A Spicy, If Unexpected, Deal. Plus, Sweet Treats And MUD.

0:10Hello and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio. And I'm with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jackie Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. All right. We got all the multiverse talk out of our system. What we're doing here is we're recording a couple of days before Thanksgiving 2023. Right. So understand that the holiday has not happened yet. But for listeners, we're going to talk after the holiday. We have been in the holiday. No. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday, a healthy, safe and happy one.

0:47And I hope you PR'd Mike in your turkey trot. Me too. John Craven, I hope you drank a lot of gravy. I'm going to try. That's what I do. Jackie, how do you celebrate, typically celebrate Thanksgiving? I'll be trotting and scrambling. So I have a turkey trot on the morning of Thanksgiving and then I have a turkey scramble, which is golf on Friday mornings. Wow. That is epic. I want to do a turkey scramble. I will not be getting any PRs. I'm not great at running and I'm not great at golfing, but I will give it my best. I thought the scramble meant you're making scrambled eggs, but you're not. Scrambled eggs with turkey, more specifically.

1:22Oh, turkey eggs? That's what I thought she meant. That doesn't sound right. Jackie would have tofurkey eggs, though. Now, it's not often that big or perhaps interesting news hits the wire before Thanksgiving. But here we are talking about just that. Sky Partners, which is a private equity firm focused on high growth, market-leading consumer brands and backed by the one and only Kim Kardashian, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a significant minority stake in Truff. Truff is the ultra-premium truffle-infused brand of condiments that was founded in 2017 by Nick Ejelouni and Nick Guillen, also known as The Knicks.

2:07Truff is a multi-channel food business brand that is available in over 20 ,000 stores, including Whole Foods, Kroger, Publix, and Target. And yeah, very exciting news for the next. Very exciting from a brand that originated just because the founders got at sauce on Instagram. That's right. We've talked about that on the podcast. We did. And there's interviews about it. You can go back and check out your local taste radio podcast. There you go. So now as part of this news, it was also announced that Mark Ramadan, who is one of the co-founders and the former CEO of Sir Kensington's and also Hugh Chocolate, not the CEO, not the co-founder of Hugh, has joined the board of Truff, which is actually pretty cool as well.

2:51That is pretty cool. Also pretty cool. I had it on my chili last night. What kind of Truff? Just hot. Just the regular hot sauce? Regular hot sauce. They make all kinds of hot sauce. My favorite is the white truffle. Did you put a dollop of their mayo on there as well? I would if I had it, but I didn't. Yeah, the mayo is my favorite. That's your favorite, yeah. Mayo and chili? I brought it up. Interesting. I guess it's trough mayo, so I'd try. He's from Ohio. I'd give it a try. You do weird stuff there. We do. We used to eat Miracle Whip. We've gone down that path, though. Let's not do that again.

3:21Ew. I got saved from Miracle Whip. Good, good. Yeah, I was making mac and cheese this week, and I was putting a little bit of the trough oil in there to, you know, make it fancy. Ooh, the oil? Mm-hmm. They have the white truffle oil. Yeah, the truffle oil. I have some of that. Yeah. Well, if we had any truffle hot sauce right now, I might put it on this cookie. I brought a cookie. I baked a cookie for you guys because I thought... This is so weird. Yeah, I thought this would be nice. I know that was a tough transition. Oh, my goodness. Do we have any chili crisp? I need to put chili crisp on everything.

3:50Remember. What is this? This is... What is this cookie? That doesn't look like a cookie. I was going to say, is it a cookie skillet? It's a skillet cookie. Yeah, it's a skillet cookie. It's a skillet cookie. So this is a skillet cookie, which basically you can cook in a skillet, in a, what do they call those pans? A skillet? No, the cast iron skillet. Well, it's still a skillet. Okay. It's made by a company called Holy Gluten Free, which I love this brand. I've started to see this brand a lot more in Whole Foods and other spots. And they kindly sent me one of these chocolate chunk skillet cookies.

