[00:00:00] SPEAKER_03: This episode is sponsored by PacTec, delivering beverage multi-packing you can trust. PacTec's handles are made from 100% recycled plastic and are fully recyclable, helping beverage brands reduce waste and support a circular economy. With a minimalist design, durable performance that prevents product loss, waterproof functionality, and custom color options, PacTec keeps products secure while letting your brand shine on shelf. Trusted by leading beverage brands globally. Learn more at Taste Radio.com forward slash PACKTECH.
[00:00:52] 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 with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. An early happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates said holiday.
[00:01:13] John Craven: Gobble, gobble.
[00:01:15] Ray Latif: Gobble, gobble. Interesting for someone who doesn't eat turkey.
[00:01:19] John Craven: I know. I enjoy watching people eat it. What? And then everyone gets super sleepy afterwards too. And I'm just energized.
[00:01:27] Ray Latif: You enjoy watching people eat turkey. Like you watch this on YouTube, Jackie?
[00:01:32] John Craven: It's like mukbang, you know, but with turkey legs.
[00:01:35] Ray Latif: It's kind of, it's kind of messed up. We could really go down a rabbit hole because I know that there is a subculture that likes watching people eat food. I thought Jackie was like the zone of sanity over there, but no more.
[00:01:47] John Craven: Not on holidays.
[00:01:48] Ray Latif: Debunked. Jackie surrounds herself only with people who look great eating. She's that kind of person. From the moment that Jackie sat down in her studio in the San Diego office, we knew something was amiss because she's got a bag that looks like toxic waste. It does, doesn't it? It's a pink, opaque bag with one of those symbols that says biohazard on it. What the heck is that?
[00:02:14] John Craven: It's not my stool sample, Ray.
[00:02:16] Ray Latif: Oh, Jesus. And now we're going to talk about food.
[00:02:22] John Craven: Yeah, but this is pretty fun. I thought it was fun. This came in the mail. And when you actually open the package, you notice that it is rotten. Rotten candy. Yeah, rotten candy. Better for you candy. This is their new spicy, sour, gummy crunchies. And also in the bag, you have a little cockroach. You got a little worm.
[00:02:46] Ray Latif: Oh my god.
[00:02:47] John Craven: You got some glasses for a rave.
[00:02:51] Ray Latif: OK. Those are those are great, but who's gonna look at a biohazard bag and go man. I should I should go digging in there People like Jackie. It looks just like a biohazard bags I didn't like this biohazard on it. I didn't like the cockroach that scared me.
[00:03:07] John Craven: Yeah that one.
[00:03:08] Ray Latif: I wasn't expecting yeah, but anyway is it a big cockroach or a
[00:03:12] John Craven: No, it's, it's, it's a fake. It's like a plastic cockroach.
[00:03:15] Ray Latif: Yeah, there you go. Oh, I see.
[00:03:16] Jacqui Brugliera: I know. I always say that.
[00:03:17] Ray Latif: We had one of those kicking around the office. That and food don't necessarily mix.
[00:03:21] John Craven: Yeah. But Mike always says, you know, marketing these days, it's all about shock and awe and surprise and confusion. And I feel like this does all those.
[00:03:29] Ray Latif: It sure does. I mean, we all looked at it and we all were like, what the hell's in there? Why did someone send us a biohazard bag? Is this someone's urine sample? And thank God it was a rotten candy. Well, rotten candy is damn fine candy for sure. And as Jackie pointed out, it's better for you, mostly gummy worms. I don't think they have anything else other than gummy worms at this point, but very tasty stuff. And I'm really excited to hear from their founder, Michael Fisher, who's going to be on stage at Nosh Live. As part of the Nosh Live Pitch Slam, he'll be up against five other founders representing amazing early stage brands. And this is all happening. about a week from today. You know who else is going to be in the Pitch Slam? Who's that? Oh, So Easy. Oh, So Easy. We've got all kinds of amazing brands. Man, those ube brownies are going to be hard to beat. Well, like I said, I think the Pitch Slam, and I've said this a million different times, Pitch Slam is such a great opportunity for early stage founders to build awareness, hype, excitement for their brands. And the reality, though, with this year's group is that they're already, I think, kind of advanced in that way. You know, Rotten's been doing some amazing things for a couple of years now. Oh So Easy. Jablo's on... Oddball.
