The Private Opportunity That Could Be Worth Millions

0:10Do your best Ray voice. Oh God, I can't do it. Hello, dear listeners. Hello! Hello, dear listeners, and welcome to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. I'm Mike Schneider. Ray Latif is out, but I'm here today with my co-hosts, Melissa Travers and John Craven. Is that really our intro? I think so. That was pretty good Ray inflection. I felt the power behind every word. My voice is a little shot today. I did an awful lot of laughing over the weekend. There's a reason Ray's not here today. He just can't show his face because his beat team, Manchester United, lost to promoted Hull City.

0:49Hey, yo. I know. That's why he's not at the pod today. Or he's on vacation. Or he's not. Or that, or that. Or one of those. Or that. Or both. Fortuitously on vacation. It's good to be back from vacation myself. Before I left, we had a fantastic meetup in Chicago. Thanks very much to Pilot Project and all of our sponsors for supporting us in that endeavor. That was a great event. Sorry we missed you, Melissa. I also was on vacation when that happened, but it looked like so much fun. It looked like a great time. Lots of good samples, too. There's great news, though. We have two more events coming up.

1:26Actually, three more events coming up. I know. Three more events coming up. Two very, very shortly. One in San Diego, one in San Francisco, and then we've got London as well. You can get all the details at TASERadio.com. Sign up for free, and we'll see you there. So excited. It's going to be great. I'm excited about it, too. I can tell. As you're just casually crushing a file of Honey Mamas, too. You're back to your old form. Oh, my God, dude. You got to see this. So you have a Honey Mamas in your hand there. Well, you had it in your hand now. I put it down for a little bit. I put it down for a second.

2:02I have one in my hand. It has two of your favorite brands collaborating together. Honey Mamas and also Stumptown Coffee. And we got a care package here that has a ridiculous amount of Honey Mamas. I would like to just point out, Mike, that you have a big Honey Mamas tote, like you are CPG Santa Claus, and you're pulling item after item, bar after bar out of it. I feel like this is even better than Christmas. This is better than Christmas. I got a DM from Christy Wonka, I mean, Christy Goldsby, to tell me that they released this Stumptown collab and could we send you some and I was like I'm gonna try it right now try that one we've got the protein bars in front of us the chocolate cake there's a Girl Scouts thin mints collab have you ever tried this one no I want to I know we're just gonna be like you know honey mama's coma after this episode the cold brew crunch it's so so tasty it has these crispies in it as well and i'd also like to point out it has um caffeine in it but only like 19 grams in a serving which i think is amazing because i don't know you can only handle so much caffeine look how much we got melissa this is one of two she i mean very generous care package said it's so good by the honey mamas team thank you so much as you know i'm like one of the honey mama's biggest fans do you remember the way that we discovered them Christy came to Nosh Live and their stuff was like in a plastic bag, in a cooler.

3:29And we put it out at Bebnet Live as a sample. I don't remember even tasting it. I was like, what is this? Pulled it out of the fridge, ate it, saw Unicorns Rainbows, told anybody, anyone about it. And we were all eating and going, what is this? Why did we discover this sooner? So good. They came out, you know, when there weren't as many brands in the refrigerated case with Perfect Bar. and the Clio, other brands that are in that section, and they have such a superior product, it's so good. And the innovation has been mostly about taking this insanely good coconut, cacao nib, chocolate product, and putting it into different packaging and flavors, and now they've got a protein skew.

4:12I just think the way that they've built this brand is really impressive. Can I try one of those protein bars? Yeah. Which one do you want? The peanut butter one. Okay. I can't believe I got it. Good job. The peanut butter one or the peanut butter brownie one. Ooh, that's a tough choice. I have peanut butter chocolate chip here. There's a nice drizzle of chocolate on top. What do you think, Trump? More crunchies. I always want crunchies in pretty much everything. Really, really tasty. And peanut butter was like generation two, I'd say, of Honey Mom. It was generation 2.5. Like that one came along.

4:49There's like the birthday cakes and the blondies and just so much good innovation from Honey Mamas. It is an interesting like evolution too, just to see where they are versus where they started. And it's like one of those things that a lot of times people forget that brands they admire have been through so many iterations. But yeah, these guys just don't stop. They used to be in a very Epicurean sort of paper package back in the original iteration of Honey Mamas. you find it in Erewhon, they've really kind of just glowed up a bit without losing their identity. I love the way they've constructed these protein bars.

