CPG's Plot Twist: Old Ingredients, New Money

Summary

Taste Radio – Episode Summary

Episode Title: CPG's Plot Twist: Old Ingredients, New Money
Date: May 15, 2026
Hosts: Ray Latif, John Craven, Melissa Travers, Mike Schneider
Featured Interview: Better Sour co-founders Bella Hughes and Samira Neku

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into how brands in the food and beverage space are breathing new life into old categories and familiar ingredients. The hosts recap the vibrant Austin Taste Radio meetup, discuss how up-and-coming brands can stand out with tastemakers, and spotlight Jesse and Ben’s – a premium french fry brand that landed a $10M Series A. The episode culminates in an in-depth interview with Better Sour’s founders about their latest real-cane-sugar gummy launch and its exclusive Whole Foods debut.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Austin Meetup Recap & CPG Community Vibes

[00:00 – 05:57]

• The hosts share highlights of the Taste Radio Austin Meetup hosted at NutraBolt headquarters, praising its impressive amenities – gym, boxing ring, basketball court, Pilates studio, juice bars, and wellness lounges.
• Special thanks given to partners and sponsors such as Vibrant Ingredients, Belay Solutions, Angel Group, Goodbelly, Cheribundi, and Corner Market Communications.

Host Quotes:

• “The first floor is a wonderland for CPG and a wonderland for people who want to just live better.” – Ray Latif [03:07]
• "Shout out to Ryan, Sarah and the entire team at NutraBolt for having us." – Ray [04:35]

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2. Building Awareness: Opportunities for Early-Stage Brands

[07:34 – 10:08]

• Discussion on the importance of brand exposure, especially at key industry events like BevNET Live (June 10–11, NYC).
• Early-stage brands encouraged to sample products at BevNET Live and take advantage of the "cooler" opportunity, gaining direct access to investors, buyers, and influencers.

Notable Quote:

• “Just being in the cooler gives you an opportunity to be exposed to so many of the gatekeepers in our business because they're all at BevNET Live.” – Ray [08:44]

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3. Notable Investments: Supernatural Ventures & Jesse and Ben’s

[10:41 – 18:15]

• Supernatural Ventures spotlight: New CPG-focused VC firm with partners Adam Spriggs and Chris Raab (ex-Whole Foods), backing high-growth brands (e.g., Siete, Poppy, Bachan’s).
• Jesse and Ben's french fries: Premium frozen fries cooked in beef tallow or avocado oil; raised $10M Series A led by Greycroft. Discussion on differentiation in a commodity category.

Memorable Quotes:

• “I was a little skeptical about the opportunity for a brand like this because I feel like it's kind of hard to differentiate in a commodity category...” – Ray [13:08]
• “I was introduced to Jesse and Ben’s by my mom... she picked it up, flipped it over. There are three ingredients. This is not a woman who would normally spend $7 on a bag of frozen fries.” – Melissa [15:27]
• “What I like about it is…we haven't really seen a well-funded, kind of emerging brand go after that space in a while.” – John [18:15]

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4. The Premiumization Trend: Graza’s Potato Chips

[19:38 – 26:02]

• Hosts taste test and examine Graza’s new extra virgin olive oil potato chips (debuting at Target), discussing brand storytelling, innovative flavor formats (zesty caesar, hot and sweet), and pricing in commodity categories.
• Graza’s rapid rise noted (valued at $240M in 5 years), through category innovation and creative partnerships.

Notable Quotes:

• “Graza… has done a really good job of partnering with other brands to launch limited time offerings… Most recently, they've doubled down on potato chips.” – Ray [21:00]
• “The zesty Caesar is so tasty… I wasn't expecting to like it like that.” – Melissa [23:27]

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5. Sampling Standout New Products

[26:43 – 32:13] Quick reviews on:

• Neutonic Productivity Drink: Focus/energy beverage with ginseng, L-theanine, caffeine – “the unmistakable one with the third eye” [26:47].
• Disco Fizz: Functional hydrating/energy beverage with SKUs inducing “cooling,” “warming,” or “tingling” sensations; tingling achieved via buzz button flower and jambu – “for a non-alk product, oftentimes you want to feel something… you definitely feel something with this.” – Melissa [29:55]
• Caddy Snacks Superfood Bars: Chewy, clean label energy bars; well-received for taste and ingredient transparency.

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Featured Interview: Better Sour’s New Real Sugar Gummies

[33:39 – 51:52]

Launch Overview

• Exclusive Whole Foods Debut: Real cane sugar, vegan, plant-based, tropical flavors (mango, watermelon yuzu, lychee).
• Line extension moves beyond Better Sour’s original low-sugar, allulose-sweetened SKUs, reaching a broader audience and meeting Whole Foods ingredient standards.

Notable Quotes

• “This is something that's lived in our head for probably a year and a half… and here we are a month before we launch… in Whole Foods nationally.” – Bella Hughes [34:51]
• “We really wanted to make sure we are addressing that part of the market [seeking real ingredients]. But stepping back, the whole reason for being of Better Sour is about flavor.” – Samira Neku [36:06]

Key Insights from the Interview

A. Product & Brand Evolution

• Genesis: Wanted to create sour candy for foodies—global, bold flavors, high-quality ingredients, vegan, high fiber.
• Strategic Move: Adding real cane sugar to increase total addressable market and reach shoppers who avoid allulose or want traditional sweetness, and to qualify for Whole Foods.
• Price Point: More accessible; new line will be about $1 cheaper per bag than the original (approx. $2).

B. Formulation and Retail Channel Fit

• Allulose not allowed at Whole Foods, so founders proactively developed this reformulated line (not retailer-initiated, but passion and persistence paid off after multiple attempts).
• Validation and excitement about being a “21st-century sour candy brand.”

