How To Go Viral In 60 Seconds? Sell Raw Cod. Not Celeb 'Tinis.

0:10Hello friends and thanks for tuning into 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 and Jackie Brugliera. John is in the WCB, the West Coast branch, sitting right next to Jackie in the studio in San Diego. Good to see you both there. Yeah, I feel like some people still don't realize that I'm always remotely recording in, but now they can see. Jackie's real. I'm real. Not just AI. You guys have a better table than we do. You have the Taste Radio logo table.

0:51Yeah, we stole this. You have some nice, comfortable, white leather chairs that you're swinging back and forth on. We don't have that here. We have this, but you have all that cool stuff behind you. Yes, we do. The way you talked about the Taste Radio table, I was expecting the, you know, Merch Lincoln bio sort of. We should start selling tables. Just tables, yeah. If a single person wants to buy a table, the Taste Radio table, just email us at askatasteradio.com. We'll make that happen for you. It's a fine Ikea table with a sticker on top. We can recreate this. It looks really good. Yeah. Mike is in some place called Marion.

1:26Marion what? Marion, Georgia? It's in New Hampshire? I don't know. County? Is that what it ends in? Like lock up? He's always locked up when he's not recording. Exactly. We're always talking about how Mike is in prison. in, he did something wrong, and he's in the slammer every time he's not here. And then he comes back, he's like, I wasn't actually in jail, guys. And then he's, yeah. He's got to clear the record. Yeah, he really does. Well, I'm all alone. I can't ever recall being alone in the studio recording a banter session. So this is a new thing for me. Luckily, I'm surrounded by some good products that I want to highlight a bit later on.

2:00But we've got to start the show by talking about one of the weirdest things that has come out of CPG in some time. It's the July surprise. You know how they talk about in politics, the October surprise, right? Just before the election. Sure. This is the July surprise. I don't think anyone saw coming. All right. You ready for this? Peter Rahal, who is the co-founder of RxBar. RxBar, very famous for being sold to Kellogg's for about$600 million. I think it was exactly$600 million. As we know, RxBar, a platform, brand of protein snacks. Peter Rahal launched David last year. David, if you recall, is a brand of rigorously perfected protein bars that was launched in 2024.

2:42Each bar contains 28 grams of protein, 150 calories, and zero grams of sugar, described as containing the most protein per calorie of any brand in the bar category. All right. So yesterday, David launched, quote unquote launched raw cod. So they have a new product, which is raw frozen cod that they're selling direct to consumer described as slightly more protein per calorie than a David bar. And they noted that we're committed to high protein. So we're selling it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's real. I mean, look, there are plenty of people who eat boiled cod and this is what you do with it it comes in a vacuum seal this cod comes in a vacuum sealed pack i assume you sous vide cook it just throw in some boiling water and you've got your raw cod and i think all this is uh i mean you can do a lot more with cod yeah yeah just want to be clear yeah this is clearly in my opinion this is clearly throwing shade at people who have criticized david as an overly processed protein bar that's made with artificial sweeteners which it is or Or they were responding to customer feedback.

3:57Maybe they had negative reviews that were like, David Barr tastes terrible in fish and chips or in tacos. I mean, it's possible. It's possible that with some of the feedback that came out, I would doubt it, but it's possible. I mean, no, I think this is definitely a response to criticisms of processed food and where you can get the most protein in your food from. David was created for people to get a lot of protein in a small amount of food with very little calories and no sugar. And I think they thought about this bar as solving a problem for a lot of people who just wanted the protein, but wanted no sugar and very few calories.

4:45And yes, you can get that from boiled cod. but boiled cod, I think what David is trying to say, doesn't taste as good as a David bar. Yeah. I mean, cod's a component in food generally or in a dish as opposed to like, I don't know who's eating boiled cod really. I mean, not most people. Bodybuilders? Yeah. Like I said, not most people. Yeah. Right? So, and I'd venture to guess that the people consuming David bars are not just bodybuilders. They're just normal people. But are those who eat boiled cod just bodybuilders? That might have been true like 20 years ago. I think nowadays, you might see a lot more people who are fitness oriented, looking to eat as much protein as they can or should.

5:31I'm just literally talking about the boiled part. That's all. Because that's like the worst way to prepare this. That's all. But I think like what they're trying to do is you look at the packaging and the nutrition facts are very similar to what a David bar has. So like they're trying to keep it very minimal and be like, OK, well, you're calling us out for having processed things in our bar. Well, how about you just boil because that's the least processed way of cooking this thing and it's not going to be tasty. But yeah, I thought it was really interesting because it's just cod like it's not even like cooked.

