Is THC In Target A Tipping Point? Finally, Fiber Is Sexy.

0:10Hello, dear 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 with my co-host for this episode, Jackie Brugliera, Mike Schneider, and Melissa Travers. Melissa, welcome back. Thanks so much. I'm happy to be here for the second week in a row. Two weeks in a row, and if John's not careful, it might be three or four weeks in a row because you've done such a great job filling in for Mr. Craven. At what point does he just forfeit the seat? You know, I think some days he would prefer forfeited seats.

0:47Not every day, but there are some days where he's just like, Have you had Ray grill you? He's just like, you know what? Lunch is upstairs. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm sick of hearing Ray's voice. I'm just done with this. You'll get there too if you stick around for a little bit longer. Yes. Jackie, you doing good? Post-Indigenous People's Day. You get your long weekend in? Did we have a long weekend? Yeah. Oh, do you have a long week? It sounds like you may have. Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm good. I'm readjusted to West Coast hours. Oh, yeah, that's right. You were like on European time for quite some time.

1:28Yeah, yeah. But I wake up really early every day now. So these 8 a.m. recordings is nothing anymore. Okay, good. Yeah. Well, I see by your left hand side, you've got some Aldia. Oh, I do. All Dia is a brand of ready to drink cocktails that have low ABV. So they're about 2.5%. They're a brand new brand, All Dia as in all day. And actually, I spoke with the founders in an episode of Elevator Talk that aired this week on Wednesday. Wow. Perfect timing. Okay. But even if you're on Europe time, Jackie, it's probably not a good idea for it to be happy hour in San Diego yet. If it's low ABV. No, but just people have low ABV.

2:05You can't drink them all day. I'm proving it. Low ABV. All right. Is it better to have a CannaBev at 8 a.m.? I don't know. If so, we've got Anytime here. We've got Anytime CannaBevs here. It's a CannaBev called, the brand is called Anytime. Anytime. Is that 15 milligrams? Oh, 15 milligrams of CBD. How appropriate was that? It was well done. Nice segue. Yes. It's interesting that they call it Anytime because they've got one that's 5 milligrams, 15 CBD, 5 milligrams THC, 15 of CBD, and that's mango flavor. And then some of their others are a little higher test. So 10 of each, the lime and the strawberry kiwi.

2:43They've got some other SKUs too, but this one really intrigued me. Well, I know we talked about this brand a couple of weeks ago. This brand called Uncle Skunks. Oh my God. It's from a company. I believe the company is called Chronic Craft Sodas, or maybe that's just the way it's described. This one has 100 milligrams per 12-ounce. That one is the opposite of any time. I'm bringing out all these brands. I mean, you have Uncle Skunks. You've got a brand called Delta. you got one called Shift Cocktails, another called... I think it's Downshift. Well, this one's called Downshift. This one apparently is just called Shift Cocktails.

3:15Oh, interesting. And here's one that's called Cantrip. This one's not ready to drink, it's ready to pour. And I'm talking about all these brands because the category of CannaBevs just got a big boost with the news that Target has begun beverage sales, well, specifically THC beverage sales, in 10 of its stores in Minnesota. Yeah, nice job, Target. Big deal. Yeah, most specifically in the Twin Cities region. This story was broke by BevNet on October 10th. And just a quote from the story, that this is potentially a seismic shift in distribution for the category. The hemp-driven THC set will be sold in Target wine, beer, and spirit stores, according to Minnesota ABC laws.

4:07So the brands that are going to be initially stocked in those stores include Trail Magic, Gigli, Birdie, Stigma, Indeed, and Surly. You also have Can, High Seltzer, Wink, Find Wonder, Senorita, and Wild. So a serious variety of products. So Target doesn't seem to have any hesitation when it comes to, I guess, introducing these brands to its customers in Minnesota. But does it go past Minnesota? I guess that's a big question. That is the big question. As I asked you guys earlier in our pre-show brief, do you see this as a temporary trend or a tipping point for intoxicating cannabis in mainstream retail?

4:51Can I finish my sentence? Sorry, Ray. Geez, you really were laboring there. As you can see us chomping at the bit to talk about cannabis. I know, I know. I see it as a test because obviously Minnesota has just led the way in grocery store retail cannabis. And so it just makes a lot of sense for Target to try it in Minnesota first. Hopefully it's a springboard for the rest of the nation, but it does seem like a test for now. And for those of us who would like to see it spread, I think the fact that Target is taking this on first is incredibly encouraging because they err more on the side of a conventional retailer as opposed to, you know, some of the natural grocery stores, that kind of thing.