C. Cannibalization & Market Position

• The two lines (low-sugar, allulose vs. real-sugar, cane) appeal to different palates – “sour heads” seeking intensity vs. those preferring milder tang and real sugar.
• “Early tasting… interesting that folks who found our current product a bit too tart… like, 'I can do this one, it's a little more mild, pleasant.'” – Bella [40:57]

D. Competing with Legacy Brands

• A “Modern Sour Patch Kids”: Better Sour targets grown-up, sophisticated tastes; hopes the new line will attract those trading up from traditional candies like Sour Patch Kids thanks to approachable flavors and pricing.
• “We're bringing [grown-ups] back to candy… with options they can feel good about.” – Samira [43:52]

E. Affordability & Accessibility

• Focus on keeping indulgence accessible amid rising grocery prices.
• “We want to make sure indulgence is still accessible and quality ingredients are still accessible. This is our take on that.” – Samira [46:10]

F. Innovation & Discipline

• Importance of saying “No, not yet” to too many new ideas—diligence in timing new launches and aligning with brand values.
• “We look always at a lot of data… we've continued to see, you know, our ethos, flavor, global flavors only rise in interest…” – Bella [47:22]

G. Flavor Mastery

• Deep investment in R&D and working with top flavor houses to perfect tropical profiles, honoring the founders’ Hawaii heritage.
• “That's the part that we spend the most time resources in our R&D on—because that's our core, the flavor.” – Samira [50:09]

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Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

• “Graza, a brand that's known for great taste and quality. And they've done it again.” – John [25:58]
• “Being a founder is a highly creative process. So really having the diligence to wait on launching the innovation, make sure you've got something rolling and working.” – Bella [47:22]
• On eating candy with guilt: “Every single time I bite into [Sour Patch Kids], I’m just very disappointed in what I’m doing… I’m eating but miserable while I’m doing it.” – Ray [43:46]
• On pricing transparency and consumer pain: “You go into a grocery store… buy a couple oranges and a head of lettuce and it's $100.” – Ray [45:42]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–05:57 — Austin meetup recap, NutraBolt HQ highlights
• 07:34–10:08 — Strategies for brand awareness, BevNET Live sampling
• 10:41–18:15 — Supernatural Ventures, premiumization in frozen fries (Jesse & Ben’s)
• 19:38–26:02 — Graza’s olive oil potato chips, category innovation
• 26:43–32:13 — Sampling new functional products and reviews
• 33:39–51:52 — Interview: Better Sour co-founders on Whole Foods launch, innovation, vision for modern candy
• 51:52–end — Episode wrap-up & credits

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Conclusion

This episode captures the evolving food and beverage landscape, showing how real ingredients, premiumization, and differentiated flavor are winning both store placements and consumer devotion. From a premium frozen fry breakthrough to vegan cane sugar gummies built for Whole Foods, and the ever-present theme of standing out in legacy, “commodity” categories, listeners get actionable industry insights and inspiration from passionate founders living CPG’s new plot twist.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Hello, friends, and thanks for tuning in to 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 with my co hosts John Craven, Melissa Travers and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we recap Taste Radio's raucous Austin meetup, explore how beverage founders can get their products into the hands of the industry's most influential tastemakers, and examine how a fast growing french fry brand differentiated itself as a premium player in a commodity category and landed a $10 million Series A round. We also feature an interview with Better Sour co founders Bella Hughes and Samira Neku. We discussed the company's latest brand extension and how it's designed to strengthen its presence at major retailers, including Whole Foods. I don't want to let the cat too far out of the bag because we have this wonderful interview with Bell and Samira. But I've got some samples of their new products here with me in the studio and I figure, well, Mike and I have tried these. John and Melissa. Well, Melissa, you, you had a bag,

[B]

you gave me a bag. And I actually housed it while I was packing up to leave from the Taste Radio event in Austin, Texas.

[C]

Now we have it in every flavor, right?

[D]

Nobody shares anything with me.

[A]

So let me set the stage here. So we met up with Samira Niku, who's one of the co founders of Better Sour in Austin, while we were down there for the Taste Radio Austin meetup.

[C]

At a coffee shop.

[A]

At a coffee shop that was closed. So we met with her in the parking lot.

[D]

Genius planning.

[A]

And she shared with us, well, the. It's a long story.

[C]

But anyway, it was close for Cinco de Mayo. We didn't know, no one knew.

[A]

But she shared with us samples of their new line, which is made with real cane sugar. And so they have three varieties, Mango Lychee and Watermelon Yuzu. And this is a big step for the brand because in the past their sweetener deck was primarily focused on allulose. And allulose is a non nutritive sweetener that allows you to have that wonderful sweet flavor yet with a low caloric content and lower sugar.

[D]

Cow.

[A]

The Real Sugar line allows them to get into places like Whole Foods. Which one do you want, John?

[D]

I'm going to go Mango.

[A]

Mango. Mango is my favorite.

[C]

There's a reason that you didn't get any, John, because the tradition, and it was an accidental tradition, is that when Samira hands me a bag and tells me about the new product, it's gone before she's done describing it. Yeah, sorry about that, bro.

[A]

Yes. Well, stay tuned for the interview with Bella and Samira. It's a great one. And of course, thank you to everyone that we saw in Austin, Texas for the meetup. I had just a fantastic time. Nutribullt headquarters was the venue and man, what an office they have.

[B]

It's just amazing.

[A]

The first floor is a wonderland for CPG and a wonderland for people who want to just live better. They have a gym that resembles a Goals gym. It's a state of the art type Goals gym. They have a pro boxing ring.

[D]

Ever living crap out of Mike in that ring.

[A]

There you go.

[C]

I know.

[D]

He's like, I can throw down.

[C]

I'm surprised I'm even here. I can't even see. My eyes are still swamped.

[A]

They have a. Seems like a pro practice basketball court.

[D]

Then I was. I was draining threes over you.

[A]

You're. You're raining.

[D]

Not stop me.

[A]

Yes. That's not.

[C]

That's like almost a premier league level training facility. You could fit your entire first squad, second squad, and academy in that and train at the same time. That is insane.

[B]

And they have athletes in there the time, training in their. In their offices.

[D]

It was good time.

[E]

Yes.

[A]

They have a Pilates studio. I don't know what those Pilates machines called. They. They had a whole room full of these Pilates machines.

[B]

The Transformer.

[C]

No, Reformer.

[A]

Reformer.

[C]

Yeah, Transformer. They're more than mer. Well, sure is.

[D]

It was right next to the Face off machine.

[C]

It's also a torture chamber.

[A]

And there was. I don't know what you would call it, like a healing center where they had IV drips. They had.

[D]

Of C4.

[A]

Yeah. Of CV or C4. Geez, that's funny. But anyway, they had an amphitheater that we didn't use because we didn't need it. But it was just fantastic being there. And I think all the attendees had a nice time kind of checking the place out. Shout out to Ryan, Sarah and the entire team at nutribull for having us.

[C]

Rory, Melissa, the hosts were fantastic there too. They were giving us a little history of the building and tour and they just encouraged us to use the space as much as we wanted to. They even had a La Marzocco machine there. I think they might have let me.

[D]

They wouldn't let behind.

[A]

They had a. They have a barista.

[C]

They might have let me if I asked.

[A]

They have a barista there every morning. Yeah, I think it was from 7 to 11, so.

[C]

But it was closed because, you know, the. The coffee time was over. But I. I'm pretty confident they would have let me step back there.

[A]

Yes. Well, of course, huge thanks to nutribulls and huge thanks to our national partners for the Taste Radio meetups, Vibrant ingredients, Belay Solutions, and the Angel Group.

[C]

Thank you so much.