6:04It takes multiple steps to prepare it. Well, I think that's the point, right? Yeah. You have the convenience and flavor of a protein bar or protein that is going to give you exactly what you're getting out of cod, but you don't have to have it defrosted. You don't have to cook it. Obviously, you don't need to add anything to a David protein. I assume maybe people add a pinch of salt like they would to some COD, but I don't think so. It's very much, I think, just a little bit of an F you to folks that have criticized David. Maybe they'll sell a good amount of this stuff. I sincerely doubt it. Maybe it will become part of the David portfolio.

6:52In all seriousness, though, I do think the packaging that they created for the COD, which is just kind of this super clean white with the David logo. I actually kind of like that design approach better than the current kind of gold David Barr package. Maybe they'll switch to that. But I also think there's a little bit of irony in that. In that clean white package, which actually looks sort of reminiscent of a cardboard package for tinned fish, it does or would seem to represent a cleaner product cleaner ingredient product than the David bars themselves so and to your point Jackie I think if you look at the nutrition facts label on a David bar yes the amount of protein is similar to what you would get in cod but if you actually look at the ingredients I think that's where people are criticizing the brand And the brand has also been criticized and certainly drawn the ire of some food brands because last month or two months ago, David acquired ingredient supplier Epogee.

8:00Epogee is the sole supplier of EPG, which is a patented fat replacement, which is the key ingredient in David Barr's. It claims to lower calories from fat by 92 % EPG, that is. So there are some brands that are suing David, claiming that it has unlawfully cornered the market by acquiring the maker of EPG. So perhaps it's also one of those, hey, fine, we don't have to make protein bars. You know, we'll just make raw cotton. We'll still sell more products than all of you guys combined. So who knows? I think there was a bit of tongue-in-cheek response to all this from Peter Rahal. And, you know, he said in a Nosh article that actually covered this yesterday that, you know, maybe this is something that will live in the David portfolio.

8:49You know, they're looking at product market fit is what he said. So who knows? It is regardless something that people have been talking about quite a bit on LinkedIn and Instagram and what have you. And it's certainly an interesting response to any kind of criticism that's come David's way. Yeah, it's almost like the liquid death playbook, like something that's shocking and awing and confusing people. And it's making people talk about it. So I think it's doing what they want. Here we are talking about it. Exactly. Yes. Well, people are talking about the David Frozen Cod. People are also talking about Taste Radio's upcoming meetups.

9:27Our next one in Chicago is going to be held on August 14th at Host Cocktails event space in the Pilsen neighborhood of the city. We are very excited. People are signing up left and right. If you want to join us in Chicago, head to tasteradio.com slash Chicago and you can be part of the event. It is free to attend. We're going to have networking, live podcast interviews, food, drink of the alcoholic. and non-alcoholic variety. So can't miss the event, 5 to 7 p.m. in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. We definitely want to see you there. Bring your friends, bring your products if you're a founder, because it is going to be the highlight of the summer.

10:12After that, in California, we will be visiting the WCB, or I'll be visiting the WCB. Jackie will already be there. Yep, I'm coming too. Yeah, John's going to be there. Mike's going to be there. Welcome, y 'all. Exactly. September 16th, also 5 to 7 p.m. at BevNet. It's not HQ. It's WCB. WCB, West Coast Branch. West Coast Branch in San Diego. And then in San Francisco, two days later, September 18th, we're going to be there. All the details, Tasteradio.com slash San Diego, Tasteradio.com slash San Francisco. and then rounding out the meetup series this year, London on October 2nd at the offices of the brand known as Trip.

10:58We are very, very excited to be back there. I like how London gets a special voice. London. That's good. London. Tasteradio.com slash London. If you're listening, register for the event. We need a top hat. What? Is that what they do in London? They wear top hats? That's what I'm envisioning. That's a different era. That's a different blast to use current terminology. I can see Ray and Mike in top hats. 100%. Yeah. We should make that happen for the meetup. Different kinds. Yours would be more serious and formal. And Mike's would be like a, I don't know, Dr. Seuss kind of cat in the hat. I see an AI video incoming soon.

11:36Oh, we've got some good ones. Don't worry. I'm definitely going to wear a top hat. Pull up to Trip Headquarters in a penny farthing. It's that bicycle with a huge wheel in the front and a small one in the back. A monocle. Definitely a monocle. I've got to have that. I'm going full Monopoly, man. That's what I'm doing. Yeah. All right. Remember last week when we talked about trends and products that have, quote, unquote, jumped the shark? To those kids today that don't know what that means, it means it's past its prime. Sorry. Yes, yes. Let's add espresso martinis to that list, at least in RTD form.

