Prime & Messi's Mas+ Do Battle. Who Benefits? Plus, We Dip & Bake.

0:10Hello and thanks for tuning in to taste radio the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food and beverage. I'm Mike Schneider, and I'm with my co-hosts for this episode, John Craven and Jackie Brugliera. Ray's not here because apparently he is in Europe and he's been arrested at a football match? Yep. He wanted to one-up you. We'll spread the rumors. Yeah, those rumors are untrue. He is in Europe. I don't remember where. I don't remember either. Somewhere better than here. I like the idea of spending Thanksgiving in Europe, you know, it's not a holiday over there. So you probably just eating every day rather than just one day.

0:51When you're relative, every day is Thanksgiving, isn't it? The man has a great life. It's true. Speaking of great things, we're less than two weeks away from BevNet Live. How's everybody feeling? I'm feeling it over here because the boxes are just piling up around me full of product and things for the events. So I'm feeling it over here. It's like we're ready to go. And I guess less than one week till Nosh Live when this comes out. So yeah, kind of crazy how time flies. But yeah, very exciting. Personally, really looking forward to seeing everyone who's joining us in Marina Del Rey. And I'm sure it's going to be an excellent time.

1:31Always a phenomenal time at Nosh Live. Jackie, we've added three more partners for one-to-ones. There'll be opportunities to sit down with Kehi, very well-known distributor all across the United States. We have the Giant Company, which is a regional supermarket chain that wants to meet with all of the brands there. And then we also have Nielsen IQ, NIQ, who wants to sit down for some data consultations to see, you know, what data points can you use in your pitch? What information is relevant to you? What are benchmarks that you can use? So we have a lot of one-to-ones going on, and they're joining a lineup that's already pretty stacked, I would say, with Whole Foods, Houlihan Loki, Springdale Ventures, and Wellness Growth Ventures.

2:15So a variety of investors, investment banker, and retailer also taking meetings at Nosh Live. I've got a Wellness Growth Investment right in front of me here. Oh, perfect product placement. We'll talk about that in a little bit. Yeah. We also have a new one-to-one partner for BevNet Live as well, Jackie. We brought on Albertsons. So we do have two beverage category buyers coming to BevNet Live, and they want to meet with every beverage brand that they can. They will be taking meetings on day two and day three of BevNet Live. So make sure you're registered. And then as soon as you register, you'll get a link to sign up and take a meeting with Albertsons.

2:57Good job, you guys.

3:03And we're so psyched. If you're still sitting on the fence for Nosh Live or BevNet Live, you're a decision maker. You're out there. You've got two or three things that are keeping you up at night, especially in the holiday season. You're planning for next year. You're thinking about capital for your company. You're thinking about your messaging, your package design. There's all kinds of things that we can help you with. We've got insanely good technical content, particularly at BevNet Live with our workshops. come to the events, jumpstart your network, ask the hard questions of everyone there.

3:37They either know the answer or they know who does. And you're going to move your company a milestone or two just by coming to the event. Yeah. And there'll be over a thousand CPG professionals across all three events attending. And we do have all of the attendee lists online. So take a look, see who's going to be there, plan your trip. Like Mike said, get off the fence and take advantage. You know, like it's important to plan and strategize and make sure you have a great event. Operators are standing by. I mean, at the end of the day, I think just showing up and getting in a room with all of these people, as Jackie mentioned, it's something that, you know, when you're kind of sitting there thinking about it, it's kind of like, is it going to be worth it?

4:23Is something good going to come out of this? and you know we've been doing these a long time and I can't tell you how many times I've heard like just things that have happened from our events just from the most simple interactions and this is true of our events true of certain other events out there but you know it is hard sometimes to actually like travel somewhere get out from the comfort of your desk and you know your computer where you kind of control everything and go into this like chaos but I mean there's just always good stuff that comes out of this. And I think it's always also one of those things where a lot of times when you go to these types of events, it's not just the things like, as you were saying, the burning questions, the things keeping you up at night, but I always feel like it just kind of helps create conversation and connections around things that you weren't quite thinking about yet, you know, and that's always like the hard thing to convince someone of, but it's pretty awesome when you talk to someone after the event and they've experienced that.

5:25Yeah. Serendipity is real. You're coming to this event with an agenda and there are things that you can control and there are things that you can't. One of the glorious things about our events is whatever conversation you're in is the right conversation to be in. And you can just continuously have those for the entire two days of the event. and the content on stage will help inspire those conversations as well. So I think it's just, it's a very different experience. It's kind of, it's a bit of self-care for decision makers too, where you're taking a step back from the daily operations of your business to put, you know, planning, problem solving, innovation, and those things front of mind while, you know, you're just taking a, just a little break from, you know, selling, selling, selling, selling, producing, producing, producing, producing.

