[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, 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 I'm with my co-host for this episode, Jacqui Brugliera and Mike Schneider. Welcome home, Mike. Thanks, Ray. Where were you? I was just down on the Cape. The Cape? The Cape could mean many places.
[00:00:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, what part of the Cape? Buzzard's Bay area.
[00:00:37] Mike Schneider: Yeah. Okay. I went over the bridge a couple of times, but I wasn't staying on the proper Cape side of the bridge. Gotcha. Yeah, you know, it's like playing some pickleball, doing some kayaking.
[00:00:47] Ray Latif: In this neck of the woods, and I think down there as well, they call it Buzzard's Bay. Buzzard's Bay. Buzzard's Bay.
[00:00:54] Mike Schneider: Buzzard's Bay kids.
[00:00:54] Ray Latif: Yeah. There's a great winery out there called Westport Rivers. Did you make your way out there?
[00:01:00] Mike Schneider: I did not make my way to Westport Rivers. I was mostly in Marion, you know, going to great places like Fieldstone for ice cream and the Oxford Creamery. Had some great seafood from J. McNaughton's as well. Man, they make some really, really good stuff. Clams and fish cakes and lobster cakes and things like that. Mike's getting a coupon for the next time he visits.
[00:01:22] Ray Latif: I'm getting a coupon. Yeah, yeah, I'm surprised you didn't check me on wine from Massachusetts because it's kind of a Oxymoron isn't it you know good wine from Massachusetts, but it's not it is not it is an oxymoron But I know that you're not a moron, and you know a lot about wine, so if you say it's good I believe you it is delicious
[00:01:46] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I feel like I wouldn't check anything Ray says about wine. I'm like, yeah, I believe you.
[00:01:51] Mike Schneider: I know, because we've been on so many good trips with Ray where Ray points out like the best of the best. Yeah, he knows Ray can tell you what the best, you know, $50 bottle is, but he can also tell you what the best $10 bottle is.
[00:02:03] Ray Latif: It's awesome. There you go, folks. If you have any questions about the wine world, but we're afraid to ask, just send me a note. Ask at Taste Radio. Well, we're glad you're back. You did miss out on one of the great new products of 2024. Well, luckily we have more. Last week we highlighted a new collaboration between GoodCop, excuse me, GoodPop, which makes better for you ice cream snacks. It is kind of a GoodCop, BadCop situation. It is a little bit, but they make some fantastic dessert treats, better for you dessert treats. And Oreida, the maker of well-known potato products, French fries being the most familiar of them.
[00:02:49] Jacqui Brugliera: I had one for breakfast today because Craven actually bought them and had them shipped over here and he left one in the freezer with my name and big caps for Jackie. So I had to eat it for breakfast.
[00:03:00] Ray Latif: You had to eat it for breakfast. Well done. So yeah, this is their fudge and vanilla French fry pop. It's an ice cream, it's a ice cream pop, chocolate covered with French fries underneath the chocolate. And I had one last week and it was fantastic. This is made with oat milk. This is not made with dairy. Oat milk, fair trade cane sugar, coconut oil, pea protein, a bunch of other stuff in here too. It's not a short ingredient list, but it is, as far as I can tell, vegan. So that's a good start for people who are looking for something like that.
[00:03:37] Mike Schneider: It says no.
[00:03:39] Ray Latif: Because it's for Mike. That's also something that Nate, our Minister of Photographic Arts, put on the package so no one else would eat it. So Mike has one in his hand right there. Now we're live on the video. We didn't have this on video last week because we didn't actually have the product. I got the product the next day, but Mike's biting into it there.
[00:03:58] Jacqui Brugliera: It's really delicious. It wasn't like quite exactly what I was expecting. Like it's not as obvious French fry flavor.
[00:04:07] Mike Schneider: Yeah. Where's the French fries?
[00:04:08] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. It's a nice like salty and sweet and very creamy ice cream bar, even though it seems to be all non-dairy.
[00:04:16] Ray Latif: It is very creamy.
[00:04:18] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:04:19] Ray Latif: The French fries are like shoestring fries, but they're almost like the Andy Cap sort of dried French fries underneath that chocolate.
[00:04:26] Jacqui Brugliera: Gives it like a little crunch, like a little like casing. It's nice.