5:27So it looks like the protein source is the pea protein crisps in here. So you get the really like melty, delicious bar surrounding these crispies. Oftentimes protein bars can feel, I always say this, but they feel like a brick in your stomach. But I like the fact that the protein is coming from these crisps. It's so tasty. And pea protein, you often taste pea. No pea in there. That got weird. I mean PEA, John. Yeah, sure you did. Hey, listeners, Fresh Jobs are pouring into cpgjobs.com for the week of August 27th from Craftsmith Beverage, DNV International and Spill Foods, Inc. Mike Hess Brewing, Coast Beacon, and Owls Brew add opportunities.

6:17Find your next move and apply. Have an opening to fill? Reach operators, brand and sales leaders, supply chain pros, and retail buyers across BevNet, BrewBound, and Nosh. That audience means less wrong fit screening and more time with the right people. Post it at cpgjobs.com today. Use code TASTERADIO26 and save on your listing. Hey Mike, Cold Brew is having another moment with consumers, and High Brew is turning heads with bold innovation. Super exciting, Ray. There's new ready-to-drink nitro flavors like blueberry and Mexican chocolate that are hitting the shelves at Sprouts and Target later this summer.

6:56And this fall, they're dropping three regenerative organic certified multi-serves in 48-ounce bottles. Big size, bigger emission. Part of their higher standard. You can find High Brew at Sprouts, HEB, Wegmans, Raley's, and more. High Brew's everywhere the action is. Grab yours at highbrewcoffee.com. Cold brew for those who do. Your inbox should reflect the parts of CPG that matter to you. Choose from BevNet's seven free newsletters covering beverage, food, beer, spirits, careers, education, and more. Sign up and select your favorites at cpgmedia.com slash newsletter. Anyway, maybe we should move on to something useful.

7:36How's that for an on-ray-like segue? I think we could move on to something useful. You have something. I have something useful. Yeah, I mean, I feel like it's time for an update on... Everyone's about to find out what a good host Ray is. I know, I know. We're just like, uh. Well, we're so used to him leading the charge. We need to kind of like reconstruct what's happening here. You know, before we started this recording, we were talking a little bit about private label and the really like resurgence of private label as inflation continues to build. And we talked before about the K-shaped economy, how there are some consumers who are really cash strapped and looking to save money anywhere they can.

8:17And then there are consumers that have more cash on hand, but they're also looking to save wherever they can on discretionary items. So private label is having a huge moment. And I thought this would now that Ray isn't here, I'm just going to use this time to talk about Non-Base. we just published what I think is an incredibly useful podcast on the non-base channel about private label. I had Derek Brawley. He runs private label for a brand called Prana, which is based out of Canada. I actually was in Canada last week, which is a whole nother story. And I brought some samples from there. But, uh, but anyways, Prana, if you haven't been to, what are you raising out here?

8:58So Melissa's brain is just like, just go, go, go. Yeah, he's going to take over. Most of his brains unleashed. Anyway, so I did spend a good amount of time in Canadian grocery stores, and Prana is everywhere. They have nuts and seeds and dried fruits and everything. So he runs private label for Prana. And whether you're already in private label or you're looking to get into it, he lays out everything you could possibly need to know. and it's a business that kind of feels like the Wizard of Oz where it's hard to get clear and concise information on how to approach it and how to make it successful for your business.

9:32He thinks that whether you're just starting out as a brand or you're well-established, you should always be thinking about private label because it's so good for cashflow. And he talks about how to avoid brand dilution, how to approach international markets. So go to nonbase.com slash podcast, listen to it, take notes, and you'll have everything you need to know. So easy. Mic drop. Yeah, I mean, private label is obviously outside of that. I mean, increased competition, you know, that emerging brands are worrying about and private label in general has just gotten so much better than it was 10, 15 years ago.

10:10So I think it is certainly something not to forget about when you're creating your product. It's like you need to just have some sort of point of differentiation that hopefully protects you from that and makes the consumer want to spend on your brand. The packaging is better. The products are better. I think that most consumers now kind of understand that if you see a private label version of something that's branded, that the private label version may be made by that brand sitting right next to it. Or one of their competitors. Or one of their competitors. And Derek made this point, which I thought was so funny.