6:16And we've got this, it's kind of an oasis for you to come to BevNet Live or to Nosh Live to come meet the industry and, you know, just be able to think this way for a little bit. Sounds like a nice little retreat. Well, I don't know about oasis. I mean, I'm just being honest. I think it is for a lot of people taking them out of their comfort zone. I've been to a million events and, you know, it's always interesting. I was thinking about this when I went to Founderland out in LA in October. It's sort of like, you know, you go with a certain agenda and I was almost wondering like, well, what's really going to happen?

6:50What sort of people are you going to actually talk to at that thing, you know? And I think that's, again, the discomfort of doing these sorts of things, but I feel like at any well-curated event, and I put ours for sure in that bucket. You know, that was great too. You know, you do always come away with stuff. And I think that's, again, you know, for entrepreneurs of whatever stage, it's, it is good to just take a break and go do something else, get different perspectives. And especially at the end of the year, I think it is sort of like a freeing sort of feeling. Yeah. And to make it a little bit more comfy, cause I know Craven, you said it can be a little uncomfortable, like find us, find our team, talk to us.

7:33We can point you in the right direction if you're looking for a connection or you don't know where to find someone. Think of it almost like a pinball machine, you know? People are just like bouncing around, but we're like a little safe haven, so come find us. There you go. You can get your tickets at BevNetLive.com, NoshLive.com, BrewBoundLive.com. We had to see this coming, right? Yeah. I mean, John just looked into his crystal ball and it didn't really take much to figure out that. Prime and Moss were going to go at it. What's going on there, John? Well, it seems as though Prime has now, I suppose, countersued Mark Anthony Brands, who makes Moss Plus.

8:14I think originally Mark Anthony Brands was trying to get basically something from a court saying that they weren't infringing on the trademark trade dress of Prime. And now it's kind of turned into a lawsuit. So I don't know. These are two products that I guess to some extent are similar looking, but they're also similar looking in a stock bottle with a fairly simple text heavy trade dress. So anyone's guess on how that plays out or who settles or whatever, but it does to me feel a little bit like, you know, an incumbent beverage company and prime poking a more established beverage company and Mark Anthony brands who certainly from their brands like White Claw and Mike's Hard Lemonade probably have a bigger war chest than prime.

9:09But, you know, we'll see. I mean, I do think it's, you know, in any of these situations, it's a distraction. Although maybe any press is good press, so to speak, since it's putting these brands, you know, certainly on the front of our website, right? Yeah. And the Jack Owock philosophy, founder of Bang, is that you're not doing it right if you're not getting sued. But we've talked about that with class action lawsuits, too. I can't disagree with Jack on that. But yeah, it's pretty interesting that this has happened. I almost feel like Moss Plus probably benefits since, you know, Prime certainly is like at the tip of everyone's tongue in the beverage industry, at least.

9:52And it's probably more of a household name than Moss Plus at this point. So I guess covering this lawsuit for sure puts Moss Plus out there at a time where I think, you know, Prime has had some challenges on the sales front. So we'll see what happens. Yeah, I think also how it's positioned, like they kind of poked the bear and then Prime came after them. And I think like sometimes people view one company suing another company as like they're the bad guy that's suing the good guy. So I don't know. I'll be curious to see how it plays out. But yeah, I agree. I think it's like a bit of a distraction, but it's like these two larger companies just, I guess, protecting what they believe is theirs.

10:36Yeah. I mean, I can't fault either of them for, you know, just wanting to protect that. But yeah, I guess we'll see what happens. Insiders can read more on that story at BevNet.com. 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 taste radio.com slash insider to learn more Ray left us a script and I just don't even know what this next thing is so let's just talk a little bit about did he get arrested in Ipswich after Ipswich town drew Man United I had to google to see who they played I saw about like five minutes of that match it was on USA and then I changed the channel.

11:21Yeah, Ipswich Town, this year's Luton Town. Everyone's pretty excited about them. They're playing some great football and they're playing against their bitter rivals, Manchester United. 1-1 draw. Ray had to leave the country in shame. Seems like the appropriate thing to do. It does seem like the appropriate thing to do. You know what the other appropriate thing to do is? Let's talk about some products. We're going to just ignore the script that Ray left us. That seems very appropriate. Jackie, what you got over there? I have a couple products. This one, I just love the name. It's hilarious. It's called Jewels Under the Kilt.