[A]

And of course, thank you so much to our partners for the New York City meetup and the Austin meetup. Next Foods, the maker of Goodbelly and Cherubundi, and Corner Market Communications, Megan Kelleher and the team, the nicest people in the world and working with some of the best brands in the food and beverage industry. So really appreciate their support. Stay tuned for interviews with Jason Cantelli, who is the Chief commercial officer of NutraBolt, Megan Kelleher, the founder and CEO of Corner Market Communications, Mark Sagan, who's the CEO of Next Foods, and Erica Tam, the SVP of brand for Bloom. She had a great story. She did all those interviews. Coming to an upcoming episode of Taste Radio.

[C]

I know that's a lot of information that we just threw at you, and you're thinking, should I reach out to some of those sponsors to, you know, maybe have a question that they could answer? The answer is yes, Tom.

[A]

We sent you absolutely. Vibrant ingredients, Belay Solutions. In the Angel Group, you got ingredient suppliers, you got investors, and Belay Solutions, Melissa, is.

[B]

They are an outsourced accounting firm.

[A]

There you go. So if you need help in any one of those areas, and I know most people need help in investment, reach out to any one of our partners. If you don't know how to reach out to them, well, just send us email. An [e-mail] we will point you in the right direction.

[C]

Leave the light on for you.

[A]

Absolutely. And thanks to Celzo, which is a beverage brand whose jersey Mike is sporting right now. This is the first time he hasn't worn Arsenal.

[E]

I know.

[A]

Studio.

[D]

Thank you. Celso, giving us a freaking break for once.

[B]

Pelicans on your shirt.

[C]

I think so.

[A]

These are.

[C]

I mean, these are phenomenal football kits. They're getting ready for the World cup, and, yeah, making some amazing agua frescas.

[A]

Yeah. Among the many brands that were sampling at the event was Silza, which is described as the world's first functional agua fresca. Hope to see those guys at Bevnet Live, which is coming up.

[C]

That was super tasty stuff.

[A]

It was. And I want to see more of it at Bevnet Live, which is happening on June 10th and 11th.

[D]

Right.

[A]

June 10th and 11th in New York City. In New York City, the hub of the universe. Is that Brooklyn? Well, it's all in the hub of the universe. Yeah. Well, the hub is actually considered Boston.

[C]

Boston's the hub, dude.

[D]

Yeah, no one calls it the hub. It's a big apple. The big apple, bro.

[A]

Okay? The big Apple. It's all happening. Empire State, less than a month away. And this is what I want to talk about, right? We have so many folks join us for episodes of Elevator Talk, which is our bi monthly series that highlights early stage and disruptive brands from cross food and beverage. And every episode I talk about the importance of building awareness for your brand. There are so many new brands that launch every single year in the food and beverage industry. And one of the biggest problems is getting people to know you exist, getting the kind of awareness, getting the eyeballs that you need to have just to get your brand off the ground. To let retailers, investors, distributors, and just the industry as a whole know that you're out there and know that you're trying to make a difference via your products. And so one of the best ways to do so is, is to be at Bevnet Live sampling your products. And we have an outstanding opportunity for early stage brands to do just that via our cooler. So if you attend Bevnet Live, you have an opportunity to sample your products in those coolers. And I don't know how many times I've talked to attendees, whether they're investors, a retail buyer or distributor, and say, hey, Ray, have you seen this product? Like, yeah, they're new here. And they're like, this is fantastic. I want to invest in this brand. I want to carry this brand. I. I want to sell this brand. And so just being in the cooler gives you an opportunity to be exposed to so many of the gatekeepers in our business because they're all at BevNet Live.

[C]

It's 19,426 times. That's how many times you've told brands that they can do that.

[A]

I don't know how you know that number, but I trust I keep track. Okay, click. Yes, absolutely. So, yeah, be at Bevnet Live. You'll have an opportunity to bring products, have them in our coolers, and again showcase them to the most important people in the beverage industry.

[B]

And you know, if you're a food brand, don't worry because you can send samples to our offices and we'll try them and we'll talk about them on taste radio.

[A]

100%. More samples means more opportunities for us and the BevNET, Nosh and taste radio team as a whole and Namba's team to talk about what you're doing. We put your products on our feed. We put them on our individual feeds. We talk about them on the podcast. We'll highlight them in roundups on Nosh and Bevnet. So please send samples to our office. You can find our addresses for Newton and san diego on bevnet.com and nosh.com if you still can't find them. DM John Craven. Because he is the person that will give you the address. No, no, nobody else.

[C]

I have it on autocomplete on my phone. So if you want it just.

[D]

It's ready to go.

[C]

Ready to go.

[A]

Bug John specifically Bevnet Craven at Bevnet Craven on the X. That's your number one.

[C]

Not his number one.

[D]

No, no one's number one. Number one social media platform for making me cry.

[A]

Remember when you guys used to dabble on the X?

[D]

I still dabble on the X.

[E]

Guys.

[C]

Twitter fiend.

[A]

But didn't you, didn't you do like a dot eth thing? Next.

[D]

Oh, we were messing around with stuff. Yeah.

[A]

When you were like ethereum guys.

[D]

Yeah, we sold. We had a Bev coin.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Kidding.

[D]

We didn't.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

Sold for negative.

[A]

I was always saying the Ethereum craze happened before the advent of NBase. Oh boy. I'm so happy that we do have Nambase because I am extremely excited about a new episode that is dropping soon that features the one and only Chris Robb who if you don't know, is one of the partners of an incredible new venture capital firm called Drumroll please. Melissa.

[B]

Supernatural Ventures.

[A]

Supernatural Ventures. And you may have heard of Supernatural Ventures in past episodes of Taste Radio because one of the other partners is Adam Spriggs. Adam Spriggs is one of the co founding members of the Angel Group. And now Supernatural Ventures is out there to. To make even bigger investments. So. So what's Chris gonna be talking about?

[B]

Yeah, so Chris Robb is going to be on this week's NOM based podcast and Chris Robb is a really interesting guest because he has such a rich history in cpg. His dad, you know, is Walter Raab who was co CEO of Whole Foods Market. He grew up in grocery retail. He was also the founder of New Barn Organics for folks out there who might remember that product. And you know, he. He certainly g Supernatural Ventures is looking for but he gave so much information on how brands can win at retail and really information that you would only Know if you've done it and you, you've lived it.

[A]

And just for context, both Adam and Chris have invested in some of the fastest growing CPG brands in recent memory, including, I'll mention, one Ciete, which sold for billion dollars. Now you can do it, Mike, to PepsiCo.

[C]

He's got the officially retired, but he's

[A]

got just for you.

[E]

Right?