10:44You know, if you're a brand and a retailer approaches you and asks like if you're interested in doing a private label version and you say no, it's not like they're going to be like, oh, okay, I guess, I guess we won't be able to do that. They're just going to go to a manufacturer and be like, hey, yo, can you make this for me? And that by working with retailers in this capacity, you really strengthen your relationship with the retailers. You can tell that Melissa is a CPG insider because she speaks exactly. Yeah, that's like that. I know that the lingo is hard to get around in this industry, but, you know, just hang tight with me and you'll figure it out.

11:21So many acronyms. Hey, yo. Melissa, you're talking about figuring things out. There's a great place to go to figure out what's next for your brand, raising capital, retail, you know, just wanting to figure out what's next in the industry. Talk to your peers, find partners to help you produce. Where should you go? You should go to noshlive.com and you should go to bevnetlive.com to sign up for our events in Marina Del Rey in December. Because, I mean, we've got retailers, we've got brands, we've got investors. We have everything you could possibly need in order to grow your CPG brand. We'll have conversations about what's next in the industry, innovations that are happening.

12:05There'll be lots of data shared. the conversations that happen on stage, you know, you just take those into the audience and you, you ask questions about how do I get this done? And there's someone there who knows the answer, someone there who can help you. You're going to find your next partner. You're going to move your business two or three milestones. I mean, our event is pretty unique in that sense that you can go with multiple purposes and you can get a lot done. If you go with one purpose, if you just want to raise money, you're going to find a lot of opportunities to do that. And But if you go with like, I need production, I need distribution, I need capital, you're going to have a lot of solutions for that after the event.

12:42And the feedback that I get from people who come to our events over and over and over again is that while there are a lot of people who attend and plenty of people to talk to, it's not so many people that you can't have all of the conversations that you want to there. So it's kind of like the opposite of Expo West where you're stuck behind a table and waiting for people to come talk to you. It's completely the opposite. You are roaming around the entire event space, looking for the people that you want to talk to, having all the conversations that will help get you those answers that Mike was talking to.

13:17It's nothing but freedom to get everything you want done, done. And you also have the opportunity to meet our reporters. So you can pitch them on what you've been working on. You can talk to them about what they've been seeing. There's a great opportunity to create a relationship there. People ask us all the time, How do we, you know, how do we get coverage? And the best way to get coverage is just to continuously be posting your news. You know, you can just submit news for free at BevNet.com and Nosh.com and also at BrewBound.com and then meet our reporters in person and have a conversation with them.

13:49Ask them what they're looking for. It's also the people that you're not specifically looking to meet that a lot of times prove useful. I mean, there's always a lot of pressure on CBG founders to just get out there and meet retailers sell product. But I think also a lot of founders need to learn that it's also about like selling yourself and building up that network. And that's often something that some founders really get it. And they're out there and like any chance they can to get in a room full of industry people, like they're doing it. And then there's other folks who are like, ah, why do I need that?

14:24And they're the ones that I always feel bad for. And they're like, hey, how do I build a network of X and they need it like now. Right. And it just doesn't work. It doesn't work that way. I have a good example of that at our last notch live. I know somebody from a brand who met Khloe Kardashian in a bathroom. So, you know, who knows anything can happen. We're not going to promote bathroom meetups, but we just did. It can happen to you. Not guaranteed. But no, I mean, I think we we've seen founders who've, you know, as we've talked about, met their first investor or met a great partner, a future hire, you know, just someone who maybe dropped some knowledge or thoughts on how they should evolve their brand, you know, and there's a lot of that stuff that proves to be really valuable to any entrepreneur.

15:13And, you know, for me, that's the fun part of our events. I mean, also you can own the bathroom at our event, John Fisher standing by to tell you how to do it. And also the elevators, you can own the elevators, the bathrooms, and they look really cool. Yeah, there's a helipad on the roof. Do you have a branded chopper? Yeah. We do want to see the branded chopper coming. I still want to see GT flying in on a branded chopper. Do you think he has a chopper? I'm sure he's got a chopper somewhere. He's got to, right? Maybe.

15:42Speaking of people who love to get in a room and network. Oh, my God. And I think he's skipping school to do it. Is Sean Rosenberg from now Goldie Lemonade, which we just got the fresh samples in. Very tasty stuff. drinking their classic half and half. It's like 70 calories per can. Not too sweet, very tasty, summery drink. I had a classic lemonade and a pink lemonade yesterday. And those are, they're just fantastic drinks. Those cans look fantastic. The amount of evolution that Sean has done. I mean, I still can't get over the fact that Sean is the age that he is and has gotten so far and more shameless non-based podcast promotion because Ray isn't here.

