They Came. They Pitched. They Won.

0:10Hello and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Lateef, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and with my co-host for this episode, John Graven, Jackie Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. We are here in Marina del Rey, California on day seven of our winter events, I believe. Is that it? I think so, yes. Feels like longer. Yeah. I think Nosh Live was, what, two years ago? Yeah. It feels like that. It does feel like that. It's losing track. What day of the week is it? Technically, it was two years ago, but... Oh, I see what you're saying.

0:40Okay, yeah. No, I mean, the team has been here in California for quite some time. Nosh Live was on Thursday and Friday of last week. It was a very successful event. BevNet Live was on Sunday through Tuesday. Fantastic event as well. And we are here on day one of BrewBound Live, which kicked off with the BrewBound Pitch Slam, which was a lot of fun to host. I feel like, I don't know how I still have a voice, and I feel like by the time I get back to Boston, it's all going to hit me, but I've had a lot of fun. This has been great. Yeah, definitely. New venue right down the street from the old place, basically, right?

1:13But yeah, it's been super fun. I mean, I think we often say this, but the energy levels are great. And I feel like the energy levels for BevNet Live in particular were through the roof. I think it was just palpable, the amount of excitement for the industry, the amount of networking that was going on. I mean, you could turn at any corner and be talking to someone that was going to be or could be helpful for your brand. Yeah, as we've been talking about probably incessantly for several months, we had the one-to-one meetings for the first time with Albertson's team at BevNet Live. And the team from LA Libation sponsored that.

1:48And they just kept talking about how it was so easy to just connect the dots and grab people that they needed to put business deals together. And so many brands came up to us and said, first of all, so many people told me how awesome Jackie is because Jackie was running the one-to-one. So everybody got to meet her who was doing the meetings. And that was most of the people at the event. So, and those went really smoothly. And I was just like over the moon about how, how this new venue just made everything just so cohesive. Yeah. It was a great flow. I mean, people were going into the main ballroom, watching the main presentations, then heading out to their one-to-one meetings.

2:24I think we hosted like over a hundred meetings with Albertsons. Almost no one was late. Yeah. Everyone made it. They were on time. They wanted to meet. There was a lot of last minute meetings we got to throw in there too. So everyone had an opportunity to talk to them. A lot of people had, you know, a million opportunities to chat with people because we had, you know, the happy hour. We had the official party on the rooftop, which was amazing with 360 degree views of the city. Oh, my God. I was a little nervous. It looked like he was going to fall off the side of the rooftop, but it was amazing.

2:54Yeah. And, you know, I think the access is something I heard a lot about from entrepreneurs and attendees is, you know, the way that you could connect with folks in a really authentic and easy way was something that we've been striving for and striving toward. And I'm really happy to hear that. And, you know, we got a really nice note from Asha Balacia, who's the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods. She was, first of all, incredible in her presentation on stage at Noshelad. Every single person. So she was also a judge for our pitch slam competition. And I had to grab her off stage to run downstairs to get some samples or do some sampling.

3:31She got stopped every single time she took a step. It was incredible. And she sent us a nice note. And she said, I heard from dozens of attendees who stopped me yesterday and said that they were impressed by the transparency, the access and the quality of interactions at the conference. I did events for years and I can say if you hit those three things you can count on your efforts as a screaming success now I'm not saying all this stuff to like pat ourselves in the back but I am saying that like this is again something that we've been talking about really hoping for really working toward and it just makes me feel really good that it happened and you know for folks who did attend and got to meet us and maybe not didn't get to meet someone else that they wanted to see at one of the events please follow up with us you know It's not something where you're like, oh, well, I was there, but I missed this opportunity.

4:17Hopefully you didn't. But if you did, just send us an email. We'll make that connection. We also heard a lot from the NOSH Live attendees that they really love the intimacy of the conference and the ability to be able to have longer conversations as well as be able to connect with, we had multiple retailers there, Whole Foods, Thrive Market, Fresh Market, Sprouts. I mean, and then we also had some Spins consults going on at the same time, which were much longer. And I mean, we were super pleased with the event and it seemed like the attendees were as well. Yeah, I talked to a couple of newbies and I think there's like still a misconception sometimes of they're just expecting a trade show, expecting something that's overwhelming, kind of transactional.

4:56Whereas they were saying people actually wanted to talk to me. They were coming up to me and wanted to, you know, give them advice, even if they didn't have anything to offer for them at that time, as far as, you know, investment or whatever it was, they wanted to have a conversation. And the sponsors are just set up to solve all the problems too. So you, you know, there, a lot of people come to us and they're asking like, oh my gosh, I've got all these problems. How do I solve them? We just like ask people, just ask those three hardest questions and, and you see it happening. And, you know, you hear it on the, on the podcast all the time, cause we can't stop talking about it, but just to see it happening in real life and getting, you know, that, that kind of feedback is super rewarding.