[A]

Okay, $1 billion. Of course, one of the biggest beverage deals in recent memory, Poppy, which sold to PepsiCo again for $1.95 billion. And then the incredible brand known as Bachons. So these guys know what they're doing. They know how to identify great early stage brands and they're funding really fast growing brands today, one of which was featured in a recent article on Nosh. That brand is another drum roll. Melissa.

[B]

Jesse and Ben's, which he spoke a lot about on the podcast as well.

[A]

Jesse and Ben's a maker of frozen french fries that are cooked either in beef tallow or avocado oil. I was talking to Adam Spriggs in our interview for Taste Radio about Jesse and Ben's and I was a little skeptical about the opportunity for a brand like this because I feel like it's kind of hard to differentiate in a commodity category, period. In a commodity category, like frozen french fries, where you have tons of private label brands, you have a lot of legacy brands out there. I was like, what's the opportunity here, toolies? Excuse me. Adam talked a lot about what he saw in it and how just overall health and wellness trends are pushing folks in that direction and giving folks an opportunity to experience a different type of french fry, more premium one. And they're paying for it. They're paying that premium. And so Jesse and Benz recently raised $10 million. Do not do it, Mike. I didn't say I didn't. I'm not gonna do it in there. $10 million in a series A round led by venture capital firm Graycroft. This is really interesting to me and

[C]

I'm kind of surprised though, Ray, that you're talking about a french fry as a commodity because there's so many different kinds, varieties, and it's the kind of thing that, you know, Everybody from a 2 year old to, you know, 102 year old knows what they like in a french fry. And so there's so many different ways that you can prepare them. And this is a little different than

[A]

it's a date, for instance, it's a

[C]

commodity, dates, you know, things like that.

[D]

But that's what the products are though. I think there's just a lot of value priced commoditized offerings. I mean, outside of maybe the Alexia brand, which is owned by ConAgra, I don't know what really is speaking to the consumer in like a premium way. And I like it a lot. I mean the products are, they're great, they're great, they're pricey. I mean it's like a seven or eight dollar small bag of fries. But you know, I think it's one of those things where like they're just looking at a market where obviously people buy a crapload of these products. And the premium brands like Orada, no offense, is not really like premium. So it's all right, there you go.

[B]

You know, I was actually introduced to Jessie and Ben's by my mom. This is a woman who never goes into the frozen aisle to buy anything new, never buys anything that's even remotely prepared. And she said she was in Whole Foods, it was in a satellite freezer and the packaging grabbed her. So she picked it up, she flipped it over. There are three ingred. This is not a woman who would normally spend $7 on a bag of frozen fries. So, you know, between the merchandising and the packaging and the ingredients, they really have something special.

[D]

I mean, it looks like a restaurant quality product. Even just the packaging and all that, you know, you're getting good stuff and the product delivers. I mean, I think that's probably the best French fry I can remember having in like a long time.

[A]

I find it's interesting that they were able to differentiate via their packaging via the fact that they were using avocado oil. I thought the introduction of a beef tallow French fry was something that I didn't think would work. And clearly I was wrong. And I've been poo pooing on beef tallow for a while and maybe I shouldn't anymore.

[D]

But this is an actual place where like fries are cooked in beef towel.

[F]

Right.

[B]

The McDonald's french fry. Right. Is originally, isn't it?

[D]

I mean, a lot of like, you know, in New England, all the fried fish places, a lot of them use

[A]

beef tallow, but most people don't know that. And in the uk, beef tallow is the traditional way to fry fry fish. Sure. So when they have fish fries, it's traditionally cooked in beef tallow. I don't think many people know that though. And when you see beef tallow on the package, it's not necessarily something that I think is, is attractive at this point to most consumers.

[D]

Then get the avocado oil one bro, they made two SKUs just for you.

[A]

I'm not. I'm not saying this is a bad brand. I'm not saying these are bad products. I'm not saying that this isn't going to do really well. Clearly they're doing well. Clearly they're able to raise a lot of money. I'm just saying it's a little surprising to me and Jesse and Benz is certainly not the first entrepreneurial frozen french fry brand. Right. Why is this working in particular? I'm not exactly sure.

[B]

You know, I think RFK Jr and the MAHA movement do have something to do with people being more familiar with beef tallow, his carnivore diet and ferments, or whatever. So I think more people are aware of it.

[C]

I'm just wondering what Ben's going to do without Jerry.

[A]

Oh, I see. Because Ben left Ben and Jerry's to join Jesse and Ben's. That's the joke Mike was trying to. Yeah, listener got it.

[C]

They're groaning.

[A]

Instead of going any further with this, I'm going to advocate that our listeners go and read the article penned by our very own Adrian DeLuca on nosh dot com. It was an exclusive when it dropped. It's just titled Jesse and Benz locks in $10 million. So look for that on Nosh.

[D]

I mean, also, just go try the fries. They're pretty damn good.

[B]

You won't be sad.

[A]

Look at you. Look at you.

[D]

I don't get a cut or anything,

[A]

but you're a big fan of this brand.

[D]

Also. What I like about it is that it feels like another place where, you know, we haven't really seen a well funded, kind of emerging brand go after that space in a while. So, you know, as we've talked about this before, there's a lot of dollars tied up and like, I don't know, sad bags of french fries.

[C]

I really hope Jesse and Ben's is one of those brands that DMS you for the. For the address.

[D]

I mean, if not, I'll buy the stuff. I like it.

[C]

It's good.

[B]

And fries are something you don't want to make at home. Like, who's frying French fries in their kitchen?

[A]

I fry them occasionally, but you know what I fry them in?

[D]

Wesson.

[A]

I traditionally fry them in olive oil. Now here I am. I'm just gonna. I'm gonna eat my own olive oil.

[C]

I can't Latif standing next to Florence Henderson out of my head right now.

[A]

You're dating. You're dating yourself.

[D]

So many problems.

[A]

You're dating Yourself, dating yourself doesn't matter.

[C]

Everyone knows I'm old and.

[G]

And nice.

[A]

But no one knows what Weston is and no one knows who Flores Henderson is.

[D]

I picture you with a giant like, handle jug smoking a cigarette too.

[C]

You're wishing you said Florence Henderson, aren't you?

[A]

No, I'm saying that I do have handle jugs of olive oil at home. And yes, you can fry. You don't need to. You don't need to deep fry it.

[D]

Smoke points too low, bro.

[A]

Yeah, but I fry them in olive oil because I like the flavor it gives to the french fries. And here I'm going to eat lava

[C]

oil, though the smoke point's a lot higher.

[A]

I'm going to eat my own words about commodity brands and commodity categories, because what has been one of the most remarkable CPG brands launched over the past five years. Graza.

[D]

You. You make your french fries in Graza?

[A]

Sometimes I'll use. Wow, the grass.