[00:04:30] Ray Latif: Very much so. I think it would have been kind of gross to have like a, I don't know, soft French fries underneath, like a mushy French fry. Yeah. So yeah, I think the crunch probably makes sense. And it actually, you know, when it says French fry pop, You know, there's a little bit of a pop in every time you bite into one of those fries. So maybe that's the pun there. Sweet and salty, deliciously predictable. Is it predictable? Was this predictable for you, Mike? That's the way they describe it on the back. Jeez, what's going on over there?
[00:05:01] Mike Schneider: I mean, it's a good ice cream bar, but if you made me blind taste test this and say, Mike, what is this? I'd say it's a crunchy ice cream bar. It's barely salty and you can barely taste the fries and they don't kind of show up either. And they're, they're smaller than what you see on the front of packs. So, I mean, it's a great ice cream bar. Is it a great French fry pop ice cream bar? I don't know. I don't know. I expected something else. It's good. I like it. All right. Is it DNS worthy? Yeah. Yeah, DNS. I mean, I definitely would not give it an S. So it must be DNS.
[00:05:40] Ray Latif: Definitely don't give it an S. That's a good call.
[00:05:42] Mike Schneider: It does not suck.
[00:05:43] Ray Latif: Yeah. Okay. Well, guess what? Our Minister of Photographic Arts, Nate Brescia, slacked me as you're eating this. And he asked if he wanted us to take these freezer pops, well, these french fry pops back to the freezer. Yeah, come get these. Yes. I kind of feel like he wants one. He wants to try one, which is a good idea.
[00:06:03] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. I mean, he can have it.
[00:06:05] Ray Latif: I'll be right back. Wait, where are you going?
[00:06:07] Jacqui Brugliera: I'm going to leave the show.
[00:06:08] Ray Latif: No, he's going to come in. Okay. Mike's gone. That's the end of the show for Mike. Jackie, how are you doing?
[00:06:15] Jacqui Brugliera: People are dropping like flies.
[00:06:16] Ray Latif: I guess so. Yeah. You look like you got some sun over the past week. Was it from the boat?
[00:06:21] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it was from the boat. It was from the beach. I've been chilling by pools. It's summer mode here in San Diego.
[00:06:28] Ray Latif: Isn't it always summer mode in San Diego?
[00:06:30] Jacqui Brugliera: It's especially summer mode right now. So my face is a giant freckle.
[00:06:34] Ray Latif: OK. Well, your face is what? A giant freckle. Your face is a giant freckle? No.
[00:06:39] Jacqui Brugliera: During the summer, I just like turn another shade.
[00:06:41] Ray Latif: Well, you look tan is what I said. I can't see any freckles. Maybe it's because our TV isn't as high as it should be. Yeah. Is this still the show? It is still the show, yeah.
[00:06:51] Jacqui Brugliera: You're back.
[00:06:52] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I couldn't eat that whole thing.
[00:06:54] Ray Latif: Oh, I see. Okay. So like last week, I want to talk about a product, but we don't have the actual product here with us. So this was the case with the Oorida and Good Pop, French fry pop. But I saw this on LinkedIn yesterday. This is a new brand of Better For You sodas, or at least what's described as Better For You sodas, launched by a gentleman named Sam Wilson. who has been an executive for a lot of high-profile brands like Congo Brands, which makes Prime and Alani New, Bang Energy, Red Bull, Boston Beer. And so he has created, in collaboration with his son, a new brand called NoCap. N-O-C-A-P with an apostrophe, excuse me, an exclamation point after cap. And they're describing it as soda pop. It feels very young. It almost looks a bit bang-ish in terms of its color palette. And the names are very young. There's an Apple Riz flavor. There's a Passion Vibe. There's a Bussin, B-U-S-S-I-N, apostrophe, Berry, Tangy Orange, and Strawberry. I can't read what the strawberry variety is, but, um, I think this is kind of interesting. Strawberry Skibbity. I feel like it's kind of interesting because it doesn't look anything like the better for you sodas that we've seen, like an Ollie Pop, a Poppy, a Culture Pop, what have you. And it feels like it's definitely trying to reach a very young audience. Much younger than I can align with. I guess that's what I can say about this. Jackie, did you see the post?
[00:08:49] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I did see the post. I mean, you saying the names, that's the thing that first grabbed my eye was how all these SKUs were named. I mean, Bussin and Riz, it's really playing on like their own language that they have at this point. The world of Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers. Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, a lot of the better for you sodas, they're all, I mean, mainly targeting like millennials and people that used to, you know, have nostalgic flavors and they wanted something that's better for you now. So it's interesting that they're like really going in for Gen Z, Gen Alpha. You said that he is partnering with his son on this. So he has, you know, sounds like someone that's young, that's in the fold and helping speak to maybe his demographic.