4:24And I baked it in my air fryer this morning. Your Easy Bake Oven? It does kind of look like... Air fryers are the new easy bake. That's what I'm saying. That's amazing. But actually, this does kind of look like it was baked using a light bulb. The light bulb in the air fryer is slightly more powerful. Can I see the box? Yes. Here's the box. Kind of reminds me of when you go out to eat and at the end of the night, like, I don't know, you go to TGI Friday's or something and you get like a volcano cake or you get like a cookie cake for dessert. Yes, exactly. but I'm a big fan of this very quickly made cookie.

4:59I feel like this is something that I could, what are you doing? Nothing. John Craven just took a photo of me. I did not. Ray looks like he warped the pan to make a balance. Can we eat this? It's a heart. Are we just going to stare at this thing? Is it like a cookie cake? That's why I brought forks and knives and plates. Forks and plates for a cookie. Yes. Come on at the Lateef household here. Yes, we're proper eaters here. Do you have a white napkin I can tuck in my shirt in? Are you a butler here too? Oh, yes. Well, you guys would be like, I'm going to blow my nose in a Kleenex and have you guys use it as a napkin.

5:30That's what we're dealing with over here at Case Radio. Yeah, and it's like, what's the problem with that? Okay. Anyway. Wait, hold on. Let me get my knife and fork out here. Oh. Here you go, Mike. I think this needs a scoop of ice cream, Ray. Yeah. Or some truff sauce. Definitely needs ice cream. Or some truff sauce, no. No? Sorry, Jackie. Chili crisp. This is one of those times we're going to have to, I know, stare. Yes. I'll just watch. It's too early for cookies over here. I think I overcooked it a little bit, though. at least the crust i want it to be gooey spot on jackie this is exactly what it tastes like it's like are you a gooey cookie some ridiculous gooey dessert that you get gooey i don't like you know like the cookies where it just almost like breaks your teeth or it's too crunchy and not i'm not a fan of those no that would be right up my alley yeah i don't like those at all i thought you're saying no to the skillet cookie no i love what's wrong with you i love the skillet cookie i don't like too i don't like cookies that are way too crunchy yeah they're gonna crack my my jaw yeah That's pretty good.

6:24Yeah. Is that meant to be served? Like it comes out of your easy bake oven and you serve it to your guests? Servings per container, one. By Ray's Butler? No, there's six servings per container. One sixth of a cookie is what the serving is. Oh, interestingly enough, the ingredients include chia seeds and garbanzo beans. Interesting. Wow. Did not taste that or see that coming. No, but I guess that's how you make a wholly gluten-free cookie. Those are pretty tasty. Quite tasty. Yeah, really good. It's more protein and fiber. So I guess it's better for you? I don't know if any cookies really should be called better for you.

7:01It's better for you than, I don't know, the Easy Bake Oven stuff that was served for 1986. Better for you than not eating cookies, right? Yes. Holy is the umbrella brand that makes Holy gluten-free. They also sent over some Holy Wholesome organic traditional pie shells. Now, again, multiverse. I'm hoping that by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, there is a delicious pie in these frozen pie shells. These are also something I've been seeing at Whole Foods more often. And I'm really excited to try these out. What kind of pie are you going to make? Yeah, are you going to make pumpkin pie? Banana cream pie?

7:38Banana cream pie sounds amazing. I would love a banana cream pie. I used to be a fiend for pecan pie, especially on Thanksgiving, but it's gotten to be too sweet for me. Too sweet. Yeah, I wish that weren't the case, but it is. All right. So the second day of NOSH Live Winter 2023. Well, we're going really in the future with this episode. Now we're really going to the future. Did not know that. Yes. And I plan to be meeting with and speaking with several of the retailers and investors that are going to be at the event. Now, that list of retailers and investors is growing by the day. Our attendee list is growing by the day and really excited for folks that are going to be there to meet with all these people.