12:11Now, espresso martinis is still very hot in bars. us. Every other bar I go to, no matter what temperature it is, it could be 100 degrees, it could be two degrees. People are drinking espresso martinis. But the freaking stuff in the cans, we got to stop with this. Just too much. We're saturated. You go into our beverage alcohol fridge, it's just all espresso martinis. No stain on brands that are doing it. But I mean, like new brands that are coming into the market. Good God, man, you're not going to find much of an audience. It's just too much. It's too much already out there. I say this because some dude who I don't know.

12:43His name is Justin Glaze. Is that his real name? Justin Glaze, who is a star on a TV show called Bachelor in Paradise, has introduced his own, guess what? Espresso Martini RTD. Good for you, buddy. All right. First of all, I don't even... So much hate. Cheese guy. Well, okay, number one, Bachelor in Paradise sounds like a show that I would never in a million years watch. Second of all, Justin Glaze sounds... I'm just going to call it. He sounds like a porn star. And third of all, Of all the things you could come out with, an espresso martini, really original thought? I don't think so. Jackie, what the hell's going on here?

13:20It's not original, but, you know, he does have a loyal following probably on Instagram. There are the people that watch Bachelor in Paradise all the time, and he's selling it online. So maybe he's just like, I got to give my people what they want, and they want an espresso martini, and that's what he's focused on. Okay. He has a lot of Instagram followers, but it's not like an overwhelming number. He's got 165 ,000 according to his account here. And there's probably like half of those are bought. I'm really hating on this guy. Sorry. You know, celebrities are coming out with all of their different alcohol brands, RTD cocktails.

14:00And he's like, you know, I want to be that level of celebrity and I'm going to launch my own. I mean, this is like celebrity tequila, celebrity espresso martini. I mean, just, just, you got to stop. And here's this post on this from February 7th. I guess he launched it a while ago and we just covered it. I don't know. So excited to finally introduce, it's called Love Potion. This is very, this is sounding very porn star-ish. Okay. His damn name is Justin Glaze. The brand is called Love Potion. He says, for the past three, four years, I've traveled around the world searching for the best espresso martini in every city I could.

14:35I wanted to have that same behind-the-bar experience in RTD form. When I couldn't find one on the market that I liked, I started to start the journey of developing my own. What copywriter wrote all this? I don't know. I couldn't be happier with this launch of this brand. I can't wait for you all to try it. I don't know, John, look, you know, I get... You want to drag me into this? He's like, leave me out. All the data we've seen, all the trend reports that have come out, and you can get those if you're an insider, bevnet.com slash insider, nosh.com slash insider, have showed and told us that RTD cocktails are on the rise.

15:13People love them for their convenience and their affordability as compared to going to a bar. But the fact of the matter is that I think this is the wrong product at the wrong time. I don't know. Agree to disagree. I mean, first of all, I think you could literally for pretty much any product that launches, come up with an angle for being the wrong product at the wrong time. I don't know. I mean, there's obviously always a lot of folks who are looking inward at CBG thinking that it's going to be easy or that the path to success is having the world's best of whatever. And it just doesn't work that way as anyone in the industry knows.

16:00So, you know, is there some niche that this brand could carve out? I mean, maybe, who knows? Do we need more espresso martinis? Does the consumer want more? Probably not. So I think that part of it's, I don't disagree with. It's always hard to guess why someone's starting a brand too. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, I'll give him credit because the espresso martini, which comes in 200 milliliter cans, is crafted with La Cologne Espresso. So, I mean, there's that. And our very own Farron Salnikar, who is BevNet's spirits editor, penned this story. She actually talked to Mr. Glaze himself. And he, I don't know.

16:39I wonder how you tell this story. How do you tell this story without Love Potion, right? Because that's the key. You got to know Love Potion. You got to know Glaze. And otherwise, like, why are you buying this stuff? Yeah, but I mean, we all know, like, telling the story is just part of it is like, how are you going to execute? And, you know, that's always sort of the variable that's really hard to guess when someone's launching, you know, are they going to be someone who's just aggressive, doesn't give up and just, you know, figures out how to make their brand work or not. And I think part of your bias on this, I'm guessing, is that we've seen a lot of celebrity brands over the years, ranging from A-list celebrities all the way down the line, where they're just kind of slapping their name on something and not really caring about execution.

