How Fiber, Gen X & Juice Shots Factor In The Future Of CPG

26:23and if they're going to associate Huel with this functionality and like greens, or if they're just going to be expecting this to be a protein shake. They've done a phenomenal job with the packaging, at least, because it's green. They made it as green as possible. And then there's a little ring on it that tells you what the differentiator is for the flavor. But they're all clearly trying to differentiate from the white packaging that they use for their protein and their meal replacements. Yeah. I mean, it's very light considering all the things that they pack into this thing. I was expecting it to be maybe a little bit more like a shake consistency or heavier or not as tasty, but it's very light.

27:00Nice. Nice indeed. And then you've got one more. Looks like those granola bars by your side. Yeah, I have True Bar. They have a new kids line. Nice. So True Bar, they have tasty protein bars. And this one specifically for kids, it has a little fun like guy on front of back. He's a little protein bar that's running around with googly eyes. Oh. I like the cough. I love that like front of pack. I think the most important thing with kids these days is that it's school friendly. So your kid can put it into their lunchbox and it has like no allergens, no peanuts, no tree nuts. And a googly eyed mascot.

27:37And a googly eyed mascot. Yeah. Who doesn't love that? That's fun. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. All right. One more thing, right? More things to dip or to use with dips. I don't even know if you need to dip these. And also, I think, I don't know, if someone leaving snacks on your desk when you're out of town isn't love, I don't know what is. But like Kia's left me these full size bags, probably to share with everybody, but of their incredible, incredible potato chips, Bombay spice and black salt. This is to be very clear. This is a brand of Indian cuisine inspired potato chips. And the name of the brand is Kia's.

28:13K-E-Y-A apostrophe S. Right. Another great Desi brand. striking package design beautiful i mean the hierarchy is just really phenomenal it's the description of the flavor potato chips uh at the top of the bag and then the middle of the bag has i believe a picture of the founder or at least the caricature of the founder also the swag is really cool too because she uses these marks also for her stickers and you can't just help but put them all over everything so yes all right you're gonna break those open some bombay which one would you like the bombay and yeah i have my own i just want you to open yours because I don't want to, I want to save mine, put them in a closet.

28:51You can go first. I don't like it when I dig. No, I got to, I got to sanitize. I got to sanitize. Everyone should sanitize. Wait. Have you had that around? Yes. So, um, so she was another attendee at the event and she said, I have to leave Mike some samples. Can you please show me where his office is? So she was very adamant about making sure that she left chips in your office and other folks in the office. They're unbelievable. They're so good. Yeah. Yeah. The black salt and the Bombay. Oh, they're so good. I mean, someone might describe these as kind of Nishi because they're Indian inspired or Indian cuisine inspired chips.

29:28When this goes mainstream and it will go mainstream, people are going to be eating these by the bag. I mean, you won't just have a few chips. That is just phenomenal flavor. It's like Dishoom, Tayab's, Cricket in a bag. I mean, just a little bit of on a potato chip. Rinse the chips. Yeah. We're going to rinse these chips. Yeah. But no, but it's really funny. I think this is something that would never have existed 10 years ago. And it goes to show that the evolution of our industry in food and beverage has been so beautiful to see. And the industry has been so wonderfully inclusive and diverse, the evolution of it.

30:05It's so good to see. And I really do think there's a really long runway for this brand. I'm not qualified to comment on authenticity, but I do feel nostalgia for all of the great Indian food that I've eaten when I eat these. And I bet you that's what she's going for here. This is just like so thoughtfully done just from product through to package. And, you know, there's a lot of times where you'll see you'll have the package isn't perfect or the product isn't. And the package is perfect and the product isn't perfect. But I think this is just like this. This product feels perfect. And good flavor is universal.

30:35No matter how niche the ingredients are, if it tastes good, then that's what matters. Quick break. If this episode has you thinking about what's next in food and beverage, explore BevNet and Nosh Insider, our subscription platform with deeper insights from the BevNet team. Visit TASTERadio.com slash Insider to learn more. All right, it's time to get to the featured interviews from TASTERadio's San Diego meetup held at BevNet's West Coast office. Our lineup includes a compelling conversation with Sean Hamilton, the chief commercial officer of Salty, who detailed how the Wellness and Jushat brand scaled from a Southern California startup into a national powerhouse, now available in over 15 ,000 retail locations, and recently secured a major deal with Starbucks.

31:28I also connected with the founders of several exciting emerging brands, including Irva Bruco, a fresh take on Yerba Mate. Inner Bloom, a startup crafting canna-based tonics for mood and focus. Hydrate, a mission-driven water brand supporting veterans. Lua Coffee, which offers bold Vietnamese-style coffee infused with MCT oil. Birdie, a new sparkling tea brand with standout branding. Recoup, a gut-healthy hydration drink and a former winner of the New Beverage Showdown. And Lixir, a brand reimagining mead for the modern drinker.

