Kendall Toole Loves This 'Quit'. And She Wants You To Try It.

0:10Hello 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, John Craven, Jackie Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. This episode features a conversation with fitness influencer and Peloton icon, Kendall Toole, who is a partner with beverage and active lifestyle brand, Don't Quit. I've never been on a Peloton. Anyone here been on a Peloton? I had one. It was a coat rack. Coat rack. That's the second. Actually, I think it might be the most popular use for a peloton bike okay i just take a fish hook out of one's mouth once all right i've never never in one i'm more of like a spin class person i need to be around people but i guess it was like a big deal during covid yeah we got a covid peloton yeah sold before the crash yeah yeah i don't know how many people own them anymore but uh anytime i see an instagram post about Peloton.

1:10It usually features Kendall tools. She's getting her workout on and encouraging folks to sweat, get healthy, stay hydrated with don't quit, do all these things. So yeah, I was excited to speak with her a couple of weeks back and our conversation is actually quite good. Surprising sometimes when you meet influencers for the first time and you think, oh, you know, they're just doing this for the check, but she definitely has a vested interest. well a vested interest in like a real interest in supporting this brand it just feels like she has an authentic connection to the brand i posted a picture of you recording that interview and have some friends who are like super hardcore peloton uh riders i don't know what you call them but they were like yeah you know oh my god like love her i guess to your point being authentically connected to the brand i don't know if you've god i feel like i said this last week too i'm gonna crap on somebody's stock price but i don't know if you've seen the peloton stock price but maybe there's a reason for her to get involved in some other things too so uh on that note all kidding aside though i think that the don't quit brand seems like a really good one for someone like her to align with you know it sort of feels like don't quit is kind of like a little bit of you know a mantra of peloton right so i mean i feel like that's you know a lot of of times we see celebrities attach themselves to brands where you're kind of like, does this make sense?

2:36But that one definitely makes sense. It's her medium. She's decided to create a lifestyle, you know, a fitness lifestyle around that bike, just like somebody would create it around like kettlebells or Pilates machines or whatever it is you're passionate about. So yeah, she definitely has some vested interest in that brand doing well, but also it's just, that's her lifestyle. Totally. Yeah. And I know personally some people that love Peloton and they feel like an emotional connection to these instructors because they're engaging with them every day as their personal guide on their fitness journey.

3:12She loves it the way we love the soccer ball, Ray. Yeah. I would love to see her at BevNet live. I think we'll, we got to get her on stage at some point. I think she's LA based. So perhaps in December, but we will have a pretty outstanding lineup. of speakers at BevNet Live. Very excited for it. What are we, three weeks away right now, Jackie? Yep, three weeks away. Three weeks away. As we know, the show is happening on June 12th and 13th. Now, if you want to sample your products, if you're attending BevNet Live or planning to attend BevNet Live and would like to sample your products at the show, Jackie, we have a deadline on when you can submit your products and send them to the venue.

3:54Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah, so if you're planning on shipping your products, the deadline is Thursday, May 30th. So make sure you register now so that you have time to fill out the application, get everything sorted, and get ready for your trip to New York City. I feel like that's just as good as a business card when you have your product in someone's hands so they can actually sample it, try it, take a picture of it, take it home. That's really the reason they would be interested in continuing that conversation. I would think if, you know, just a business card that can get lost in the shuffle or just kind of forgotten.

4:28But if you taste that product and you see that packaging, that's the best way to convince a retailer or investor to follow up or for you to follow up with them and have them remember who you were and what your product's all about. Don't forget about those distributors too. Distributors for sure. We've got all the NIDA distributors there. NIDA. NIDA. Northeast Independent Distributors Association. There you go. There you go. Some of the best DST distributors in the Northeast. So I don't know. So maybe you'd want them to try your product. I would definitely think so. And maybe retailers as well.