17:28They're thinking like the consumer is just going to flock to them, right? And again, that part we generally know does not happen. Yeah, I would say so. This is being sold direct to consumer, though. So in retail, different story, you know, execution, a very different kind of business. I mean, I'm sure that's a temporary approach. Like that's not a workable approach for BevAlk just to be D to C. No, no. But again, I think he's trying to get the word out, trying to get the hype going about this brand, direct to consumer, and then hoping, I think, that he'll find some traction at retail. Yeah, I mean, that in itself is a tough strategy.

18:02You know, build hype and then consumers can only buy it from you like is a pretty long road for beverage of any kind. There you go. I like that you pull this back and offered some lessons, whereas I was just ranting and raving and going crazy. My job on here is just to make some sort of it's like someone's hurled a pile of garbage at me. so well and and and to you know dissociate it mike and and create interesting and creative ai videos of him doing strange things no comment check out his instagram yeah poor mike can't defend himself no yes yes 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.

18:52Visit tasteradio.com slash insider to learn more. All right. I got to talk about this pretty cool initiative, marketing initiative that I saw. So everyone knows, I've said this a thousand times on this podcast, I'm a Snickers fiend, love Snickers. And so Snickers has come out with a new variety that is made with pecan, or some people might say, Jackie? Pecan. Pecan, yes. How do you say it? Pecan. Pecan, right. In the Northeast, we call it pecan pie. I think it's the South, they call it pecan. So anyway, Snickers has come out with this new variety. And to support the launch, they have a new Snickers pecan-sized platter to help you eat said Snickers bar.

19:40It looks like a framed set almost. It is. It's a framed set. So it comes. Like collector's item. It's this gold plate, and on top of the gold plate is your Snickers pecan, and it comes with a gold-plated fork and knife. Now, obviously, they're not really gold-plated, but... They're plastic. You have them checked. I haven't checked, actually. I'm going to open up this box. He tried to mull them down. Yes, here we go. So I have my platter. Oh, wow. This is actually nice and heavy. I'm just picturing you eating a Snickers, Ray, and you probably do knife and fork. Yeah, I could see that. It's like a napkin tucked into your shirt.

20:12Well, I do like the fact that I can actually eat this and not use my hands, because i don't have any hand sanitizer with me okay oh god you need a fork and knife for everything wrapped up like one of those annoying toys you got as a kid like an action figure okay so i'm going to show everyone once again for the video this is what it looks like here's my fork and knife you can see all this this is kind of sad what what is what don't ruin my experience of eating the snickers pecan pecan okay i don't need steak but like you need like a steak on that plate or something you know what i'm actually gonna wait to eat this because there was some glue that stuck the snickers are you gonna wash the plate you know rake cannot be bought with actual cash but he can be bribed with a press kit for what are you talking about an overly processed food product yeah and i'm so surprised that you love snickers like you give so much shade to every other brand that has a bunch of crap in it ray whoa whoa whoa hold the cheese but give me a king size Snickers over here.

21:12Hold on, hold on. I want to respond to a couple things there. A, you can't buy me. I was very happy to receive this from Snickers and I know that they know I love Snickers bars. Right, so they put some gold in there. Yeah, no bribes. Well, they put some gold and there was like$500 in$100 bills as well, but I'm not going to talk about that right now. Anyway, John looks so concerned. Call the lawyers. I'm not concerned. And B, you know, Snickers bars are the classic quintessential snack bar. And there's very few things that taste as good as a Snickers bar. And this is one of the things that I've...

21:49Well, Cod, maybe? Yeah. I've had a hard time pulling Snickers completely out of my diet, which is why I've been happy to see... What? I've been happy to see, you know, better-for-you replacements out there. Obviously, Harkin's Sweets has come out with some good stuff. Justin's came out with a better for you version of this as well. Gigantic. So these are three brands that I think are doing some good stuff in that regard. But it's hard to completely eliminate sneakers from my lifestyle. So I'm going to try this later on. I'll talk all about my experience on the grams. So stay tuned for that. Yes, yes.

22:26I'm going to do some video. Okay. I was going to put a little bit of this Jacobson's salt on my Snickers pecan. Yes. So Jacobson's, as we know, is a maker of premium. For an elevated experience. We're both like, what is happening? Hold on, hold on. You got to wait here. If you were in the room, you'd understand. Jacobson's salt is the maker of premium sea salt that is sourced from Oregon. I actually sat down with founder Ben Jacobson at the Summer Fancy Food Show a couple weeks ago. Stay tuned for a really amazing interview with that man coming soon to Taste Radio. But no, this is a Jacobson salt that is infused with oishi strawberries.