32:11All right, let's get started. You've heard enough from me. Let's hear from our featured guest, Sean Hamilton, who's the chief commercial officer of Salty. Come on up. Hey, Ray, how are you? I'm doing well. I brought you a little ginger shot to get everything started. Okay. I am going to crush this momentarily, but I want to make sure that I can speak later. These are pretty powerful shots. Who here has had a Salty shot tonight? All right. Thank you. Yes. Okay. We see a lot of raised hands. I'll just accept it. That was like 250 raised hands. At least. At least. At least. You and I were chatting before we hopped in the mics about this brand because Salty was where everyone else was seven or eight years ago.

32:53When I first met the founder, Ryan O'Donnell, I went to his facility. He's like, hey, I'm starting this better for you cold press juice company. It's called Salty. You should come out and visit. So we went out to their facility. I'm like, interesting stuff. Got an interesting safety method for, it's not high pressure processing. It's UV light. UV light, which was kind of different from what everybody else was doing. And like a lot of founders I met, I'm like, amazing stuff. Good for you. You know, let's see where this goes. And where it's gone is pretty incredible. Salty is distributed everywhere.

33:22You have a lot of different products. You are in Starbucks. Just in general terms, if you could talk about the origins of the company, what you're all about, what the mission is, where you're sold. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Ray. I appreciate the intro. So Salty is a San Diego-based brand founded in 2014. Our headquarters and manufacturing facility is actually located just a few miles from here. And that's where we bring in fresh produce and ingredients from around the world to make the super shot, the ginger super shot that you're enjoying right now. I am getting healthy by the second. I can see it.

33:54Yes. I can see it. Yes. As well as our Super Aid lineup, which I have right here, Lavender Magnesium, which will be launching in Sprouts next month. But we're bringing in fresh, organic ginger from Peru, fresh, organic turmeric from Fiji, organic Granny Smith apples from Washington. So we're just really bringing in the best, highest quality ingredients we can from around the world. We're grinding, pressing every single day fresh produce and putting it in glass packaging because glass packaging is what preserves the freshness and the vitality and the nutrient density of the products. And I remember when I first saw Salty, it was primarily here in Southern California.

34:28Now I can buy it at my Whole Foods in the Boston area. You're national. And what retailers are you national with? We're in over 15 ,000 retail doors across the country. So in the grocery channel, mass, natural, virtually almost every major retailer carries Salty products today. We're also in over 12 ,000 food service locations with one particular food service operator in particular. Wendy's. Starbucks. Yeah, we'll talk about them in a moment. But yeah, the brand is coast to coast, like full national distribution, grocery, natural, Target, Walmart. Like I said, almost every major retailer across the country, as well as regionals and independents.

35:06This doesn't happen by accident. You don't just get into 15 ,000 stores by accident. You don't get into all Starbucks stores by accident. Just talk about the business strategy. what has been most effective for what you do? Is it from the innovation front? Is it just really focusing on distribution, marketing? And again, you know, we talked about the fact that Salty does pretty limited marketing. So how do you get to 15 ,000 stores? How do you get, well, we'll get to Starbucks in a sec, but you know, what has been the primary focus of your business strategy? Yeah, really, it's pretty simple. It's just making the highest quality products, best tasting products that we possibly can in a unique and differentiated package.

35:44So if you're in a grocery store, there's multiple ginger shots or turmeric shots available to you. So if you picture yourself standing in front of that beverage case, I mean, there's a lot of products in there. And so from a consumer's point of view, if there's two or three or sometimes even four ginger shots that are all probably line priced or priced about the same, but one is packaged in glass, that really stands out. And it signals like, hey, this is a premium product and a premium packaging. Again, at the same price. Why wouldn't you try it? So we get the trial that way. And then with the flavor, we get the repeat.

36:15And then we're in. Glass is difficult, though. Glass is heavy. The kind of glass you use, that thick walled glass, it's not the easiest package to work with. But why is it so important to what you do? Glass is definitely not easy for all the reasons you said. It's heavy. Freight is difficult. Our products also require cold chain distribution. So it's not only is it heavy, it's refrigerated and it's heavy. So, you know, those are costs that add up when you're transporting across the country. But really, glass is core to the brand. Our products have always been in glass. It's never been plastic.

36:46And we go through all the trouble of sourcing these organic premium ingredients from around the world, going through the trouble of grinding, pressing, you know, every single day on a basis. And then why put it in plastic? So you had premium ingredients should be in a premium package to help it stand out. And there's also just the sustainability story. We're trying to be an example of how other brands can get away from single-use plastics. And from a consumer point of view, it's the first point of differentiation they see and what, again, drives that initial trial with the brand. Differentiation is really important.