[00:09:37] Ray Latif: Yeah, so just a few more details on this. It's sweetened with a blend of stevia and allulose. It contains some functional ingredients, or it contains a functional ingredient, which is one that's probably familiar to many people on this show, a muse. Amuse, as we've mentioned on this show many times, is a clinically proven functional ingredient designed to boost your immune system. It also contains, No Cap that is, 10 calories per 12 ounce can. Although actually I'm looking at the post here and it looks like it says some zero. zero. According to the front of the can, it contains zero calories per 12-ounce can. And according to our dear friend, Jerry Kermouche, who is the editor of a newsletter called Beverage Business Insights, the products will go for $2.49 per can, promoted at $2 for $4. So once again, I think this is a very different approach than what we've seen in the better for you soda space. I'm kind of curious as to who, however, is going to spend $2.49 per can, especially because I don't know too many kids that would spend that much.
[00:10:58] Mike Schneider: There is intentional nostalgia baked into this, Ray. And it's Willy Wonka's bottle caps. That's good call.
[00:11:06] Ray Latif: That's the aesthetic here. Yes. The Willy Wonka's bottle caps, which are candy.
[00:11:10] Mike Schneider: Candy, which they've taken to the next level. That's the look and feel of the old cap. And they're calling it No Cap. So I think they're going for the Gen Z, Gen Alpha customer with this, obviously with flavors like Apple Risen, Passion Vibe, and Bustin' Berry. And it's Tangy Orange and Strawberry Dream, but I think they missed a chance to get No Skivity in there. But there's definitely a throwback in this as well.
[00:11:40] Ray Latif: Yeah, there is. But if you are a young consumer and you see No Cap, you automatically know what that means. Right. You know what it is. Yeah. So Jackie, for our two listeners who don't know what No Cap is, what does that mean?
[00:11:56] Jacqui Brugliera: I don't even know what No Cap means.
[00:11:57] Ray Latif: No lie. Wait, what? You never heard the term cap? No lie.
[00:12:01] Jacqui Brugliera: No.
[00:12:01] Ray Latif: Cap means it's a lie.
[00:12:03] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, yeah.
[00:12:05] Ray Latif: So No Cap means I'm telling the truth. No Cap.
[00:12:08] Mike Schneider: Okay.
[00:12:09] Ray Latif: There you go. All right.
[00:12:11] Mike Schneider: Wow. Oh, yeah. I've said it before on the show and you didn't know what I was talking about.
[00:12:15] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, yes.
[00:12:16] Mike Schneider: Oh my gosh.
[00:12:17] Jacqui Brugliera: Is this a young person thing? An old person thing?
[00:12:20] Ray Latif: Am I like caught in the middle? It's a young person thing. Oh, okay. Yeah. I never heard someone say cap. So like, let's say you said, oh, I, I, I love when it rains. And someone's like cap. Like, you know, you're just saying it just to say it or something like that. Jackie, are you approaching the Geritol Club with us? Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay. So that's, yes. So it's not No Cap just because it's in a can. It's No Cap. Oh my goodness. Wow. All right.
[00:12:45] Jacqui Brugliera: We clarified that for the two listeners plus me that do not understand.
[00:12:51] Ray Latif: Yeah. And now we have one host and two listeners. That is pretty funny. Well, you know what labneh is, yes? Yes, yes, I do know that.
[00:13:00] Jacqui Brugliera: I know my food well. I don't know about terms, but... All right.
[00:13:04] Mike Schneider: Well, well... Terms? Just to be clear, that is not a term. That is straight slang. Okay.