16:28We just published a podcast with Sean Rosenberg of Goldie and Nami Sultan of Ginger Labs talking about how to own New York City as a beverage brand. Pitched at the Beverage Forum. He pitched a new beverage showdown. I saw him in the sour milk video over the week. I mean, this guy's everywhere. Yeah. Yeah, he has such great energy and he is relentless. Yeah, he is relentless. Good to be a teenager. It really is. It really is. Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, But he's doing things that we just talked about that every founder should be doing, showing up at industry events, talking to everybody. He gets into other people's brands, finds out what they're doing.

17:05He tells them what he's doing. And he shares a lot of information that way, too. You can learn a lot from just talking to a guy like that who does that sort of networking. And he has probably the freshest perspective you could get on CPG. Yeah, absolutely. You know, when I think of people who are relentless. Car tick. I mean, Karthik, of course. Karthik is the person who comes up when I think of anything, basically. But when I think of people who are really great at networking, I, of course, think of Sarah Brooks. I actually have an empty packet of Sarah Brooks' Strengthwater here. She just launched a brand called Plain Speak.

17:43Sarah Brooks is the founder of Goldilocks, which is a PR firm that she started with two other colleagues. And they just launched this brand called Plainspeak. They have a product called Strength Water. It's a daily strength system. I actually drank this after my workout this morning. It has 15 grams of protein, 5 grams of collagen. The flavor I have is strawberry lemonade. I mean this in the best possible way. It tastes a little bit like Pez. like in the best possible way. It has this kind of fruity, tart flavor that goes down really easy. And it's formulated for women, for the female body. And I think there's so much more information now out there for women, especially in like early 40s, like in their 40s, approaching 40s.

18:31And this is who that product is designed for. And it's incredibly tasty. And just want to give her a shout out. Yeah, I want to give a shout out as well. I mean, you know, we talk about a lot of good things that are happening in CPG all the time. And I was watching a reel the other day, Kimberly Lau from Bake Me Healthy. It seems like she's making her last batch of cookies. So sad. I mean, this is a really, really hard job. She's built a fantastic brand. She loves everyone. Everyone loves her. And she says the cogs just aren't working out. She's got opportunity and the cogs just aren't working out.

19:02Yeah. I mean, it's sad on the one hand, but she's such a strong person and also completely relentless. and I have no doubt that all of the work that she put into Make Me Healthy will lead her to the next great thing. And I can't wait to see what that is. Who wouldn't want to work with her? I mean, like she's got great storytelling ability. Like you said, she's relentless. She knows how to build a brand. She knows how to build a great product. I mean, there's a lot of great things going on there. And it just goes to show that just because all of the variables are there, it doesn't mean that, you know, the business is going to succeed.

19:37And it's what makes this business so ridiculously difficult. So big hug to Kimberly. And, you know, if you guys get a chance, send her some love. I think one of my favorite Taste Radio episodes, I will give a promotion of Taste Radio since we're on Taste Radio. That's the best thing you can do. Listen to more Taste Radio. One of my favorite Taste Radio episodes is when Ray talked to Joel from Kodiak Cakes, and he talked about how he left the business twice. But I think in the 15 years leading up to when they really started to explode. And it's just another lesson in how difficult this business is.

20:14But if you stick with it in one way or another, something great is going to happen. There you go. Okay. So we've talked about Canada a little bit. I was in Canada last week. Were you in Canada? I was in Canada. Love Canada. And so like I said, I visited a number of grocery stores and I picked up these long chips. Have you guys ever had long chips? No. I saw these on a display, and I was like, I haven't even tried them yet. So I have... There's chips that are long? Such a Canadian idea. Yeah, it's a rectangle, like maybe about like 10 inches long. Isn't that called a cracker? I would say that it's a cracker.

20:52They're calling them long chips. A crostini? They're mashed potato snacks. I have bacon and original. They're flash fried for 10 seconds. Do you guys want to try the bacon one? Sure. This is the bacon. How long is a long chip? I think. Oh, it's like literally got pictures of raw bacon on the front of the pack. I don't know how I feel about that. I know. You know what, though? That's a little too like, wow, what the heck? These are basically Pringles. They're like long Pringles. I feel like I'm eating a fruit roll-up that's a potato. All right. This is like. This is the most Canadian thing. Way too bacon-y.

