C-Stores Of The Future Unite, And We Munch Together

0:10Hello and thanks for tuning into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Lateef, the editor and producer of Taste Radio And I'm with my co-host for this episode John Craven, Jackie Brugliera, and Mike Schneider Alright folks, I just want to put a PSA out there To please review Taste Radio on the Apple Podcast app I know you're going to hear that later in the episode as well But it's very helpful if you do Especially if you leave us five stars It helps other people to see what we're doing And to get recommendations on what to listen to and if you do review us on Apple Podcasts and let us know by sending us an email to askatasteradio.com, we will drape you in the finest of Taste Radio gear.

0:53Why don't we offer like a Ray Latif commemorative gold coin? Do people still do that? We have the next best thing. What's that? A Taste Radio lapel pin. Oh, a lapel pin is great. Oh, those are better than a Ray Latif gold coin. Yeah, that's like a coin that you attach to your shirt, you know? It's like a coin that you attach to your shirt. It's got some weight to it too. Those things are heavy. Do you remember those? It's like flair. It's like from that movie Office Space. Like everyone needs like at BevNet, everyone needs to wear at least six, seven pieces of flair around the office. I don't really like to talk about my flair, Ray.

1:22You should throw some of those, like when you're up on stage at Nosh Live, you know, and BevNet Live and BrewBound Live, just throw handfuls out to the audience. I don't think our insurance carry would really like that. Maybe they would. You could personally sign them with a teeny tiny little pen. Oh, geez. Just thought. Okay. Might get us more reviews, whatever it takes. I actually would prefer one of those t-shirt guns where you just like you're firing the guns. Yeah. Catapults, you know? I think you should go full Max Luthie when he threw the plink into the audience. Just do that. Just start chucking Taste Radio swag into the audience.

2:00I do remember that. And I think some people weren't too happy about that. So they flipped some back on stage at Max. I got those. Thank you for that. Thank you for flinging those back. That was great. Yes. I picked those all up. You know, I mean, that was a dynamic performance by Max and team at Plank. They ended up winning the competition. I'm excited to find out who wins our competitions at BevNet, Nosh, and BrewBound Live. Time is running out. As of this recording, it is December 1st, 2023. We're on the second day of Nosh Live, but plenty more to come, including BevNet Live and BrewBound Live.

2:34Do not be that person, if you haven't already signed up, do not be that person who's like, Like, oh, man, I should have gone to BevNet Live. I wish I had BrewBound Live right now. Why do those people always sound like that? I don't know whose voice that is, by the way. Why do they always sound that way? I wish I'd gone. Yeah. Damn it. I can do many other voices. Oh, I wish I should have gone to BrewBound Live. Bring out like a bunch of voicemails with everyone just saying that. You know, I should actually. You know, it's funny, actually. There's this motivational speaker. His name is Wayne Dyer.

3:02Don't ask me how I find out about this story. I listen to a lot of motivational stuff. No, I don't. Anyway, so he wrote his first book a long time ago. He has since passed. But anyway, he wrote his first book a long time ago. And to get people to listen to it, he used to go on these radio shows, these morning radio shows all the time. And after he was done pitching his book, he would call local bookstores and ask them whether or not they were carrying his book. And he would use all different kinds of accents and different voices to make it seem like there were all these different people calling.

3:35but it was just him. He was generating all the enthusiasm and all the interest. What are you saying? Like, Oh, is this what you guys do behind the scenes? I'm sorry. I was just zoning out at this. I thought it was a good story, but anyway, cool story, bro. Yes. You like that. So anyway, the bottom line here is that if you're not already registered for BevNet live or BrewBand live, you don't have much time left and you're going to be missing out on the best events of 2023. That's all I can say at this point. Best events, excuse me, plural. plural. Yeah. There are events, there's like events within events, within events.