5:34So just thanks to everybody who came and everybody who's planning to come to the next one. And if you aren't, just, you know, have a chat with us or have a chat with somebody who went and find out what you're missing. Yeah. Because you're missing a lot. I also like that we had opportunities to sit down and record interviews with a bunch of folks, too, as part of our Elevator Talk live series here at the events. We're actually in the Taste Radio studio, which is just a fantastic room set up by our team. Kudos, Josh, Joe, Nate, and the gang. But yeah, I mean, it was just really fun catching up with folks, spending 10 minutes chatting about what they're doing, what their plans are for 2024.

6:10We also did that as part of our On the Spot series, which will be coming out pretty soon on Instagram, TikTok, and what have you. But, you know, overall, I think for me, as I always say, the Pitch Slam competition, it's a new beverage showdown, so much freaking fun and so inspiring to see all those folks on stage and then, you know, the validation that comes with winning the competition. And the winner of our NOSH Pitch Slam competition, Lentiful, which is a brand of instant lentils founded by ben bacon really impressive brand i think that the judges were just they saw this they saw the branding was on point the the taste of the products was amazing and they just saw a huge runway for success then and this is something that's easily understood and just has a ton of potential so i think one of the judges brought up the fact that typically when they eat something out of this type of package is like ramen but for them it was like you know, for a lunch product or for, you know, as a lunch replacement, this is much healthier than ramen or, you know, your typical on the go.

7:06I love to hear he was talking about, you know, the office worker that's reaching into their desk to just see what they're eating for lunch or they're deciding last minute and having that as an option is super convenient. Those are super tasty. Me and Jackie were both like, cause our team is always move, move, move, move, move. And we're just like, uh, the, when the lentils in the office, we, we go for it first because we don't know we're eating five minutes before you know the brand that won our cocktail showdown competition is pony boy slings and i gotta tell you this is a brand that i think people at a glance saw and they were like they underestimated that they underestimate them is exactly correct and the founders mike and janelle bass who are from kentucky created an amazing product an amazing tasting product one that really stands out has that cool kind of groovy vibe in terms of its branding but their presentation i gotta say i mean i've been doing these things for a long time top top five you know i mean like it was really really it was a good presentation i feel like the founders were groovy you know what i mean like they are the brand yeah for sure and to be clear pony boy slings is a three skew brand of i don't want to call them they're definitely not sodas but they're bourbon whiskey based cocktails that come in 12 ounce cans the one i'm holding in my hand is there.

8:26My Cherry Amour. It's a Berman whiskey made with dry vermouth, sour black cherry juice from aromatic bitters and natural flavors. Anybody else have an earworm right now? This, the judges were out of this world or thought this product was out of this world. It was really, really good. It does drink like a soda. I suspended my sober curiosity to try a few of these. And that one was definitely one of the ones I could see myself, you know, drinking a bunch of. Yeah. And like, I don't really drink soda and that does taste kind of like soda, but it's not super sweet. It's like definitely complex. It also tastes like a cocktail though.

9:01Yeah, it does. Yeah. I think that the soda aspect of this product is, we should stop using that word because it really isn't one. And like, I don't want folks to be confused by, you know, thinking that it is. It's, it's a cocktail in a can and it's a very complex cocktail at that. It's, you know, they're using high quality bourbon, the use of vermouth and, and cherry juice are also just that they work so harmoniously in this product. It's fantastic. Yeah. I mean, they definitely created something that feels like net new, you know, which I think is, um, I guess I would put myself in the camp of slightly skeptical in the beginning, but you know, I mean, I'm, I think I'm convinced.

9:42So. And I, I agreed with the judge's feedback that a couple of the SKUs are really close, but I, I tried them both. And I don't think if you got the other one, you'd be disappointed. Like if you accidentally grabbed the wrong one. So there was that. There was a cream soda variety. And I think there was also a strawberry variety as well. And they're both pink. They got a long runway and they only launched, I think, July. So there seemed to be a ton of excitement about that brand. And I do want to note that between the Cocktail Showdown and the Nosh Live Pitch Slam, the contestants, the presenters, the semifinalists, finals, whatever you want to call them, were all really great as well.