[00:04:44] John Craven: Oddball.
[00:04:45] Ray Latif: Yeah. I want to see a Jablo Oh So Easy collab. It could happen. Sweet Heat.
[00:04:49] Jacqui Brugliera: I would love that.
[00:04:50] Ray Latif: It could happen. Well, that's happening on day two of Notch Live, which is Friday, December 5th. But there's incredible things happening throughout the two days of the event, which begins on Thursday, December 4th. We've got a lot in store. We've got surprises. We've got retail buyers. We've got investors. We've got all the kinds of people that you want to meet in the food industry. And if you haven't registered now, you will have guaranteed regrets. You're going to email me later on and say, hey, Ray, I should have gone to Nosh Live. And I'm going to say, hey, man, I told you, I've been saying it for months now that you got to register. You'll miss Kaya's also in the Pitch Slam. I mean, so many delicious brands in the Pitch Slam, Ray. Delicious foods. Delicious foods, delicious brands. All of the above.
[00:05:33] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:05:33] Ray Latif: Yeah. And just to reiterate, if you're looking to meet your dream retail buyer or a buyer from your dream retailer, if you're looking to meet an investor that you think could help take your brand to the next level, You got to come to the show. It's happening on December 4th and 5th. That's next week. And we would love to see you there. If you're attending also, just let me know. Send a note to ask at Taste Radio.com. I would love to sit down with you for an interview as part of our Taste Radio studio or feature you on our Instagram accounts via our on the spot series in which we sit down. Really stand up, actually.
[00:06:09] John Craven: Yeah, it's a stand up.
[00:06:10] Ray Latif: It's a stand up with founders of emerging brands. Just talk about what you're doing, the origins of your company and why you are awesome. We know you're awesome. We just want to share it with the rest of the world. Also, of course, BevNET Live, December 7th through 9th begins on a Sunday. What events start on a Sunday? I don't know. Just BevNET Live. The best events. Exactly. The best events start on Sundays. You had to go there, John, didn't you? You had to throw me off by a great event. Two completely different things. That qualifies, though. You're like, who's crazy and starts a show on a summer fair? I never said crazy. I never said that. That's kind of what you were implying. I was implying that only amazing, as Jackie pointed out, only amazing events start on Sundays. You know, the Super Bowl's on Sunday. It's like the Super Bowl of beverage. There we go. Maybe you've heard of the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl is an NFL big... The North London Derby was on Sunday. You didn't say what NFL stands for, but anyway, we'll move on.
[00:07:05] Jacqui Brugliera: National Football League, anyway.
[00:07:06] Ray Latif: No fun league. Yes, I over-explained things. So yes, 7th through 9th, lots of content happening on Sunday, including Beverage School. If you're an early stage founder or relatively new to the industry, it is the best crash course you can possibly think of on what you need to get up to speed from operations, to investing, to marketing, hearing from entrepreneurs who have been there and done that. It all happens in about, I want to say three hours, three hours to time span? Something like that. How about approximately? Yeah. And it's not that early in the morning. It starts at noon.
[00:07:43] John Craven: You can sleep in.
[00:07:43] Ray Latif: But you get a great crash course into the industry. Once you're done, plenty of networking opportunities. And then we have the opening party in which we'll have lots of amazing libations and great conversations with. I think it's just called a happy hour. I wouldn't really call it a party. Happy hour party. Welcome reception.
[00:08:01] John Craven: Welcome reception.
[00:08:02] Ray Latif: Yeah. They imply different things, Ray. What's the difference between a party and a happy hour? Naked beer slides. What? Wow. Nachos? Beer bombs? Nachos. Okay, we're not having nachos. We're not? No, there's no nachos. Son of a gun. All right. No nachos, folks. I apologize. I promised people nachos, John. So now I have to send emails to all those people and be like, there's no nachos at the happy hour. Yes.