4:10I mean, we've got all kinds of stuff going on, Ray. You didn't even talk about beverage school. You didn't talk about bootcamp. You didn't talk about spirit Sunday, the cocktail showdown. There's so much going on at these events. I didn't talk about it, but you did. It's back to back five days of networking, content, after parties. I think at BrewBound Live alone, we have three parties going on. So there's a lot, a lot to do. So much product sampling that you're guaranteed to feel ill after. Oh, no, no, no. Everyone who is sampling, I highly recommend. Well, okay, the samples are great, but just to be clear, I meant because you consume so much.

4:48Yeah, it's a cornucose. Be careful. You can't contain yourself with all the awesomeness that's there. Here's the cool thing. I think what people should do, particularly at BevNet Live, is instead of just getting a full-size bottle of something and drinking a sip or two, find a friend on the floor introduce yourself to a few people and say hey would you like to share would you like to try some of these products with me and get to know each other yeah exactly get to know each other i love this guy giving advice that he would legit never do himself he'd be like wait you touched that germs no no no i would just use a different cup let me deep fry that in purell real quick i just don't love seeing like these you know bottles of products with like a sip in them and then put on the side.

5:28It's not because people didn't love the products just because they can't, as you mentioned, John, consume a ton of liquid. Or I love seeing people at lunchtime with just, you know, sitting at their table with a spread of beverages and they're all just taking a time to point it out. But, you know, you know, speaking of sampling, I know you brought some fun samples, John Craven, to try. And the one that I will try and not be all freaked out about is a new limited edition flavor from Kit Kat. That sounded like an advertisement. I don't want it to. So anyway. Right, look at this. I went to New York City, the Times Square.

6:01Oh boy. Wrote a double-decker bus. John Craven is actually from Iowa City, Iowa. Yeah, I've never been to New York. He went to go see the Rockefeller, the tree at Rockefeller Center. Meet Spider-Man. That's not true. Grew up in New York. So, know my way around. Just saying. To the Kit Kat store. John does know. if you need pizza in New York, John can help you find the best pizza. It's like my mom's from Canarsie and my dad's from Bayside, Queens. I think I'm like legit there. But anyway, they still want you... I want to pause for a second here. They want you to ride on a double-decker bus, Ray.

6:33If your mom was from Canarsie, wouldn't she be from Canarsie? If you said it with a mass accent, maybe? But... They say Canarsie? Don't be a can-asshole, Ray. No, I try to have no accent, but I would say Canarsie. But I also, you know, anyway. Okay. So I went to the Hershey's store, only because my kids wanted to. But I got this here. Chocolate Frosted Donut Flavored Kit Kat. Oh, my God. Which apparently they had it next, but I didn't go to that. So I had to go to Times Square and get one. So I will let you open it just so we don't, you know. We don't contaminate it. We don't contaminate the package here.

7:04And you can have the first bite here. Okay. It says to lip the flap and tear at the end, which I did. Hooray, reading all the instructions before opening. Now watch here as I don't touch it with my hands. Let's go right. Oh, my God. What are we doing here? Everyone else gets germs. Wow. I just got... Yeah, I'm going to pass. I'm going to go for the other side of the pack here. Oh, good idea. Good idea. Yeah. I didn't touch anything. There's no going back in the pack. You just sneezed on it, guy. No, I didn't. There you go. All right. Here we go. Donut Kit Kat. How is it? Hmm. I don't remember the last time I had a Kit Kat, so...

7:41Got a lot of sugar in this. It tastes like a Kit Kat with, like, donut glaze on it. It's terrible. Extra sugary. It's a donut Kit Kat, basically. Like, you don't even need glaze on a Kit Kat. It's already so sugary. Too much artificial ingredients. Can't believe they ruined a Kit Kat. 10 out of 10 would definitely eat again. I gotta ask, though. I like this, but I'm curious as to why the artificial colors include blue, too. I don't like the smell. What does it smell like? It smells like a bad... It smells like Kit Kat and Donut. It smells like an artificial donut. That's going to be the best meme of all time.