8:21Now, again, as we've talked about in the podcast in the past, it's not necessarily an expectation of having an hour-long meeting with these folks, but just getting to sit down with them for five minutes or just having a cocktail or a cup of coffee with these folks for five minutes, opening that door to a future conversation is so critical. And having that opportunity to do so is so different than the kind of opportunity you might have at a trade show like an Expo West where it's just loud, it's crazy, you're trying to get through an aisle. this offers you an opportunity to meet with people on a very intimate level, even if it's only for a few minutes and have that be the beginning of a conversation that you're going to extend in the future.

9:02That's been our marketing campaign, Ray. A meeting minus the crazy. A meeting minus the crazy. Yeah. Well, you consolidated what I just said into three words. So it's very good. That's what I do. Yeah. That's what you do. That's why you're the CMO. But I bet that was Jackie's term. Jackie Breckstreet. Jackie, probably. I probably I take credit for it. I just put that into his brain.

9:23Now, one well-known investor that will be attending Nosh Live, and actually speaking at Nosh Live, is the one and only Patrick Schwarzenegger, who is the co-founder and CEO of a brand called Mosh, a brain-centric brand of protein bars. He's also an angel investor. You forgot to say delicious protein bars. They have like little crispies in them. I love it. Yeah. He's also an angel investor. He holds stakes in popular brands, including Blaze Pizza, Super Coffee, Verb, and Simulate. So very excited to hear from him. He's on a panel of Gen Z and millennial investors, and it's going to be sort of a, how do I get inside the mind or inside the wallet, more specifically, of these folks.

10:05So very excited to see Patrick once again at Nosh Love. Gen Zs and millennials on the same stage together. It's going to be a stone circle deathmatch. I thought you were going to say it's going to be stoned circle deathmatch. Not that. Can we go way into the future here? Okay. So we're skipping around here. I appreciate that. I know. I'm just trying to get you to talk about our sponsor. Yes. There's someone yelling in Ray's ear every time. Don't forget to talk about the sponsor. Well, what John Craven is holding in his hand is a carton of Clover Sonoma's organic eggnog, which is very cool. Now, organic eggnog, this organic eggnog.

10:41What is it packaged in, Ray? It is, of course, packaged in one of our favorite types of packaging. that is Tetra Pak. Of course, as we know... Does anyone use Tetra Pak every day, Ray? Millions of people, Ray, in fact? Perhaps. And millions of people use Tetra Pak every day. Tetra Pak is the pioneering packaging solutions company that provides safe, innovative, and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Learn more at tetrapak.com. You know you're actually going to need your... And thanks for sponsoring Taste Radio. You're going to need your time machine to go back in time to be able to drink this.

11:20May I see it? Because it expired on November 19th. Oh, I think it's fine. Okay, you have a swig then. I think it's fine. When do you all start drinking eggnog? Like, do you drink it on Thanksgiving? The day after Thanksgiving? Do you not drink it at all? I think you could start drinking it after Thanksgiving. Like, you know, one part eggnog, five parts booze is generally a good recipe. Oh, God, he's going for it. You're pouring it over your laptop, too. Have you learned nothing? That's not my laptop. It's a running joke. That's one of my favorite jokes. Just sizzling the company's equipment. Oh, it's delicious.

11:54Well done. I feel like I drink eggnog maybe once a year. And when I do, I'm always loving it, even though it is loaded, loaded with sugar. Yeah, I was going to say how much sugar in this from Clover, Sonoma's finest here. It is Sonoma's finest. I know. It's kind of weird to have this here in Massachusetts. but you can get more when we're in California soon. Cartons and cartons. I don't imagine they drink much eggnog in California. I feel like it's a cold weather kind of beverage. They make snow in, I mean, when we're in, well, typically when we're in Santa Monica, we're in Marina del Rey this time, they have the outdoor ice skating going on there, which is quite funny to watch.

