Canna We Get Some Clarification Here? Plus, Hot Products Galore.

0:10Hello 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 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. The gang's all here, all four of us finally back on the pod all at once. I think it's been at least a month since we've all been together. Sounds about right. Planes, trains, and automobiles, four weddings and a funeral, something like that. All the above. Yes. Welcome back, John, from the great city of Copenhagen. We were all jealous last week that you were in Denmark and we were here in our respective locations.

0:48I heard you were drinking under a bridge. Yes. Yeah, I saw that. We were just creeping on your Instagram. I know. Yes. Yeah, I drank under a bridge. I mean, that was mainly after I took a restaurant recommendation from Ray Lateef and Adam Stern. And I didn't really know what the Danish crone to USD conversion was. So, yeah. Now you know. Yeah, I'm pretty good with it now. Learned that lesson in the hard way. Well, let it be known, number one, that the restaurant you went to was rated the number one restaurant in the world two years ago. And it is a spectacular place. And number two, the experience you had of drinking natural wine under a bridge is something I've always wanted to do but didn't.

1:32And to be clear, there is a very high-end wine shop with a great selection of natural wines near this bridge. and what people do is they buy the wine and then they go and sit at these little patio tables and have their drink. What are the names of these places? What is the restaurant? The restaurant is called Geranium and it is quite the experience. Yeah, it's kind of not my cup of tea if I'm being honest, but I mean, it was good. I don't need a freaking four-hour dinner. You should have gone there for lunch. Didn't we tell you to go there for lunch? Stuff assembled with tweezers. Were you hungry afterwards?

2:09I feel like I'm always hungry after those dinners. You know, I kind of was. The other thing that was really tough was that, you know, like a wine pairing in the U.S. and I don't know, I guess other places that I've had a wine pairing is like, you know, a little, like if it's like a seven course thing and there's all this wine, they're like little teeny pours. This place like give you a full glass. And then when you finish it, they just keep refilling. But it's not just one wine, right? No, I don't know. I feel like I had like 14 glasses of wine over like four hours. It's starting to get a little fuzzy.

2:40The wine pairing is not inexpensive. And I think there's four options. There's like the basic, there's a mid-tier, there's a much more expensive one. And then there's one that's like really cheap. We got the cheap and the second cheapest one. Also, what was kind of interesting just as like, you know, maybe a nod from them of how expensive the whole thing is. They give you this gift bag when you leave that has two beers in it. I'm like, is this because I'm so broke I'm going to be sitting on a park bench? For under the bridge? I don't know. It's weird. And what's the place, the bridge bar called?

3:11Oh, I forget. It's called Rossforth and Rossforth. Forgive my, however that would be pronounced with a Danish accent or something. But yeah, it's just chill, natural wine. You can buy a glass of wine, bottle, whatever you want. Yeah. Some people just hop in the water after that too. Yeah. I don't want to dissuade people from thinking that Copenhagen is a chill place and also quite expensive. I mean, you can do a lot there without having to spend a ton of money. It just so happens that some of the best restaurants in the world are there. And if you're there and have saved up enough money to go there, you know, it might be worth the experience.

3:47I personally preferred, I guess, from your list, we ended up going to a variety of, you know, places that were opened by alum of Noma, you know, Taqueria, Bakery, Wine Bar. Those are kind of more enjoyable and way more affordable, too. We talked about this last week. I talked about Hart Begari, which has the cardamom buns. I saw you had more than one of those. We had some of those. Good, good. I'm planning a trip to Amsterdam next year, and I think I'll just walk to Copenhagen so I can afford the experience. It's close. You can definitely do it. Yeah, yeah. Just like an hour and a half flight, but anyway.

4:20I'm glad we're talking about Scandinavia, because earlier this week, we published an episode of Taste Radio that featured the founder and CEO of Four Sigmatic. Four Sigmatic, everyone knows, is a brand of mushroom-infused coffees, teas, supplements, creamers, etc. His name is Taro Isokauppala, and he is from Finland. I had the pleasure of sitting down with him at Bev Now Live. Oh, you did? Yeah, remember? Very cool, dude. I like that guy a lot. We had a great conversation, talked about how he's made every mistake that a founder could make in the industry and how he's overcome them. Talking about pioneering a category, being ahead of a trend.

4:57Fascinating. Fascinating person. How to merge category insights with innovation, working with, you know, your e-commerce partners and those offline. So a lot in there. I highly recommend folks listen to it. Really interesting guy, an amazing brand that, you know, at the outset, you would be like, this brand has no chance, zero chance out there. But then, of course, now it's a brand that generates tens of millions of dollars a year. Only because they were inventing something new. And we've seen a lot of coffee replacement happen and a lot of coffee replacement just come and go. And these guys came in and said, oh, mushroom coffee's the way.