4:56We definitely have retailers there. And we have retailers that will be taking one-to-one meetings, including Lowe's Foods, Whole Foods Market, GoPuff. And we just added The Goods Mart, which is a great chain in New York City that is featuring better for you startup brands. There you go. Whole Foods executives walking the show floor as well. Many. So definitely an opportunity to meet with the biggest natural retailer in the United States. You also have to follow the Good Smart on Instagram if you want to see how founders of CPG brands dance. It's my favorite thing watching everyone break it down.

5:37Yeah, it's awesome. Insiders, and we know many of you are, many of you listening are, good news. The first Insights data report is dropping next week. What does that entail? That entails specific market data category analysis. And we're going to be breaking it up for both beverage specific and food specific interests. So we'll be launching that on our sites. They will land on BevNet.com slash data and Nosh.com slash data. And we are running a 20 % discount right now for insiders. If you want to get in, make sure that you get that data. If you're not an insider, as Jackie pointed out, you can get 20 % off the annual membership.

6:20Just go to bevnet.com slash data. All right, John, you got cocktails by your side. When do you not have cocktails by your side, by the way? I mean, technically almost never because at least here at the office, there's a big pile of booze in the cabinet behind my desk. But anyway, not that I really don't ever drink at the office, but these are the new... I'm apologizing for. I'm like, maybe I do. I don't know. Sometimes, you know... You can do whatever you want. Sometimes Mike and Ray, you know, they kind of drive you to just, you know, need a couple of shots to take the edge off. But anyway, these are the new ready drink sparkling cocktails from Via Corotta.

7:05Of course, grab the Negroni Sabagliato and the Spritz, but they have a bunch of other varieties. They're quite tasty. Really love how they kind of miniaturize the same sort of glass bottle that they have for their ready-to-pour cocktails. And, you know, these definitely stand out. Beautiful bottle, not in a can like everyone else, but yeah, cool stuff from Via Corotta. Nice. I saw this in the front of the office. I don't know if we've talked about this on the podcast before. It's called Aplos, A-P-L-O-S. They're a maker of non-alcoholic cocktails infused with adaptogens. They come in these beautiful 8.5 ounce slim cans with this forest green color, at least this variety, the chili margarita has a forest green variety.

7:51Actually, maybe not forest green. I don't know. What kind of green would you call this? Sage? Sage. Yes, Jackie. Well done. It looks so sophisticated and beautiful. I'm actually curious as to whether or not this tastes like a chili margarita. So I'm going to give this a whirl. First thing I'm going to sanitize by rubbing the top of the can very vigorously so that there's no, I don't know, dead things on it. I will say it's interesting that a chili margarita is in a green can. I don't think of green when I think of... How about margarita? I mean, it's kind of a greenish liquid, maybe not a sage green, but I am a big fan of that drink that you're drinking.

8:33Yeah, it's really delicious. I wouldn't say that this has the bite of a margarita. You also need the salted rim. Yeah, I guess I wiped off the salted rim when I was sanitizing my can here. But no, it's a delicious beverage. It's a delicious beverage through and through. You know, if I was reaching for a margarita, let me give you one more sip here. You know what? The saltiness is actually there. There's a saltiness to the flavor of this product that is reminiscent of a margarita. So in any case, great packaging. And I'm sure this is going to be hit with their target audience. Well done, Aplos.

9:14And what goes better with cocktails at a bar than salty nuts? Salty nuts. I have these products from Live Loud Foods. This variety is the Caribbean or Caribbean jerk nuts. And then we also have the candied citrus pistachios. And I will say these deliver on the flavor. Oh, my God. Do you say Caribbean or Caribbean? Caribbean. You say Caribbean? Yeah. I say Caribbean. I think Caribbean jerk nuts. Well, there was a... You got to edit this guy out. There was an artist in the 80s. His name was Billy Ocean. And he had a song called Caribbean Queen. But he would always pronounce it Caribbean Queen. So are we sharing the same dream?