[00:08:28] John Craven: But also on Sunday after beverage school, we do have main stage content. So we're going to start diving into cannabis, start diving into RTD spirits. So if you're wanting to learn more and where those industries are headed, you should definitely show up on Sunday.
[00:08:43] Ray Latif: Yeah, John will be passing out blunts puff-puff give that's the Handing out blunt objects to smash I'm gonna have a bag of rocks All right, December 10th and 11th is Brewbound Live, another amazing event with just speakers who know the industry inside and out, the beer industry that is, beer and adjacent beverages, cider, hard seltzers, F&Bs, flavored malt beverages, et cetera, and cannabis and spirits. And so- And NNA. Yes, and NNA. And all this is happening on the 10th and 11th of December. This is kind of the calm before the storm for the BevNET team. I mean, I think for the most part, we're all buttoned up and ready to go, ready to put on three of the best events in the industry, perhaps the three best events for the food and beverage industry. Just as a, you know, sort of last call here, if you're thinking about going, if you're sort of on the fence, just reach out, let us know. We can help get you off that fence one way or the other, and just make sure that you can attend because it's really, these are can't miss shows. And I can't make a guarantee, I probably have in past episodes, but you will meet people there that can help you build your business, that can help you scale your business. I mean, that is... Again, lawyers, pretty much a certainty, but yeah, reach out, let us know. I feel like we, we've been training for a networking marathon and we're ready to go. Every single one of us is just ready to talk to you, to meet you, to find out, you know, what you need for your business and try to help you make it happen however we can while we're there. Absolutely. All right. When was it that we first heard about Pepsi prebiotic? I think it was in July. I believe it was in July. And that's when I, to be fair, I kind of mocked it. You did. Didn't you say it was that it came in a biohazard bag? No, no, I never said that. I was just a little surprised, right? Because in March, Pepsi famously acquired Poppy, which is a brand of prebiotic sodas for $1.95 billion. And then just a few weeks later, essentially they decided, Hey, we're going to launch Pepsi prebiotic and we're going to launch it on Black Friday of 2025. Guess what? It's pretty much Black Friday. And so we have some Pepsi Pre-Vita Cola. We've got their flagship cola variety. And we've got their cherry vanilla. Both have five grams of sugar, no artificial sweeteners. They are made with Stevia. And I'm trying to look for any other ingredients that might throw people for a loop. That's pretty much it. That's pretty much it. Yeah, they use soluble corn fiber for the prebiotic. All right, so let's, we have two cans here. Jackie, you don't have any, do you?
[00:11:53] John Craven: No, I do not.
[00:11:54] Ray Latif: I apologize. Great, just pour that right over your laptop. All right, John, while I'm pouring, you give us your take here. Thanks, Ray. I mean, it tastes like Pepsi or a, I guess, cherry vanilla Pepsi. It also seems to, uh, have cane sugar in it instead of high fructose corn syrup as the other sweetener. Yes, that's right. Yep. So it's got like a, I don't know, cleaner, less viscous body to it, which is nice. Tastes better than a diet Pepsi, in my opinion. Yeah, so the flagship cola, the one that we all know and some love, you can definitely taste the stevia in this. It's a bit cloying, you know, as it were.
[00:12:35] John Craven: Cloying?
[00:12:36] Ray Latif: What does that mean? Like that thickness that it leaves behind in your mouth. It tastes like stevia. Yeah, there's definitely a coating of sweetener on your tongue. But it's not that bad in terms of like stevia sweetened products, since it has sugar in it as well. Yeah. And I guess it's 30 calories per can. I don't know. I think they did an okay job with the liquid here. I like the original much better than the cherry vanilla. Yeah, I would kind of agree. It just takes a little fake maybe. Probably my main issue with this is just that the packaging of it just feels kind of like they dialed it in here.
[00:13:10] Jacqui Brugliera: Looks like they AI'd it.