37:16I've talked about this in the podcast with a thousand different entrepreneurs. But at the end of the day, the retail buyers, the distributors, and really the investors want to see velocity. Velocity is so important. So when you go to a retail buyer and say, hey, we have this really differentiated brand. It's in glass. We use the highest quality ingredients. this is something that you need on your shelves. This is something that's going to bring incremental value to this category and people are going to buy a lot of it. So we make a few items in addition to our super shot item that we're talking about.

37:44We make super aids and actually a line of powdered hydration sticks. We call them our super sticks lineup. But velocity is really what it's about. I mean, on any retail shelf, but especially a refrigerated retail shelf, that space is limited and that's the first objection from a retail buyer is, where am I going to put it? What am I going to take out? So we've got to turn faster than something that's already on the shelf. When we look at our spins, our syndicated data, we're the highest velocity brand in our category. And again, it comes back to what we just spoke about a few minutes ago with just product differentiation, quality ingredients, premium taste, all of those things are what drive that velocity.

38:20The wellness shot category in particular has just been one of the few refrigerated beverage categories that's just had some really tremendous growth over the past few years. And I would say accelerating growth. So when I look at our 12 or 24 or 52-week numbers, performance numbers at retail, they're accelerating for the entire category. So we happen to be, we're in the right place at the right time. And then we're also the brand that's the most differentiated and just really bring in a shopper into the category that's not finding something that they currently like because they're looking to avoid single-use plastic packaging or ingredients that aren't as premium.

38:56So it sounds like a lot of what you're doing is intuitive to the customer that's looking for these types of products, that's buying these types of products. I feel like you still need a marketing component to what you do, though. I mean, what is consumer education? How much of that is a part of your overall strategy? Yeah, we are, from a marketing point of view, organization is extremely lean. You've gotten away with it, but it seems like it's pretty difficult for a lot of folks to be able to build a brand without consumer education. But it's being lean in that respect, in that regard, been a positive, been an advantage for you?

39:28Well, keep in mind, it's also taken 11 years, you know, to get where we're at now. So perhaps if there were bigger investments in marketing earlier in terms of, you know, consumer education or, you know, category or product that it perhaps would have come sooner. But there's just real intentional decisions really to focus on the product and then just build the brand organically through, you know, starting here in San Diego. You know, our founder spent the first three years literally going door to door, you know, selling out of a refrigerated van or small truck and, you know, slowly getting acceptance with retailers like Glassons or Bristol Farms or Mothers or Gelson's.

40:01And it wasn't until maybe year four or five that we started to get the bigger national authorizations with retailers like Whole Foods or Publix or Target or Walmart for that matter. Because you can show a lot of good data from those small retailers and say, hey, we're doing this well here and do these numbers relate or can these numbers be what they are here but also in Target? Can they grow exponentially in a larger retailer? And it sounds like that's been the case. That's exactly been the case. And I would say there's probably two other factors, at least when it comes to the shack category, that retailers maybe initially expressed concern about, but I think has definitely gone away.

40:40And that was regionality. Like, hey, is this just a California or coastal type of product for retailers and consumers on the East Coast or West Coast? And it's not. This is every retailer in the country. I mean, Walmart is really one of the fastest growing retailers in the functional beverage and the wellness shot category. Yeah. Look, if you're a great brand, people are going to notice. If you're doing well in one retailer, people are going to notice. and then you might start getting phone calls from folks that you might not expect to get phone calls from including the folks perhaps from Starbucks.

41:12Yeah that's what happens so a lot of regional and independent coffee shops have a grab-and-go beverage set where they're selling bottled water juices or kombucha other things several of them already were carrying a wellness shot maybe a regional local regional one or another national one. Starbucks is not always first you know in every category, but they made the decision that they wanted to bring in a wellness shot. So they looked at the category, the brands that were out there. They reached out to us. Obviously, we happily took the call and responded. And as they looked at the category for them, they were looking for items that were incremental or weren't necessarily cannibalistic to their crafted beverage.

41:50So they would never want someone coming in and buying a packaged beverage item instead of a handcrafted frappuccino or tea item or something like that. So shots are perfect. They're highly incremental. And the reasons they chose us were, one, just the performance data. They saw the velocities in retail. So there's the proof of concept that of all the brands out there, this was the one that consumers were buying the most where it was available. And then the packaging, just from their own purchase intent, wanting to get away from single-use plastics and have products and packages that were more sustainable.

42:22So we launched on May 20th in 12 ,000 Starbucks stores across the country. That's both corporate stores as well as their licensed stores, which are typically in like airports or hotels or colleges and universities, things like that. Pre-launch, they gave us a forecast of what they thought that they would sell. Week one on shelf, they doubled the forecast. The week after that, they called us again and they're like, we need to double it again. And so we have a standing call with them. And I think every time we get on the phone with them, they're bumping up their forecasts. And that consumer is just really gravitating toward this item.