[00:13:13] Ray Latif: So labneh, which is spelled L-A-B-N-E or L-A-B-N-E-H is a well consumed or a highly consumed and well known dip in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It is a staple in those parts of the world. Basically, it's made from fermented milk and it's strained for several hours to remove all the moisture. The consistency, according to some people, is like whipped cream cheese. For me, it's a bit thicker than that. Actually, it's much thicker than that. And some people call Bezi Labneh cheese. I don't call it that. It's like a much, much thicker Greek yogurt to me. It's got like this tangy flavor. Yeah, it's awesome. It's delicious with olive oil and za'atar. It's again, a highly consumed and very well-known dip or spread in the Middle East. And so I feel like we're starting to see a tiny, Tiny Moment happening for Labneh. There's a new brand out there that I just saw and it's been all over LinkedIn and Instagram called Bezi, B-E-Z-I. And they describe it as dippable and spreadable, infinitely enjoyable. It comes packaged in a seven ounce tub. It looks like the brand launched on June 1st, according to, if I'm reading this right, on Instagram. And there's a number of flavors that, Bezzy comes in plain, everything, and red pepper. So, very cool. Actually, on their website, it says, we launch in September 2024. Excited to place an order already. They can be bought on FAIR. F-A-I-R-E. I'd like to place an order, please.
[00:15:05] Mike Schneider: Yeah, right.
[00:15:06] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it looks delicious. I mean, with the flavor profile, it looks like it's trying to almost be either a dip or spread like a cream cheese. I think the consistency of labneh provides different kind of use cases for consumers.
[00:15:22] Ray Latif: Definitely. You know, it is dairy based, so I think that will probably limit its appeal among younger consumers and I think more people who are just cutting dairy out of their diet. But it's a great complement or alternative, in my opinion, to common spreads, common Middle Eastern Mediterranean spreads that you see like hummus and And we're seeing a lot of garlic dips lately as well. But I love Labneh because it does offer some versatility that I think some of those other spreads don't. You can put it on a sandwich, you can dip. I just eat it. Yeah.
[00:16:01] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. It kind of fits like a nice little spot in between like Greek yogurt and hummus. And I feel like both of those categories. had a moment, they're still, you know, thriving. You got like high protein, you know, spreads and snacks and dips. And I think this fits nicely into like that set.
[00:16:20] Ray Latif: Absolutely. And Bezzy, the launch of Bezzy, follows that of Yaza, Y-A-Z-A, the founder of whom Mike interviewed at Expo West at the MENA meetup. Yaza is also a maker of Labna. Theirs comes in not tubs, or what would you call these, like cups almost, like large cups? Yeah. Well, big yogurt cups.
[00:16:45] Mike Schneider: Yogurt-y cups. That was one of the best things I tasted at Expo West, hands down. I don't know if it was the moment or the fact that I was interviewing the founder or just the fact that the product was phenomenal or a combination of all the above. Wow.
[00:17:00] Ray Latif: I mean, that's a bold statement. And I really feel like if Mike says that, he's, uh, he's pretty serious about this. And you know who else likes this product? I can remember that bite. The first bite. You know who else loves this product or loves this brand? Whole Foods. Oh, phenomenal. Yeah. Yaza is national on Whole Foods with two of their varieties. So if you're looking to try this product, you can probably find it in your local Whole Foods. I think it's their za'atar and olive oil and their plain variety. I know where I'm going on the way home. There you go. And you know, it's not the first time that we've seen labneh produced by a brand. I mean, typically if you go to a Greek or ethnic food store or Middle Eastern store, you'll see all different kinds of labneh, but they're typically foreign owned brands. But Cedars, which is also a well-known maker of hummus and Mediterranean dips in this country also markets a labneh.
[00:17:56] Mike Schneider: In Little Armenia, the bakeries all have labneh.
[00:17:59] Ray Latif: Yes, a little Armenia on Watertown Street in Watertown. But I feel like that's Armenia slash Lebanon, like a little Lebanon, a little bit more. Okay. Yeah. Great. You know, there's a lot of Armenian Lebanese, right? That's why there's a crossover between the two. Great.
[00:18:17] Mike Schneider: Yeah. That's awesome. I mean, and the food is, those bakeries and grocery stores there, you can't miss in those spots.
[00:18:26] Ray Latif: No, you cannot. I got to tell you, though, I love when I'm seeing more ethnic foods come to market, especially those that are launched by and promoted by smaller brands. Now, when big companies, conglomerates, try to introduce, quote unquote, ethnic foods or extend brands via ethnic cultural cuisine, it's typically a hit or miss. Now Mars, one of the largest food companies in the world, recently announced that they are extending their Ben's Original brand, which formerly known as Uncle Ben's, with a line of street food and lunch bowls. So this kind of threw me for a loop. Their street food comes in these microwavable containers and are in varieties such as bean and rice burrito bowl. Mike's already shaking his head. And their lunch bowls come in these pouches. And they have varieties such as spicy Thai coconut bowl, Moroccan style chickpea and I think that says raisin bowl. And there's a spicy Mexican bowl. I don't necessarily, I have a hard time, should I say, associating Ben's original with ethnic food. I don't get this at all.