[C]

And people are going,

[A]

no, I mean,

[D]

look, he uses the most expensive, the drizzling oil, only just like 14 bottles to make one batch.

[A]

If you go to not meant for cooking, I'll just say this. If you go to any Mediterranean or Middle Eastern home, they will use olive oil to fry it. Potatoes, sure. And so it just. It's a. It's a much more delicious flavor than soybean or seed oil or what have you. And Graza has really stood out among the brands that launch in spaces that you've seen no innovation, you've seen no excitement, you've seen no real mainstream consumer brand stand out in those spaces, particularly in olive oil, with the exception of Graz. And now other brands are coming into the space as well. Brightland has done a fantastic job of separating itself from the pack.

[D]

And they've been around. I wouldn't say they're.

[A]

They're not new, but they've been around

[E]

for what, six years?

[D]

Yeah, I mean, they're like. Same time as Grazm.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Right then. So you know Graza right now I'm looking this up on the Internet, and the Internet's always right. So Graza's valuation at this point is $240 million, which is pretty amazing for a brand that's only five years old. And Graza has also done a really good job of partnering with other brands to launch limited time offerings. They've done stuff with Rhine, they've done stuff with Ourobora. I could name a million other collaborations that they've done. Most recently, they've doubled down on potato chips. And so recently I Got sent. Oh, here you go. You guys are gonna eat your words here. Four new varieties or four varieties of their potato chips that are cooked in what, a hundred percent extra virgin olive oil. How about that? Potatoes cooked in olive oil. Okay, first. First of all, this is crazy. First of all, stop the show.

[D]

I won't defend myself. You can fry a potato chip way faster.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

Than a French fry.

[A]

I was gonna hand you one. Yeah, but you're. You're.

[C]

I have a sense that Ray's gonna cut a bunch of this.

[A]

Okay. No, I'm not.

[B]

The packaging is beautiful, isn't it?

[A]

Okay, so they have a zesty Caesar. I feel like you're a zesty.

[B]

Oh, for sure.

[A]

Okay, that's Melissa's.

[D]

Give me the.

[F]

Right.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Okay, we have a classic. Give me the Bevna Red classic sea salt. We have a hot and sweet.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

And then the final one here is a sea salt and vinegar. Sea salt and vinegar, John.

[D]

No. Hot and sweet. Come on.

[C]

You're sour John

[A]

and Mike, would you like to see? Okay, here you go. One, two, across the studio cheese express

[D]

bag wasn't already open.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

So zero days without casualties.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

So Graza, it was, I think it was two years ago when they launched a potato chip for the first time, and people were excited about them. They were limited time offerings.

[D]

They were good.

[A]

And they did them one year and they did them next year, but they were only around for, I think, three or four months. And so it's really exciting that Graza has launched this new line, which I believe is a permanent addition to their portfolio. They're going to debut in Target as a Target exclusive in checkout lanes at Target, which is really cool. Yeah. So very exciting stuff.

[C]

This chip was so big that I missed.

[B]

Yeah, they're big chips and they. The zesty Caesar is so tasty.

[A]

Yeah. As Grazi describes it, the chips are cooked in 100 extra virgin olive oil with specially sourced yellow skin, yellow flesh potatoes, resulting in a richer flavor and distinct melt in your mouth. Crunch. Wow. We have so much asmr.

[C]

As you can tell. These are so crunchy. They're really good.

[B]

Yeah, but not crunchy like a kettle chip. Like, they're not greasy.

[A]

By the way, I might be in the minority here. I don't like kettle chips. I'm sorry. I'm just gonna put that out there. Really? They're too crunchy.

[C]

No, I like them a lot.

[A]

And there's too much oil in them.

[B]

They're a little greasy.

[C]

Your moss is old ass ear muffs.

[D]

You strike Me as a Funyuns kind of guy.

[A]

No, that's our dear colleague Jackie Burglar. I was a big funy. Oh, no.

[D]

I saw Jackie, I don't know, two weeks ago maybe when we were in San Diego. She did say she would consider coming back for a very special episode.

[A]

Well, why aren't we doing that?

[D]

I don't know. That's your job, not mine.

[A]

Okay, we'll plan for September because we're going to be back in San Diego in September for a taste radio set San Diego meetup that's happening September 15th. The four of us will be there and maybe we can drag Jackie back on the mics as well, kicking and screaming.

[C]

I'm sure your takes on the latest mushroom products.

[A]

Just to wrap a bow on Graza. I don't know, I don't have the price point on these, but it is interesting that these will be in the checkout lanes at Target, especially for a full size bag. These are, what are, what are the size, what are the size?

[D]

5 ounces. Yeah, I mean, I would have imagined like a single serve bag, but I don't know.

[A]

I'm excited to see these. I wonder to our discussion about Jesse and Ben's, how much of a premium people are willing to pay for a commodity potato chip? This is not a commodity.

[D]

Don't call everything a commodity.

[A]

Excuse me. For a, for a brand that is participating in a commodity category, I think

[B]

the packaging will be a big draw. It really is unlike, I don't know any other potato chip bag I think I've seen recently.

[A]

Yeah, it's shiny. These are Caesar.

[D]

Wow.

[B]

Right?

[A]

That's really good.

[B]

Really good.

[A]

Wow. Okay. That's a rigging endorsement.

[C]

I like that. I didn't, I wasn't expecting to like it like that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

The bags have this nice sheen to them. They're mostly white and then the color that represents the flavor. So for example, hot and sweet is a mix of bright ruby red and white with the Graza logo large in the middle of the bag. The zesty Caesar is that forest green. The sea salt and vinegar is blue, and the natural or the, or the original is yellow.

[C]

So I mean, Graza, a brand that's known for great taste and quality. And they've done it again.

[A]

Yes, Graza has done it again. And I'm, I'm, you know, I'm pretty, pretty amazed by what they've done. And I always go back to the Elevator Talk episode that we did with Andrew Bennen, who is one of the co founders and the CEO Of Graza. And he was just in his closet on day one. Of Graza, the day at launch. He's in his closet with his laptop and being like, I'm kind of nervous. This is really exciting. And so on and so forth. And here he is helming a $240 million prank five years later. Congrats, Andrew. All right, we've got more products to talk about, including one that's in Mike's hand that he seems very excited about.

[C]

Yeah, I've got new tonic. Productivity drink.

[A]

New tonic. How do you spell that?

[C]

N, E, U, T, O, N, I, C. It's the unmistakable one with the third eye. The eyeball of focus, I suppose.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

This one's the Orange Sunrise. It's got, you know, stuff to help you focus, like ginseng and L theanine and caffeine. They sent us a bunch of other cool products, too. They sent us some focus pouches. Pouches are big now, you know, Think of, like, skull. Skull bandits.

[A]

You mean like a zin?

