When Innovation Goes Right… And, When It Goes Terribly Wrong.

0:10Hello friends 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, Jackie Brugliera and Mike Schneider. Welcome home, Mike. Thanks, Ray. Where were you? I was just down in the Cape. The Cape? The Cape. Well, the Cape could mean many places. Yeah, what part of the Cape? Buzzards Bay area. Yeah. Okay. I went over the bridge a couple of times, but I wasn't staying on the proper Cape side of the bridge. Gotcha. Yeah, you know, it's like playing some pickleball, doing some kayaking.

0:48But in this neck of the woods, and I think down there as well, they call it Buzzard's Bay. Buzzard's Bay. Buzzard's Bay. Buzzard's Bay, kid. Yeah. Yeah. There's a great winery out there called Westport Rivers. Did you make your way out there? I did not make my way to Westport Rivers. I was mostly in Marion, you know, going to great places like Fieldstone for ice cream and the Oxford Creamery. had some great seafood from jay mcnaughton as well man they make some really really good stuff clams and fish cakes and lobster cakes and things like that mike's getting a coupon for the next time of year i'm getting a coupon 20 20 off kid yeah yeah i'm surprised you didn't check me on wine from massachusetts because it's kind of a oxymoron isn't it you know good wine from Massachusetts, but it's not.

1:37It is not. It is an oxymoron, but I know that you're not a moron and you know a lot about wine. So if you say it's good, I believe you. It is delicious. Yeah. I feel like I wouldn't check anything Ray says about wine. I'm like, yeah, I believe you. I know because we've been on so many good trips with Ray where Ray points out like the best of the best. Yeah. He knows Ray can tell you what the best, you know,$50 bottle is, but he can also tell you what the best$10 bottle is. It's awesome. There you go, folks. If you have any questions about the wine world, but we're afraid to ask, just send me a note.

2:09Ask at Tasteradio.com. Well, we're glad you're back. You did miss out on one of the great new products of 2024. Well, luckily, we have more. Is that why? As we talked about last week, we highlighted a new collaboration between Good Cop, excuse me, Good Pop, which makes better for you ice cream snacks. It is kind of a good cop, bad cop situation. It is a little bit, but they make some fantastic dessert treats, better for you dessert treats. And O 'Ryda, the maker of well-known potato products, French fries being the most familiar of them. I had one for breakfast today because Craven actually bought them and had them shipped over here and he left one in the freezer with my name and big caps for Jackie.

2:58So I had to eat it for breakfast. You had to eat it for breakfast. Well done. So yeah, this is their fudge and vanilla French fry pop. It's an ice cream. It's a ice cream pop, chocolate covered with French fries underneath the chocolate. And I had one last week and it was fantastic. This is made with oat milk. This is not made with dairy. Okay. Oat milk, fair trade, cane sugar, coconut oil, pea protein, a bunch of other stuff in here too. It's not a short ingredient list, but it is, as far as I can tell, vegan. So that's a good start for people who are looking for something like that. It says no because it's for Mike.

3:41That's also something that Nate, our Minister of Photographic Arts, put on the package so no one else would eat it. So Mike has one in his hand right there. Now we're live on the video. So we didn't have this on video last week because we didn't actually have the product. Yeah. I got the product the next day, but I was biting into it there. It's really delicious. It wasn't like quite exactly what I was expecting. Like it's not as obvious French fry flavor. Yeah. Where's the French fries? Yeah. It's a nice like salty and sweet and very creamy ice cream bar, even though it seems to be all non-dairy.

4:16It is very creamy. Yeah. The French fries are like shoestring fries, but they're almost like the Andy Cap sort of dried French fries underneath that chocolate. Gives it like a little crunch, like a little like casing. It's nice. Very much so. I think it would have been kind of gross to have like a, I don't know, soft French fry underneath. Like a mushy French fry. Yeah. So I think the crunch probably makes sense. And it actually, you know, when it says French fry pop, you know, there's some little bit of a pop in every time you bite into one of those fries. So maybe that's the pun there. Sweet and salty, deliciously predictable.

4:55Is it predictable? Was this predictable for you, Mike? That's the way they describe it on the back. Jeez, what's going on over there? I mean, it's a good ice cream bar. But if you made me blind taste test this and say, Mike, what is this? I'd say it's a crunchy ice cream bar. it's barely salty and you can barely taste the fries and they don't kind of show up either. And they're, they're smaller than what you see on the front of pack. So, I mean, it's a great ice cream bar. Is it a great French fry pop ice cream bar? I don't know. I don't know. I expected something else. It's good. I like it. All right.