8:16I don't like this. I do not like this. I do not like it. I love donuts and Kit Kats, but not Kit Kat donut, apparently. We want to redeem ourselves here. Yes, please. Got some better quality chocolate. I think better quality. There we go. The folks from Lobo sent us this box of chocolate here. How do you spell Lobo? L-O-V-O. There you go. It's Swiss made, 100 % plant-based, and 100 % GMO free. When Forrest Gump said life's like a box of chocolate, that's the box you made. Yeah, so you can have an entire box, Ray. Whoa. I took one out of here, but you can have the rest, Mike. Yeah, I love Lobo.

8:52It's interesting that they just use different types of plant-based milks to kind of differentiate their milk chocolate. But it's very creamy, which I think is hard to do sometimes with plant-based milk. So they were just very kind in sending us these samples? Yeah. Very nice. So in my box, I have an oat milk chocolate. I have a hazelnut milk chocolate. I have an almond milk chocolate. And I have a coconut milk chocolate. I'm milking coconut milk here. They all look pretty similar. They're differentiated by slight variations in color associated with the type of plant milk that you're using. Also on the back of the package is the Rainforest Alliance seal.

9:34I believe the Rainforest Alliance is working toward the preservation of rainforests in our world. Now, I haven't tried these yet, but maybe I'll... You can't follow up a Kit Kat with a little Lovo chocolate, Ray? Yeah, but I'm deciding which one. I think I'm going to go with the coconut milk one. Yeah, that one's my favorite because I just think coconut and chocolate is a beautiful combination and it's just a hint of coconut. It is a hint of coconut. I wonder if Lovo is sold at Foxtrot or Dom's Market. Do you hear about this news? Foxtrot and Dom's have merged. Yeah. Now, I think a lot of people know what Foxtrot is.

10:08It's the premium convenience store, I guess, super premium convenience store based in Chicago, opening up outposts in different parts of the country. We actually had co-founder Michael Havitola on Taste Radio a couple of years back. Pretty amazing place. They created a new idea of a corner store melded with a sort of Whole Foods slash Erewhon type of selection and really appealed to so many people living in those particular parts of Chicago and beyond where those stores were located. Dom's Market, I think for me, is a lot less known, but they are also based in Chicago and have a similar type of approach to that corner store.

10:49Are they going to change the name? Is it going to be Foxy Doms? Dom Trot? No, they're going to become Outfox Hospitality, I think is what it's called. Correct. That's much better than Foxy Doms. But there was so much hype. I mean, Foxtrot raised about$100 million to expand. And so this merger kind of came as a surprise to me. Yeah, well, Foxtrot certainly had a lot of hype and recognition for, you know, the format of their stores and going into some, you know, hot markets like Austin. But I think, you know, I mean, look, both of these retailers compete with way bigger fish, some of whom have thousands of locations.

11:28So I'm sure that there's a part of it that's, you know, just combine resources and, you know, have something with a little more ability to scale. So definitely curious to see what happens with it. I mean, personally, when I first saw that headline, I'm not going to lie, I thought it was, I was waiting for like theonion.com or something like that. But no, I mean, I think it's two, two, you know, up and comers with great reputations, which is better than, you know, maybe some of the alternatives that could have acquired one of them. So. So do you think they'll, they'll try to combine their store aesthetics or will they stick with the ones they have right now?

12:05That's, that, that's an expensive change. Well, according to an article penned by our very own Lucas Southard, the two brands will retain their respective names, but will eventually merge online ordering apps and rewards programs. Foxtrot will grow its prepared food business, expand into private label offerings, and prioritize its cafe and coffee business, while Dom's will add Foxtrot's branded gummy candies, snacks, and wines to the grocery store shelves. Interesting stuff for sure. I do, yeah, I mean, I guess the big question for me was whether or not this would affect Foxtrot's appetite for expansion.

