The Good, Bad & Ugly Of Mission-Driven Brands

0:10Hello 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, Melissa Travers and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we discuss the latest dispute between Ben & Jerry's and parent company, the Magnum Ice Cream Company, and what the battle over the brand's philanthropic foundation says about the role of social impact in modern consumer brands. We also explore how entrepreneurs should approach purpose-driven strategies and sample the latest wave of better-for-you snacks, from refrigerated bars to protein muffins, and healthier takes on classic treats.

0:56Welcome back, Mike. Welcome back, Melissa. You guys took a week off from the show. More Zoe. More Zoe. More Zoe Licata. Always a good thing. Zoe Licata, one of our reporters for Brewbound, one of the most amazing beer and adjacent beverages journalists in the country and beyond, joined us last week for a fantastic episode. Now, John is not here. John's here in spirit, but not here in the studio. That's creepy. That's creepy. Just looking at his empty chair. Yeah. He's watching us. I feel like we need someone to sit in there and shake his head at things. Someone to like put a hand on his head and...

1:34Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, move his head back and forth. Okay, now that would be creepy. That would be creepy. Well, I'm really excited, as I always am, for our Taste Radio meetups. And our next one is coming up in about two weeks. Make it three weeks. We'll call it three weeks, actually. Our Taste Radio meetup in Chicago is happening on August 13th from 5 to 7.30 p.m. It's at Pilot Project Brewing in Logan Square. If you are based in Chicago, visiting the area, or anywhere near the Chicagoland area, you want to be there, head to tasteradio.com slash meetups to register for the event. We want to know that you're coming so we can figure out exactly how many meat sandwiches and cannolis to bring.

2:18What a great place for an event, too. Pilot Project is a really cool place. Some great brands have gotten their start there, like our dear friends at Funkytown started at the Pilot Project. What a great spot for an event. I'm psyched. It really is. And Chicago, what a great place for a late summer event. Chicago in August is fantastic. Yeah, yeah. I mean, when we were there last year, it wasn't too hot. I think people typically associate big cities like Chicago with sweltering summers and freezing cold winters. But I felt like it was a nice temperate climate when we were there. You can always just go jump in the lake.

2:58You could jump in the lake. Yes, yes. People have told me that before. I'm also very excited for Melissa's upcoming webinar, which features two of the most high profile and fastest growing brands in our space. Melissa, what is this webinar all about? Yes, we have an incredibly exciting Nonbase webinar coming up on July 28th. It is about how winning brands turn businesses based around Better For You ingredients into successful businesses. We have Goodles and CulturePop. I mean, you know, you couldn't ask for two brands who are so focused on the mission of using Better For You ingredients and have done so well.

3:41because it's really hard. Better for you ingredients are expensive. They can be hard to source. They can be hard to work with. You're not using a bunch of preservatives or artificial ingredients. So it's really a challenging premise, but obviously so many of the brands in our audience are doing just that. So July 28th, 4 p.m. Eastern, go to nonbase.com. And when you go to the podcast tab, it'll be right at the top and you can register there. So don't miss it. And also bring your questions. So if you have any questions for Goodles or Tom from CulturePop, bring those. We would love to have you speak up and, you know, talk about what you're trying to figure out.

4:22Bring your team. Yeah. Bring your team. Register for this thing. You know, this is going to be fantastic. What a great lineup you got. Yeah. Bring your mom. Mom can learn something too. She's got a side hustle. Yeah. Definitely tune in. You know, Tom, first, we've mentioned on this podcast a number of times, is also one of the co-founders of Nantucket Nectars. He knows what it takes to scale a business and scaling a beverage brand, as we all know, is not the easiest thing to do, especially when volume is the name of the game and you're selling juice and you're selling soda. Now, two of the most competitive categories you could possibly be in.

4:58So you must be doing something right. And Goodles, you know, I got to tell you, even with all the celebrity attachments to Goodles and all the money that they raised, I didn't really think that they would make it to where they are today. Really? Yes. Because I don't know if the idea of a better for you mac and cheese, especially when you already had a better for you mac and cheese brand in Annie's, was really something that the market needed. And Goodles has definitely proved me wrong in that not only did the market need it, They wanted it in spades, and that brand is growing very fast. I wouldn't be surprised if that is a very big acquisition announcement happening in the next 18 months.