[00:13:12] Ray Latif: Excuse me, they AI'd it. It's like they acquire poppy, which is obviously like, you know, a really well-branded product. And this just feels very technical with like, it's going to hit those consumers that are really looking for prebiotic soda, which is probably no one. The flip side of that is that nobody's going to mistake this for their flagship Pepsi. I don't know. I don't know, Pepsi pre or something, like just try to make it seem fun. That's that, that's my main beef. But otherwise, I think. Like you drink it before you drink a Pepsi? Whatever, maybe. I don't know. I, there's obviously no mistaking this. I assume that's what they're going for. That was my point too. You know, this is their prebiotic cola, not their flagship, not their diet, not crystal Pepsi. Well, these are white cans too, which I think helps differentiate it. Yeah, I mean, I think that implies low-cal, but I don't know. I wish they put like the 30 calorie thing smack on the front just to... It is on the front, but a smaller button for sure. It's kind of on the side though, really. There's two actually here. There's one on the front that says 30 calories per can that says it's right above the number of ounces. Right, but I'm saying if you look at this straight on, I'm getting nerdy here, but like you kind of can't read that. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah.
[00:14:26] John Craven: Anyway, it's okay.
[00:14:27] Ray Latif: Yeah, Jackie, you were about to say something and then all three of us interrupted you. Shocking.
[00:14:31] John Craven: I just don't know if the Pepsi consumer is looking for prebiotic or like the functional callouts. Like, I'm curious if anyone's actually grabbing that. People like diet. They understand diet. They understand no sugar, low sugar. But does the mainstream consumer really know about prebiotic?
[00:14:49] Ray Latif: Well, to your point, Jackie, if they are looking for the callouts, you have to turn the can to get the no artificial sweeteners, 30 calories, three grams of prebiotic fiber, which is like saying three grams of fiber fiber. Yeah. I think that this is Pepsi's version one of this particular product line. I think they're going to stick with this. This is definitely a work in progress. Three grams of prebiotic fiber. I think for the average consumer, what does that do for you? That's a big question. And also, can I get those three grams from eating a stock of celery or something else like that instead of having it in my salad?
[00:15:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Some Fritos.
[00:15:34] Ray Latif: Some Fritos.
[00:15:35] Jacqui Brugliera: There you go.
[00:15:36] Ray Latif: Right now, if I'm going to have a better free cola, I'd rather have a Nixie. Okay. Fair enough. Both you, Stevia. And I think that's the other part of this as well, which is if someone's looking for a lower calorie soda, is Stevia the right sweetener for that consumer? I mean, I think we're in a spot now where people are getting used to that and that this is a specific kind of flavor profile that you get for prebiotic sodas and this will do pretty well. But they could have used the same sweetener they used for, say, a Diet Pepsi, which I believe is aspartame or Ace K, right? They could have, but they didn't because they wanted it to be category appropriate. And I think, like, it tastes good. Yeah, again, it tastes fine, I think. But, John, to your point, this would be better positioned as a lower calorie, lower sugar soda more than I think it would be attractive as a prebiotic cola. Yeah, and I think if it really wants to run with the likes of Poppy or somehow be in the same ballpark, I feel like the branding just, they need to step it up a notch too. Yeah, and they don't want people to confuse it with their top-selling, low-sugar Diet Pepsi. Yeah, and just to round this out, this conversation, I remember when we first talked about this, Mike, you pointed out that Pepsi and Coke are the standard bearers for cola. Yes, absolutely. And so if you're going to create a prebiotic cola, it should be a Pepsi or Coke variety, right?
[00:17:15] Jacqui Brugliera: That's what you said.
[00:17:15] Ray Latif: With apologies to like Jolt and RC, which are also pretty damn good. I think, however, the cola flavor is not what we've come to expect from Pepsi, which is perhaps the biggest issue I have with this. It's fine. You're right. I think we all agree it's fine. Could it be better? For sure. Yeah, definitely not something that's a total miss or maybe a total hit either. It's somewhere in the middle for first version. I think the liquid's in the right ballpark. That's a pretty hot take that you think that they messed up the cola flavor. Because I think the cola flavor is pretty good. I think it tastes like Pepsi to me. Yeah. Maybe it's just that I haven't had a Pepsi in a while, but I want more cola flavor. This is what Pepsi tastes like to me. When I want a cola, I want the cola flavor more than I want the sugar. And this tastes pretty sweet to me. It is pretty sweet. And Pepsi's, for me, Pepsi's has always been the sweeter of the two. For sure. Coke and Pepsi, it has like that sweeter bite and Coke has more like bite to it. And I like them both, but. Brass tacks. And I think Jackie already answered this question. Would you reach for this over a poppy or would you reach for a poppy over a Pepsi prebiotic?