12:37I've never seen that. Well, you don't go to the right part of town, right? Yeah, we have outdoor ice skating on Coronado Island. So you're right next to the beach and you're ice skating. I can't imagine how much energy it costs to do that. I don't know. How much electricity it costs to keep that ice frozen. You can surf. Why do you need to ice skate? Because it's Christmas. People want the seasons. They demand the seasons. That would be like me saying, why are you playing soccer when you could just ski or ice skate? No, because I can ski and ice skate and play soccer. At the same time. Yeah, that would be a disaster.

13:13Have you seen people try to do that? Yes, I have. That's crazy. Mike, you have a pouch in your hand. I do. It looks like some nice treats. What is that? No, Ray, these are not nice treats. These are, I think I had a Honey Mamas moment when I tried these. These are Minas Snacks. These are their Midnight Mini Cookies. They say deep chocolate, velvety white chips, and sea salt. And, I mean, this is the closest thing to the next generation of Oreo that I've had. it's so really yeah that's uh that's a bold statement you want to open that up yeah yeah we're gonna open these up right you got to try these these are really good i will so there's cream inside it looks like no no there's no cream i don't i don't know what he's talking about they're nothing like chips you don't think they're like oreos what do they taste like oreo if they're not oreos like the outside of the oreo okay the cookie with less um less of the white stuff okay Okay.

14:10Nice. So good. They're tasty, whatever they are. And what's the brand called? Minus Snacks. Oh, so I actually thought it was Minus. Minus M-Y-N-A. It's M-Y-N-A. And one of the founders' names is Pokemon. Pokemon and Darcy. I want to meet a founder named Pokemon. Wait. Actually Pokemon? Wait, his name is Pokemon? I don't know if it's a he. The person's name is literally Pokemon. The person's name is Pokemon. That's amazing. Oh, but it's not in the way that... Gotta catch them all, bro. It's not in the way that... Ray, we gotta catch them. Okay. It's his... The person's name is spelled P-O-K-I-M-A-N-E.

14:52Oh. Okay. And they're called Minus because it's like Minus the bad stuff? No, I think it's Minus. No, no, no. Like a Minabird. M-Y-N-A. It's spelled M-Y-N-A. Oh, okay. So Mike combined the S in snacks with the A in the brand. Yeah, I said Minus snacks. So it sounds like mine is snacks, but it's mine. Yeah, we're doing an epic job providing a description of a product that a lot of people won't be able to see and just confusing their minds. I would bet our average listener is going to go online and see this product and be like, that is not at all what I was expecting. I feel like the listener because I can't really see it.

15:30They're imagining like a bag of Oreos with a bird on it. We should have our listeners, based on our description, do an AI of the package and send it to us. Send it to ask at taste radio dot com. Poor Jackie. She's just like, you guys are not helping. Jackie just wants to try them. That's all. I'm not a huge Oreo person, so I don't know if I'd like it. I'd give him a try. Okay. Well, what do you have on your table there, Jackie? So last week I was talking about how I'm trying to drink less caffeine and Mudwater heard me talking about that. So Mudwater sent me a starter pack of both their OG Mudwater and then their Matcha Mudwater.

16:08Oh, cool. Yeah. And I'm a big fan of Mudwater. I mean, I love functional mushrooms. And the big piece of their ingredient panel is four different functional mushrooms. They have lion's mane, cordyceps, chaga, and reishi. and it's all, you know, trying to give you the energy boost and, you know, functionality of coffee, but without the crash. So their OG Mudwater is masala chai and it is like a cacao chai functional drink. And then their matcha is also a matcha chai. So they gave me some like coconut oil, powdered coconut, a Zitzer. I like to call it Zitzer to like It's Zitzer. So I'll be drinking this this week.

