the beverage industry.
[00:27:51] John Craven: Clearly seven select house of miracles is above big bite. So there we go. Can we cleanse this with something? Yeah.
[00:27:58] Mike Schneider: Do you have something good over there?
[00:27:59] John Craven: I got some carbone.
[00:28:02] Jacqui Brugliera: This seems like the type of thing that that Ray would endorse. Yeah. He'd be like, you know, I eat a lot of Alfredo sauce at home. Along with a nice chocolate cake that I've got over here.
[00:28:17] Ray Latif: No, I like Carbone. Big fan.
[00:28:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Carbone is great. Yeah. Tried this real quick at Expo. It was, uh, it was pretty tasty. I don't know if I've had a jarred Alfredo sauce in a long, long time, but it was pretty good. Yes. You could, you could drink it as a beverage. People want me to chug it? No. Chug Alfredo sauce.
[00:28:35] Ray Latif: Was Mario Carbone at Expo West? I didn't see him there.
[00:28:38] Jacqui Brugliera: I didn't see him. It's hard to verify if he was in the building or not. It's a large place, right?
[00:28:43] Ray Latif: Okay. Loved my interview with Mario, which we published last year on Taste Radio. It's a classic. Check that one out, too. Can I stay on Le Sauce front for a second? Yes, please. Sure. Yes. I got some samples of a new brand, or at least a brand that I'm not familiar with, called Le Sauce, Le Sauce Company, that makes gourmet pasta sauce and sells them in these 8.8-ounce pouches. Why are you laughing, Mike? Because you go to Spain and suddenly- Now he's French. You have a French accent. No, it's literally called Le Sauce. It's like the Pulp Fiction line. What do they call a Big Mac in France? It's Le Big Mac. So yeah, these products come in five varieties. There's a classic marinara. There's a savory Provençal. I didn't pronounce that correctly. Creamy sun-dried tomato pesto, a spicy pomodoro, and of course, everyone's favorite, tomato basil. So I love this because it's like two servings. As I was saying before we hopped on the mics, everyone has a jar of pasta sauce in the back of their fridge that they opened and they only used half the jar and they forgot about it. And a month later, you're like, oh, is it still good? And you end up tossing it out. You don't have to worry about it. I love this. This is extremely convenient, especially for people two-person households or even three-person households, it feels like this is a really good option. So well done, Lusos.
[00:30:08] Mike Schneider: This has nothing to do with sauce, but to wash down, I guess, some pasta sauce, I have this product. It's Booda Perfect Energy, so B-O-O-D-A. And they have a variety of different call-outs on the front, hitting all these kind of different hot topics right now, which is zero sugar, has L-theanine, functional mushrooms, natural caffeine. The flavor of this one is Yuzu Sunrise. So it's really, you know, all about enhanced stress free energy, which I think is like been a big topic of just people don't want the crash. They don't want like the foggy brain, they want to get energized, but still have that like mental focus and uplifting feeling. So it's kind of hitting on all those things. And like Mike was saying earlier, everything kind of has functional mushrooms in it these days. And I'm seeing L-theanine in a bunch of energy drinks, kind of trying to mimic the effects of green tea or matcha where you don't get the crash and you get that mood boost. So interesting product. I haven't tried it yet, but I guess I'll try it now. Yuzu also is something that's kind of trending right now and some products as well.
[00:31:18] Ray Latif: Yeah, I've got some yuzu here too as well, Jackie. Yuzu's hot. Hot, hot, hot, hot flavor.
[00:31:24] Mike Schneider: Yeah, it's nice like light flavor. I feel like it's what you would expect from like a better for you energy drink.
[00:31:30] Ray Latif: Nice. Well, I can't end the show without talking about a product that I found at the Seafood Expo, which was held in Boston about three weeks ago. It was held a week before Expo West and the Seafood Expo is this grand exposition for suppliers, seafood suppliers around the world. It's a lot of food service, really. But there are a number of retail brands and products that are exhibited at the show. Acme, which is a pretty well-known brand of smoked fish, introduced a new product or a new line of products called Locks in a Box. And there are two varieties.