5:45I mean, part of that thesis had to be that we got sold Annie's as the original Annie's, and everybody got into Annie's. And then when Annie's was bought, they made material changes to the ingredients in that brand. And it's not the Annie's that we knew. So Goudles comes along and is like, ah, they build this beautiful brand. They hit on that nostalgia trend. What's old is new kind of thing or the nostalgic flavors that you had when you were a kid, the Kraft mac and cheese. And then they bring new flavors into the mix. The brand's beautiful. I mean, I see why you might say that. But also now in hindsight, it looks like genius.

6:24For me, Goudles really stands apart, obviously, in their branding. I mean, you see it not just in their packaging, but when they show up to Expo West at trade shows, they really do have such a strong creative voice. And then also their offerings for people with special diets, gluten-free, you know, a variety of special diets. They do really cater to those people with an excellent tasting product. And they also keep pushing the bounds of the size of Squishmallows. They have that extra booth that was full of them. That's usually the tipping point for a brand. I want to see a convention center size squishmallow.

7:00Just take up the whole thing. I mean, just to put a bow on this, I think it's really about evolving with the consumer and understanding the consumer has evolving needs and that there are people that are coming into the economy, coming into the market, younger consumers, that want things that are different than what their parents bought. And maybe Annie's doesn't fit, and maybe Kraft mac and cheese doesn't fit into their pantries in the same way that Goodle's does. So it'll be really interesting to hear from their team in that webinar, as well as, of course, Tom first. You might have also said the same of Culture Pop, which also looked like a brand that, you know, is coming into a space that already has a poppy and an ollie pop.

7:38And is there enough space for another one of those? And the answer is usually yes. They come in, they're doing things a little bit differently. They've obviously got the hot ticket in Noah Kahn and that black cherry flavor is phenomenal. And they're doing a lot of things right at Culture Pop. And I'm excited to hear how they're the same, but I'm also excited to hear how they're different. Their decision to cut out Allulose, I think specifically for Whole Foods Market years ago, was such an interesting one. And, you know, Allulose is something that also fits within the guidelines of a better for you brand.

8:13But that was also, you know, a really interesting choice that they made. I'm just thinking about how good you are at your job, too, Melissa. I mean, we came to you with this idea of putting together a webinar and you do this. Ah, thanks, Mike. I mean, go big or go home, right? Yeah, seriously, this is going to be awesome. Thanks. Better for you ingredients can help a product stand out, but turning those ingredients into a business that grows is the harder part. Join Nombase for a free webinar on July 28th with Tom First, founder of Culture Pop, and Heather Wood, SVP of Marketing at Goodles. They'll talk about what it really takes to build clean label brands that drive trial, repeat purchase, and sustainable growth.

8:51from formulation and sourcing to branding, retail, and operations. Sign up for free at nonbase.com slash podcast. Go big or go home. I think that's probably the mindset of the founders of Ben & Jerry's as well. You know, when that brand came out, that was a real challenger concept as well. Small batch, high quality, super premium ice cream that came with a really funky and fun approach to branding. But it wasn't just the ice cream that the founders were committed to. They were committed to a broader social mission where their money and their revenue went to supporting causes that they felt like could actually make a difference in this world.

9:37And so everyone has always associated Ben & Jerry's with that social mission, with that social focus. And that social focus may be winding down. When I think of Ben & Jerry's, I think of them as a business that was almost founded because of their social mission, similar to Dr. Bronner's. They created a product to further their ideas and dreams about social justice. In 2000, Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's. And since then, obviously, there have been changes made to the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, the board structure. And just this July, the Ben & Jerry's Foundation said that they will suspend operations unless TMICC, the Magnum Ice Cream Corporation, which split off from Unilever and now owns Ben & Jerry's.

10:28And just for context, Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's a number of years ago. And now the Magnum ice cream company is the one that represents or owns essentially Ben & Jerry's. Yes, the Magnum Ice Cream Company in December of 2025 split off from Unilever and now oversees Ben & Jerry's. So just recently, TMICC made funding cuts to the grassroots social organizations that Ben & Jerry's supports. And so that's sort of where all of this conflict is coming from. Groaning. Ben & Jerry's is a brand that was built on social consciousness. and they built up the business with social consciousness in mind every step of the way.