42:55And for the category, it hasn't just been validating for us as a brand. It's really just validated the shot category. It's just really, it's a mainstream item. It's not just, again, a coastal item or a seasonal item when you're just not feeling well. This is an everyday item for everyday people. Isn't that amazing? I think when we started first seeing Two Shots come out 10 or 15 years ago, it wasn't necessarily something that you expected to see everywhere. Certainly not at a Starbucks. And I think that it's such a positive sign for folks who have innovative concepts here in our audience today.

43:25It may not be a mainstream concept today, but stick with it, stick at it. Hopefully there'll be folks that can help the frenemies of the world as there were, folks who can help fill that category, help you build awareness for what it is that you're doing. and eventually you may end up being the next salty. A hundred percent. I mean, in the case of Starbucks, I mean, obviously I'm glad it's us, but all shop brands benefit from having a shop brand in a retailer or an operator like Starbucks. So it benefits everyone. Absolutely. Sean, I can't thank you enough for sitting down with me. Thank you so much for taking the time.

43:56Thanks so much for bringing all of your amazing wares here to our Taste Radio meetup. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Ray. Thank you. All right. I definitely want to talk to folks who are here in the audience. And I think one of the most amazing things about my job is meeting folks when they're in that early stage. And then eventually they get to a place where they are a poppy or a health aide or a lesser evil or an RX bar. And don't discount that you could all be in that position one day. All those founders started somewhere. And sometimes an elevator pitch, meeting someone, an investor, a retailer in an elevator is all it takes.

44:34And I would just say that if you take two minutes with me right now, it's not only good practice, but it's good awareness to everyone who's attending here and then anyone who's listening to the podcast later on. So the first person I want to bring up is the first person who raises their hand. And that person is. Oh, OK. Come on up. We have Tiffany Scalia. Am I pronouncing that last name correctly? Well done. Round of applause for Tiffany. Thank you. Tiffany comes from a fantastic brand called Irva Bruco. What is Irva? Tell us about your brand. The best tasting cold brewed yerba mate on the market made with only real whole food organic ingredients.

45:15And so yerba mate, I've been seeing a lot of new brands come to market. Obviously, there is the large player in this space. But what makes your drinks, what makes your yerba mate different from everything else? I think as Salty was talking about, the quality of the ingredients and the respect that we maintain for the herb. We cold brew the herb fresh weekly for our farmers markets and music festivals. And then when we cold brew it for retail, we use a very similar process. So it's not a yerba mate extract. We're not adding caffeine to the yerba mate. We're not trying to create an energy drink.

45:53We are introducing people to, in South America, it's called terere. It's the cold method of drinking yerba mate down in South America. By respecting that tradition and honoring those roots, we're seeking to actually spread the culture of yerba mate through the sharing of this joyful beverage. So I think that was the interesting thing about my introduction to yerba, which is that it's not an energy drink per se. It can be used for refreshment. Obviously, there is a little caffeine in it. But how do you educate consumers? What is your pitch? Is it really about the flavor? Is it about the active ingredient?

46:27Is it about the tradition? I think we really focus on flavor. We always give samples because many people still have no idea what it is or they think it's pronounced Yerba Mate. There's still so much consumer education represents the huge opportunity that there is for this market. So we focus on flavor first, like just try it. It's incredible. And it truly is incredible. The cold brew gives it a light, bright flavor. And then we add the organic fruit, citrus. Some flavors have organic cane sugar, some don't, and we're hitting it right at that spot where it's not too sweet. We like to say we use sugar the way a chef uses salt to bring the flavors together.

47:04It's not an overly sweetened dessert beverage. That's pretty much the pitch that I give when I'm at the shop. But then I also let people know that it will give you a boost. It's got 70 milligrams of caffeine, so a little bit less than a cup of coffee, more than a cup of tea. But it's also got theobromine and a bunch of vitamins and minerals. So you get that boost of energy, but you don't get the jitters or the crash at the end. It's very calm and sustained. For me, it gives me optimism. So I share that with people. We started in 2014 and I wouldn't still be doing this with so much excitement every day if I didn't have Yerba Mate by my side.

47:41Well, my pitch is taste it. And I hope you brought some products here because every single time I've ever encountered Irva from the first time when I met you guys at DevNet Live to the last time I've had, I mean, it is just one of the most incredible tasting beverages out there. It really is. Tiffany, thank you so much for being with me. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Ray. That means so much to me. Thank you. All right. A couple more. Yeah, you, sir, come on up. Hi, how are you? Hey, how's it going? Good to see you. And you are? Suresh with Inner Bloom. With Inner Bloom. I'm not familiar with your brand.