5:33Is it DNS worthy? Yeah. Yeah. DNS. I mean, I definitely would not give it the, an S so it must be DNS. definitely don't give it an s yeah it does not suck yeah okay well guess what our minister of photographic arts nate brescia slacked me as you're eating this and he uh asked if he wanted us to take these freezer pops or these french fry pops back to the freezer yeah come get these yes i kind of feel like he wants one he wants to try one which is a good idea yeah i mean he can have it. I'll be right back. Wait, where are you going? No, he's going to come in. Okay, Mike's gone. That's the end of the show for Mike.

6:14Jackie, how are you doing? People are dropping like flies. I guess so. Yeah, you look like you got some sun over the past week. Was it from the boat? Yeah, it was from the boat. It was from the beach. I've been chilling by pools. It's summer mode here in San Diego. Isn't it always summer mode in San Diego? It's especially summer mode right now. So My face is a giant freckle. Okay. Well, your face is what? A giant freckle. Your face is a giant freckle? No. During the summer, I just like turn another shade. Well, you look tan is what I said. I can't see any freckles. Maybe it's because our TV isn't as high as it should be.

6:47Yeah. Is it still the show? It is still the show. Yeah. Yeah. You're back. Yeah. I couldn't eat that whole thing. Oh, I see. Okay. So like last week, I want to talk about a product, but we don't have the actual product here with us. So this was the case with you, Arida, and Good Pop, French Fry Pop. But I saw this on LinkedIn yesterday. This is a new brand of better-for-you sodas, or at least what's described as better-for-you sodas, launched by a gentleman named Sam Wilson, who has been an executive for a lot of high-profile brands like Congo Brands, which makes Prime and Alani new, Bang Energy, Red Bull, Boston Beer.

7:29And so he has created in collaboration with his son, a new brand called No Cap. N-O-C-A-P with an apostrophe, excuse me, an exclamation point after cap. And they're describing it as soda pop. It feels very young. It almost looks a bit bangish in terms of its color palette. And the names are very young. there's an apple riz flavor there's a passion vibe there's a bussin b-u-s-s-i-n apostrophe berry tangy orange and strawberry i can't read what the strawberry variety is but um i think this is kind of interesting it i strawberry skibbity maybe that's what i feel like it's kind of interesting because it doesn't look anything like the better for you sodas that we've seen, like an Olipop, a Poppy, a Culture Pop, what have you.

8:29And it feels like it's definitely trying to reach a very young audience, much younger than I can align with. I guess that's what I can say about this. Jackie, did you see the post? Yeah, I did see the post. I mean, you saying the names, that's the thing that first grabbed my eye was how all these SKUs were named. I mean, Bussin and Riz, it's really playing on like their own language that they have at this point. The world of Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers. Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, a lot of the Better For You sodas, they're all, I mean, mainly targeting like millennials and people that used to, you know, have nostalgic flavors and they wanted something that's better for you now.

9:22So it's interesting that they're like really going in for Gen Z, Gen Alpha. You said that he is partnering with his son on this. So he has, you know, sounds like someone that's young that's in the fold and helping speak to maybe his demographic. Yeah. So just a few more details on this. It's sweetened with a blend of stevia and allulose. It contains some functional ingredients or it contains a functional ingredient, which is one that's probably familiar to many people on this show, Amuse. Amuse, as we've mentioned on this show many times, is a clinically proven functional ingredient designed to boost your immune system.

10:02It also contains, no cap that is, 10 calories per 12 ounce can. Although actually, I'm looking at the post here and it looks like it's zero. According to the front of the can, And it contains zero calories per 12-ounce can. And according to our dear friend, Jerry Kermush, who is the editor of a newsletter called Beverage Business Insights, the products will go for$2.49 per can, promoted at$2 for$4. dollars. So once again, I think this is a very different approach than what we've seen in the Better For You soda space. I'm kind of curious as to who, however, is going to spend $2.49 per can, especially because I don't know too many kids that would spend that much.

10:57There is intentional nostalgia baked into this, Ray, and it's Willy Wonka's bottle caps. that's a good call that's the aesthetic here yes the Willy Wonka's bottle caps which are candy well a candy which they've taken to the next level that's the look and feel of the old cap and they're calling it no cap so I think they're going for the the gen z gen alpha customer with this obviously with flavors like apple riz and passion vibe and bus and berry and it's tangy orange and strawberry dream but uh i think they missed a chance to get skip no skivety in there and then uh but there's definitely a throwback in this as well yeah there is but if you are a young consumer and you see no cap you automatically know what that means you know what it is yeah so jackie for for our two listeners who don't know what no cap is what does that mean i don't even know what no cap means no lie what you never heard the term cap no lie no cap means it's a lie oh yeah so no cap means i'm telling the truth no cap okay there you go all right guys wow wait i've said it before on the show and you didn't know what i was talking about yes oh my gosh this is a young person thing an old person thing am i like in the middle Oh, okay.