11:12And it's a pretty unique brand. You see a lot of brands that come in and they talk a lot about social consciousness. And I think it's something that if you can build it into the brand and still have a business is a fantastic thing to have as part of your mission. But I think first you have to focus on building a great business. Ben and Jerry certainly have a great business and social consciousness weaved into their brands, their flavors. You can tell which way the wind is blowing with that brand at any given moment. This is just what's going to happen next. I mean, what happens to the brand? Does it lose its soul?

11:43I do also want to point out that TMICC says the dispute is about governance and compliance. So there's a dispute about what the dispute is about as well. And I was disappointed when they stopped making Bovinity Divinity, and this is much bigger than that. Yeah. And it raises a lot of questions. Can a brand that really is founded on a social mission maintain the social mission after they're acquired? You know, when you think about brands like Burt's Bees that was acquired by Clorox, from where I sit, they remained fairly the same. Same thing with Stonyfield when they were sold to Danone. There were very specific requirements that Gary Hirshberg put into place when that acquisition was happening.

12:28But this is a different story. From a consumer perspective, I wonder how much this might impact their decision making, their purchasing decisions when it comes to Ben & Jerry's. There are a lot more competitors in that super premium ice cream space than when Ben & Jerry's launched. And now I feel like they're sort of in danger of just becoming an also ran, just something that's always on shelf, but has really lost its soul. There is just so many people that associate Ben & Jerry's with that social mission, with that focus on doing better for the world, that if that is not part of their business anymore, they might look at some of the other brands like a Van Leeuwen's, like a Jenny's, like a Tillamook, like a Salt-N-Straw, because as far as I know, they don't have a real purpose like that, a social purpose.

13:18I mean, what's fish food without fish? Just gonna be Ben & Jerry's food or the Tonight Dough. it's going to be just Ben and Jerry's dough. Right. If you're buying ice cream just based on quality, I think at this point, some of the other brands that I mentioned have surpassed Ben and Jerry's in terms of quality. I don't know about that. For me, Jerry Garcia is still the goat of all ice cream. But it's just going to be Jerry. Right. But what I'm wondering, too, is how many customers now care enough about Ben and Jerry's original social mission to stop buying it? And how many people just buy it because they like the ice cream?

13:49Well, you would think that it's placed in the store, it's flavors, the fact that people have eaten it, you know, have made it a habit is what is being discussed in a boardroom where they're talking about, you know, can we get into new markets? Can we get new audiences while keeping the core customers? They must be seeing drop off in the core or they wouldn't do this. I mean, I don't know. Household awareness of Ben and Jerry's is probably pretty darn high at this point. Awareness for sure, but purchase. I would say that the aura, once people know more about this, I think once people have realized that the company has disassociated itself from a better for you world's vision, I think that's going to impact how people perceive and buy Ben & Jerry's.

14:36Okay, but I've sat in enough corporate boardrooms to know that if it isn't broken, you don't fix it. So if the money was still flowing in the way they wanted it to, they wouldn't be making this change. I don't know. There might be some underlying issues that we haven't fleshed out fully yet. Okay. And Ray, to your point, there are so many other premium options out there. But I don't know, when I think of premium options, I think about places like Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, those sorts of retailers. But when you go to CVS or you go to a gas station, Ben & Jerry's is oftentimes one of the only premium options.

15:09For sure. Just by the nature of their distribution. I think that also dictates why and how customers buy their product. From an entrepreneurial perspective, we always see new brands come to market. Every single year we see this, where the brand has such a strong tie to a charitable cause, to a social mission, that we're wondering, well, is this a business or is this an NGO or what is this? Is this a charity? and it's difficult because you want to support these founders and their causes. But it's about the business, first and foremost, as you pointed out, Mike. We've seen a lot of brands put together ideas that aren't as close to what they're actually trying to do, which can also, unfortunately, be a distraction.

16:00So it's just, it's not that you shouldn't do this. It's that you should make sure that it's part of not only your DNA, but part of your day-to-day and that it's not a distraction from building the business because if you don't have any business, you can't give to the social cost. I'll give you a great example of exactly what you're talking about, Mike. There's a brand out there called Atomico. And Atomico is a brand of sparkling waters that are made with electrolytes, real juice, essential vitamins. I like them already. Yeah. The founder of the brand was featured and the brand itself was featured in a recent episode of Elevator Talk that we published this week.