48:13What do you guys do? Well, it took us about a year and a half to make. We launched about a month and a half ago. And we're a non-alcoholic drink brand. We realized that the crux of drinking is that you try to feel good, but a lot of functional alcohol drinks either pump full of sugar or try to get you messed up in different ways. So it took us a little bit longer to get there, but we are the first Kana-based social tonic in the nation. And your next question is, what is Kana? What is Kana? Yeah, so Kana is a succulent from South Africa. They use it traditionally to chew on as a heart opener, and it's a serotonin adaptogen, which means that it does scientifically make you happier.

48:46and it also activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which means that makes you calm. So you can imagine you go out to a bar, whether you're dancing or you want to go hit on someone, right? You get nervous. And all of these other sugary drinks, pumped full of Red Bull, double down on the anxiety. So this is the true differentiator to our product. It has magnesium, electrolytes, L-theanine, all things that are good for you. So we're the first one in the nation to do it. There's also gummies out there in the market, but we're the first one to fully launch here in the States, at least. and we're being picked up by clubs, festivals here in San Diego, one called Same Same But Different, about 8 ,000 attendees every single day, which is coming up in two weeks.

49:26And we are their premium non-alcoholic beverage of choice. And so you're really positioned as an alcohol alternative more than you are as a refreshment beverage or anything else like that? Yeah. I mean, the real focus is to create something that allows people to be present in their truest, highest form of self, right? A lot of other drinks out there are pumped full of sugar, tastes great, cost you$13, but you don't get any alternative effects. The ones that you do get alternative effects to tend to keep you out of your truest zone of being able to be articulate, maybe dance well, whatever your intentions are, right?

49:58So this is the real true catalyst to maybe have alcohol at lower buzz rate. But without having to do that at all, you could pick Inner Bloom and have the same effects. Well, I got to tell you, if Edder Bloom could maybe dance better, I need it by the case, my friend, because that's going to take a lot of product for sure. So price point, what do you guys sell for? Retail in shops right around$5 and clubs and different highly elevated cocktail bar might be around$8. Okay, outstanding. Well, I'll have to start looking for it because of all the reasons you mentioned and the fact that it isn't intoxicating because sometimes you need a break for sure.

50:34Thanks so much for being with me here on the Taste Radio Meetup Studio. Really appreciate it. And, yeah, if there's some inner bloom out here in the audience, can I get a can? Yeah, absolutely. All right. Fantastic. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. We've got time for two more folks. Come on up, please. Hi. How are you? Hi. I'm Amy McNally. I lost my name tag, but I'm with Hendry. Yes, I know you. Yes. So Amy and I sat down, actually, and it's a little bit difficult because we have a program called Elevator Talk. It's a series that's part of Taste Radio where we meet with early stage entrepreneurs from all different walks of life and from all different parts of the industry.

51:11And so we sit down with everyone for about 10 minutes and they hear feedback and advice from a co-host who's on the show, who is an investor, a retailer, someone who's an expert in the industry. So if you're interested in participating in a future episode of Elevator Talk, just come out and see me after the show or after we hang up the mics here. And I'd love to have you on the program. But hydrate. Yes, and I highly recommend it. It was a fantastic experience. I got to do it with my father. Yes, I remember. Because we started the company. It's a premium patriotic domestically sourced bottled water.

51:41And we have two different kinds. We have American artesian water, naturally alkaline. So if you think of water that's usually the South Pacific, instead of that, we have perfectly great aquifers here. In fact, I have some over there in your office. I didn't come early enough, so I couldn't find a secret squirrel spot. but you'll see a bunch all over the ledges. So you can grab those. And then also a high pH, 9.5. We won a golden ticket last year at Walmart. So we are now in the Walmarts in Nevada and here in California. And we're in commissaries and we're being reviewed by a lot of people because we're fortunate.

52:18We give 10 % of the proceeds to the Gary Sinise Foundation. My intern didn't know who he was. So I asked her if she had seen Forrest Gump. She asked if it was a band. But for the majority of people who are military affiliated, they know who he is and he does really great charitable work. So this is a passion project for myself. Yeah. Gary Sinise, Lieutenant Dan. Lieutenant Dan. From Forrest Gump. But he's raised over$400 million for his organization, which helps disabled veterans. And it's amazing that you're contributing some of your revenue to that nonprofit. It's really amazing. Now, is that the primary reason people are buying Hydrate?

52:57Or is there another reason? Because you clearly source good water, but what is the reason people are reaching for your bottles? Well, yes. The main reason is because 61 % of Americans have a nuclear family member that served in the military, especially here in San Diego. I mean, it's a military community. So we made sure to have, when you look at the bottle, it's very prominently patriotic. Just proudly supporting U.S. heroes because he also does work with first responders now, too. But then we do use great water. We made sure to source from aquifers around the country that have a 7.6 and above pH.