[C]

Yeah, like a pouch that you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is it nicotine?

[A]

Mike, you're dating yourself again by saying skull zin. Zins are what the kids use. Skull.

[C]

Wow. Wow, guys. Okay, I forgot that that was.

[A]

Okay.

[E]

Wow.

[C]

All right, so anyway, folks, we had

[A]

an explosion in the studio.

[D]

You've stained our rug.

[A]

And, Mike, stay in the rug.

[C]

Fortunately, it's not on the mic. It's on my pants. Fortunately, on my trousers, unfortunately.

[A]

Well, technically, it is on the mic, but. Oh, yeah, it's on you. The mic. And luckily, it didn't get on the Sellzo jersey, But we're gonna get a cleaning crew in here asap.

[C]

All I have to say is that was worth it. It tastes good. This is really good tasting stuff.

[D]

Oh, you know, he did.

[C]

They sent us toothpicks.

[D]

That was literally. He dropped that rolling on the floor about right. Three minutes ago.

[B]

That is true enough.

[A]

I say, what?

[C]

Toothpicks, pouches. And they also sent us some creatine sticks that I'm enjoying, too.

[A]

Interesting. So they got a. They got a whole platform for their nootropic benefits. Okay, nice. Yeah, nice. All right, we got some more.

[C]

Get focused, get swole.

[A]

More beverages. This one is in the hand of Melissa.

[C]

Hey, Melissa, shake that up.

[B]

I mean, why not, right? It's a celebration. This is a celebration. It's called Disco Fizz. I thought this was very interesting. The flavor I have here is lemon hibiscus chill. There's hydration, so it has electrolytes, energy from green tea, caffeine, and then there are three SKUs of disco fizz. This one is the cooling one. So there's eucalyptus and mint. I checked out the other skus that this company has. There's a warming skew that has ginger and. And then the one that I thought was the most interesting was the tingling skew. And the tingling skew has two ingredients that I don't think. I don't know that I've ever seen them before in general, never mind in a beverage. Buzz button flour and jambu.

[A]

Are those real?

[B]

Yeah, I'm just, like, making a bunch of stuff up here.

[A]

We wouldn't put it past you.

[B]

I'm just making up words.

[A]

Or maybe they made.

[C]

You are the inventor of the jam club, so.

[G]

Right.

[B]

I mean, I make up stuff all the time. No. And so I looked it up. Buzz button flower. They're often called electric daisies. They produce a unique, intense, buzzing, tingling, and numbing sensation in the mouth known for its pop rock effect. And then jambu, I looked up and also has numbing properties. I saw an article from the BBC about it. It's a Brazilian ingredient. It was described as interesting to kiss with. There's a kachasa that's made with jamboo that in that article, they des interesting to kiss with, so.

[C]

Well, shout out on Nate later.

[B]

Sounds like a part. Sounds like a party.

[A]

I am on a very thin knife's edge about this product because on the one hand, I'm like, this sounds really cool. On the other, I'm like, I'm totally terrified by this product.

[B]

Yeah, the tingling one. I mean, it's sort of like a Sichuan effect in your mouth. Numbing, tingling. And I mean, for a. I like numbling.

[C]

It's numbering.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It makes stuff up all the time.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

But it's positioned as a non alk product. And when people drink non alk products, oftentimes you want to feel something. So whether it's l theanine or magnesium, I mean, with this, you're definitely flower called again. Buzz button flower and jamboo. Yeah.

[C]

I almost said belly button flour, but buzz button flour.

[B]

I don't know. It could be belly button flour, but you definitely feel something.

[A]

Well, folks, if you have a person to make out with later today.

[B]

Disco fizz.

[A]

Consider disco fizz. Disco fizz. Does each person have to have a swig of disco fizz or just one person?

[B]

I think everybody's got to be.

[A]

Yeah, everyone's got to have. Everyone's got a little fizz going on. Okay, cool. Interesting. All right, John Craven. What's going on over there.

[D]

Well, Ray, I have some bars. I have caddy snacks. Caddy snacks I assume is like a play on Caddyshack. Of course, I don't know, maybe.

[A]

But there's a guy on the front of each bar.

[D]

Yeah, I don't know. He's got a cool looking mustache.

[A]

Yeah, Till dude, he looks like bull fighter.

[B]

It also looks like the Pickle. What's the Pickle brand with the guy with the mustache?

[D]

Oh, I don't know. Well, anyway, these are.

[A]

Moving on, moving on.

[D]

These are superfood bars. They have a chewy peanut butter and a chewy cherry almond. Seven grams of protein, real wholesome ingredients, very tasty. Took some of these on the road to Austin with me. Highly recommend.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

You are not always a bar guy. So that's a high endorsement. I mean I like high price.

[D]

I like a bar when it's, I don't know, just clean ingredients and tasty.

[A]

This is probably before your time, Mike, but did you know that? Yes, I did. There was a vertical that Devnet launched way back in the day called Bars are Food. Yes, it was a site that reviewed bars, protein bars and otherwise.

[E]

We got so many bars talked about

[A]

innovation trends in the space. Yeah, yeah.

[E]

Projo, winner of the 2025 New Beverage Showdown is launching their Power Coffee RTD's into every target nationwide this August. Experience powerful energy and great taste with

[A]

25 grams of protein and 225 milligrams of caffeine.

[E]

Visit idrinkprojo.com to learn more.

[A]

As business grows, financials get more complex. We put together a free guide in collaboration with Belay Solutions to help founders better understand margins, inventory and cash flow. Download it [e-mail] belay that's tasteradio.com b e l a y to help your business make smarter financial decisions. All right, let's get to our featured interview for this episode. As I mentioned at the top of the show, I recently sat down with Better Sour co founders Bella Hughes and Samira Niku to discuss the launch of their new line of real sugar gummies. Debuting exclusively at Whole Foods this summer. The entrepreneurs discuss how the brand extension moves Better Sour beyond its original low sugar offerings while maintaining its focus on bold flavor, plant based ingredients and foodie driven candy innovation. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now I am thrilled to be sitting down with Bella Hughes and Samira Neku, the co founders of Better Sour. Bella, it's great to see you.

[G]

Always a pleasure to chat.

[A]

Yeah, Sameer, great to See you as well.

[F]

Likewise. Great to be on, Ray. Thank you.

[A]

You know, this is the first time

[E]

I've done an introduction like this where

[A]

I've used the word thrilled. Typically I say honored, which I am clearly honored to be sitting down with both of you. But I'm truly excited about this one. I'm truly thrilled, as it were.

[E]

Better Sour has been one of the anchors in this space, and the brand is sold at some of the top retailers in the country, including Sprouts, Albertsons, Costco. But what we're talking about today is one of the most influential retailers in the country, or at least this is going to be part of our conversation. That has been one of my dreams for Better Sour, and that retailer is Whole Foods. And the products that they'll be selling is a whole new line of products that I am just really excited to talk about. Bella, introduce us to this new line and tell us all about the origins of these products.