[00:20:06] Jacqui Brugliera: No, I think they're seeing this as a trend and they just want to capitalize on it rather than I don't know, doing their own thing and just sticking with what they know. I think they're even the way they brand it and all the different types of cuisines that they're trying to hit. I mean, they probably don't deliver on flavor. If you're going to try this versus maybe like a startup brand that, you know, is authentic, it probably doesn't follow through in the product. So I'm really curious. I don't think it will do that well. I think they're just kind of jumping on what they see as a trend.
[00:20:43] Mike Schneider: This is a brand that I have not understood on any level from its existence. I mean... You mean when they revamped it to Ben's Original, or was it originally Uncle Ben's? Originally Uncle Ben's, when Uncle Ben was supposed to be the rice guy, and what they did to rice was just... I mean, it's rice.
[00:21:05] Ray Latif: You buy a bag of rice, you boil it, or you put it in your rice cooker, Well, when they launched Uncle Ben's, he didn't have a rice cooker. I think that was part of it.
[00:21:18] Mike Schneider: He still had a method of making rice in a pot without instant rice. Crazy.
[00:21:26] Jacqui Brugliera: I will give them credit. I feel like Uncle Ben's was one of the first like pouched microwavable rices. And then you saw like other brands kind of doing that to make it convenient. I don't know. That's the only thing that I can kind of give them as credit.
[00:21:41] Ray Latif: I do recall when they launched a brand extension where their products were available in microwavable pouches. So yes, the pouch format has been a great benefit to people who are on the go and looking for a convenient solution. But the commodification of ethnic food by a large food conglomerate, I think, is not the best way to extend a brand's value. I'm trying to be very careful with my words here as listeners. I'm sure I can tell. I mean, one of the hardest things in the world is to get people to try new foods and to try ethnic and cultural cuisine. So I understand that this might help some people. This might help get some people to try these different kinds of products and these different flavors. I just don't know if Ben's original is the brand to do it. And it's almost like, reading the press release, it's almost like this thing that I'm about to read is straight from the marketing deck or from the innovation deck that someone from the marketing team presented to the higher ups at Mars. It says consumers juggling busy lives are prioritizing convenience. Everyone knows this. According to new research, 40% of the U.S. are spending fewer than 15 minutes daily on meal prep, but they don't want to sacrifice flavor or nutrition. Two thirds of consumers globally are curious about new world flavors, while 50% across all age groups say healthy eating is a top priority for them. All true.
[00:23:22] Mike Schneider: But again, are those going to be healthy or is it going to be a long ingredient list that is a little bit better for you? Perhaps.
[00:23:30] Ray Latif: I agree with everything they're saying here, but the mistake, whatever the next slide was, should not have said Ben's original, should not have had the image of their logo.
[00:23:40] Mike Schneider: It should have been a completely new brand or something that looks... Yeah, because they're not going to be able to drop years and years and years and years of racial inequity by using Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben to sell these not very good for you products. I see what you're saying, Mike. So I get furious when I think about this and the fact that they're trying to use the brand equity of Uncle Ben's name and also, you know, not have to, I don't know, apologize or... There's steam coming out of Mike's head right now. I can't even get my words right.
[00:24:19] Jacqui Brugliera: It just feels like they just took like the easy route for them personally, like as a company, because they had this, you know, rice brand. So let's just keep it going instead of doing it the right way.
[00:24:32] Ray Latif: Well, the weird thing is I've seen, and we've talked about this on the podcast in past episodes. Big food companies are getting really good at introducing new products and new brands that look like entrepreneurial brands, that look like early-stage emerging brands that could be featured on Snack Shot, you know, or that could be in Erewhon. And this... does not look like that. And again, you know, trying to use the Uncle Ben's or the Ben's original brand equity, which already is, you know, concerning or already, let's just say it pisses some people off, Mike included, just seems like the wrong, wrong thing to do.
[00:25:10] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I mean, it's just like using the Uncle Ben image to promote these not very good for you, not, you know, super duper cheap products is very concerning.
[00:25:23] Jacqui Brugliera: Like, imagine if they still had Uncle Ben on this package. Like, that would look very wrong.