11:54Oh my God. And it's a nut brand. And Craven and I were talking a little bit about some nut brands that are just like in your face, like kind of inappropriate. But this is like you got to think a little bit, you know? It's a Canadian brand. They have pecan, Chipotle, and then they also have moonshine pecans. and yeah I just was a big fan of the name that brand even jarred Nate who's our videographer and he takes a lot to jar him he's like what we were talking about another nut brand that I've recently seen we have not had samples of it here but it's actually just called nut sack I've seen it up in Vermont New Hampshire a couple times Ray's gonna be like I left you guys alone and You just nuke the whole podcast's reputation.

12:43But yeah, that's a little more subtle. I mean, that just takes the D's nuts joke to the next level for sure. Yeah. What else you got over there, Jackie? I also have some cannabis beverages. All right. It's called River, R-I-V-R. That one is so frightening to me. Looking at the logo, it just tells you what's going to happen. I thought it was like, because you're going to be living in a van down by the river. Down by the river. Come on, we're all, we can make that joke. We can. I find it interesting. So they are a cannabis brand. They're saying that you're microdosing THC in this because it's five milligrams of THC, but they also add a bunch of other ingredients.

13:22A lot of caffeine. Yeah, like there's herbal tea, there's reishi mushrooms, ashwagandha, agave. So this one's caffeine free, but I believe the other one isn't. And it's just interesting. It's like THC already is like, I don't know, some people think it's a little dangerous and then you're adding other things onto it. So I don't know. For someone that's a THC consumer, it might be for them, though. You know who that might be for? Someone who really enjoys multiple indulgences at once. Our director of community, Melissa Travers. We have to get her to try that. Yes, we do. Oh, my God. I'm going to drive some up to LA.

13:58No, no, we've got some in the fridge. We've got some in the fridge. Okay, you've got to record her reaction. Definitely need to do that. John's got something. I've got some new something amazing yeah some new flavors from Lexington Bakes there's a pumpkin one but there's also a snickerdoodle I got a maple pecan chip and a peanut butter chip cookie variety you know I gotta say these new mini size Lexington Bakes I simultaneously kind of love and hate Lex Evans for doing this I mean this is making them snackable first of all genius but I hate you because I just want to eat multiple of these so so true but I mean these are again I think quality he's done a phenomenal job of just progressing with the flavors and the the packaging and the quality I mean this yeah I feel like each batch is like his best work it's dense luxury like every bite is one of the best bites you've had in terms of like a snack those are amazing and I can either just take it down in two bites and be like, Oh my God, what have I done to myself or eat it over, eat it over a couple of days and be happy.

15:11Yeah. I also love how he's doing a bunch of collaborations. I believe every single, like one of those SKUs includes another CPG product and he puts that front of pack too. So it's like lifting up other founders as well. I think it's cool. And it also like, you know, it does add another level of freemium to the product that, okay, cool. This has got some Raka chocolate in it. Like, yeah, I think that's smart. He's got a coffee. He's got, is that secret squirrel there? Yeah. He's got some really great partner brands that he's working with and Cho chocolate he works with as well. And his idea is that everyone should be doing that.

15:48Should be saying exactly what's in their product. Yeah. And like a brand, like those brands are trusted, you know, that they're quality. I mean, sometimes if you're talking technically about where the chocolate's sourced and all that stuff. Like it's a lot easier for a consumer to just digest. This is the brand. Looking forward to catching up with Lex at Nosh Live in a couple of days. Lexington Bakes, a difficult act to follow for any cookie, but I think one that could do a good job that's trying to play in a very different space is Bake Me Healthy. So we got these Bake Me Healthy dark chocolate chip soft baked cookies that zero grams of added sugar, eight grams of plant protein, four grams of fiber.

16:26So these are, you know a healthier indulgence in the way that they're uh they're packaged and and uh very different tasting but they hit the spot yeah it's pretty solid it's maybe a little less sweet than a standard chocolate chip cookie but pretty solid they're also ooey gooey too they're so soft and they stick together like if you put them in your pocket they're definitely gonna get smush I like cookies and like an, it's like an M &M bag. Most we have done. You know, I'm always a sucker for anything that's a Negroni. So this is the Apollos Mandora Negroni. It was kind of like a citrusy, easy drinking, and it's an NA cocktail, of course.