10:09Ray, our hearts just beat as one. That's a great song. That's a really catchy one. No more love on the run, Ray. Yeah. Well, back to this product here. One sweet and one spicy. Yeah. so this one's spicy and it i mean i love spice and it's definitely your face off it's not burning my face off it's nice a nice heat but packs a punch you look like you have tears in your eyes not yet they're building it's not like the pocky uh one chip challenge oh my goodness no nothing would compare don't mention that ever again oh yeah i saw that saw the news on that one this week yeah which is people were like this is old news but it was a story of the uh medical examiner's report of the i think 14 year old who passed away after consuming that and i think it 14 year old athlete yeah i mean i i'm trying to carefully not suggest that you know the product was the result of the thing but uh i think you know basically the kid had a heart attack on that note yeah on that note what goes well with spicy food but coconut water and how about sparkling coconut water that stuff is good i have not seen this yet i saw this in the fridge as well it's called strange water i picked this up also because of the packaging which like many modern labels has a very retro vibe to it this looks like something out of the lsd soaked 60s How were those times, right?

11:38Yeah, did you experience them? You know, as I scroll through YouTube at 2 a.m. in the morning, most nights, it reminds me of a Janis Joplin and Tom Jones collaboration. That's what this package reminds me of. Interesting. I like this idea of sparkling coconut water. What do you think? It's good. It's very coconutty. I wonder where the coconut is from. It's from Vietnam. Okay, nice. I also, just before the show, in this G Fuel container, made sparkling cocoa and karma pineapple coconut water. So I just filled it like up to here. Well, most of the way with sparkling water and then topped it off with pineapple coconut water.

12:24So good. Nice. Yeah. The strange water is pretty tasty. there have been some sparkling coconut waters before, but most of them I think were kind of more marketed in the traditional way. So it's kind of an interesting approach to taking coconut water and like making it not really look like coconut water. Yeah, this definitely does not resemble a coconut water label that I've seen. There's no beach scene. There's no beach scene. The strange water on the top of the can is followed by what looks like a Rorschach. test image. It looks like a butterfly to me. I don't know what that says about me, but it is delicious.

13:06It has 20 grams of sugar per 12 ounce can. Just from the coconut water. It's natural sugar. Yes. Why are you defending them? Well, because when you say it has 20 grams of sugar, it implies it put the sugar in. It's just coconut water. So it is just coconut water. But, you know, I mean, coconut water has a lot of sugar in it. I did not. By the way, I'm not saying you needed to defend them. I don't know. I'm just trying to, you know, I like to, unlike you, have things that are actually correct. But anyway. Never did I say that the sugar came from anything but naturally derived fruit. I saw that can and my like kind of knee jerk was this has got to be like a Delta 9 cannabis beverage because strange water.

13:50Yeah. Is coconut water strange? I mean, I thought maybe to some people. I thought the same of weird tea. at the beginning. Weird tea, yeah, true, true. Fair enough. Weird tea is not a cannabis beverage. Actually, extremely delicious tea beverage. Yeah, I wonder if they were going for sort of an alt cocktail, alt beer kind of product with this. I mean, it is sparkling for one, and it definitely does not look like a Zico, a Vita Coco, an O &E, anything like that. Cut through the clutter, you know? It looks very much like a product that you could walk around at a bar or a party and hold it and people would think you're drinking a beer or a canned cocktail.

14:29So that does seem to be going for that green with the beige does seem to sort of be the color that coconut water has arrived at, though. I mean, you see a lot of green with coconut because coconuts are green. I'm drinking so much of this. It looks better than if they decided on brown for coconut water. Yeah, I'm drinking so much all the sugar in this. I mean, it's just, you know, it's OK. got raised all riled up. All right. What do you got, Mike? I've got some mood boosting beverages here. We've seen, I don't know if I'd call it a trend yet, but we've seen a few mood boosting beverages coming along, like a happy pop, for instance.