[00:25:29] Ray Latif: His name's still on it.
[00:25:30] Jacqui Brugliera: Right.
[00:25:31] Ray Latif: Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I think we've been clear about our feelings on this. And if anyone disagrees with us or anyone has any issue with what we've talked about, totally understand. Everyone has an opinion. Just let us know. Send us an email to askatasteradio.com. All right. On to products that I think we like a little bit more than the Benz original new products. Mike has, looks like a THC shot in your hand. I've got some stuff. You got some stuff. This is food and beverage adjacent.
[00:26:05] Mike Schneider: I think, well, one of them is definitely a shot. So you could say it's a beverage. But this company called Gorilla sent us a bunch of hemp derived cannabis products. And I just wanted to comment on how cool the packaging is, like the gorilla with the energy with the lightning bolts. I don't know about, for me, and Jackie, you can definitely weigh in on this, how I feel about hemp and energy together, like THC plus for me doesn't like, I don't think of energy. I think of like chill for the most part.
[00:26:45] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. That was going to be my question. Like why energy? Is there any other ingredient in it that would create energy? Cause yeah, I think of THC as very chill.
[00:26:55] Mike Schneider: In this shot, I believe there's caffeine. Yeah. There's caffeine, uh, along with 20 milligrams of THC. So if you take this as a shot, good luck. You're going to be feeling no pain shortly. And so in my hand here, I have a two ounce THC shot with 20 milligrams. This one is Barry Blast. I've also got three packages of THC gummies, which they recommend that you please take responsibly. Try half gummy and wait at least 45 minutes to one hour before consuming more. Don't consume while consuming alcohol. They have all the statements. But we've got apple, peach and watermelon here. Very dangerous for me. And then also we've got hemp derived CBD gummies. Peach and watermelon, very different packaging as you can see. So there's no mistaking which is which. I like the gorilla. I think he's cool. And, uh, I brought some of these to the fish show on Saturday, but I don't know if any of my friends tried them. We were also drinking Fable, which everyone enjoyed. Fable is a brand of Delta-9 seltzer, I'd say, which was super tasty, comes in three milligram doses. We also had Magic Cactus, which everyone loved, and also Flyers, which, again, was a hit. So, don't see a heck of a lot of cannabevs in people's hands in, what's it called, the Shakedown, Jackie? I guess the Shakedown is like the, it's almost like a flea market at fish shows. I didn't see a lot of cannabevs either being sold or consumed, but I brought some and people seem to enjoy them.
[00:28:47] Ray Latif: I see. I see. I feel like Magic Cactus is like your new Honey Mamas.
[00:28:53] Mike Schneider: I like it.
[00:28:54] Ray Latif: You mentioned Magic Cactus every other show.
[00:28:56] Mike Schneider: It's it's easy to mention and you know, it's tasty. I mean I could mention many others as well. I I like collect so Howdy's really good. I wasn't Yeah, Magic Cactus is a gold standard I'd say oh and people really enjoyed it they You know, they like the two milligrams of THC and are curious about what the four THC V does for you. And then there's six of CBD as well. So that one, like the thing about Magic Cactus that's different is that it has a bit of a different formula. So you've got the Delta nine, but you also have this THC V that others aren't really touting at the moment. So, um, but I, like I said, fable and flyers, you know, it's similar onset, similar impact. I went as high as 10. That's big for you. In like a two hour period.
[00:29:48] Jacqui Brugliera: Okay. Okay. So you eased into it.
[00:29:50] Mike Schneider: Yeah.
[00:29:51] Ray Latif: Well, we all know Jackie.
[00:29:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, do I see a mushroom on those?
[00:29:55] Ray Latif: Yes. Well, I'm pulling out some new beverages here, but Jackie was the OG THC consumer or THC drink consumer out of the group here. She's my sherpa. Yes. She's also the foremost expert when it comes to mushrooms.
[00:30:10] Jacqui Brugliera: Except for Nate.
[00:30:11] Ray Latif: Within the Taste Radio group here. And I found a new beverage. at the summer fancy food show called C'est Bon. C-E-Y-B-O-N. And they make alcohol-free, mushroom-infused aperitifs.
[00:30:25] Mike Schneider: Get in my belly.