12:40And apparently it says it does not, the merger according to this article, does not quote, change the types of markets that Foxtrot is focused on and expanding into. So I am just, I guess I'm just hoping that one day Foxtrot will end up in Boston, which was an area of focus or a region of focus for the brand, for the company a couple of years ago. It still has not happened. Yeah, I think this just like further supports their expansion. And even from what their plans are, I know Dom's is like a natural grocery store. So that allows them to get a little bit deeper into that rather than just being purely like convenience, modern, you know, cutting edge brands.

13:21So I think it will be good for both of them. Well, excited to see where this all goes. Maybe we'll get Mike back on the podcast. I'm right here. For a follow up. The other Mike, the Foxtrot Mike, not the Schneider Mike. Not Barista Mike. Not Barista Mike. Do you still go by Schneider Mike? Sometimes, yeah. That was the original handle, social handle. Only when he's trolling people online. About Arsenal, of course. Arsenal. First fans know me. That was a heck of a win you guys had the other week. That was a good one. Yeah. Anywho. Heck of a goal by Mr. Garnaccio as well. Hey, man. If you want to talk about one of the greatest goals you'll ever see.

13:55That was one of the greatest goals I ever see. I'm glad the ball didn't get caught in his eyebrows. Was that a helicopter kick? I think I saw that one. It's called a bicycle kick. Yeah. Alejandro Garnaccio from Manchester United. That was a great goal. I just, I just am trying to stoke the flame. I know, I know what it's called. I, I saw the clip of it. I want to see a helicopter kick next. You're thinking of a, of a Street Fighter 2. Oh yeah. Yeah. Different, different. Yeah. Sorry. My bad. I don't know. It seems like we always got to sneak Street Fighter 2 into our podcast. Yes. More Street Fighter 2.

14:24I feel like we've been talking about that more than we've been talking about soccer. We should actually try to do some of these moves in the podcast. I think. You want? Like I want to just Hadouken. Oh boy. I need to like actually play this video game so I can participate. You would like it. We're going to make that happen during, during the events, Jackie. Okay. Priority. Well, at this point, I suggest that others don't because I have something very important to say. And that's that Tetra Pak is the presenting sponsor for this episode of Taste Radio. 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.

15:02Learn more at tetrapack.com. Thanks, Tetra Pak. Thank you. Thank you, Tetra Pak. And thank you, Just Iced Tea, for this delicious peach oolong tea that I'm sipping on as we chat here on the podcast. Man, I was one of those folks that was pretty bummed when I heard that Coke was going to discontinue on his tea. And the fact that I do have this bottle of peach oolong tea sitting beside me right now is a great thing. Thanks, Coke. Oh, we. well i guess to a certain extent thanks coke and to a bigger extent thanks seth goldman and team at uh eat the change and just iced tea now i know we had another subscription box brand on the show a few jumps back i think it's called tokyo treat yum here's another one this is more tokyo treat no this one is called munch pack and Munch Pack is similar in that they source all these really cool snacks from the Netherlands treats from well I think it's from all over the world and put them into a box and send them to you on a regular basis now I will start putting some of these things on the table and you guys can start munching on them once again Jackie I apologize because I can't get this to you I'm gonna have to order my own box yes i think you i think you should actually but uh yes there's one beverage it's a it's a fanta melon soda oh did you see john craven his eyes lit up when i said fanta melon soda here go go for it nothing sure yeah sorry i didn't watch the top of that sorry it adds flavor you know i mentioned this the last time we opened up one of these boxes i wonder how much of this is just building awareness for these brands versus actually sort of generating real revenue for them.