16:38His name is Kevin Broadwick. He describes himself as the head of mission control for Atomico, which has a very space and astronomy oriented tilt, hence the name. And so Atomico has a really great charitable focus where they contribute 1 % of their revenue to STEM-based education. And they also have a scholarship fund in partnership with NASA to send underprivileged kids to NASA's space camp. So this is what I'm talking about, where obviously it fits with their brand. It's in line with what their sort of brand ethos is all about. It's not their primary focus, but it is something to celebrate and to cheer for.

17:23And definitely a reason that I would buy the brand. I should note that their products taste amazing. They have great branding. but just to know that they are contributing part of their revenue and part of their profits to this amazing opportunity to send kids to space camp and to fund STEM education. I'm like, okay, no brainer. I'm buying that brain anytime I see it. I just tried Atomico. And the first thing I noticed is that it's a great tasting product. It's low calorie, low sugar, no non-nutritive sweeteners. It has electrolytes. It's delicious. And then I read the side of the can and thought, oh, that's so cool.

18:02I don't think I've seen that before. In terms of the social cause. Yeah, I saw the NASA of the call out and I thought, what is going on here? And it's super cool. Yeah. Kevin sort of referred to Spindrift as a brand that he has always admired. and Atomico. It has a lot of the elements that a Spindrift has in addition to the essential vitamins and electrolytes that they add in there as well. So if you have an opportunity to try that product, I highly recommend you do. It's a fantastic brand. Taste Radio meetups are continuing in Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, and London. Come hang out with the food, beverage, and beer community for live podcast recordings, CPG networking, and sample sharing.

18:45Want to attend or partner with us? Head to Tasteradio.com slash meetups.

19:17buyers, investors, and operators for two days of product discovery and conversations focused on what's next. Early registration pricing is available now. Head to noshlive.com to register. A lot of other fantastic brands that we have here on the tables, as it were. Melissa, I want to start with you because I see what looks like, is it olive oil spray? Oh, no, Ray, it is not olive oil spray. this is wagyu beef tallow spray i wish i wish i hadn't asked and this is where i'm really missing craven because i feel like he'd be shaking his head no it's me the one i'm always the one who would be opening his mouth and not right not too long ago you had a wagyu beef jerky that you were sampling so i saw this at whole foods and i spent 14.99 of my own hard-earned money on this Wagyu beef tallow spray.

20:11What's the brand? It's South Chicago Packing. So this is a Chicago brand. Maybe they'll show up to the Taste Radio meetup in Chicago. Let's reach out, make sure they do. Yeah, we should. So this is a company that's been around for over a hundred years. They started as a meat packing facility and now they are making this beef tallow spray in addition to some other products. Is it for cooking? You spray it on like a salad? What do you do? You use this for cooking the way that you would use any sort of... You don't spray it on a salad, Mike. Yeah, you don't spray it on a salad. In Chicago, you do.

20:45Probably Buffalo, too. You could spray it on your donuts. I've seen my grandparents do that now. But yeah, like the way that you would use a spray olive oil spray or a spray avocado oil, I actually used it. We were cooking some sausages that needed some more fat, and it actually smells really good, and it tastes really good. My only question is, so the idea behind beef tallow, one of them is that it has a high smoke point, but I looked up the smoke point of olive oil and olive oil smoke point is actually higher than beef tallow. So I'm wondering who's going to spend the$15 on this. I also want to say on my trip to Maine that I was on last week, I saw this on the shelves of Hannaford for a bit less.

21:28But they're really covering ground here with distribution. I was really surprised to see this in northern Maine as well. I mean, this is definitely going to appeal to the, I don't want to lump everyone into the magusphere, but definitely people who are choosing beef tallow as a, what they perceive to be a healthier option than seed-based oils or olive oil. The packaging is really interesting. It definitely stands out. It's a black matte color here. And the biggest font is Wagyu beef tallow. So it doesn't say Wagyu beef tallow oil, or I'm sure it's marketed next to other oils there, right? Or merchandise next to other oils.

22:08It is. And when you look at that nozzle, I mean, what else? Yeah. Yeah. Hairspray? Only in Chicago. Wow. I got to feed you guys one of the best tasting snack bars that I've had in a very, very long time. Yes, please. This is from a brand called Cozy. Oh, darn it. There's only a handful. Okay. So Cozy, I'm going to read from their Elevator Talk application. And we're going to have these folks in Elevator Talk soon. Cozy makes the first refrigerated snack bar with grass fed butter. Only eight ingredients, no seed oils, no preservatives, sweetened with dates. Real comfort food. The refrigerated format is our moat, if you're trying to create a moat around a snack bar.