12:23You never heard someone say cap? So like, let's say you said, oh, I love when it rains. And someone's like, cap. Like, you know, you're just saying it just to say it or something like that. Jackie, are you approaching the Geritol Club with us? Oh my goodness. Oh no, poor Jackie. Wow. Okay. So that's, yes. So it's not no cap just because it's in a can. It's no cap. Oh my goodness. Wow. All right. Jackie. I've clarified that for the two listeners plus me that do not understand. Yeah, now we have one host and two listeners. That is pretty funny. Well, you know what labneh is, yes? Yes, I do know that.

13:00I know my food well. I don't know about terms, but... All right, well, terms. Just to be clear, that is not a term. That is straight slang. Okay, so labneh, which is spelled L-A-B-N-E or L-A-B-N-E-H is a well-consumed or a highly consumed and well-known dip in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It is a staple in those parts of the world. Basically, it's made from fermented milk and it's strained for several hours to remove all the moisture. The consistency, according to some people, is like whipped cream cheese. For me, it's a bit thicker than that. Actually, it's much thicker than that. And some people call it labneh cheese.

13:53I don't call it that. It's like a much, much thicker Greek yogurt to me. It's got like this tangy flavor. Yeah, it's awesome. It's delicious with olive oil and za 'atar. It's, again, a highly consumed and very well-known dip or spread in the Middle East. And so I feel like we're starting to see a tiny, tiny moment happening for labneh. You know, there's a new brand out there that I just saw and it's been all over LinkedIn and Instagram called Bezzi, B-E-Z-I. And they describe it as dippable and spreadable, infinitely enjoyable. It comes packaged in a seven ounce tub. It looks like the brand launched on June 1st, according to, if I'm reading this right, on Instagram.

14:42and there's a number of flavors that Bezzy comes in plain, everything and red pepper. So very cool. Actually on their website, it says we launch in September, 2024. Excited to place an order already. They can be bought on FAIR, F-A-I-R-E. I'd like to place an order, please. Yeah, right. Yeah, it looks delicious. I mean, with the flavor profile, it looks like it's trying to almost be either a dip or spread like a cream cheese. I think the consistency of Labna provides different kind of use cases for consumers. Definitely. You know, it is dairy based. So I think that will probably limit its appeal among younger consumers.

15:31And I think more people who are just cutting dairy out of their diet. it. But it's a great compliment or alternative, in my opinion, to common spreads, common Middle Eastern Mediterranean spreads that you see like hummus and Mub Ghanoush. And we're seeing a lot of garlic dips lately as well. But I love Labna because it does offer some versatility that I think some of those other spreads don't. You can put it on a sandwich, you can dip. I just eat it. Yeah. Yeah. It kind of fits like a nice little spot in between like Greek yogurt and hummus. And I feel like both of those categories had a moment.

16:09They're still, you know, thriving. You got like high protein, you know, spreads and snacks and dips. And I think this fits nicely into like that set. absolutely and bezzy the launch of bezzy follows that of yaza y-a-z-a the founder of whom mike interviewed at expo west at the mina meetup yaza is also a maker of labna theirs comes in not tubs what would you call these like cups almost like large cups yeah well big yogurt cups Those yogurt-y cups. And that was one of the best things I tasted at Expo West, hands down. I don't know if it was the moment or the fact that I was interviewing the founder or just the fact that the product was phenomenal or a combination of all the above.

16:59Wow. I mean, that's a bold statement. And I really feel like if Mike says that, he's pretty serious about this. And you know who else likes this product? I can remember that bite. The first bite. You know who else loves this product or loves this brand? Whole Foods. Oh, phenomenal. Yaza is national on Whole Foods with two of their varieties. So if you're looking to try this product, you can probably find it in your local Whole Foods. I think it's their za 'atar and olive oil and their plain varieties. I know where I'm going on the way home. There you go. And, you know, it's not the first time that we've seen Labna produced by a brand.

17:37I mean, typically, if you go to a Greek or ethnic food store or Middle Eastern store, you'll see all different kinds of labneh, but they're typically foreign owned brands. But Cedars, which is also a well-known maker of hummus and Mediterranean dips, and this country also markets a labneh. In Little Armenia, the bakeries all have labneh. Yes, Little Armenia on Watertown Street in Watertown. But I feel like that's Armenia slash Lebanon, like Little Lebanon, a little bit more. Okay. Yeah. Great. You know, there's a lot of Armenian Lebanese, right? That's why there's a crossover between the two. Great.