16:53It's Zitzer. It's amazing. I want you to spell that. Not right now. See, it's a portable Zitzer. Yeah, it's Zitzer. I love those things. I think I have like four of them. Yeah, we have a lot of those. Yeah, we got a few. It's great. Let's bring it on the road. And that stuff is, I mean, if you're going to replace coffee with something, that's it. That was a good plug for Mudwater, though. I like it. I'm waiting for Jackie to be like, use code. I know I need a promo code Send me that Code Mike is crazy for 30 % off your first order Just try it, just try it, see what happens Well, John Craven, it looks like We're going to move on to alcohol now This is great because this week We published an episode This is one of those episodes I listened to a few times A great episode with the co-founder and CEO of this company His name is Cy Cane and the name of the brand is Straight Away Cocktails Straight Away Cocktails well size a very chill dude and a fantastic entrepreneur product episode yes he sent me their latest nitro gin fizz haven't tried this one yet but all of his stuff's great and if we go into the future again to the year 2000 just to nosh live and bevnet live we're gonna be we're gonna be serving up some straightaway cocktails they're fantastic I'm excited I am gonna hoard them all and just put them in a bag and take them home.

18:14But yeah, no, great product. I think I would give you some. I mean, he sent me some. I kid, but I also can't help myself. True story. The only time that John Craven checks a bag is when he's bringing alcohol back home. No, false. Really? You checked a bag for Befnet and Nosh events? There are times where you got to check a bag. It's there for like two weeks. Ten days. I got no laundry. Lots of clothes. I might check a bag. We'll see. I'll check a bag. But I think I have... And also, I wouldn't check... Well, I would probably check a box filled with booze. I've definitely done that on the way back from BevNet Live.

18:51Okay. No good booze is left behind. Words to live by. Some of it goes to the San Diego office. Some of it comes back. Yeah. Yeah. And of course, speaking of the events, we hope to see you in Marina Del Rey for Nosh Live, BevNet Live, Reuben Live, for our Spirit Sunday, which is part of BevNet Live. If you are on the fence, let me talk you off the fence. You got to be there. And if you're not there, we're going to miss you. And you're going to have FOMO sitting at home or in your office and realizing that you had an opportunity to meet some of the best people, the gatekeepers, the community leaders of this industry at Nosh Live, BevNet Live, and BrewBound Live.

19:30Those questions that you're asking yourself, the ones you can't solve, the ones you don't have the answer to, they have the answers to those questions. There you go. You got to ask those questions. and everyone's like oh well at least here in this room it's like oh you get to meet ray i think it's gonna be more fun to meet jackie i think it's gonna be more fun to meet jackie jackie actually gets stopped at trade shows being like are you the jackie yes that's become the second most popular question when we go to a trade show can i meet ray and then can i meet jackie i'm just like walking by and they hear my voice and they're like that sounds familiar but who is that and then it clicks.

20:03Are you the Jackie? I get that like, which John are you? Which John are you? This is only one Jackie. We had a couple more Jackies at the company, but they just mysteriously disappeared. We know what happened to them, don't we, Jackie? It is kind of funny sometimes when we were at trade shows or visiting a business and they asked John, John Craven, what do you do with the business? That's my favorite. I just sit back. I just say, I'm disabled. Well, let's see. Every morning I get Ray his mochaccino. Hope he doesn't throw it in my face when it's too cold. Get Ray's laundry. Get Ray's steak for lunch.

20:40I think I'm going to go with this line. I don't really get mad unless you make direct eye contact with me. And everyone knows that. That's right. Don't make direct eye contact with me. And then we're all going to be fine. And you like to do that handshake where you just go up to your hair when someone moves in. Ooh. It's 1983. It's the multiverse. We're coming full circle. And do not touch his blazer. Hands off. Too many thread counts for most people to afford. Egyptian cotton. 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.

21:21Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cratchy. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt. And our video editor is Ryan Galang. our social marketing manager is Amanda Smirlinski 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 Podcast 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 tasteradio.com on behalf of the entire taste radio team thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time