[00:18:22] John Craven: Definitely poppy.
[00:18:24] Ray Latif: That's one. Mike?
[00:18:26] John Craven: Uh, poppy.
[00:18:27] Ray Latif: Poppy. John? I don't know. If they're both on the table, I'm going to be the most diplomatic political answer. You're like, would you reach for an apple or an orange to pick the winner? You know, I mean, those are two different things.
[00:18:42] Jacqui Brugliera: Really? Are they that far off?
[00:18:43] Ray Latif: He asked if you'd pick a Honeycrisp or a Macintosh. They're not that far off. Are they? I mean, this is like a cola brand. That's not a cola brand. Okay.
[00:18:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Branding's very different.
[00:18:53] Ray Latif: Flavor's very different. Again, I think you're like, let's pick the winner of apples and oranges here. Okay. A poppy cola. Or yeah, that was his point. I think he was trying to say I would pick the poppy cola Still not gonna answer Okay, fine, okay, let's move on to chicken What a segway. How about that segway? So everyone remembers Just, you know, the brand that started out as Just Mayo. This is 10 years ago. I remember, you know, Just Mayo made a lot of headlines because it was a plant-based mayo. Mayo uses eggs. Okay, we're going to create a mayo that doesn't use eggs. And so then there was a lot of controversy about like, well, can you actually call it mayonnaise if it doesn't contain eggs, if it's not made with eggs? And they got in some hot water for that, but eventually it all worked out. Then Just got into the plant-based meat business. It's been a long road for that company in that plant-based meat category. I think it's been a long road for a lot of brands in that space. But Just has a subline called Just Meat, and they just unveiled, no pun intended, a plant-based chicken with Walmart. So this plant-based chicken comes in two varieties in pouches. There's one that's a buffalo chicken variety, and then there's one just a plain old chicken variety. They're going to be in 3,000, or excuse me, they are in 3,000 Walmart stores. And actually there's four SKUs. There's a sesame, ginger, and a chili lime in addition to the buffalo and original. So I'm reading this story about the launch on Nosh, and they come in these half-pound bags, and we were all chatting before we hopped on the mics, and gotta say, the imagery at the top of the pouch, these are half-pound bags, Apparently it's meant to look like pulled chicken or whatnot. And, um, it's a very AI looking photo of. You think everything looks like AI today? This is, uh, no, you mentioned AI when it came to that. No, I didn't. You did. I did. Who did? Oh, okay. Mike did. I don't really think this moves the category in a better direction. And the category's in trouble, as it is. It's not the most appetizing thing to see. Pulled chicken? It's pulled chicken, but it looks like it's roasted, but it doesn't really look like chicken. It looks like, I want to say, like old chicken that's been left out for a while.
[00:21:29] Jacqui Brugliera: Instead of pulled chicken, it's old chicken?
[00:21:31] Ray Latif: Yeah, it looks dry.
[00:21:32] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh, wow.
[00:21:33] Ray Latif: I don't know. I just wonder if the timing is even right for this, too. Maybe five years ago, people would have been into this or seven years ago, people would have been into this. But is the timing right for plant-based chicken, especially with everyone now questioning what's in this stuff? You know, you have a single ingredient when it comes to animal-based proteins, that is the animal itself. And then with this, you know, people read in the back of the labels and say, OK, what's in this? I don't know. I wonder. I mean, what are they supposed to do? Give up? This is a, this is a brand that has a lot of backing behind it and that has, you know, made a name for itself and well, they got to keep trying, right? I think it's also a brand that, I mean, over time just keeps putting out iterations on their products. And I don't know. I remember trying the, uh, their sort of scrambled egg alternative, which, I mean, that evolved massively. So, who knows? I don't know. I think I would reserve judgment until I try it. I mean, packaging for Packaging for meat always seems a little challenging. It's like, you know, do you want to see pictures of raw meat or cooked and in what sort of format? I don't know. Well, that's the biggest problem with this is that most of the plant-based meats, a lot of the plant-based meats don't have the format of the original meat. So you can't just show it as you would say a chicken breast, for instance. So they're, they've already pulled the chicken and that's how they made it. You need to see what it is too.