5:36So I think it's a big step and I'll be really interested to see how this, I think it's a trial run, how this trial run plays out. Yeah. And I think there's just like continued momentum. I know like Top 10 Liquors has done a great job trailblazing like in Minnesota for THC specifically. And obviously it's proved to be successful in that retailer. And now other, you know, retailers are seeing that, seeing the numbers and then they want to get on board. So I think it's just going to be like a groundswell, just constantly proving the model and proving that consumers want this product and that it also lines up, you know, with regulations.

6:11Yeah, one of the biggest, most mainstream retailers that there is. Target has cannabis. Just step out of yourself for a second. And did you ever think that would happen? I'm excited about it. Well, the momentum seems to have pointed in that direction, the momentum for cannabis beverages. And to be clear, the beverages that they're carrying in these stores will be sold in multi-packs and range from two milligrams to five milligrams of THC per serving. Five is legit. For all the positive signs that we're seeing for this category, I'm still very bearish about its potential. And the reason I say that is because of all the regulation that we're seeing from state to state and the fact that we're not really seeing any clear guidance at the federal level for cannabis-based products or more specifically intoxicating cannabis -based products.

7:06I mean, you just look at a story that was written a day before, or actually the day of this announcement that Target was going to introduce these products into its stores in Minnesota. And you talk about a state like Ohio, where recently the governor issued or signed an executive order temporarily halting all sale and public display of intoxicating hemp products for the next 90 days. Similar to what we saw from governors in states like Massachusetts and California. You know, you have the lieutenant governor of Texas, who basically is comparing cannabis-based products to, I don't know, the plague, basically saying that this is going to ruin the lives of future generations of people.

7:50Yeah, because alcohol doesn't do that at all. Well, look, you know, I think there was a lot of promise for this space. I think a lot of people thought the previous federal government or administration and this current administration were going to open the door to sales of hemp products and open the door to potential legalization of hemp -based products. That hasn't happened. Well, I think there are a lot of stops and starts. I think the reason that Ohio shut the doors was because of the influx of products. There are so many of varying kinds. And so there are just so many things coming in. They're having trouble figuring out what's what.

8:30And to me, it's sort of just what happens when you open the doors to an entirely new category. So I think it'll take some time, but I don't see this going away for sure. Yeah, I feel like it's five steps forward and like a couple steps back, but we keep taking steps forward no matter how many steps we take back. And I think different states are going to have different regulations and it's, you know, going to be slowly adopted with it in different regions. But I think money talks. And I think that if, you know, Minnesota proves that this is a product that people want and that they can tax and that people can lobby against, I think that's going to, you know, move that in that direction.

9:15I mean. And lobby for. To Mike's point, like alcohol used to be illegal, too. And a lot of people wanted alcohol and they taxed the crap out of alcohol, too. I guess at the end of the day, kudos to Target for taking, as Jackie pointed out, a step forward for this space. It is, I think, and this is just me talking, a good alternative to folks who don't want to consume alcohol. It is, in some ways, I think, in small doses or at least a small dose formats. When are you going to try it? Appropriate for U.S. consumers. Why don't I try it? When are you going to try it? I think, you know, for me, it's kind of a stupid decision at this point why I haven't or don't consume cannabis-based beverages.

9:59It's like people who have never had alcohol in their lives and are just making a choice that, okay, well, I've gotten this far in my life. But you've had a lot of alcohol. At age 29, I've gotten this far in life where I feel like I don't need to stop laughing.

10:15Or I just feel like if I've gotten this far, why try it now? I have a good reason to try it now. I've been in the beverage industry for 14 years. I probably should try this stuff. And you have to sit next to me on a podcast every week. So maybe it would... Yeah, you might find it really helps. It might find it really helps afterwards when you're fuming now. I have a quick shameless plug for the cannabis content on Nonbase. If you want to hear more cannabis content, head over to nonbase.com. We recently just talked with Magic Cactus and Fabric to low-dose cannabis beverages, and soon we're going to publish something with Wink and Hytale.