53:33And then it is affordable. I didn't want to have it be so highly priced that active duty military that aren't known for having like the most exceptional salaries can't afford it. And what is the price point? So for a one liter, it's$199 to$239. Okay, that's a great price point. And can you find it here in the San Diego area? Yes, you can. So if you go to Walmart or if you're in the military, you can go to the commissary. You can get it there, too. Walmart is doing the artesian because with their Made USA Great, they wanted to, instead of promoting certain imported artesian water, they're pushing ours out there.

54:09In fact, we are doing so well with our velocity that my father and I were invited to go next month to go meet with him in Bentonville to talk about rolling out into more stores, which is exciting. It's really great. That's very exciting. Yeah. Yes. Very, very cool. Well, congratulations, Amy. Well, thank you. Very well done. And thank you so much for creating a brand with such a great mission. Yes. Well, thank you. Thank you. All right. Round of applause for Amy. Well done. All right. Terry, I talked to Terry earlier and I was like, we got to get Terry up here. So this is Terry Wynn from a brand called Lua Coffee.

54:39Terry, how are you? Round of applause for Terry. You want to stand? Yeah, we can stand. There you go. Okay. So this is a brand that I'm not familiar with, but it looks so amazing. Lua coffee is described as a Vietnamese-style coffee. What is a Vietnamese-style coffee? A lot of people love Vietnamese coffee right now, but Vietnamese coffee they drink with condensed milk. Right. So I'm making the one that premium, no condensed milk in it. So it's coconut MCT oil with it. Coconut MCT oil, that sounds like a bulletproof type of coffee. Does it have that same effect, or is that oil mostly sort of to replace?

55:16For healthy people. For functionality. Yeah. Yeah. So Lua Coffee, I've seen a few different Vietnamese style coffees out there. Are you finding that more and more retail buyers are familiar with what it is? And is it sort of an easy thing for them to understand what it is that you're doing, even though it doesn't contain condensed milk? Yes. The reason they like it, I make it like the taste like Vietnamese coffee. So we are in 11 states right now. Can I take one? Yes. There we go. Yeah. So we not only make the Vietnamese style, but we make the oatmeal style and also the cold brew. So we have three flavors right now.

55:50So when people are reaching for this on the shelf, do they know what they're getting into? I mean, is this something where, you know, you feel like there is a lot of consumer education that you need to invest in to get people to know what Lua Coffee is all about? And if so, what's the first thing you want to talk about? What is the first thing you talk about when you're introducing someone to Lua Coffee? So the reason we want to do it like premium, so people, when they drink it, it's less calorie. So the regular one is going to be more calorie. So I think calorie count is really, really important.

56:23I think taste is really, really important too. What should people be expecting? Is it a really sweet beverage? Is it something that's akin to, say, a Starbucks Rappuccino? Or is it something a little bit less sugary than that? A little bit sweet, but it's not that sweet. Okay. And what's the price point for Ken? So five to seven. Five to seven. These comes in 12-ounce slim cans. Yes. Very cool. And where are you sold locally? Seaside Market, the butchery, other places here I don't remember. We're in Texas. We're in eight states in Midwest. And we're in Arizona, Florida, Atlanta. So 11 states right now.

57:00Amazing. Amazing. Very, very cool. Can I keep this one? Yes. Okay. I was hoping I could. Yes. Terry, thank you so much for coming out. And this has been really great. Thank you so much for such a great introduction to Lua Coffee. And also, we donate back to St. Jude's Hospital. Oh, God bless you guys. That's such a wonderful organization to donate to. Terry, thank you so much. Really appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Round of applause for Terry. I'll hold this. Thank you very much. All right. I think we've got time for two more. So we'll start with you and then we'll end with Susan.

57:25Birdie is the name of the brand. And Gene Kim is the name of the founder, I would assume. Gene, how are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Round of applause for Gene. Birdie, what do you guys do? Birdie. So Birdie is a sparkling tea business that we just launched yesterday. and we're very excited here. And we have two variations, peach oolong tea and apple jasmine tea. And it's 35 calories per can. These are just iced teas, but they're sparkling teas. Sparkling teas. Okay, very cool. You know, a sparkling tea is something that I've always enjoyed, but it feels like the category has not really had a player that's really stood out so much.

58:06I feel like Birdie could be that. You have amazing branding. Thanks so much. Talk about the origins. I mean, why did you want to come out with a product like this? Why sparkling tea as opposed to still? Yes. So we have four founders. I know it's a big team, but we grew up drinking a lot of tea since an early age. And all of us are quite obsessed with sparkling water as well. We drink a lot of Spindrift when we make money that month. And we drink LaCroix when we don't. So that's how we came up with the concept. We wanted to start originally with a matcha business, but that was not really scalable and it was very saturated at the moment.