[00:30:27] Ray Latif: They have three varieties. One that's described as chill. It's made with reishi, juniper, cucumber, and mint. One described as bright, has reishi, chinkana, ginger, and lemon. And Mike has the- I'm holding happy with reishi, sage, chaparral, and lime. Yeah, so they're all packaged in 750 milliliter slim bottles with a black screw top cap. They have this sort of orangey haze, almost reminiscent of kombucha in terms of its appearance. And they are delicious. I tried these at the Fancy Food Show. They're intended to be an alternative to an alcoholic beverage, a wine or what have you. But they're also described as something that you can drink chilled over ice as a spritz or as a mixer. The founder of the company is Julietta Octavio, and she very kindly sent us some product. She's going to join us in a future episode of Elevator Talk if you want to learn more about the Brent.
[00:31:31] Mike Schneider: This is beautiful packaging.
[00:31:33] Taste Radio: Yeah.
[00:31:33] Mike Schneider: I wonder if she has a sense of humor too, because it says Saban AF. I know it's alcohol free, but I like to think of it as Saban as fuck. And the packaging is super inviting. It's pretty clear that it's supposed to be you know, alcohol adjacent at least just by the bottles and by the really understated packaging here. But the most important things are really well done. They pop, you know, they're using the color to show you that it's reishi sage, chaperone lime, or reishi juniper, cucumber, and mint. And also they've got the vibe they want you to get in that color as well. So I think this is really well done, right? I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
[00:32:17] Jacqui Brugliera: It does look like a very nice wine. Like the packaging is very like minimalistic. I could see from over here, the mushrooms on the front of packs, you know what you're getting inside. It's also interesting to see mushrooms as an ingredient in like non-alch. I feel like that hasn't been done a lot yet. It's been more in like the functional space.
[00:32:39] Mike Schneider: Yeah, mostly shots and functions.
[00:32:41] Jacqui Brugliera: So I was also curious about the taste because I know like mushrooms usually have more of like an earthy taste. So, yeah, I mean, the fact that it tastes great is number one.
[00:32:52] Ray Latif: Yeah, they did taste great. I think that there's that functional attribute about the brand that each variety has a specific functional benefit is also kind of interesting because people expect that, right? If it's a mushroom infused product, people are expecting it because they're not necessarily, as you mentioned, Jackie, it's not necessarily something that you're looking for in terms of flavor, but function. So yeah, really cool brand, as Mike pointed out, beautiful packaging. Hope they do well. And once again, I'm going to be featuring the brand and the founder in an upcoming episode of Elevator Talk. Now, I am sure most people are familiar with Elevator Talk at this point, but if you're not, It is a bi-monthly video series on BevNET and Nosh, in which we highlight five early stage brands per episode, talking about how their brands came to life, where their products are sold, what they're working on, and trying to answer some of their burning questions, as Mike likes to say. And to answer those questions, we have a co-host on every episode. It was either from the investment community, a retailer, a consultant, a distributor, or a former entrepreneur. So if you're interested in participating in a future episode of Elevator Talk, please go to bevnetornage.com. search for Elevator Talk and you will find our application page. And application is a bit of a misnomer for that. It's basically just a form we ask you to fill out so we can get a little bit more information about your company. 99% of the time. You're going to make it. You're going to make it. Specifically, if you're an early stage brand. If you're like, I don't know, HealthAid. Okay. HealthAid doesn't need to be on Elevator Talk. So if you're a representative of HealthAid, you don't need to apply. We still love you though. We still love you. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:34:35] Mike Schneider: Want to try some electrolytes? Sure. Okay. What do you think of this? This is called cadence. And it is an electrolyte beverage that says inspired by the rhythm of daily discipline. I was, I got a little bit of banter in on this one. Cause I said, Ooh, something good from Liverpool. This is from the UK. And one of the interesting call-outs here is on the side, very subtly, it says zero sugar, zero calories and salt, 500 milligrams per can. Hmm. Okay.
[00:35:04] Ray Latif: So this one, Mike gave me these, these citrus variety. Right. That's what we got. Oh, we only got this variety. Okay. Give it a whirl.
[00:35:14] Jacqui Brugliera: The packaging is nice and simple and clean.
[00:35:17] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's a white can, a white wrap can with the word cadence vertical on the front of the can. Extremely minimalist. Yep. It says cadence, citrus, zero calorie, electrolyte hydration, 250 milliliters. The back offers quite a bit more information about the ingredients, the fact that it's carbonated lemon and lime flavored. It has a nutrition facts panel back here and very clearly states that it is made with stevia. We'll just call it stevia.