5:29And people are like, oh, okay, let's give this a shot. And now everything has mushrooms in it. Snacks, beverages, breakfast foods. I mean, everything out there. And they were definitely at the forefront of that. Yeah, I'll tease this for a second for folks that haven't listened to it yet. You know, at one point in our conversation, Tara recounted a story about playing golf with the CEO of a very well-known and large U.S. retailer. and the retailer, of course, you know, he sells thousands and thousands of brands. And he asked her, what's the name of your brand again? He said, Four Sigmatic. He's like, oh, you got to change the name.

6:01He's like, that's never going to be successful. Of course, the CEO underestimated the brand. So really, really interesting stuff. As I mentioned at the top of the show, the four of us are here in studio, so to speak. The four of us will be together in a studio in person, including Jackie, in San Diego in a couple of weeks. September 25th is when we are hosting our Taste Radio meetup at the WCB, the West Coast branch of Bev Nets, which is by the Costco. The Costco. It's always a landmark. Yes. And near the Harley Davidson. Yeah, why not the Harley? The Harley Davidson. What do they call that? You can't actually buy a dealer.

6:40Yeah. You can't buy a Harley Davidson off the lot. You have to, like, order those way in advance, don't you? They have plenty. Why are you asking Jackie? I mean, I don't know. but I see people test driving and riding off. Yeah. I don't know. Four Harleys. It's like a Rolex. By the way, I just learned this about Rolex is you can't actually go into a Rolex shop and buy a Rolex. They're like, you look at the cases and they're like, none of this stuff is for sale. You have to develop a relationship with one of the salespeople. And then to be clear, I'm not, everyone's going to think I'm hotty toddy.

7:12I've never done this. I know people are into watches and they've told me about this. Rolex are for pedestrians. You're more of a, what's another one? Patek Philippe, yes. Yes, that's the one. Thank you. Anywho, the 25th of September. I'm wearing a Casio guy. I'm wearing a Casio right now. I know you are. Yeah, Casio. With the calculator. With the calculator, yeah. You got the timer going right now? Yeah, I'll be wearing my Rolex at the meetup. So anyone who wants to talk about that. No, I'm just kidding. 25th of September, the four of us will be there. A bunch of our folks from the San Diego office will be there.

7:45A ton of folks from all over SoCal will be there. founders, investors, retailers, distributors. I know of a bunch of people that are attending. It's going to be a great event. We encourage everyone from that region and perhaps beyond to come out. We will give you the address. Can we give the address right now? I'm sure we can do that. Yeah. One second. I never remember it off the top of my head. Come on. 2645 Financial Court. I don't know. I know it's Financial Court. Okay, great. Sweet D. Yes. Okay. Go to BevNet.com, search for Taste Radio Meetup, and you will see how to register. We will be doing interviews, Taste Radio interviews at the event for social and for the podcast as well.

8:25And we're teasing a pretty good-sized interview, good-name interview that we'll be hosting as well at the meetup. Did I cover everything? I think I covered everything. For San Diego. But we're going somewhere else. We're also going somewhere else, Ray. Oh, we are. And I do want to call out Naturally San Diego, which will be co-hosting the meetup with us, Naturally San Diego. Yes, they'll be there too. One of the best community organizations in the country. Great partners. Yes, love seeing those guys. Can I tease where we're going, Ray? Yes, but after the 25th, about three weeks after that, Mike, where are we going?

8:59To the home of the greatest football club of all time. We're going to London, Ray. Okay, we're just going to have to cut all that. I'm just kidding, Joe. Yes, we're headed to London the week of October 14th. The October 14th is Columbus Day here in the United States. Yeah, who needs to be here for that? We're heading out. Yeah, yes. That's not even a holiday anymore. No. Columbus is definitely not one in London. Terrible human in Columbus. I think you're set. In the Boston area, in the town I live in, in Brookline, it's described as Indigenous People's Day. Indigenous People's Day is proper. Yes, please.

9:33I could go on and on about Columbus. Yeah, let's get back on track. Let's get back on track here. We're in London, October 14th. That's the week. John, Mike, and I will be attending an event called the Cheers Drink Summit or Cheers, the Drink Summit by Bread and Jam, which looks to be a really fun time. John, what is this all about? Well, Ray, it's a pretty interesting drinks conference, getting the UK community together, I guess, in one room for a day. And, you know, we're looking forward to just meeting founders and people who are in the UK drinks industry. I suppose we're going to have you record some interviews, maybe, maybe.