10:54Very cool. I'm so excited. Very cool. So excited. Thank you, Melissa. Yeah, and continue to follow all stories about the development of this category and brands within it on BevNet.com. Shifting gears from cannabis to fiber. So PepsiCo, in its most recent earnings report, that would be its third quarter earnings report, described fiber as the next protein. And this kind of came as no surprise to me because Melissa's been talking about the fiber wave coming to the food and beverage category for some time right now. I believe last week you described your interest in fiber as an obsession. It's the fiber revolution.

11:37And that's hot on the tail of Whole Foods Market releasing their 2026 trend report. I think fiber was the first trend they noted. It's interesting to me because we briefly talked about this last week and fiber is probably the least sexy ingredient you can think of, right? I beg to differ. She's considering changing her last name to Musil. Oh, okay. Melissa Musil. Fiber just has a bad rep. Like you are thinking of Metamucil commercials. You're thinking of old people when you're thinking of fiber. Yeah, you're also thinking of body functions when you're thinking about fiber, right? You're not really thinking about...

12:14Which you should be thinking about. If you think about protein, you're like, oh, I'm, you know, I'm getting healthy or like bodybuilders. It just like has a more sexy connotation to it. Cannabis, okay, there's just, you know... Chill out. Fiber, you're just sitting on the toilet. Fiber. Against the mainstream kind of... Yeah, right. Caché to cannabis, but fiber. I mean, that is just such a healthy and natural part of a person's existence, right? I mean, it's just like part of feeling really great, right? Yeah, sure is. Yeah. This wasn't a mid-level executive who described fiber as a new protein.

12:53This was their CEO, Ramon Lagarta. So if the CEO is saying this, you got to think that PepsiCo is making significant investments with fiber in new product development. So are we going to start seeing, you know, fiber laden Doritos? Are we going to start seeing, you know, more fiber in what we're already seeing in PepsiCo products, right? PepsiCo prebiotic and their acquisition of poppy. Bread, pita chips, cereal, chocolate. Yeah. Like they have fiber. They're putting fiber already in it, but we're using prebiotics. Prebiotics sounds cooler and sexier than fiber. But prebiotics and probiotics, I think work better in combination with fiber.

13:33Fiber makes everything better. Yeah. Also, remember, when you have a lot of protein, you actually need the fiber or else you get a lot of bad things happen in your blood if you don't have like a good balance. Yeah. I think fiber is just like a, it's just a thing that needs to go with everything else. Like if you have a lot of sugar, you need fiber to balance your blood sugar levels. You know, it just is something that makes you a healthier person. Right. You know, I think of fiber as nature's GLP-1. I know allulose has been positioned like that, but fiber fills you up. It makes you feel full, I think, on maybe less food than if you had more food that had less fiber in it.

14:15Fiber is nature's GLP-1 drug. You heard it here first. There you go. And last. Melissa just threw down the gauntlet. Making America healthy again. Melissa Trover. Wow. Send it to Congress. Yeah, and maybe fiber is just catching up to where people thought it would actually get to a few years ago. Because I remember there was a lot of talk about fiber and people were actually using that word in promotion of their products and marketing about their products. And nowadays, I think there's just more education out there, more awareness about the benefits of fiber and regular consumption of fiber in your diet.

14:57Whereas I think a few years ago, it was still considered to be something that was an old people's ingredient. I think regular is the key word there. Yeah. Okay. Why are you making those noises? You just keep encouraging her, sending her up. Let's knock them down. That wasn't Melissa who made that noise. Melissa's like bowling strikes. No, no, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. But I'm just writing down the strike. Okay. Just keeping score over here. 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.

15:32Visit tasteradio.com slash insider to learn more. When we talk to entrepreneurs about finding white space and solving a real problem for consumers, I love a new brand that is about to launch that's called Pantry Gems. I met the founder of this company at our San Diego meetup, and she makes single serve packets of tomato paste. Okay, how many times have you gone to a store and you see those squeeze bottles of tomato paste or the ones in cans, even worse, like those short cans. You have to open the can and then I don't know how, you cover it with saran wrap and you stick it in the fridge and within a week you're like, should I throw this out?

16:17And two weeks later, there's mold and it's just like, stop. this solves a real problem for consumers. We have this single serve packet that I'm holding my hand. I believe it's one ounce. It doesn't describe, this is a prototype. I believe it's one ounce packet of tomato paste. That's actually described as one tablespoon. You know, you're making a sauce, you put it in there and you're done. And you don't have to worry about extra cleanup or opening up a can of tomato paste that you're only gonna use once. Is there a wet wipe in there too? There's no wet wipes. It looks like a wet wipes. I mean, I love, love this idea.