58:44And we wanted to try something new, add some fizz to some tea extracts. So we experimented with a lot of different ingredients. We tried adding nootropics, adaptogens, reishi mushrooms, all those kinds of different ingredients that are very trending currently. But we decided to stick to the roots and make them plain and simple without any additives. low calorie, and not too sweet. So it's like a spin drift for sparkling tea, is that what I'm sort of hearing here? You can say that, but I do believe we have our own kick. The tea flavor is very prominent in the sparkling tea. I've got to ask about the branding, because this is really, really cool.

59:24It's differentiated. I mean, this is the kind of thing that if I saw this on the shelf, I'd want to pull it off the shelf and no one and no more. How did you come up with your product design? Oh, wow. We don't have enough time for that? It was a lot of trial and error. Working with designers has been very difficult, but we rebranded about four times over the last eight months. And you just launched, though. And we just launched. We were finally satisfied. And as you probably all know, it's very hard to be satisfied with design. Someone out of 100 people will not like your design, right, no matter how good it is.

59:55Sure. So, you know, we're happy with what we have right now. We wanted to create something modern while also making sure this is sparkling tea. So that's how we came up with this design. Very cool. And what would the price point be when you start getting into retail stores? So a can of 320 milliliters is$299 in retail. MSRP is$299. And we just launched our online store yesterday. And excuse me if I have a dark circle. We didn't get much sleep last night launching the website. I didn't notice. Appreciate that. What's the website? It's drinkbirdytea.com. Very cool. Well, I'm really glad you're here.

1:00:32and I'm really glad we're getting to introduce Bertie to so many people here at the Taste Radio meetup. Gene, thank you so much for taking this time. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Ray. Thank you. That's for you. This is for me. Bertie, well done. All right. Susan, come on up. I think folks might be familiar with Susan. How many people are familiar with Recoup? Okay, quite a few. That was everyone. That was pretty much everyone. So I've known you for some time. I think the first time I met you was part of a virtual pitch slam competition that we hosted in 2020 was our new beverage showdown.

1:01:04And Recoup has iterated a number of times since. But for folks who are not familiar with what you guys do, tell us all about it. Sure. We are a gut-healthy hydration beverage. We have clean ingredients, so we're proud to be the first regenerative organic certified beverage brand. And our three key ingredients are prebiotic fiber, electrolytes, and ginger. And those electrolytes come from maple tree water. So really differentiated product source, but delivering your daily dose of resilience, whether you're running miles or running errands. So an active consumer, but not necessarily a fitness consumer.

1:01:35We find wellness-minded, fitness-minded consumers definitely gravitate towards us. I mean, we sell very well in the natural channel, and we sell extremely well in hot yoga studios and Pilates and fitness. So that kind of thoughtful, mindful exercise, and not someone chugging a Gatorade, but someone who's really conscious of what they're putting in their body, but wants refreshment, wants replenishment. This is not an easy business. CPG in general is not easy. Being in it for five years means you're doing something right. How have you kept going? What's been your guiding light? What's been your North Star?

1:02:09How have you just navigated all the challenges in this industry? So I think both of our founders, so CWAT and myself, are really committed to the product and really believe in the product. And you need that in order to go through the daily dramas that happen when you're in the CPG world. we have iterated in terms of format and a little bit of functionality, but the core of this ginger based hydrating recovery beverage has always been in there. It's just the nuance of, you know, should it be sparkling in a can? And that took us a little while to get there, but once we did, it's really taken off.

1:02:45And so that was a June, 2024 launch. And we're now in over 700 doors. I'll give you an exclusive. We're launching in 500 target locations. Oh, amazing. Congratulations. Well done. Yes, thank you. And so we've hit product market fit. And we were probably more patient than some, but that's because we really believed in what we had. Well, I think that's the point, right? I mean, if you really believe in something, patience is key. And it does take time. It's probably more sleepless nights than you ever expected. But it just goes to show when you continue to just stay on that path, good things can happen.

1:03:21Obviously, there's a lot of hard work, and there's also a lot of refinement in terms of how you pitch. You've won a lot of Pitch Slam competitions, including ours, including the New Beverage Showdown in December at our LA events. What's your secret? I have to thank BevNet for being the first in that series of wins. So we went on, we won the Pitch Slam at Expo West, and we just won the San Diego Angel Conference, and that came with a nice investment. The biggest thing is being authentic and telling your story as your authentic self and bringing the enthusiasm that gets you up and gets you through a lot of the hard days in CPG and in startups and kind of taking that to the stage and letting the audience be a part of that story and a part of that journey.

1:04:00We're over time, but everyone says, you know, be authentic. But what does that really mean? I mean, how do you define authenticity when you're up there on stage? I think for me, it's the enthusiasm. It's a little bit of that story and connection with the audience and trying to tell them the information that they are looking for and they're interested. So if it's a pool of investors, it's a little bit different than if it's in the industry. And I know, I think for me, that's just coming from the heart. Yeah, I think that's true. It's speaking from the heart, but also speaking truths. What is working?