[00:35:50] Mike Schneider: One thing that surprised me, because it's not clear on the front of pack, is that it was sparkling. I don't usually think of sparkling and hydration together, but it is tasty. Yeah, it's quite good. Jackie, what have you got over on the west coast?
[00:36:03] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I have a couple things. Last week, we actually did a meetup in collaboration with Naturally San Diego. We hosted at Novo Brazil, and there were a number of brands that exhibited, which was awesome to see a lot of startups there. And one of the products that I got to try is Revival Einkorn Corn. And it is a line of products that uses a specific European wheat. So they say it's highly digestible. I learned a lot about einkorn. I guess einkorn is a specific strain of wheat. And The whole premise is that when you, like, for example, when I went to Europe, it was really easy to digest, you know, pizza, pasta, you don't feel gross afterwards, whereas in the United States, a lot of our food is over processed, I would say. and not as easily digestible. So they're trying to do something a little bit different where they're focusing on a specific ingredient and they have these crackers, which is their roasted garlic and chile crackers. And then they also have pasta as well. And both product lines use their einkorn. And on the back, there's a lot of education because I think there is still a lot of education that needs to be done as far as different varieties of wheat and the different benefits. So it was nice to meet that brand and the products are really tasty.
[00:37:27] Ray Latif: How do you spell einkorn?
[00:37:29] Jacqui Brugliera: It is E-I-N-K-O-R-N.
[00:37:34] Mike Schneider: Interesting. Eindhoorn. Never heard of it.
[00:37:36] Jacqui Brugliera: Eindhoorn.
[00:37:36] Mike Schneider: Eindhoorn. Exactly. Finkle and Eindhoorn.
[00:37:41] Ray Latif: Finkle and Eindhoorn. If you don't know what we're talking about, you are very young. Well done. It's so funny. You talked about the difference between. food in Europe and I talked to so many people who are like, I could eat as much pasta as I wanted to in Italy. I come here, I can't even have one spaghetti strand. You know, it's just because you're right. I mean, the food here is heavily processed and contains a lot more protein. A lot more proteins than the food you eat in Europe. Yeah, but Mike has Some processed food, but yeah, what is that being bad?
[00:38:20] Mike Schneider: It is inherently bread is like the original processed original food Yeah, this one said can avocado be Bread Co the outside of the box. So I opened it and what's it called? The answer is maybe it's called The Avocado bread company and Okay, uh Spicy Bread seeds and grains made with guacamole spices It looks like a loaf of bread because guess what it is. It is a loaf of bread first ingredient is enriched wheat flour Then nice and reduced iron Thiamin, monotrate, riboflavin, all that kind of good stuff. It has all the stuff that normal bread has.
[00:38:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Is The Avocado in the bread?
[00:38:55] Mike Schneider: But then you start to get into nice things like water, oat flakes, and then The Avocado pulp, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, millet, sesame seed. Should we give this a try? You go for it. I have some lunch coming. I do too, but I just feel like I should take a bite of this bread since, you know, they went to all this trouble to send it to us.
[00:39:16] Jacqui Brugliera: And you said it's guacamole flavored? It's got guacamole spices, it says.
[00:39:21] Mike Schneider: All right, so I'm going to go for, I'll go for the end piece. Why not? It is spicy. It's good. It's like guacamole.
[00:39:30] Jacqui Brugliera: Are you normally an end piece person? Or do you always leave that for someone else?
[00:39:35] Mike Schneider: No, I used to love the end piece when I was a kid. I just flip it over.
[00:39:38] Jacqui Brugliera: I feel like it can be very polarizing.
[00:39:40] Mike Schneider: Yeah, the end piece is definitely something that most people just leave behind.
[00:39:44] Ray Latif: I like the end piece as long as you can toast it. If you toast it and put a ton of butter on it, it's fantastic. Otherwise, it's not pleasant. It's terrible. OK, I'm going to give this my rating of DNS. OK, good. You know, It Sounds originally like it might not go that way.
[00:40:02] Mike Schneider: I thought it wasn't going to go that way.
[00:40:04] Ray Latif: And it really picked up there. I will say the last thing I'll say about this is I do appreciate the fact that it does have this. I've never seen this button on a package before. Food chain ID certified as plant based. I have never seen that certification before. Interesting. And I damn sure hope The Avocado bread is plant-based. 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.
[00:41:16] It Sounds: you