[G]

Well, thank you for the very warm intro, Ray. We really have to say we are also thrilled to be speaking about this because for Samira and I as founders, this is something that's lived in our head for probably a year and a half. A lot of product, you know, back and forth of creating this branding design. So many bench samples. And here we are a month before. We launched for a limited time this summer in Whole Foods nationally. And, you know, our brand this year in May is three years old in retail. We launched in 2023. So a really good time for us to, you know, develop this line extension. And what's unique about it is that it's made with pure vegan fair trade cane sugar and leaning heavy into our tropical roots. As you may recall, we were lucky enough to be born and raised in Hawaii, so. So we're launching in three flavors. A mango, a watermelon, yuzu, and a lychee. And just so excited to bring this product to share with an even wider audience.

[A]

Yeah, and Real Sugar is a big step for Better Sour because since its

[E]

inception, your sugar base or your sweetener base has been lacking sugar. Sameer, tell us about this step to

[A]

introduce real sugar to the brand.

[F]

Well, first of all, we've seen a big move in general and with consumers moving toward, you know, your real ingredients, like sugar or tallow or milk. And so we really wanted to make sure we are addressing that part of the market. But stepping back, the whole reason for being of Better Sour is about flavor. We are really targeting a customer base that has been massively underserved when it comes to Candy. And these are people we call, for lack of a better term, foodies. People who get excited by the new restaurant opening in their neighborhood, who are passionate about flavor just as much as they are about quality ingredients and are looking for new flavor profiles. So first and foremost is about that and then secondary great ingredients. But we don't define ourselves by any particular ingredient profile, although we have all the good stuff stuff in our candy. So we wanted to make sure we increase our tam and make sure that we are having something for all foodies out there. Everyone can indulge in better sour. It's not just those who want a low sugar, intensely sour option like our current original wine, but something for the customer base that shops at Whole Foods or who wants something that has a more mild tang to it, that's sweetened with real cane sugar. Some folks just love the taste of cane sugar. And what's really exciting about this line extension is that it will be at a more accessible price point as well. So our current product line lands in the $3 range, which is consistent with others in the better for you set, but this one will be about a dollar cheaper.

[E]

Bella, as you lay on a background of your new line extension, I see the watermelon, yuzu and lychee behind you. I wonder about Whole Foods, and this is sort of a chicken and the egg question.

[A]

Did they approach you first? Because allulose, as our listeners know, is

[E]

not an approved ingredient for products that are sold at Whole Foods. And I imagine they would want a brand like Better sour on their shelves,

[A]

but because of their rules, couldn't have

[E]

your products on their shelves.

[A]

So were they really interested in helping you create this new line extension, or was it, you know, your interest in being on their shelves? And I imagine, you know, you'd obviously

[E]

want to be in Whole Foods, but

[A]

how did that situation work out?

[G]

Yeah, really wonderful question. And I, you know, we'll have to be super transparent and say for us, we always had the vision of being the best sour, gummy candy brand candy with sophisticated sours. And I think from inception, this was in the back end and what we wanted to do. Eventually, Whole Foods didn't come to us. We are two gritty founders. We have been pitching this product. This was not the first try, happy to say. I think a lot of founders probably have the story that it takes a couple tries. So the innovation has been rolling in the background. Really, really excited they accepted it. And they're our first retailer we're launching with. But that's a little bit on you Know how this came to be for the upcoming launch.

[A]

Samira.

[E]

I'm really excited about these products, and I think I'll probably be eating the original better sour gummies and these new real sugar gummies. Perhaps at the same time, maybe I'll just mix everything into a big bowl and just start chowing down on everything. However, you wonder sometimes about new brand extensions or line extensions and the, I guess, potential challenges of cannibalization and whether or not, you know, your existing customer base is going to move to purchase of the new products.

[F]

Frankly, not at the moment. I mean, we'll, I'm sure, learn a lot in the coming months. But these two product lines are so distinct, and they're different flavor profiles. So the. The new line really leans into the tropical. So I think people are going to find the flavors that they like between all our various offerings and probably lean toward those. And it's, you know, it has a lot of the same ingredient qualities like high fiber or no artificial flavors or dyes and all the good stuff, but some people like the taste more of cane sugar or more of a mild tang. There are folks who are really passionate about an intensely sour candy. So those folks will probably lean toward our original line. So I don't think so. And, you know, retailers have different preferences. We hope one day these may live in the same place, but it's possible they'll live at different retailers, different skus. So not at the moment, but I'm sure we'll have a lot of lessons to learn in the coming months. Bella, I'm curious to hear your take.

[G]

No, I have to say, just like, early tasting with, you know, additional buyers across the country. It's been really, really interesting that folks that found our current product, you know, maybe a bit too tart. We have, like, the sour heads, I'd call them. Like, we definitely like sour enthusiasts here. They're like, oh, I like this. I can do this one. It's a little more mild, pleasant tang. And then other people are like, oh, I know, I need that really sour hit. So they want to go to the other, you know, the original product that we've got right now. I think the beautiful thing about the line extension is that, you know, a lot of the base ethos are still there. Our commitment is always to be vegan colors from plants. And by virtue of being a vegan product, both have a really nice amount of fiber. So excited to just see how they harmonize together as one big family, but really wanting to become the sour candy brand of the 21st century and just, you know, playing in a different lane by not only going after the low sugar version of candy, because right now, where we kind of tend to be placed with and some of the other wonderful brands in the field, we all are selling one thing. Although we're distinct by being sour and candy for foodies and global flavors, it still is a much, much smaller market with a heavy focus on that super low sugar content.

[E]

You both have described Better Sour as a modern take on the legacy brand that I'll just say it, it's Sour Patch Kids. And, you know, I travel a lot and whenever I go into an airport convenience store, I'll see just endless amounts of Sour Patch Kids. And it's hard even for me who tries to eat healthy to turn away from those products because they taste so good and they're so sour and they're frankly delicious.

[A]

But I think Better Sour has this

[E]

great opportunity to take share and to take interest and demand from products and brands like those. Because of this new line. It's at a more accessible price point and a taste profile that is in line with what a lot of mainstream consumers might want to see. Does the vision of, you know, being a modern day Sour Patch Kids, is it sort of fulfilled by this new

[A]

line, do you see it as being

[E]

the key to unlocking that mainstream audience that you so, you know, desperately want to reach?

[F]

In some ways, yeah. I mean, what's exciting is that there is a mainstream audience for us to reach, but there's also a hugely underserved market that we have been reaching and with this will continue to reach. So there are folks like you, Ray, or like my husband who do still love Sour Patch Kids and occasionally indulge, but there's.