21:26This is the most Canadian thing I've ever seen. Like in the U.S. it's like. I try the regular. Yeah. Great ideas are happening or weird ideas are happening. it's like just because we can doesn't mean we should but in canada it's like we can we should and we will here we go this is amazing right it's kind of like fruit by the foot but like the pringles edition they're flash fried mashed potatoes that are rolled out really thin no but there's an irony in you saying that that just because you can doesn't mean you should what's the irony bro that we live in the land of like pickup trucks with like eight wheels that's fair anyway okay i'm gonna give it to long chips this is a fantastic idea these are really tasty the mashed potato one you're having mashed potato give me mashed potato give me that i'm just picturing a machine that just okay yeah makes like an infinite okay but this is better than the bacon one the bacon one just has a little too much like it's like bacon flavor bacon yeah bacon bacon i don't know i like the bacon are you sure it's fake bacon it's a canadian product they wouldn't put fake bacon the aroma on it but i'll bet you it's actual beef tallow let's see here the ingredients are pretty clean hold on i don't see um bacon in here flavoring blend i'm gonna lose the bet I don't see any bacon.

22:52I do see paprika, though, which is like a bacon imposter. Oh, whatever it is. Very strong. It's really good. I do see how Pringles might be easier to ship. Also, if you call it mashed potato and it comes mashed, it's not false advertising. The bacon is very intense. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank 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.

23:32Just 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 Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. check us out on instagram our handle is bevnet taste radio as always for questions comments ideas for future podcasts please send us an email to ask at taste radio.com on behalf of the entire taste radio team thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time

24:14Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I am supremely honored to be sitting down with Luke Colson and Jonathan Siegel, the co-founders of Vibes Candy. Luke, it's great to see you. It's good to see you too, Ray. Thanks for having us on. Yeah, Jonathan, how are you? I'm doing great. It's a Friday. Lovely vibes are in the air. Yeah, I love the way you put that because we are all about the vibes today. Vibes Candy, a fantastic brand that is playing in a space that is quite hot right now in CPG. That is better for you, Candy. Let's kick things off with the origin story. Jonathan, tell us about how Vibes was created and what you saw as an opportunity to innovate in this space.

24:54So quick story, my hometown, Venice Beach, California, less than three years ago, I'm in a Whole Foods grabbing a little grab and go sandwich at the checkout line. In front of me was a surfer and a skateboarder, and they were grabbing a SmartSweets from the rack, and they were both kind of grabbed it. They looked at it, looked at the back of the ingredients and then put it back on the shelf. And one of the guys was like shaking his head. So I'm just making a conversation. I'm like, hey, man, you're not feeling. He goes, no, man, I wish there was like a really cool, delicious, healthy snack that tastes really, really good.

25:29And immediately that's where the idea came into my head. I blazed out of it with my sandwich, went to the candy aisle and started looking at all the different competitors that were there. And that's where the journey started. Luke and I met in Venice Beach right after that, amazing co-founder. We realized that the competitors at that time, it wasn't even called Better For You. It was kind of healthy. Gen Z millennials really don't like the words healthy. They don't like the words dietary. They don't like supplements. And they love looking at the back of chip bags and candy bags, looking for clean ingredients.

26:05However, at the end of the day, they also eat Skittles and Red Dye and all these artificial ingredients. And what we noticed that a lot of the competitors at the time didn't really have flashy, cool branding. The packaging were very kind of like matte, nothing really inspiring and aspirational. And we decided that there was a really opportunity to create a delicious product that was actually cool. So lastly, we think of Vibes as not a healthy candy that tastes good. It's a delicious candy that's cool and happens to be healthy. Luke, I love your packaging. It is fantastic. It definitely stands out among the other healthy, better for you candy brands out there.

26:48But let's talk about the better for you aspects. What is in the candy? What makes it special? What gives people permission to eat it and eat a lot of it? You're quite right. We are in a very kind of hot space right now. For us, it's about calories. It's about low sugar and it's about ingredients that aren't on the back of all your regular candies that are quite frankly terrible for you. So we set about right from the get go, Jonathan and I, figuring out how to make a candy that tastes like a candy. What we don't want, and to Jonathan's point, is a lot of the other candies or the best of you candies, they don't taste great.