18:17Yeah. That's awesome. I mean, and the food is those bakeries and grocery stores there, you can't miss in those spots. No, you cannot. I got to tell you though, I love when I'm seeing more ethnic foods come to market, especially those that are launched by and promoted by small brands. Now, when big companies, conglomerates, try to introduce, quote unquote, ethnic foods or extend brands via ethnic cultural cuisine, it's typically a hit or miss. Now Mars, one of the largest food companies in the world, recently announced that they are extending their Ben's original brand, which formerly known as Uncle Ben's, with a line of street food and lunch bowls.

19:21So this kind of threw me for a loop. Their street food comes in these microwavable containers and are in varieties such as Bean and Rice Burrito Bowl. Mike started shaking his head. And their lunch bowls come in these pouches. And they have varieties such as spicy Thai coconut bowl, Moroccan style chickpea, and I think that says raisin bowl. And there's a spicy Mexican bowl. I don't necessarily, I have a hard time, should I say, associating Ben's original with ethnic food. I don't get this at all. No, I think they're seeing this as a trend and they just want to capitalize on it rather than, I don't know, doing their own thing and just sticking with what they know.

20:19I think they're, even the way they brand it and all the different types of cuisines that they're trying to hit, I mean, they probably don't deliver on flavor. If you're going to try this versus maybe like a startup brand that, you know, is authentic, it probably doesn't follow through in the product. So I'm really curious. I don't think it will do that well. I think they're just kind of jumping on what they see as a trend. This is a brand that I have not understood on any level from its existence. I mean, you mean when they revamped it to Ben's original or when it was originally Uncle Ben's? Originally Uncle Ben's when Uncle Ben was supposed to be the rice guy.

20:58And what they did to rice was just, I mean, it's rice. Yeah. You buy a bag of rice, you boil it or you put it in your rice cooker. Well, when they launched Uncle Ben's, you didn't have a rice cooker. Okay. I think it was, that was part of it. But he still had a method of making rice in a pot without instant rice. Crazy. I will give them credit. I feel like Uncle Ben's was one of the first like pouched microwavable rices. And then you saw like other brands kind of doing that to make it convenient. I don't know. That's the only thing that I can kind of give them is credit. I do recall when they launched a brand extension where their products were available in microwavable pouches.

21:48So, yes, the pouch format has been a great benefit to people who are on the go and looking for a convenient solution. But the commodification of ethnic food by a large food conglomerate, I think, is not the best way to extend a brand's value. I'm trying to be very careful with my words here. As listeners, I'm sure I can tell. Well, I mean, one of the hardest things in the world is to get people to try new foods and to try ethnic and cultural cuisine. So I understand that this might help some people. This might help get some people to try these different kinds of products and these different flavors.

22:37I just don't know if Ben's Original is the brand to do it. And it's almost like, we're reading the press release, it's almost like this thing that I'm about to read is straight from the marketing deck or from the innovation deck that someone from the marketing team presented to the higher ups at Mars. It says consumers juggling busy lives are prioritizing convenience. Everyone knows this. According to new research, 48 % of the U.S. are spending fewer than 15 minutes daily on meal prep. but they don't want to sacrifice flavor or nutrition. Two-thirds of consumers globally are curious about new world flavors, while 50 % across all age groups saying healthy eating is a top priority for them.

23:21All true. But again, are those going to be healthy, or is it going to be a long ingredient list that is a little bit better for you? Perhaps. I agree with everything they're saying here, but the mistake, whatever the next slide was, should not have said Ben's original, should not have had the image of their logo. It should have been a completely new brand or something that looks... Because they're not going to be able to drop years and years and years and years of racial inequity by using Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben to sell these not very good for you products. I see what you're saying, Mike. So I get furious when I think about this and the fact that they're trying to use the brand equity of Uncle Ben's name and also, you know, not have to, I don't know, apologize or.

24:14There's steam coming out of Mike's head right now. I can't even get my words right. Just feels like they just took like the easy route for them personally, like as a company, because they had this, you know, rice brand. So let's just keep it going instead of doing it the right way. Well, the weird thing is I've seen, we've talked about this on the podcast in past episodes, big food companies are getting really good at introducing new products and new brands that look like entrepreneurial brands that look like early stage emerging brands that could be featured on Snackshot, you know, or that could be in Erewhon.