22:50And our velocity is running at two to three times the category average across 50 plus Southern California doors. They were once known as RJ Naturals, and that was a year ago. But now they're known as Cozy. And I think the branding, the package design looks great. R &J are the founders? Russell, I believe. Russell. Russell is the co-founder. And Jane? I'm not sure. No, it's on the package. Yes, that looks like Jane. It's written in cursive and my eyesight is really going. Gotcha. Dang. Russell and Jane, I think they founded the brand when he was battling cancer. Yes, that's correct. They were looking for some snacks that he could eat and they couldn't find what they wanted.

23:26And so they made their own. So they have two varieties. There's a salted matcha and there's a warm cinnamon. Both of them are made with organic ingredients, according to the package, and five grams of fiber. for at least four grams of protein per bar as well. So I tried both of these over the past week and I am obsessed. I'd like to try one. Which one do you guys want to try? Salted matcha, warm cinnamon? I'll go salted matcha. Salted matcha, which leaves Michael with the warm cinnamon. They're nice and cold. Yes. You know, as soon as you said grass-fed butter, I thought about shelf life. So it makes perfect sense that these need to be refrigerated.

24:01So when you bite into this, you are going to get that butter. that butter is so like butter oh my goodness isn't it good it's like a cookie it's like a cookie that's just loaded with butter like a shortbread cookie almost but in more of a soft gooey form it's not that gooey but you know what i'm saying it also almost tastes like oatmeal cookie dough but much firmer obviously yeah also apologies to julie it's wrestling Julie oh Julie I'm sorry Julie Ray can't see but well you can't remember this is legitimately unbelievably fantastic it tastes great I don't meet you guys down the wrong path I don't feed you any food that isn't top notch at real cozy foods on Instagram check them out organic oats organic dates grass-fed butter organic coconut organic raw honey organic cinnamon organic vanilla bean Celtic sea salt we have two more salted matcha bars.

25:02You have to hide them from me. That's for sure. To me, this sits between a bar and a cookie. It's a great snack. Yeah. I thought it was a protein bar when I first saw it. There is a little bit of protein in it and it's a pretty good snack. 220 calories, 11 grams of fat, four grams of protein. Delicious. Really, really tasty. Yes. Time and place for protein bars or snack bars. I mean, sometimes you want some muffins or donuts or brownies. And recently we featured a brand called Bakeful in an episode of Elevator Talk. And they make think better for you hostess products. Okay. So many donuts, many brownies, many muffins made for the modern consumer.

25:46I haven't tried these yet. And I wanted to share them with you here on the podcast. I like this kind of party. I know. Yes. I know. I don't, I don't hoard things anymore. What was interesting about this brand is that the umbrella brand is called Bakeful. But then they have all these individual brands, again, Muffin Full, Brownie Full, and Donut Full. And so that was actually a point, I don't want to call it a point of contention, but a point of discussion during our episode of Elevator Talk, which featured Tom Spear, who is the founder and managing partner at BFG Partners, formerly known as Boulder Food Group.

26:22They've invested in some of the most iconic entrepreneurial brands in recent memory, including Olipop, Graza. If I went down the list, you'd be like, okay, have they invested in everyone? So, okay, so we've got brownie full and muffin full. We'll start, Mike, with the muffin full and we'll give a little brownie full. There's four of each, so I think we can both try. Salted caramel, four mini brownies. Yes. And then I have the donut full. Oh, wow. So the key with all these products is that they're made with no artificial colors or flavors. They're described as having... Oh, man down. Oh, Melissa, no.

26:57I dropped one. Crying over spilled brownies. Oh, Melissa. And so Bakeful is marketing these products as having 25 % less sugar than the leading brands out there. I'm going to eat this one off the floor. Don't eat it off the floor. Just kidding. I just wanted to rate a freak. I'm gonna save the donut full for myself for a little bit later on. So we'll talk about that on the IG. What is the name of the brand, Ray? The name of the brand is Bakeful, B-A-K-E-F-U-L. I would say Bakeful on the package here. This is what Tom Spear was talking about. It's a tasty product, but brownie full, muffin full, donut full, I think they should be called Bakeful on the front of the package.