15:08This one has lithium citrate in it. It's called lithium mineral seltzer. And I think lithium citrate is a salt that was... Hold on. Is it called lithium? It's called lithium. It's called lithium. It's called lithium. This is a lithium mineral seltzer. Tells you on the front, it's got lithium magnesium. 100 % of your daily value of vitamin C, 45 calories. This one's called electric lime. And this one's mixed berry. Nice. Have you tried them? I haven't. Do you want to? I'm scared. You're scared? No, I will. I'll try. Do you want to? Yeah, I feel like there's still education that needs to be done around lithium.

15:44I think people just think of the medication lithium, which is known to be very intense. I think about batteries. Antidepressant. Yeah. Yeah. That's because John drives. I think about lithium all day there is lithium was mentioned as a medication in the show the Sopranos that Tony Soprano was taking at one point so yeah that's that's what it reminds me of back in your grunge days maybe the Nirvana song lithium never had any grunge days but I do recall that song yeah it's a good song tasty stuff I tried the electric lime and then I've got another beverage here called curious number nine that has canna in it k-a-n-n-a which is another sort of this one they i think when they talk about it they talk about it as a more of a caffeine substitute it's like uh supposed to lift you up a bit yeah those guys have a line of uh different products like alcohol alternatives gotcha god i don't know how many skews they have a bunch it's definitely designed to pique curiosity it's first of all it's called curious number nine and then it's rosy rosé and fizzy lifting Lime Boost Free Craft Cocktail by Curious Elixirs.

16:54And you turn it around, you find out there's Kana in it. And just, it's got words like mood boosting magic of South African Kana, plus California poppy. So, you know, nothing scary, nothing scary on the label here. Well, I almost wish that there was something in there that could give it a boost, like an immune boost though. I feel like, you know, with my cocktails, you know. This is about being uplifting, but what you're talking about is immunity, isn't it? Right, right. I mean, you know, you're drinking something that's supposed to give you a mood boost, that's supposed to give you maybe a caffeine boost.

17:30But as we all know, immunity boosts, that's what we need daily. And did you know that Amuse can give you that edge? Amuse is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Taste Radio. Amuse is a dietary and food ingredient clinically shown to stimulate immune function at the cellular level. Incorporate Amuse into your innovation strategy and help your consumers optimize their health throughout the year. Learn more at AmuseHealth.com. That's I-M-M-U-S-E Health dot com. All right, let's get to our featured interview for this episode. If you know Peloton, you probably know Kendall Toole, who is one of the most recognizable and beloved trainers on the exercise platform.

18:13She's also a popular wellness and fitness influencer who has 1.3 million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, and is also an ambassador for athletic apparel company Lululemon. In October 2023, Kendall entered the beverage business as a partner with Don't Quit, a sports nutrition brand that markets high-protein shakes and clean-label energy drinks. Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to sit down with Kendall for a conversation about her involvement with Don't Quit and how she's involved in marketing and promotional initiatives. As part of our conversation, Kendall shares her approach to communicating authenticity on social media, how she talks about Don't Quit's functional ingredients with consumers, and how she played a key role in a label revamp for the brand's energy drink line.

19:08Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with the one and only Kendall Toole. Kendall, how are you? I'm doing so great. How are you? I am doing fantastic. And you did get the memo before you came over to match our orange, the Taste Radio orange. You got your orange dress on. You know, I just I wanted to be living citrus. Actually, it does match my favorite flavor of Don't Quit. So there you go. Which one is that? It's the orange one. It's the mighty orange mango. I'm obsessed with it. Okay. I put on the dress today and I was like, wait, I feel like I'm matching my favorite can.