10:14That's what you're going to have me do. Yeah, we're dragging you there, kicking and screaming. Pre-COVID, we went to Bread and Jam. It was a phenomenal event. We expect Cheers to Drink Summit to be the same sort of thing. Just, you know, learning, founders interacting, great community. We just, we can't wait to get over there and meet you. Yeah, it seems like there's quite a bit of stage content talking about trends, news, innovation that's happening in the UK and beyond. I see that there's a taste and rate bar, which looks really cool. Industry networking, there's a meet the investor program that they're doing.

10:47So very cool stuff. A deep dive is what they're calling it for no and low softs. Softs, I like that. Soft drink, softs. That's what they call it there, Ray. Yes. Juice, plant, dairy, functional, alcoholic, and RTD challenge your drink brands to gather and explore the latest opportunities and drink. I am excited. And if you're going to be there, maybe hit us up at askatastradio.com. Let us know. Absolutely. Or DM us on the Instagrams. You got BevNet Mike. You got BevNet Craven. You got BevNet Jackie. You got BevTrade. I got to get the BevNet Ray going. You want to give them your toll-free number too, Ray?

11:181-800-Ray Latif. There's no one. You can't get 1-800 number anymore. You can get 1-855, I think. Oh, no. 866 are good too. 866, yeah. But we'll also be hosting our own little thing going on. I mean, we don't... Details TBD. The details are TBD. We don't want to reveal anything just yet. But yes, if you are planning to be in the London area or if you're a London resident or London-based founder, let us know because we'd love to invite you to our super secret thing, at least super secret for right now. It'll be later in the week, not the same day as the... Exactly. It's only super secret because we haven't figured everything out yet.

11:52But once we do, we'll give you the details. If anyone knows people that want to come to it or a place to host it or anything about planning an event, just let us know. Please help. It's clear once again, the Cheers to Drink Summit is being held on the 15th of October and our super secret thing will be held in subsequent days. So, correct. Very good. Well, I got to tell you, I was very excited for 2024 to be the year of ranch flavor. I don't think it's because Monica Watrous, our dear friend and colleague, had predicted that we'd be seeing an explosion of ranch flavored products. And I think we did see a number of them.

12:34I made an explosion of ranch products. You know what? That just is way too close to a bathroom experience that people don't want to hear about. I thought that's where you were going. No, Ray. I just, there was an explosion of AI ranch products. Let's just call it what it is. Well, I thought you were saying. Sorry if you're eating well, it's not, Ray. I had an explosion of ranch diarrhea. I thought that's where it was going. We said it. Please just edit Ray out, Joe. Okay. Cut that one. Wow. I try not to talk about that sort of thing on the podcast. Okay. Other topics in play, but not that. Okay.

13:10Well, let's keep on keeping on here. It seems to me, however, that everything bagel flavoring, which had a good run. Yeah, we've had everything bagel flavoring for a while. But I think their 15 minutes are still going. I keep saying new everything bagel. Even with pumpkin spice? Even with pumpkin season approaches? Yes. Get this. Pumpkin spice everything? Earlier this summer, there was a Everything Bagel flavored vodka that was launched. Now, I know these things are kind of kitschy and it's limited edition, but I was like, okay, you know, it seems like people aren't jaded or completely tired of these Everything Bagel seasonings.

13:49I mean, it's like, I don't know, there's Chili Crisp and there's Salsa Matcha. Yes. And Americans just have Everything Bagel. I guess that's true. It has to be like an oil. I think it... Just put it on everything. Okay, but it makes sense. Like, I like the stuff where, okay, obviously, if it's somehow tangentially related to Everything Bagel products or things that you would normally see with an Everything Bagel, like cheese. So the Laughing Cow introduced and Everything Bagel flavored cheese wedge. But then, you know, on the other end of the dairy spectrum, I wasn't expecting to see this. Coffee Mate, which is owned by Nestle and is a maker of creamers that I don't know if actually contained here, to be honest with you.

14:31I know it does say it on the front of the pack, it says dairy creamer, has introduced or has teased a new bagel and cream cheese flavored Coffee Mate product. Now, this is not everything bagel, but it's, again, tensionally related. And they're not actually charging for it. They're doing limited edition drops that you can only get from their website on three different dates in September. That's just because no one would pay for it. I actually asked for a sample. They're like, we can't give out samples. So I'm going to have to get on the website. Yes. Coffee mate? They probably just know you're going to troll it.