17:10So a real big fan of what Apollos has created. Ditto. You've got a couple more of their flavors, but this might be my new favorite. That one is extraordinary. I mean, if you're looking to scratch the Negroni itch as a, you know, sober curious person like me, that definitely does it. I'd put it right up there with Phony Negroni and Lappos and other great non-out Negronis that we've tried. They also have, I haven't tried these, but they've got a cola fashioned ume spritz and chili margarita skews as well. And I think there's some more even beyond these, but these are the ones that we have. I'm going to give the ume spritz a try here.

17:51Yeah, really polished looking package too. That's really good. You can just tell that it's for an adult drinking occasion just by the nose of it. And it's got really nice, complex flavors. It also has some mushrooms, magnesium. It hits a lot. It checks a lot of boxes, 30 calories. It's really good. The 30 calories makes it pretty crushable too. If you wanted to have multiple of these, you can feel good about it. Yeah, I think keeping the calories in check is pretty important for products like this. That feels like once you take the alcohol away, the sugar and caloric content of these products is kind of like the other concern for consumers.

18:31So they've got to be like certainly under 100 calories, in my opinion. Man, this is really good. It's got organic dandelion root, calamansi lime, sweet basil, coriander, rosemary, and mint. There's some really good words on this pack. Nicely done. You know what else I've got for you here? Oh, man. This is a new product from Cedars, you know, Cedars Hummus. And this is their tomb. Mediterranean garlic dip. we're gonna give this a try because the pr folks for cedars have literally like blown up my inbox this week which is i'm kind of saying blow up my inbox and we'll talk about your product on uh i don't know just dm me or jackie you know i don't know i'm not i'm not gonna lie like cedars hummus is kind of like i would say a solid widely available mainstream hummus brand yeah it's Not the best, right?

19:24Far from the worst. Right. Good and solid. So I was kind of intrigued about this product. I don't know if you want to give it a little try. Yeah, I'll give it a try. We also have... Very garlicky. The great pretzelized crackers in front of this here. Seems like the proper vessel for giving this a try. So it's just a garlic dip? Just garlic dip, yep. So if you've had... There are a couple other like Tomb brands. Pretty good, right? Yeah, it's pretty good. It's going to help the other Toom brands that are out there too, just to have, because Cedars obviously has pretty wide distribution. It's like that solid B area.

19:59Yeah, and that was exactly my thought about what you said of it helping other brands. I think the biggest challenge for a Toom brand is just awareness right now. So if they are going to make a push to get this out there, that should for sure help other dip companies that are doing something similar. And this is, you know, compared to their hummus products, like, I would say a very assertive flavor, right? I mean, it's hardcore garlic. It's garlic forward for sure. But yeah, I mean, nice work. It's pretty good work. It's not quite as forward as some of the other tombs, but it's tasty. I mean, thinking of Tal's tomb, I think about that a lot, actually.

20:38That stuff's so good. Yes. I mentioned it before. We've got a new De Sois. this is the spritz italiano bittersweet mediterranean citrus have you tried this one i caught him i was like a waitress who walked up and said is everything okay here eating this lexan bakes this is where i'm in the i hate you lexan space but also thank you this is our version of like friends giving you know like cocktails appetizers dessert Yes, I have had this. And it's an interesting thing to wash down the leg thing to bake with. I was going to say, how does it pair with maple pecan? You know, I mean, you guys know I'm a big fan of Negroni and bitter cocktails.

21:23I still just feel like the bitter flavor when, you know, NA cocktails like use that. It just creates the best product. I mean, it is, I feel like so close to the flavor experience of an actual like Aperol spritz, you know, and this stuff is really solid. I think the Ume spritz is, it follows that philosophy. It's not quite as bitter as say a Negroni, but it starts off and finishes with bitter and it's, it's really nice. I mean, again, just a couple of really good products in front of us here in the NA space. It's just, I'm excited to be alive right now, Jackie. Last but not least, we've got Fruga, which is a new soda brand that contains 9 % juice.

22:12I've got the, well, apparently it's naturally delicious, pink guava. Real fruit meat soda. It's 35 calories, 7 grams of sugar, including three added. And the label is really, really nice. It's just sparkling water, pink guava puree, chicory root inulin, cane sugar, lemon juice, natural pink guava flavor, red juice, stevia, acerola juice, lemon peel extract concentrate. So it's, I mean, for a soda, a 35 calorie soda, the label's pretty great and it tastes good too. I'm going in. Is frigga cheap? See what I did there? Come on, bad joke. Wow. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio.

23:00Thank 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 Podcast app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is BevNetTasteRadio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at tasteradio.com.

23:42On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time.

23:54Thank you.