19:40But it's good. It works well. Yeah. This is a slightly lighter orange than your dress. But it is orange nonetheless. Oh, discerning. I love it. No, that's true. That's true. If we do an ombre moment, I'm by the top end of the can. Yes. And the new marketing, which I love. Did you say ombre? Ombre, yes. Ombre. That's an amazing word. Ombre. O-M-B-R-E. That's an amazing word. Yes. So it's a gradient of color from light to dark. Wow. Learning something new every day. I appreciate when I learn something new on Taste Radio because I'm supposed to be the one who knows these things. And well, now you just you threw me a curveball there.

20:12There you go. I gave you the curveball. Shocker. Thank you very much. Don't quit. You are a brand ambassador. You've been with the brand for some time. Are you an investor in the brand as well? Yes, I'm one of the partners as well. Amazing. Amazing. So I know you and I think some of our listeners would know you from Peloton. And as an influencer, you have almost a million followers on Instagram. You're out there. Talk about your relationship with don't quit and how you're incorporating it into your daily life and into your professional life as well Oh, totally. I mean, what's so fantastic about don't quit and the formulation is that it's something I authentically use every day I take my don't quit.

20:48I it's so funny. It sounds like a medicine Like I take my don't quit but it truly does kind of feel like that when i'm teaching three to four classes back to back in a day I always have my don't quit with me I take that before my workout and sometimes during it is in one of my secret water bottles while I'm teaching. I have one of like actual normal H2O and then one of my Don't Quit. And then after I always do my protein workout, my protein shake from Don't Quit as well. And I love it. Yeah. There's two different package types. You have a PET bottle and you have what appears to be, I think a 12 ounce can.

21:19So the cans are energy and hydration. They have caffeine in them. Yep. The PETs are essentially smoothies. Similar. Yeah. So they're a protein shake. And what's so great about it too is that it doesn't have all the other, hate to call it what it is, but it doesn't have as much of the filler that's out there and other products on the market. I also have a sensitive stomach because, you know, I'm an anxious girly and anxious girlies have sensy tummies. But what I love about the Don't Quit Protein is that it truly is whey protein isolate. So it does not give me any weird stomach issues, anything like that, which I've had the experience of with other protein drinks.

21:51So I was really excited about that. And then I also love that with our Energy Skew, we have an ingredient in there called Cognizant. So what's really cool about it is great for brain development and brain health and for focus. Lord knows I need it. I can be a little ADD sometimes like the best of us can. Well, I'm glad that you brought that up. Loyal listeners of the podcast know we are fans of Cognizant. I love it. I know. I noticed the hat in the corner. Yes, yes. Hat. We have t-shirts and the bags and whatnot. And yeah. And I'm glad that you called it a protein shake. I use protein shake or shake and smoothie interchangeably.

22:23But it feels like Don't Quit has a very masculine, and this is just me talking, has a sort of very masculine kind of aesthetic to it. But here you are saying that you drink it all the time and share your habits, your consumption habits of Don't Quit with your followers and with people who are Peloton devotees. How do you, I guess, incorporate a more universal vibe such that people think about Don't Quit for men and women? Yes, totally. I think there were a few things as well that we thought about and I really brought up to the team. I looked at the way that we had our design of our energy drink and I was like, listen, a lot of energy drinks tend to lean very masculine, especially in presentation and marketing.

23:03It's something that's always turned me off. And then on the other end of the spectrum, I think you see a lot of other energy offerings that are so centered towards women and it's on the nose. It's pink, it's sparkly, it's honestly a little young, embarrassing in my taste. So I I wanted to help the team find a design that really spoke to both male and female audiences, but was bright and fun and inspiring. So I was really excited when we changed our can design. And then we focused more on that ombre, your favorite word. Yes. To represent what the colors were and what the flavor profiles were. And so I think that drew a lot of different things in.

23:40Even just the shape of the shake bottle too. It's got a little curve to it. it's not so in your face sport masculine. But let's be honest, we're all on the go. We're all moving in some way, shape or form. Obviously, this is a type of nutrition offering and protein and energy offering that would draw somebody who is active because of all of the clean ingredients and the lack of what's not in the drink that makes it a little bit better. So I think we strike a good balance, in my opinion, of course, always open to feedback because we have to be open to feedback. But I do think it's a it's a happy balance between the two.