16:54I love this concept. I love that so much. Just the other day, I found a calcified nubbin of frozen tomato paste from one of those cans and I had to throw it away. So I'd use that all day long. Well, we're going to find out more about this brand in an upcoming episode of Elevator Talk, where, as I mentioned, the founder of the company, Gina Moore, is going to be on the mics with us. So stay tuned for that. It'll be published on November 5th. And if you're interested in participating in a future episode of Elevator Talk, the series where we profile early stage and disruptive concepts from across the food and beverage industry, just head to tasteradio.com slash Elevator Talk.

17:33All right. we talked cannabis and fiber to death so i think we can move on to other categories and products everyone's got something to talk about let's start with jackie yeah i have alcohol alcohol at 8 a.m which we already talked about aldea but yeah they have a variety of products which are low abv 2.5 percent based on with tequila i have the ranch water and the tequila chilton which is tequila with natural lemon flavors and sea salt. They're only 50, around 50 calories too. So if you're looking for something, you know, low calorie, low ABV to just like sip on, these are a great option. I love the packaging.

18:16They really, really pop. I love the name. The packaging is incredible. If you have a chance, if you're not seeing any video of this episode, head to aldia.com. That's how you do branding. I asked the founders about their package design and how much it cost or if it cost a pretty penny. And they said, yes, it did. But they wanted to come out of the gate really strong. It's worth it. Yeah, for sure. And then I also have a branded product called Rumblers, which are rum-based cocktails. This is their cola and this is their pineapple soda. A little bit more minimalist. I really like that. It's just very straightforward what you're getting.

18:54Like on the front of pack for the cola, it says rum, cola, and lime. And then for the pineapple soda, just rum, pineapple, and soda. So it just feels like it's very clean as far as what you're drinking. And they're 7 % ABV and clean packaging, nice white packaging as well. Rumblers. I like the name. Yeah, it's cool. It's clear that they're rum-based cocktails. Oh, I see. A rumble is a fight as well, right? A rumble is a fight. So hopefully you don't get into a rumble after drinking a few rumblers. Unless you don't have enough rumblers, in which case there may be a rumble for the remaining rumblers.

19:33Look at this. We could go all day with this. We could go all dia with this back and forth here. Yes. Or anytime. All right. Well done. Every days, too. Oh, you got some every days. Okay. Mike wants to talk about his products. I don't know if I want to. This is weird, man. I mean, so we got this product and it's a product of Korea where maybe they have bagged beverages. Okay. So it's called Every Days. It's called Every Days. And it's Every D-A-Z-E. Every D-A-Z-E. And it says drinkation, which somebody thought to put drink and vacation into one word on the front of pack. And Ray has Peach Paradise.

20:12Yes. And to be clear. And I have Espresso Escape. Zero sugar. The idea is you tear open, you pour over ice, and you enjoy this bag of beverage. Yeah. It's a pouch package beverage. It's like a large Capri Sun, but with no hole for the straw. Where's my straw? There's no straw. You rip it open, you pour it over ice, and you enjoy. Okay. Yeah, it's 7.8 ounces, which seems like a lot. A lot of liquid for a cocktail. You could pack it in your suitcase. It's not for a cocktail, though. That's the point. I mean, maybe it's supposed to be a cocktail starter, but it doesn't say anything about adding alcohol.

20:45Tear open, pour over ice, enjoy. This is not an alcohol. Oh, okay. So I thought this was a cocktail. See? It's a drinkation, Ray. and it describes on the back it says drinkcation is a playful fusion of quote drink and quote vacation inviting you to escape the ordinary with every refreshing I wonder if the London version is or the UK version is drink holiday yeah no sugar added but there is erythritol and steveol sip holiday glycosides guzzle holiday why are we why are we trying this we can here we go I'm gonna try some of this Ray's gonna sample guys You know why I also thought it was a cocktail?

21:24Because that one says espresso escape, and it definitely feels like an espresso martini. Get it away from your computer. That's going to splash. Oh, my God. Where's John? Oh, God. John, I tried. Wow. This peach paradise definitely smells like a juicy peach, which is a good thing. Pass this to Melissa, because she's got such a happy look on her face, hoping that she gets to try it. there's a uh there's a real tea quality to it getting a lot of tea flavor also getting a ton of sweetness certainly from the stevia and erythritol not as cloying as some stevia sweetened beverages can be but it's good i don't understand you know what i think over ice sort of diluting diluting it a bit i think i'm pretty sure you're supposed to like drop some soju into this or something.