15:03That's actually probably true. There's no reason to give you a sample. Yeah. Only bad things will happen. This is a good point. Come on. No PR is bad PR. They know bad things are going to happen on the Twitters and on the Instagram and everybody else is going to be like, you know. They know what's going to happen. Yeah. I mean, you can't actually care about food and be into Coffee Mate, really, can you? I mean, I don't know. I guess there's habit sort of stuff that people do that might go against what they care about in the greater scheme of food and beverage. If you're drinking Coffee Mate, I think you would be into this flavor, probably.

15:38That's a very good point, Jackie, because it seems like those who drink Coffee Mate to begin with, they're looking for some sort of flavor with their coffee. Yeah, it's not just like, here's a regular half and half cream flavor they want there. Don't they have like Butterfinger Coffee Mate? They have all different types. I'd rather that. I'd rather just wreck my coffee with a candy bar than some cream cheese. And for the UK people who are listening now, we're not talking about coffee for a friend. We're talking about a brand called Coffee Mate. That's a very, thank you for clarifying, Mike. That's important to know.

16:07Yes, Coffee Mate is the name of a brand. More like Coffee Numpty or Coffee Blum. More like that coffee pillock. Yeah, the saccharine Coffee Mate makes sense, but the savory does not. So if anyone gets a bottle of this stuff, let me know because I'll send you a few books. Sure, it'll be amazing. I mean, won't they be selling that at like every grocery store, though? No, because again, I think Mike's right. Most people would be like disgusted by this idea. Yeah. Will there be a cannabis-infused, a THC-infused coffee mate coming to market anytime soon? Probably no. Probably no. And that's... Probably never.

16:42Not because of what you're about to talk about, but... No, probably never. But yeah, exactly. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if folks in California have a little THC drop, a couple THC drops with their morning coffee or afternoon coffee, perhaps. Smoke a little weed. Smoke a little weed. Or a lot of weed. Hit that bong, as the kids say. Is that what the kids say, Jackie? No. I don't know. they don't say it like that you were now you're accusing her of smoking weed with children probably on her harley right while i'm on the harley riding down marina boulevard sidecar full of weed jackie's band is called bong harley if you guys were still creating ai images now that's an ai image i would want to see actually jackie's smoking a joint while driving and down the PCH on her.

17:25Jackie, I'm on it. This is a used case for Twitter's, what is it called, Grok? I don't even know. It's like no holds barred AI. It's pretty good. All right, well, I'm curious. Yeah, well, no, the point out, the segue I was trying to make is a pretty big story coming out of California, and we covered on BevNet.com. The title is, California Closing the Door on Hemp-Derived THC Products, and the excerpt notes that citing concerns over public health California's Governor Gavin Newsom proposed on Friday an emergency regulation that will heavily restrict, quote, intoxicating hemp products. Very interesting developments.

18:06I immediately thought of Erewhon because I was like, okay, so Erewhon, I typically see your THC drinks next to your energy drinks next to your juice drinks and things like that. But John Craven, you said it's less about drinks and more about other things. Yeah, I don't think it's really about Erewhon. It's, you know, If you look through it and, you know, just read up on this, I mean, it's certainly targeting products that were more directly, I don't know. Marketed to kids? Maybe I'll reverse this just to be careful, but not really being smart about who they were targeting. Okay. And I think they were more edible like vaping type products than beverages, which, you know, most of the beverage brands out there, you know, have language on the products.

18:50And I think are also being sold in retailers like a Total One or a BevMo that are, you know, already sort of age restricting these products. But, you know, look, I mean, this is sort of the most obvious thing ever to happen to this category because, I mean, any category that sort of, I guess there really aren't that many that kind of exist because of a loophole, as people would say it. I think, you know, the category is kind of only as good as its weakest link. And there are some, you know, sort of unscrupulous marketers that have really tried to take advantage of this. Again, I don't think that that's the majority of the beverage products out there.

19:31Like, I think the stuff that we've seen is pretty clearly like being marketed as alcohol alternatives, not thing for, you know, someone who is younger. But we'll see. I mean, you know, it's clear that this is going to end up in a court fight of some sort. So some level of regulation for this stuff is, you know, great. Not a bad thing. So, I mean, not that there isn't regulation already. There's just some bad, bad blurs. It was interesting. I'm reading this quote from Gavin Newsom about this, and it felt like 1991. He said, we will not sit in our hands as drug peddlers target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products containing THC at our retail stores.