[A]

I hate myself for it, by the way. Every single time I bite into one,

[E]

I'm just very disappointed in what I'm doing. I'm eating, but miserable while I'm doing it.

[F]

Well, then we got to make sure to get you some of these bags of our sour shells very soon. We got to put a stop to that. Yes, but there are others too, like Bella and myself, who found that the candy of their childhood didn't grow up with the way their palate changed and moved on from candy. We're bringing them back to candy because we have, you know, the options that we have. They're going to like something of, you know, be the flavor or the nutritionals of our various offerings. They're going to like something in there. So this just allows us to reach a better market. Being the mainstream consumer or the not so mainstream who's been turned away from candy. Just increasing our time and making sure more, more people can indulge.

[G]

It does seem to have an easier sort of leap if you're the first time trading up from Sour Patch Kids to something better, you know, just with maybe more recognizable sweetener being pure vegan cane sugar that just, that might just be a little bit, a little bit easier for, for someone to just step up. But you know, I think the other thing too about this line that is really, really interesting for us is as we've built better sour holistically, we're always looking, whether we're going to a mula retailer or a natural one at the chocolate aisle. It's so obvious and apparent that there is chocolate and sophisticated flavors for grownups wherever retailer you're in across the country. But, you know, going back to Samira's point of this foodie customer, you know, gummies, it just tends to be remaking a healthy version of something what's already in the market. So I think that relentless commitment to people that have more sophisticated global palates, that love to eat, adventurous eaters that, you know, continues to be reflected with these tropical, inspired flavor offerings.

[E]

I think the affordability component is a big part of it too. Nowadays you go into a grocery store, any grocery store, you buy a couple oranges and a head of lettuce and it's a hundred dollars. And so people are definitely feeling that and they really have to be cautious and thoughtful about what they're spending their money on.

[A]

How much does the affordability piece of

[E]

this new line play into the larger and long term vision for better sour?

[F]

Huge. I mean, we're very cognizant. I mean, we see the prices, we know a lot of people are hurting or have had to tighten budgets, and we want to make sure indulgence is still accessible and quality ingredients are still accessible. So this is our take on that and making sure our customer base can continue to enjoy and have different options in doing so.

[E]

Bella, I've known you for some time and it seems like every time I speak with you and Samira, you're really enjoying yourselves, you're having a lot of fun. And I think innovation can be the most exciting part of being an entrepreneur. It can also be some of the most nerve wracking and challenging because you, as you pointed out, have wanted to address the larger, addressable market for candy and this new line allows you to do so. But for our audience, who and folks who are struggling with the type of innovation that is going to make a mark for their brand and going to advance their brand or take that brand to the next level. Talk about the focus that you've had for this, the intentionality and the strategy behind launching a new line like this.

[G]

Well, I think the most strategic thing Samir and I have to do all the time is say, no, not yet. Because the brand is, you know, only three years old. We are still very young. And one of the joys of working together and being lifelong best friends is, you know, we just have a bountiful amount of ideas and creativity and I'm sure all founders do. Being a founder is a highly creative process. So really having the diligence to wait on launching the innovation, make sure you've got something, you know, rolling and working. We've seen incredible growth with our current line. By the end of the year, we'll have done five different Costco regional rotations, which, you know, is just such a great brand confidence builder and also a really great marketing of just holistic, better sour brand awareness. When it comes to this slide, we look always at a lot of data that we see coming out of the National Confectionery Association. We're members of the ncaa, so they do an annual report. We've continued to see, you know, our ethos, flavor, global flavors only rise in interest and in value, particularly to our core consumer audience, Millennials and Gen Z, which also are the top consumers of non chocolate chewy candy where gummies fall into. But the other thing we began to notice, and I think Samir touched upon it earlier, is holistically across cbg, this return to just premium whole, I want to call them good old fashioned ingredients before the world start putting high fructose corn syrup in and that's kind of where cane sugar falls. But then when you look at just the sugar market, you know, there is a lot of data in confectionery that, you know, it is growing and expected to grow. So I think leaning into our instinct, the values of the brand, but also always looking for those data points that, that an organization like NCAA may be putting out.

[A]

Yeah, it seems like the analytical and

[E]

the anecdotal go hand in hand and really were both critical in the case of the new line. You know, being in those five Costco regions, being in Sprouts, being in Albertsons, being in the air with United and hearing consumers feedback and reactions to your products and what they're asking for and

[A]

also just seeing the trends out there

[E]

and, and what's really lining up for consumers in terms of ingredients Formulation and flavors. And I want to end on flavors because that's really what it's all about. If you don't have taste, you don't have anything. When you talk about introducing new flavors like a watermelon yuzu or a lychee or a mango samira, it's critical to get that flavor right and make sure that it actually tastes like how it's described, how it's packaged, how it's labeled. How do you get flavors so right?

[A]

And you really do.

[F]

Well, thank you, Ray. Appreciate that. Because that's the part that we spend the most time resources in our R and D on, because, I mean, that's our core, the flavor. And I lose count of how many times we go work with our flavor houses, sending them samples, different fruits products, to make sure that we hit those right nodes. You know, something like mango. There's so many different types of mango out there, all different flavor profiles. So which flavor profile are we trying to capture? So making sure that they have the right examples to really capture the flavors that we love, we grew up with. So appreciate you for pointing that out, because when it comes to flavor, that is the core of our brand and where we spend everything on.

[A]

Yeah, if there's a through line to anything, it's that better sour always has

[E]

incredible flavor in addition to sour, in addition to some fiber. And there's some fiber in these bags, as well as 7 grams of fiber. Your original line is 15, but I think 7's good with me.

[A]

I assume 7's good with a lot of consumers.

[F]

That's why you could have two packs for the same amount of fiber.

[A]

There you go. Oh. See, this a true entrepreneur. Don't just have one, have two.

[G]

There you go.

[A]

I love it. Bella, Sameera, thank you so, so much

[E]

for taking the time. I'm just, just, as I mentioned, thrilled for both of you and thrilled for this launch. I'm just really excited to be able to go to my local Whole Foods, pick up a couple bags of Better Sour, and just eat both of them in my car on the way home. I'm serious about that.

[A]

It's really exciting, and I know it's

[E]

been a long time coming. It's taken a lot of work, but I'm just. I'm really happy for you guys, and I think this is really going to do a great thing for your brand and for the industry as a whole. You know, people are looking for products like these at accessible price points with real sugar, and you're delivering that, all of them.

[G]

Thanks, Ray.

[A]

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 Kratchi, our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our Social Marketing Manager is Amanda Smerlin, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is Bevnett Taste Radio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to Ask Asteradio. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time.