16:46I think it's more the former than the latter. But in either case, I mean, these are really cool products that I've never seen before. What is this? Lush Mosaic Cocoa Cream Cookies. Nice. Yeah, because it's all there from all different countries, right? So I mean, especially if you're in the US, if you see a product that you like, like what's the odds that you are going to purchase that specific product rather than just waiting for the next box to see what other new things are coming in? I mean, you probably can't if you wanted to, but choco you can get you you're not going to get your choco pie i mean i have never had potato chips that i'm not joking they contain real shamrock they're sour cream and shamrock and then it has a little badge here just to know that they're not messing around contains real shamrock must have been feeling lucky to try pretty good the uh i don't know how would you say this kios i don't know it's not good k-e-o-g-h apostrophe s pretty good yeah and then you have some what is that pipers if only we started potato chip net true story you want to go way way back in time there was a snack site that john started before nosh jackie you remember what it was called no i don't think i do what was it called it was called bars are food oh yes this was what 2010 maybe be yeah bars are food and it was solely focused on bars snack bars and protein bars and things like that right was this because you wanted to just get lots of samples of lots of bars i guess so i don't even remember i don't know what we were thinking i don't even know what we were but yeah we sold it to google for like 10 billion no someone did try to get me to start a potato chip site in the early days that was uh that was a hard no for me that's a hyper focus kind of thing though i mean i i just i feel like there's not a lot of runway for it.

18:39Bars are too, right? They're also hyper-force. Yeah, they are. Which is why, I think, to your point, you're not really sure why you did that. I think it was just, let's see if we can do it, kind of thing. I think so. Just melon, excuse me, melon Fanta. A little weird. You just sipped right from the can. Yep. Sorry. Nothing for us. Here, you can have some gra nuts. G-R-A nuts. This is a pouch of lime flavored nuts. Wow, they even put their phone number on the back. Look at that. I've never seen this before this is really interesting so where they have the expiration date and the algin info there's also a phone number it says best before june 1st of 2024 may contains sesame and the phone number is 713-460-5427 wow they have like a reason why they want you to call them i no i have no idea i'm trying to figure out exactly where this product is made oh made in columbia so this is a it looks like this is a columbian brand granuts g-r-a-n-u-t-s interesting the kiosk yeah you hate all the shamrock yeah i just i mean it's a superfood garbage mouth the whole thing my that's mike mike has been shamrock's gonna be real hot in 2024 right just you watch okay we gotta we gotta end with this because this is pretty awesome well some people might think this is pretty awesome i believe our very own shauna golden would think this is very awesome This is called a Slush Puppy Sherbet Chewbies Bar.

20:06It's a strawberry and lime flavor sour fizz chew bar. That's the description of it. Is it an Airheads Ray? Is it Turkish Chaffee? What's really cool about this, it's not Turkish Chaffee. What's really cool about this is, even though, what's the first thing that comes to mind, Jackie, when you think of Slush Puppy? Sweet. Sweet. 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven, sure. The first thing that comes to mind for me is artificial. Artificial flavors. But because this is a bar that's produced in a country where artificial flavors and additives are banned, instead of having like red dye or all these different kinds of colors, this is actually colored with beetroot and curcumin.

20:46Those are the two colors in this Slush Puppy Chuby's Bar. I love this. I'm taking this. Slush Puppy, a brand synonymous with health. Okay. Or are you just going to end on that? No. Now, I don't want to go out like that. I appreciate people listening in. Sorry, I'm saying weird things from this Phantom Melon soda. It's gone right to my head. Yeah, you're all like jittery. I'm all jacked up. Is there caffeine in there or no? No, I don't know. I only had like two sips. I assume there's a decent amount of sugar in this though. Well, in any case, very excited. If it sounds like we're all over the place and kind of excited, it's because we are.

21:23We're heading to Los Angeles, all of us very soon. Excited to see all of you out there. excited to answer your questions as mike always likes to point out if you do see us find us meet us we'd love to have a conversation with you ask your hardest questions ones that are keeping you up at night like where's ray and where's jackie and as always if you are looking for someone to connect with at the show and you can't do so for one reason or other find one of us and let us help you make that connection that's what we're there for 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 cratchy 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 podcast app or your listening platform of choice.

22:26Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is BevNet Taste Radio. 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.

22:53Thank you.