1:04:30How do you amplify what's working? How do you replicate what's working? And how do you do it in a really smart and strategic way? And I think all those things really represent what you've been doing with Recoup. Congratulations on everything that you've done to this point. Thank you. 500 Target stores. That's not easy. Excited to see where it goes from here. Thank you. And you mentioned it's been a little bit of a long road. So it's not like it was an overnight success, but we stuck with it. We're very happy that you've been a part of that journey. I appreciate you saying that. Thanks so much, Susan.

1:04:57Thank you. All right. All right. We got one more. Are you guys going to stick around for one more? Yes? All right. Fantastic. My dear friend from a brand called Lixir is now making his way to the stage. And I really appreciate everyone sitting down here and listening to everyone's stories. It's so important to support each other as entrepreneurs, as founders. We just talked about with Susan. This is a really, really difficult business. Everyone needs each other. you know, sometimes you're going to be competing with people from different categories or from different parts of the industry. But at the end of the day, if one of you wins, you all win because it shows that entrepreneurship and the effort of entrepreneurs actually matters and can do really good things for this world.

1:05:35All right. Lixir is the name of the brand and you are? My name is Colin McKenna. Colin McKenna from Lixir. I just had some of your delicious libations. What do you do? So we take honey and turn it into a better for you spritz. It's ultimately a modern mead, which is the oldest known alcohol. So turning that into a new category called hard honey, kind of positioned between a seltzer and a kombucha, but we're building that out as a natural step up from both of those. I imagine the most difficult part of what you do is explaining what you do. How do you create a concise message, something you can tell someone in 10 seconds or less?

1:06:08So hard honey as a category really sums up what we do. I feel like people are already accustomed to hard seltzer, hard kombucha, hard tea, hard lemonade. So the hard alternative space is really growing and us creating or really branding it as hard honey people know that that is fermented honey so if you're not familiar with mead which most people aren't I feel like that gets it across but if you are familiar with mead you know it kind of sums it up as being like something a little different than what you're used to but there is some education involved and hopefully with the brand name and what we're doing that's enough is the point of reference if they don't know mead is the point of reference hard seltzer I would say so it's probably closer to a hard seltzer than anything else, just with better ingredients.

1:06:48So we really say like, instead of a malt liquor, low quality spirit, it's a, you know, regenerative organic honey seltzer. So you're almost saying better for you, even though you can't say better for you because it's beverage alcohol. Right. But it's sort of intuitive in that when you say regenerative, when you say honey, all these things would, I would assume, tell a person that it is indeed better for you. Right, exactly. I didn't know we can't say better for you fully, but yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, we'll take that one out. I believe the FTC would have some letters to send you if you call it. Star-Clock is better for you, yes.

1:07:17Okay. Yeah. Elixir, where does the name come from? So Elixir comes from the ancient tradition or I guess story behind mead. So mead was in Greece known as nectar of the gods. Bees were messengers of the gods. And they said that, you know, they discovered alcohol that way and then also would drink honey wine, mead as a, I guess like a medicine. So an elixir. So elixir of the gods kind of plays on both of those, but yeah. Also got to be careful. on something medicine as well. Oh, yeah. So we took off the E, so it's a new version. And that also, you know, gets a point across too. Now, one of the other things I really love about your brand is that your branding is on point and you are always wearing the Lixir gear, so to speak.

1:07:56Is that a part of your marketing as well? It just feels like it's a lifestyle brand as much as it is a beverage brand. Yeah, it's been more giving out gear, to be honest, than selling it. And that's kind of led to people buying it as well. But I mean, we're, you know, if we could give out hats, we have like the Lixir hats that become pretty well known. People are wearing those. And, you know, it's walking billboards. So everyone becomes their own rep. And, yeah, we do a lot of merch for that reason. And I do highly recommend it. Yeah. Last question. Where are you sold? What's your price point?

1:08:21So we're sold right now in mainly Southern California. Total Wine, Whole Foods, Jimbo's Mother's Market. We just got in another exclusive with all sprouts in California. Right on. Congratulations. Yeah, so 200-plus locations. Thank you very much. And price point-wise, it's pretty on par with other hard seltzers that are more elevated. So roughly like$15.99 for a six-pack,$11.99 for a four-pack. So, yeah, like a high noon would be or a June shine. Very reasonable. Right. And a very delicious product you make. If you haven't had a chance to try some of Colin's delicious lixer, he's got a table. He created his own table out there, actually.

1:08:56I did, yes. Well done. Yes. Colin, thanks so much. All right. Really appreciate the time. Appreciate you guys. Thanks. Thank you.

1:09:05That 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 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 Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. check 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 taste radio.com on behalf of the entire taste radio team thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time