20:10Mike is just shaking his head over here. I mean, it feels like a big smoke screen right now. They needed something to do. Yeah. I mean, while people were boiling over the weekend from 100 degree plus temperatures, I don't talk about climate change. So we'll just talk, we'll just, we'll talk at the hemp industry again. I feel like the challenge is like, there's no nuance to what they're talking about, you know, like just reading the headlines or reading the summary, I wouldn't understand who they're actually going after. And it kind of demonizes the brands and companies that are actually doing good things and makes it harder for them, but they're actually not the problem.

20:44So I think that's kind of the challenge. It does feel like a little bit of grandstanding just to get some attention. And, you know, I'm guessing this will in the end probably have, rather than some total ban, something that's a compromise of sorts, but I don't know. I mean, they're trying to force regulation, but they're not really doing anything. It is kind of their job to regulate. It's very much their job. Kind of, Ray. You know, kind of their job. So, you know, if it's not regulated, whose fault is it? I just, let's just get it regulated. Well, it remains to be seen where this is all going, but of course, the team at BevNet will be following the story.

21:18Team at BevNet and Nosh, of course, will be following this story in the weeks to come. Stay tuned. If you want to read the story that was written by our dear friend and colleague, Lucas Southard, please do so. But you got to be an insider. To be an insider, you go to BevNet.com slash insider. Maybe the best thing you do all week, all month, all year. Definitely. We've got thousands. I do want to talk about more things, but we've got so many products and some that might even heat it up in the microwave. So we got to get to some of these. We should probably get to that one soon. Are they warm still?

21:48These are dumplings from Foodware. I've got two varieties here. The one that I have in my hand is the Japche. Foodware. It's spelled like F-O-O-D-W-A-O. Foodware. Is it a tech company? No, it is a food company. Okay, gotcha. So we've got the Japche dumplings here. Then we've got the vegan mushroom dumplings here as well. Don't mind if I. Yeah, try those. You wanted to see the package, right? There you go. Okay. These definitely have dumplings on the front. 100 % plant-based. The ingredient panel has quite a few ingredients on it, but, you know, most ingredients I know, which is a good thing. You could have pan-fried or steamed these.

22:31I steamed them. You steamed them. How so? What? I steamed them, right? There is the package that John wanted to see. You know, if I did it at home, I would have used my dumpling steamer, but I used the microwave trick. And they came out pretty good, but I wouldn't recommend preparing them that way. I would definitely, if I was making them at home, I'd steam them and pan fry them. Yes, that's actually a really good one. They're really tasty dumplings. I tried the Japchae ones, and I was going to try the mushroom too, but I passed them over to John. We're going to wash this down, these dumplings down, with something that I brought.

23:04The mushroom dumplings are really good. Gia. So are the Japchae ones. which is a brand of sparkling non-alcoholic aperitifs they also make a concentrated version where you can blend it with whatever you want but gear has launched a new multi-serve product called le fizz and this is their strawberry and orange blossom variety this is the only variety of le fizz really they launched it last week it comes in a 25 ounce glass bottle with a crown top i've been waiting to try this you haven't even tried it yet ray i have not it's described as a dry and juicy sip i don't have a bottle opener so let's play okay that worked fantastic and i said 25 ounce bottle but it's imagine so many so many electronics under this class right do you want me to pull that hold on here i'm gonna do this right over the laptop i'm happy ray's regulating it he's regular fuzzy it's regulated he's learned nothing here it's a uh it's ready to drink as i mentioned with five to six servings per bottle and it's so it's like a wine bottle it's like a 750 milliliter bottle.

24:06And it's unlocking, according to the company, new potential and hospitality accounts. Oh, smoky. The brand is currently served in over 500 restaurants in the United States. I'm excited. I'm going to try this. Hold on. Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to read the label. Okay. Mike is going to read the label while I sip. Oh, it's tasty. Yeah. What does it taste like? Like, what is it? Is it similar to anything? It's sweet, orange, and a little smoky. Okay. Just like their other products. Orange blossom meets strawberry. Juicy main character. Energy. and juicy main character energy tangity tang and a dry finish mixed with bubbles we we that's what it says on on the bottle but i like the um smoky character little there's a little tea flavor send that bottle down here yeah yeah it is it is smoky surprisingly mike uh pointed out that's a good call out there um i wasn't expecting that a little like uh chipotle pepper hmm yeah yeah is there chipotle pepper in it i think it's got a lot going on there's a lot of complexity to this product more than i expected probably orange rind as well yeah it's great it's really good there is orange peel extract there's cherry wood smoked salt there you go and there's orange and rosemary extract yeah really well done yeah well done this is really good and for someone who's off the sauce um you know i feel like this is a really good alternative to a cocktail or a wine or whatnot.