[00:23:06] John Craven: Yeah, it does feel kind of like a test. I mean, they have had a bunch of success with just egg. I see it in almost all retailers as far as you know, an egg alternative. That's not the most appetizing thing. I mean, it doesn't have product imagery on the front, but it's like yellow liquid and people are buying it. I think it was also they did well when there was like egg shortages and prices of eggs and there's things that's like worked out for that product specifically, but they have all of these distribution channels and retail partners and they've proven to be a plant-based product that is working. So why not test into another category with these partners?
[00:23:46] Ray Latif: How does the famous Jackie feel about Just Egg?
[00:23:49] John Craven: I use it. I use it here and there.
[00:23:52] Ray Latif: I think that totally makes sense though, right? Because egg beaters have been around forever, right? So egg beaters are a liquid form of scrambled eggs. And so people are familiar, people have a point of reference to, you know, just egg. I think with this and just plant-based meats in general, Who is it for? Well, I mean, obviously not you. You live in a VHS world and everyone else is streaming or something. No, but I'm saying like, but you know, who is it for? Because if you like chicken, you're going to eat chicken, right? I guess that's the, that's the big problem with plant-based meals in general. Yeah, but there's clearly still plenty of people looking for plant-based alternatives just because- Plant-based alternatives to animal-based protein? Yeah, I think so. I mean, just because you're not one of them, I wouldn't say that, you know, who's it for sort of stuff. I mean, I think there always has been a market for this stuff. Things like Tofurky have existed, you know?
[00:24:40] Jacqui Brugliera: Right.
[00:24:41] Ray Latif: But is there a growing market for this? It doesn't really matter if it's growing or not. It's sort of like, as with any market that we cover, are there consumers seeking innovative products or products that make what they're already consuming better. So I think that too, like, yes, there were obviously like a massive influx of people trying plant-based meats that maybe their conclusion was they should just not eat this stuff anymore. But there are still plenty of meat alternatives that are out there that represent a lot of dollars that if nothing else, a product like this might be seeking to displace.
[00:25:17] John Craven: Yeah, and I think the type of retailer is interesting too, because you go into Whole Foods or Lazy Acres, and there's a million plant-based meat options. But if you go into Walmart, maybe there isn't. And this could be the product for the consumer that's going in there looking for plant-based option.
[00:25:34] Ray Latif: But to your point, Ray, it is a Venn diagram of people who eat meat, vegans and vegetarians, because not every vegetarian and not every vegan likes even a plant-based meat that reminds them at all of meat. Right. This has always seemed like a place where the mainstream consumer is not really going to be motivated to try this stuff until it's super tasty and widely available and affordable. I don't think it's like a window that closed. It's just sort of, I don't know, maybe temporarily not as open as it was at one point or seem to be. So if just is continuing to iterate and innovate, I don't know. I'd like to try this stuff, see what it's all about. Well, there's another factor. Do people trust what they're eating? You know what chicken is, at least, I mean, I think most people do, right? Yeah, well, I mean, that's the same thing that I'm saying about taste, basically. I mean, I think the trust factor has to be there, but I think as products continue to nail the flavor like that also will help the trust. I wonder. I wonder. I mean, we'll wrap this up. Jackie, you know, as someone who has abstained from eating meat for a number of years now, do you miss- I was going to say at least a week.
[00:26:48] John Craven: Except for in London. One time in London.
[00:26:52] Ray Latif: Snitching. No snitching on Taste Radio. Okay. Do you miss meat?