23:08You guys know oishi strawberries. Those are those like ultra high-end Japanese pristine, exactly, pristine strawberries that cost like 15 bucks for eight strawberries. And so they come in this little jar, this 2.64 ounce jar. It's this like finishing salt. It's like a granular kind of salt. And I'm going to open this up. So it's strawberry flavored salt? Yes, it's strawberry flavored salt. I don't know why I would need that. I'm going to use my Snickers fork here to try some of this. Oh, you're just eating salt. Oh, this looks kind of weird. Of all the things. Very salty. Oh, wow. No way. Is it sweet?

23:48Not at all. Okay. It has the essence of the oishi berries. And I've had the oishi berries and it tastes exactly like it. So. Strange. Interesting stuff. Salty berries. Salty berries. So probably we go nice on cod. Not even joking. How to use this. Yeah, you're probably right. They sent a nice little card that says how to use it. You can use it on cocktails, fruits and veggies, baked goods, and ice cream. I think. I could see ice cream. I think ice cream. Yeah. I think ice cream, maybe just a bit of this, maybe on a cookie. Do a margarita, like a strawberry margarita would be good. Yeah, maybe on a peanut butter cookie or something like that, or something that was already a little sweet to begin with.

24:30You have the contrast with the salt. Anyway, good stuff. Good stuff, Jacobson. See, when John comes back to the office, he's like, all right, let me get a salt. You're not getting one grain. One grain of my salt. You already ate out of it. I mean, that sounds like a great product, but it's not the one I would personally seek out. What would you seek out when it comes to salt? Morton's? I mean, I'd take away your Snickers just for fun, but I don't know. No, salt is like, I like that, what do you call it? The Maldon Flake Salt would be my go-to salt. The which one? Maldon. Maldon? It's like M-A-L-D-O-N.

25:03Maldon. Okay, Maldon. Well, I haven't tried that yet. I'm a Jacobson's guy, but that's just me. The flavor part of it seems a little too specialized, I would say. You need it for specific use cases. It is. This is a limited edition product. So they came out with this once last year, and now they're coming, they just re-released it this year. So this is not an everyday kind of product. No, no, no. I mean, we've obviously had a lot of samples of spice-oriented things over the years. I don't know. I was just using one, for example, one of the fly-by-jing seasoning things that came out a year or so ago.

25:37And they're things like, I don't know, I kind of like to try them once, but then I don't really find myself constantly using them. Whereas regular salt, I obviously use that a lot. Well, just give them to Mike. He eats that stuff all the time. Okay, I will. he'll get all these spices yes okay so i have a table i wouldn't say full of products i have a couple products here and you guys have a beverage that you want to sample you even got cups over there look at that yeah we got one here we go yeah we have one beverage it's called bao blast when we got the box we were like oh i wonder if it's full of bao buns but it's not but it is a Baobab drinks.

26:17Baobab drink. Yeah. So this is Baoblast. They have pineapple, mixed berry. And what's the one you have over there? Peach. Peach. It says excellent source of vitamin C, super fruit beverage, lots of fruit juices. And then it does have the Baobab powder. And I feel like we saw a handful of Baobab products in the past and haven't seen one in a minute. All right. Yeah, let's try it. Let's find out if it's as blasty as it should be. Does it blast us with flavor? Yes Alright, Craven just took his shot of Valblast Too much peach Too much peach in that one Instant review, too much peach Pineapple's pretty good, it's like light on the pineapple Has other juices in it Like apple juice Lemon juice What's the sweetener?

27:10The sweetener? Monk fruit monk fruit yeah not bad okay kind of light i don't know juice cocktail type beverage i guess i feel like i can taste the uh monk fruit or something in there a little bit but it's pretty good yeah here's something i always do whenever i taste a new beverage and they're using a non-nutritive sweetener or an artificial sweetener i mean our pals are trained to taste that stuff almost immediately and i i think that's kind of a bad thing isn't it if you if you can taste the sweetener and you know that it's not sugar, that's not necessarily the best thing, right? I think it always depends on what your perspective is.

27:49You know, if you're someone who's, I don't know, used to drinking like Diet Coke, well, this for sure has less sweetener flavor than a Diet Coke. Yeah, I think our palates are probably a lot more sensitive to it than the average consumer too. Yeah, but I think some types of products tend to hide it better than others too, which makes it for a product like this, probably a little harder to fully kind of hide it. Well, I feel kind of bad. You guys only have the Bow Blast to talk about. Not that that's a bad thing. I mean, the Bow Blast looks like a pretty interesting brand. No Snickers on a gold plate, right?