10:16I think, you know, the groups of brands all gave it their all. It might be easy to say or cliche to say that I think all of them have a bright future, but I really do believe that. I think in both cases, the Nosh Live Pitch Slam and the Cocktail Showdown, we saw a pretty broad variety of brands that nailed it in terms of packaging, flavor, and just entrepreneurs who are passionate about what they were doing. And if they keep doing what they're doing, I think, John, I think you brought this up in the new beverage showdown, you've got to be relentless. And I think those entrepreneurs that I saw on stage had that in them.

10:52Definitely. Yeah. I mean, I feel like in, you know, all three of the competitions that we saw, you know, we really had like, I mean, you guys in the Nosh Pitch Slam, like must've had a super challenge, the judges, excuse me, picking. I mean, it's such a interesting, you know, you said variety. It's like you had an awesome brownie company on one end with, you know, Lex and Lexington Bakes. And on the other end, you've got a, you know, a savory lentil product and a new popcorn that everybody just was supposed to be confusing, but everybody got. Right. I mean, there were just like, I mean, personally, I'd love a lunch of like, you know, some popcorn, some lentils, Lexington bakes for dessert.

11:32That sounds great. And I loved like the diversity amongst founders and products across all competitions. Like you saw all different types of, you know, types of food, types of formats and then also people just really honing in on their identity and trying to you know feed that through yeah we need some maza chutney in that lunch too yeah oh yeah i forgot about that how could i forget that chutney zuita shakshuka which actually the hotel prepared for us first and it was pretty darn amazing yes unbelievable yeah it was really really good unbelievable yeah i mentioned the new beverage showdown the winner of the new beverage showdown winter 2023's version is Calexo.

12:12Calexo, a brand of sparkling hemp beverages. They also make non-THC and CBD infused varieties as well. Just great presentation, great branding. Iconic branding. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, John, I mean, like you were up on stage as you were, Mike, as well. I mean, I don't want to speak for the judges, but it just felt like this was, you know, this is going to be a natural winner. I mean, it felt like it was a natural winner. Well, it feels like, you know, really well put together product at a time that's sort of, I don't know, maybe a bit of a pivot for the kind of broader cannabis beverage category. And, you know, compared to products that are just in dispensaries, these industrial hemp products feel like finally there's a viable path forward, you know, that shakes off some of the challenges that dispensary products have faced all the way down to like not being able to borrow from banks.

13:08So, but these feel like, you know, we've also gotten rid of kind of all of like the marijuana branding, you know, I mean, Calexo, I think if you saw it from far away, you wouldn't know that it was a cannabis beverage. Right. And I think that's kind of like the point. So, yeah, I mean, pretty exciting to see that that's where we're at. And also exciting to hear the way that the strategics who are on stage judging were not in the past. We've seen them just downright afraid to talk about cannabis and they'd be like, no, we're not touching that. we're not even thinking about it and now they're they leaned fully in we're sampling and we're just like looking at what the future of this could be well i think it's also you know we're at a point where these products feel like they could become part of the beverage industry as opposed to like this separate thing right and i think that does excite strategics of course i don't know i find it exciting too it also seems to have excited the founders too we got i mean not you know okay so we'll pat ourselves on the back.

14:05They've really leaned in and said that they enjoyed the way that, you know, they're here at this show and everybody's taking them extremely seriously. Well, one of them also pointed out that as far as they knew, we were like the first conference that it like kind of directly as part of the event allowed them to sample, which I think they were hugely appreciative of. I also enjoyed getting trolled by the winner. He did. He called you out. He said, as everyone knows, BevNet Mike found himself in the Matrix from... Couch locked in the Matrix at the Rose Cafe. You know what they did? They trolled me afterwards too.

14:41They're like, hey, Mike, guess what we did to celebrate? We went to the Rose Cafe. Just following up on your point, John, and it was interesting to hear Dan White, who is the chief of the New Revenue Streams unit of Coca-Cola North America, talk about Magic Cactus and Calexo as being brands that could validate a THC category. You know, he had said that the question was always, you know, is THC an ingredient or is it a category? And he pointed to these two brands as being examples of a category emerging, which is really cool to see. And they both had great founder stories that were focused on like either trying to change the way you're drinking.

15:15So, you know, removing alcohol or drinking less alcohol and pain relief and putting in a format that it acts like alcohol. So it's going to activate in your system within like 10 minutes and then it's going to wear off in an hour. So you won't be melting in the Rose Cafe. And it's more approachable to someone that might have not dabbled in THC before. Yeah. I mean, I think that's the thing is, you know, how do you get to trial? You get to trial through quality of ingredients and you get to trial through trust. I mean, if you don't trust that a product is going to do what it says or does more than what it should do, you're not going to try it.