[00:26:57] John Craven: No, I don't miss meat. I think I eat plant-based meats sometimes for convenience and they often don't taste like meat. It's not like I'm, you know, eating a plant-based meat and be like, Ooh, this reminds me of a steak. Like never really is like a one-to-one. And if it was, I probably wouldn't eat it.
[00:27:17] Ray Latif: Yeah. And this goes back to what I was saying is who is this for? I think what Just and a lot of other plant-based meat companies need to do is to convince animal-based protein consumers that they should incorporate these plant-based alternatives into their diets or replace them entirely. And I think they're going to have a hard time doing that. That's my point. And I think it's been proven that they're having a hard time doing that. If you look at the problems that Beyond Meat has been having for years upon years now, I think it's not looking good.
[00:27:47] John Craven: People are looking at the labels. They are looking at what's going into these. So if they can have a cleaner label, even if they're using like, I think they're using wheat and soy, but if it's cleaner than using like a bunch of different oils and gums and things, I think that's a better for you option for people.
[00:28:03] Ray Latif: For sure. So you're not having tofurkey for Thanksgiving. I just want to end on that. I'm going to admit to one thing. I've never been a big tofu fan and the idea of a tofu based turkey, and I've seen them in stores. I'm having a hard time here. I'm sweating. I'm breathing heavy. It's not the first thing I ever wanted to consume in my life.
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[00:29:36] Ray Latif: Okay, I just want to mention before we get to samples, really exciting news for a brand that's been on the rise for a number of years. That's Beatbox. Beatbox is a maker of wine-based cocktails. You've probably seen them. They come in Tetra packs, 500 milliliter Tetra packs. They have just been on a tear. They just get the party started. They get the party started. And according to a story in the Wall Street Journal and covered by Brewbound, Anheuser-Busch InBev is reportedly discussing a potential acquisition of Beatbox for an estimated $700 million. Do not, I don't want to see the pinky. I don't even want to think about the pinky, Mike. There's no pinky. You said billion earlier in the show and I didn't even put it up. Very exciting news. We've had the founders on stage, Justin Essential, Brad Schultz, and Amy Steadman. They were actually on Shark Tank in 2014. Got a million dollars from Mark Cuban. That actually got the party started for the brand. But yeah, this is really exciting. Could be the last big M&A deal of 2025. Stay tuned for more coverage on this potential deal on Brewbound and BevNET. Alright, who wants some protein marshmallows? We've been talking about protein. There's a new brand called, or at least a brand I've never heard of, called Primal Sweets. When I saw these in the sample room and I knew we had to talk about them. They come in 2.5 ounce pouches. There's a vanilla variety that I have and a pumpkin spice variety. There's 25 grams of protein per bag. Apparently you're supposed to eat the entire bag. 170 calories and zero grams of sugar. I knew this was coming, right? Protein marshmallows. There's probably already been varieties out there or versions out there, but when's the day part use for something like this? When are you gonna eat an entire bag of protein marshmallows? I mean, you just throw them on your cereal, right? Oh, these are big marshmallows. Yeah. You ready? Do you want to have one? Sure. Okay. Meg's going to be the guinea pig here. This is the vanilla variety, which is in this nice purple bag. And you see these marshmallows that look like they're falling from the sky. I approve of purple for vanilla. It was a little dusty. They're square, square shaped marshmallows. I guess they smell like marshmallows, but they definitely, they smell like protein powder. If you smell the bag, they smell like protein powder, but somehow also smell like marshmallows. They taste like good marshmallows. Do they? They seem like they have the right texture. They have the right texture and then they also have like, there's a little chalkiness on a good marshmallow. These are good. Okay. Let's get John's approval or disapproval here. The real test is if um can we start a can we start a fire in here?
[00:32:26] John Craven: Can you make s'mores with it? Does it melt? That's a good question.