22:15That's good. I like it. So consider me converted. Okay. Ray, have you ever been to Frogtown, California? That's my, where my vacation home is. Oh, cool. Well, then you've heard of Tiz from your vacation hometown. No, because they're brand new. Oh, okay. Yeah. Tiz is the maker of tiny sodas and these cute little eight fluid ounce cans that we, we've seen like, you know, things like maybe Tip Top or other Alkbev's in, but this is a 33 % juice soda. Let's try it. I'm going to try the Tanger. 33 % juice. Yeah. I love a mini can of soda. Right? Yeah. Well, I mean, portion control. We started to see a lot of this with the big companies, the Pepsis and Cokes of the world, introducing smaller format cans because people were unable to control themselves.

23:08They were, instead of drinking less soda, they would just drink the entire can. That's really nice. Ooh, that's nice. That tastes great. Very refreshing. Yeah, we gotta try vanilla cream tangerine for this too while we're at it. Ooh, yeah. What's the sugar content in this? It's a bit sweeter than I expected, honestly. Eight grams of sugar per serving for a can. And again, these are small cans, so. They're eight ounce cans. Yeah, eight ounce cans. So that's pretty high sugar content. Eight grams? Yeah, medium. Medium sugar content. Pretty good. Yeah. One thing that's really interesting is they don't use the word soda on the front of the can.

23:41They use the word fizz. Vanilla cream tangerine fizz. It's really fizzy. On the back it says, tizz is not proven to balance your hormones, heal your inner child, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, bring your spine into alignment, or help you focus or boost your microbiome. Doesn't do any of that. This tiz is a tangy, delicious tangerine fizz made by two idiots who have never made a beverage before. And basically goes on to say that it doesn't have to be lighthearted, fizzy, tizzy, ridiculously delicious. So we got to get these guys on elevator talk. Yeah, we do. We got to get these guys on elevator talk.

24:13They are going to be on elevator talk. Sick. What they're trying to very clearly state is this is a beverage for refreshment, not for function. And for Mike. Love that. And for Mike. It's really good. Tiz for Mike. Thank you, guys. Yes. I wouldn't say you're idiots. This is really tasty. Yeah, really tasty. Melissa, you got a bunch of stuff in front of you. I have here Sweetie Mochi. This is a mochi company out of Southern California. They're actually the only AAPI owned mochi company that I'm aware of anyways. They've been doing this since 1978. And I think their mochi is just so insanely tasty.

24:53So it's the chewy mochi on the outside, ice cream on the inside. And Sara Casagrande, my friend and occasional podcast host, just joined the Sweetie team. So she brought some samples over a couple of weeks ago. And I just think these are the tastiest mochi that I've had in quite a while. They are delicious. I don't eat a lot of mochi, honestly. This is a really, really good product. The Viet Coffee is really, really tasty. It's not as like robust as some via coffee. It gives me more of like a latte kind of taste to it, but I like it. The green tea is my favorite, I think. Like an Arabica, more like an Arabica coffee, but it's really tasty.

25:38Should I try the green tea? Yeah, try the green tea. I also have this Alevium GLP-1 side effect support. That was like Ray pronouncing a last name, Alevium. There may be a better way to pronounce that. Alevium GLP-1 support. So Jamie Bortek, who was at the start of CPG event that we co-hosted, he brought this to that event. So this is a GLP-1 side effect support stick pack. You obviously mix this with water and it is supposed to help with nausea, diarrhea, dehydration. And I don't think I've seen another GLP-1 support drink like this. This is actually made from a company that's local to us in Norwood and they make other sort of medical support drinks.

26:26There's one for like an oncology support product, that kind of thing. So there you have it. Well, you know, for everyone that was worried about diarrhea and their GLP-1 drugs, now you have something that can alleviate those side effects. Exactly. There's alivium. Exactly. More than a, yeah, alivium. There you go. That's how you say it. Alevium, that's right. Well, congrats to Sarah. Please give her my best and let her know that that's exciting news for her to join the Sweetie team. Yeah. And I would love to see her in December at Nosh Live in LA. That's when we're holding the greatest food event in the history of the world.