24:52And this does not look like that. And again, you know, trying to use the Uncle Ben's or the Ben's original brand equity, which already is, you know, concerning or already, they'll just say it pisses some people off, Mike included, just seems like the wrong, wrong thing to do. Yeah, I mean, it's just like using the Uncle Ben image to promote these not very good for you, not, you know, super duper cheap products is very concerning. Like imagine if they still had Uncle Ben on this package, like that would look very wrong. His name's still on it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I think we've been clear about our feelings on this.

25:35And if anyone disagrees with us or anyone has any issue with what we've talked about, totally understand. Everyone has an opinion. Just let us know. Send us an email to askatasteradio.com. All right. On to products that I think we like a little bit more than the Ben's original new products. Mike has, looks like a THC shot in your hand. I've got some stuff. You got some stuff. This is food and beverage adjacent. I think, well, one of them is definitely a shot. So you could say it's a beverage. But this company called Gorilla sent us a bunch of hemp-derived cannabis products. And I just wanted to comment on how cool the packaging is, like the Gorilla with the energy, with the lightning bolts.

26:27I don't know about, for me, and Jackie, you can definitely weigh in on this, how I feel about hemp and energy together. Like THC plus for me doesn't like, I don't think of energy. I think of like chill for the most part. Yeah. That was going to be my question. Like why energy? Is there any other ingredient in it that would create energy? Cause yeah, I think of THC as very chill. In the shot, I believe there's caffeine. Yeah. there's caffeine along with 20 milligrams of THC. So if you take this as a shot, good luck, you're going to be feeling no pain shortly. And so in my hand here, I have a two ounce THC shot with 20 milligrams.

27:19This one, this Berry Blast. I've also got three packages of THC gummies, which they recommend that you please take responsibly, try half gummy and wait at least 45 minutes to one hour before consuming more. Don't consume while consuming alcohol. They have all the statements. But we've got apple, peach and watermelon here. Very dangerous for me. And then also we've got hemp derived CBD gummies, peach and watermelon. Very different packaging, as you can see. So there's no mistaking which is which. but I like the gorilla I think he's cool and uh I brought some of these to the fish show on Saturday but I don't know if any of my friends tried them we were also drinking fable which everyone enjoyed what is a brand of uh delta nine seltzer I'd say which was super tasty comes in three milligram doses uh we also had a magic cactus which everyone loved and also flyers which again was a hit so don't see a heck of a lot of cannababs in people's hands in what's it called the shakedown jackie i guess the shakedown is like the it's almost like a flea market at fish shows.

28:40I didn't see a lot of CannaBevs either being sold or consumed, but I brought some and people seem to enjoy them. I see. I see. I feel like Magic Cactus is like your new Honey Mamas. I like it. You mention Magic Cactus every other show. It's easy to mention and, you know, it's tasty. I mean, I could mention many others as well. I like Kalexo. Howdy's really good. I wasn't But Magic Cactus is, yeah, Magic Cactus is a gold standard, I'd say. And people really enjoyed it. They, you know, they like the two milligrams of THC and are curious about what the four THC-V does for you. And then there's six of CBD as well.

29:24So that one, like the thing about Magic Cactus that's different is that it has a bit of a different formula. So you've got the Delta 9, but you also have this THC-V that others aren't really touting at the moment. So. Gotcha. But like I said, Fable and Flyers, you know, it's similar onset, similar impact. I went as high as 10. That's big for you. In like a two hour period. Okay. Okay. So you eased into it. Yeah. Well, we all know Jackie. Oh, do I see a mushroom on those? Yes. Well, I'm pulling out some new beverages here, but Jackie was the OG THC consumer or THC drink consumer out of the group here.

30:03She's my Sherpa. Yes. She's also the foremost expert when it comes to mushrooms. Except for Nate. Within the Taste Radio group here. And I found a new beverage at the Summer Fantasy Food Show called C 'est Bon. C-E-Y-B-O-N. And they make alcohol-free, mushroom-infused aperitifs. Get in my belly. They have great varieties. One that's described as chill. It's made with reishi, juniper, cucumber, and mint. one described as bright has reishi chinkana ginger and lemon and mike i'm holding happy with reishi sage chaparral and lime yeah so they're all packaged in 750 milliliter slim bottles with a black screw top cap they have this sort of orangey haze almost reminiscent of kombucha in terms of its appearance.

30:57And they are delicious. I tried these at the Fancy Food Show. They're intended to be an alternative to an alcoholic beverage, a wine, or what have you. But they're also described as something that you can drink chilled over ice as a spritz or as a mixer. The founder of the company is Julieta Octavio. And she very kindly sent us some product. She's going to join us in a future episode of Elevator Talk if you want to learn more about the brand. This is beautiful packaging. I wonder if she has a sense of humor too, because it says Saban AF. I know it's alcohol free, but I like to think of it as Saban as fuck.