[00:32:30] Ray Latif: I would assume they do. They might actually catch fire quite quickly. So be careful. Apparently, they taste good. They smell kind of good. The packaging's fine. Probably could do a little bit better on the flavor. It looks like marshmallows on the front, so that's good. Again, I think the question is, when are you going to sit down and eat an entire bag of marshmallows? The only thing about this is that that's not the typical package for marshmallows these days. It's like clear plastic where you can see all the marshmallows. No, no, yeah, you're right. This is definitely a snacking bag more than it is like a baking bag. So it's kind of hard to see how good the marshmallows are. Yes. Which they're good. And the protein is coming from grass fed whey, isolates and grass fed bovine gelatin. So not for you, Jackie, not for you. No. Bummer, huh?
[00:33:18] John Craven: It's all right.
[00:33:20] Ray Latif: Well, Primal Sweets, if you're interested, check this brand out. It's very interesting stuff. All right, Jackie, in addition to your rotten candy, what do you got over there in the WCB?
[00:33:30] John Craven: I have flour and water, which is very beautiful packaging. It is exactly that. So this is just a line of pasta and the only ingredient is organic semolina wheat. Very clean packaging. You know what you're getting. It says it's from our restaurant to your kitchen. So it's chef made based in San Francisco. They have a little illustration of the restaurant on the back. So it looks just quality. I feel like I would see this in like a gift shop or something.
[00:34:00] Ray Latif: That looks like a Thanksgiving-sized package.
[00:34:02] John Craven: Yeah, this is a big one. I'm going to be using this to make some mac and cheese for Thanksgiving. And they have different, yeah, different varieties of pasta.
[00:34:11] Ray Latif: Gorgeous packaging. The flower and water logo seems modern, yet also kind of familiar. Very pig on the front of pack. Little pasta window. Feels, yeah, definitely feels kind of Williams-Sonoma specialty food store kind of thing. Sort of elevated retailer. Not necessarily for the mainstream yet, but love that it's very minimalist and also beautifully packaged. Good stuff.
[00:34:37] John Craven: Yeah, they did a good job.
[00:34:40] Ray Latif: John, I'm glad you didn't grab this yet. This is Albero d'Oro. These are marasca cherries made for cocktails and desserts. What's the big cherry brand that everyone? Luxardo? Luxardo, right, Luxardo. So I assume this is sort of like an alternative to Luxardo. There's many alternatives. But this one is non-GMO verified. I just saw this. It comes from the Italian Spirits Company, which apparently is a maker of cocktail ingredients and cocktail accoutrements. So I definitely want to try this out. It's a very nice looking package, but I think this is one time where I'll agree with Mike here. The vertical logo. The vertical logo probably doesn't, I would probably switch that to a horizontal one. I see why they're doing what they're doing there though, right? Cause it looks like cherries. Oh yeah, I guess so. But it's, that wouldn't be the first thing I noticed. It was the first thing I noticed. Okay. Well you have more observance. But then I couldn't read the, it was like an unexpected, Logo. Okay. Chill. Thanks. Don't open. Oh no. John's trying them. He's going to dig to open my jar. Smells like cherries. Jeez, I was expecting plant-based chicken. Just checking for you, Ray. All right. All right. Mike just crushed a can of Hi-Yo. I crushed it. Yeah. I've got the pineapple coconut organic social tonic from Hi-Yo and I mean, we've talked about Hi-Yo a lot over the years and just Hi-Yo, a maker of Social Tonics. Non-alcoholic Social Tonics. A winner of the New Beverage Showdown at BevNET Live LA 2021. Yeah. And it was just a combination of the flavor and then the simplicity of the can and just the beauty of the whole experience that people love about Ohio. And they made some really, really good choices with this can. So I tried that last week. It is a pina colada. It's a delicious product. There's so much flavor, almost impossibly so because it's only 30 calories. There is a ton of flavor in that. And it definitely feels like beverages you could have in place of an alcoholic drinking occasion, so. For sure. It's an elevated experience, thus the name HYO. I mean, it's just, it's great. Hey, you know what? What's that? You can hear from the founders of HYO in an upcoming episode of Taste Radio. HYO! Yeah, I sat down with George Yeomans, Evan Quinn, and Signe Cooper, who are the co-founders of HYO. And you'll be able to hear that interview, I would say two to three weeks. So stay tuned for that. 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 Kratchy. 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. you