15:52so that was always my concern with these types of products. I still haven't dabbled in them yet but perhaps Calexo will get me there. And I think one of the first products that really helped me trust like CBD THC products was Can. Like I drank it and I knew exactly how I was going to feel every time I drank it whereas if you eat like a weed brownie you don't know how much weed is in that brownie. So yeah. Even I had mad I had a full magic cactus and I also had some sips of Calexo, you know, at the same time and everything was pretty just chill. I think also, you know, what I found really interesting is that the explanations of it are now like really simple.

16:32You know, we've had a couple of like CBD drinks that I think have pitched over time and, you know, there starts to become this real like technical science. Like, you know, it's like you need five minutes to get an explanation of just like the technical side of it. And here, like they just didn't do that. You know, I think that's kind of like where we're at. And I think, you know, the way they describe it of just like kicking in in 10 minutes, you know, being kind of gone in an hour is very different than like the, hey, do you want Indica's teeth? You know, I mean. They do it for you. They do the science for you and then can just explain very simply how it's going to impact you rather than understanding all the inner workings.

17:12At the end of the day, you know, these packages have to look good. They have to look great for someone to be interested and picking it up off the shelf. And so I think, you know, Calexo in particular has a package design. I forget what Brendan Andrew, one of the co-founders, at the very end of his presentation, he showed this type of art that he was really infatuated with. He himself said he was a sculptor and incorporated that into the package design. I also thought that Magic Cactus was pretty inviting and also has serious legs. I mean, this one is, there's so many times that you go, or in my career, there's been so many times that I've needed somebody to try to, design something iconic and it's impossible to do.

17:51You can't just become an icon, but I feel like the way that this came out with this, you know, the sunset here has the legs to be iconic just, just from the first look. And, you know, that's the thing that initially attracted me to Calexo when we had it in the danger fridge back at the office. So we, we do, we do have a danger fridge and you, you kind of get sucked into it and the rest of it is very subtle, but, and just feels super accessible and it tastes really accessible too. Yeah. It seems like a beautiful fusion of the founder's story because he went to art school. He's inspired by these artists.

18:28He had, you know, health issues that caused him not to drink anymore. And all these things came together to create this like beautiful product. The last thing I'll say about Colexo is I feel like it, and Magic Cactus, represent a true like blurring of the lines in what we're seeing in elk, non-elk, elk alternatives. And it just feels like the timing is right for a product like this. It was ridiculously hard to get down to six, by the way. It was hard to get down to one. I mean, even for all the praise we're giving Calexo, the judges went back and forth with a bunch of the brands. And I know Kenny Sadowski, who was one of our judges for the finals, shouted out the semifinal judges as getting it to a place where they were We're all strong contenders.

19:11In a previous episode, I mentioned all the 12 semifinalists for the New Beverage Showdown, but I got to call out all the Cocktail Showdown contestants, you know, including Ponyboy. But we had Mission Craft Cocktails, Good Spirits, Fast Penny, D.O., Tiff Spiked, Fresh Fizz Sodas, aka Spirit of Fizz, and Bottle Service. Really enjoyed sharing the stage with all those folks, and they all had great products. D.O.'s trousers reminded me of my trip to the Matrix. Yeah, one of our judges, Taylor Foxman, was mesmerized by, I think they were Gucci. Yeah, Gucci pants. Taylor, I go second Foxman. Shout out to Taylor, who filled in in an amazing way for one of our judges who fell ill just before the show.

19:52And she was on stage for a panel just before we did or hosted the showdown. So she was on stage for what, like almost two hours? Does that sound familiar? Yeah, right. But like under the lights and having to, you know, hear and give feedback on all those brands, that was really impressive. Thanks, Taylor. Mike mentioned all the sponsors for the events and they were all incredible. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make our events reality. I definitely want to thank, of course, the presenting sponsor for this episode of Taste Radio Tetra Pak, the pioneering packaging solutions company that provides safe, innovative, and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people around the world.

20:33learn more at tetrapack.com. Learn more about their innovation ecosystem. Go to their website, check it out. It's actually quite interesting. They are able to connect you not just with their team, but their network of partners who include designers, investors, retailers, etc. It's definitely something you want to take a look at. If the conversations they were having at BevNet Live are in indication, they're going to be servicing millions more people soon. Shout out to all the attendees of the events. It was so amazing meeting you, spending time with you, having a bite or a cocktail with you. We love you.

21:06We hope to see you all in New York. And huge shout out, of course, to the team from AV to edit, to marketing, to events. Everyone did their job and did it really well. So. And Vinny from Babe Kombucha, baby. Oh my gosh. So great to meet Vinny. I'll be seeing him in San Diego. There you go. 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.

21:41And 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 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