[00:32:08] John Craven: Fox on socks and Knox on blocks.
[00:32:10] Ray Latif: There's a cream cheese variety and there's an avocado toast variety. Each of these comes, it's this kit. The cream cheese one comes with smoked salmon, cream cheese, crackers, and utensil. The avocado one comes with smoked salmon, avocado spread, crackers, and utensil. I'm going to open it up. So you got your salmon. If you're watching the video, that is I'm showing what's going to be a great screen capture right there. Oh, you got branded Philadelphia cream cheese right here. Look at that.
[00:32:39] Mike Schneider: Nothing but the best. Interesting.
[00:32:41] Ray Latif: You got your utensil. Look at this thing. This is like, can you hold a bag of fish again?
[00:32:46] Mike Schneider: Yeah, that was.
[00:32:47] Ray Latif: You want to see the bag of fish?
[00:32:48] Mike Schneider: Not the most appetizing.
[00:32:49] Jacqui Brugliera: It looked like you were holding up evidence.
[00:32:51] No Habla: Yeah.
[00:32:53] Ray Latif: No CBD or THC in this salmon as far as I know. But no, I love this. I love this option. Makes it easy for you to have a lot of protein in a relatively convenient and quick way. That's 12 grams of protein per serving. I forget, jeez, I'm blanking on how much. these retail for. They are already in some select Wegmans. I want to say that they are $6.99, $7.99 per box, but the branding is also fantastic. I love this. Really, really good. I feel like you could sell this on an airplane pretty easily.
[00:33:31] Jacqui Brugliera: Actually, you probably wouldn't because people don't... Please don't sell that on an airplane.
[00:33:34] Mike Schneider: It's going to be smelly.
[00:33:36] Jacqui Brugliera: One final beverage shout out for saving us from the flavor of the hot dog water. In a great way. In a great way, which is bare maple, which is the sparkling ginseng elixir that is made with a base of maple water. Really bummed I didn't get to try this at Expo West, just ran out of time. But this stuff's really tasty, cool looking packaging, clean ingredients, only five calories.
[00:34:00] John Craven: We're sitting over here waiting for Ray to throw it back to us because we're still sitting in like hot dog water. And I just decided to open it because Jackie was talking about yuzu. John's got the yuzu citrus variety in front of him. I've got ginger. We just tried them both and our eyes are like bugging out of our heads. This is really good. Really good stuff.
[00:34:17] Mike Schneider: It's cool to see maple water. You know, I feel like there were like a host of maple water products and then it kind of died down a little bit, but maybe it's coming back.
[00:34:24] John Craven: Maple water, birch water, a bunch of tree water, right?
[00:34:27] Mike Schneider: Yeah, tree waters.
[00:34:28] John Craven: Yeah. Can I have the final shout out?
[00:34:30] Mike Schneider: Go for it.
[00:34:31] John Craven: This is one of my favorite products and it's Ye's. The crispy meat jerky in my hand right here is the mild variety, which we've tried before. And now there's a spicy. from grandma's original recipe. I can't wait to dig into this. So thanks so much for sending. Phenomenal product.
[00:34:50] Ray Latif: Love that brand. First saw them at Fancy Food Show, Summer 2023. Man, that's a really delicious product. And I saw they came out with that spicy variety. Can't wait to try that once I'm in the office. So please save some.
[00:35:03] John Craven: All right, I'll hold this one. I'll hold this one off and I'll take this one down. See ya.
[00:35:08] Mike Schneider: I'm not a meat eater, but the branding is on point. And then I've seen pictures of the product and it looks super crunchy, crispy, delicious.
[00:35:16] Ray Latif: It is exactly all those things.
[00:35:18] John Craven: It's got like an interesting quality to it because it's not it's not like a chip, and it's not like jerky It's somewhere in between in the most perfect way. It's got to be really difficult to make So good
[00:35:32] 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.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:36:22] No Habla: you