24:12Yeah, I think what I I was saying it skews a little more masculine. I think in particular the protein shake more than the energy drinks. The energy drinks and energy and hydration drinks definitely feel like they are general neutral. And they feel like something that is definitely not, you know, a Red Bull, a monster, what have you. Super aggressive. Yeah, exactly. Something that does, you know, fit a lifestyle vibe. The one, the Mighty Orange Mango, your favorite. I mean, I can definitely see someone in the middle of the day after a run doing what, you know, any kind of activity using this. and drinking this and holding it in their hand.

24:45Yeah. And I think that sort of lifestyle component can be the most challenging component of marketing a brand. Yeah. So your job in a lot of ways is to make people feel comfortable with this being incorporated into their lives. Don't quit as a brand. How do you try to incorporate those elements of lifestyle when you are promoting don't quit? Oh, totally. I think it's really showing the authenticity of how it integrates into my day. I think for me, especially as a woman who's doing multiple things, you know, I kind of joke, everyone's like, Oh my God, you're sporty spice. But I'm like, yeah, but not because yeah, I'm sporty spice for this half the day.

25:21And I practically live in Lycra and in my Lululemon, but the other half the day, you know, I'm in business meetings, I'm developing other brands, I'm building other opportunities and projects on the side that people don't know about. So I also have to put on that work cap. I have to be that woman leading a meeting. And then I also, you know, want to go and spend time with my family and with my girlfriends and be able to relax. So being able to have a product that can kind of transfer me in and out of all those hats that I wear and in and out of all of those different roles that I have is really important.

25:52And for me as someone at the forefront of health and wellness, I really try to focus on my fuel, taking care of my mind, taking care of my body. And I have to do that through my nutrition. So it comes to, if I'm going to have energy, how can I give myself the best energy I can with hydration, keep myself going. If I'm going to have protein, which is a goal, right? To hit that protein macro. That's really the only thing I try to reach for every day. I don't count my macros, but I do try to drive to understand how much protein I'm intaking just to keep my body moving. I know that if I'm going to be absorbing protein and taking protein, how do I know that it's going to be the best product for me?

26:26So like, honestly, another thing I love to do, quick tip you guys, if anybody has one of those Ninja Creamies, you know, the little device that you can turn anything frozen into like ice cream. Yeah. Such a great hack. All my fitness friends are obsessed with it. It's such a great thing. So if you take the don't quits and actually use them as the base for the ice cream, so you put that in the Ninja Creamy, like you freeze it. We use the cookies and cream flavor that we just came out with. Damar Hamlin, our other brand ambassador and face for the brand, he actually helped develop that cookies and cream flavor.

26:54Wow. It is so dang good. You go ahead, you freeze it, you add some cookies to it after. It is protein ice cream. So I will wake up if I have a sweet tooth and maybe I don't really want to have, you know, eggs and bacon for the millionth time. I'll just dip into, you know, the protein ice cream and feel totally great about it. So I think that's what's important too, is understanding that these are something, these are products that I use authentically through different phases of my day in my life. How do you authentically express what you're doing, share what you're doing on social media? Because as you and I both know, social media can come across as very, very fake.

27:29Yeah, it's super edited. You know, there's a ton of influencers that are out there where it's very, very clear you're hawking a product more than you are actually authentically incorporating into your life. Yeah. So what is your strategy for posting video, for posting photos so that it doesn't look like it's an advertisement? Yeah, hashtag ad. I think what's really important, one is speaking really candidly and honestly. Like I'm very proud of the fact I'm very open about my mental health. It's been a huge part of my community and what I've created at Peloton and sharing my story. and a lot of people really relate that way.