Time To Rethink THC… And DTC?

Summary

Taste Radio: "Time To Rethink THC… And DTC?" — Episode Summary

Date: June 26, 2026
Hosts: Ray Lateef, Melissa Travers, Mike Schneider
Theme: Contrasting business strategies and industry trends in food and beverage, with a focus on regulatory challenges in THC beverages, successful DTC-to-retail expansion, product innovation, and emerging categories.

---

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into two contrasting growth stories in the food and beverage industry:

• Breeze, a cannabis-centric beverage brand, and its efforts to navigate looming federal THC regulations while growing beyond intoxicating ingredients.
• Stars and Honey, a protein bar brand successfully leveraging its direct-to-consumer (DTC) foundation for a national Target launch.
  The hosts also explore recent innovations and trends, from Rice Krispie treat-style snacks to Shirley Temple kombucha, and discuss the importance of flavor and functionality in new food products.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Regulatory Headwinds: The Future of THC Beverages

• Background:
  • THC, including hemp-derived cannabinoids, is accessible in various formats and has recently appeared in mainstream retail such as Target—though a potential federal ban looms for November 2026.
• Impending Change (07:42–08:55):
  • New regulation would limit THC to 0.4mg per container, effectively making most functional doses impossible.
  • Quote [08:08], Melissa Travers:

    "...0.4 milligrams of THC total per any unit or container will be what's allowed. And that's absolutely nothing. That's like the head of a pin..."

• Industry Reaction:
  • The hosts express frustration, noting the hypocrisy of alcohol regulations versus the restrictions on THC.
  • Mike Schneider [09:38]:

    "...this is just gonna hurt farmers... the beverage industry... so many people."

• Breeze's Situation:
  • Former rising star in cannabis beverages, now facing both the regulatory cliff and internal restructuring. Reported $90 million in revenue, over 10,000 retail stores, but slowed by regulatory and growth pains.

2. Strategic Pivots: Beyond THC for Breeze & Market Positioning

• Brand Diversification:
  • Breeze is betting on a “Trojan horse” approach: launching non-THC, adaptogen- and nootropic-infused beverages to build broader mainstream appeal (12:13–13:29).
  • Reference to similar earlier play by CANN with their “Unspiked” line; ultimately discontinued.
  • Key challenge: Will customers buy the non-THC versions if regulation wipes out the original product’s unique “feeling”?
• Packaging and Placement:
  • Discussed whether Breeze's adaptogen line can compete with modern functional beverages.
  • Quote [14:29], Ray Lateef:

    “...putting us between Celsius and Olipop is really framing us in the correct placement, which you're talking about a fitness centric energy drink and prebiotic sodas. And I'm not sure how Breeze fits right into the middle of those two.”

3. DTC to Retail Success: The Stars and Honey Case

• Big News:
  • Stars and Honey, a little-known protein bar brand, lands a national Target launch and a $24 million investment from VMG; notable for their strong but relatively under-the-radar DTC business (15:15–17:41).
• DTC Approach as a Growth Engine:
  • Three years of online sales allowed deep consumer insights and iterative product refinement.
  • Melissa Travers [16:24]:

    "...they've grown the business on D2C for three years. They know who their consumer is. They've iterated... and now they're launching nationwide with Target having all of that research..."

• Product & Branding:
  • Dessert-forward flavors (e.g., cherry chocolate waffle cone), moderate protein (15g), emphasis on clean label and taste.
  • Unconventional, “confusing but cool” logo and advertising strategy.
  • Big investment going toward expanded manufacturing and out-of-home marketing for retail debut.
  • Mike Schneider on branding [18:09]:

    "The letter blocking in the logo is horrifying and I love it. ...If you can read that it says Stars and Honey, you're doing a great job."

4. Protein Bar Trends & Consumer Drivers

• Samsara Protein Bars:
  • Indian-inspired flavors (masala peanut butter, spiced chai), 15g protein, 2g sugar, vegetarian and gluten-free (19:50–25:34).
  • Discussion on what drives purchase: flavor as chief motivator, with nutritionals (protein, sugar) as supporting factors.
  • Melissa Travers [21:26]:

    "I eat protein bars when I want a candy bar, but I don't want to eat a candy bar."

  • Mike Schneider [22:20]:

    "If the packaging is interesting, I want to at least check it out... interesting flavor, interesting packaging, the right amount of protein..."

5. Emerging Trends & New Products Spotlight

• Shirley Temple Kombucha (26:02–27:47):

  • GT’s Synergy Kombucha in Shirley Temple flavor, part of Unity Artist Series, featuring a Cherubundi tart cherry collaboration.
  • Melissa Travers:

    “It really does. It tastes like a Shirley Temple. Like you'd want a Shirley Temple Kombucha to taste. I think it's delicious.”

  • Noted explosion of Shirley Temple flavors in the functional beverage sector.

• Better-for-You Rice Krispie Treats (28:15–30:28):

  • Little Bucks launches buckwheat-based crispy treats—“better Rice Krispie treats”—with great flavors and attractive, “dynamite” packaging.
  • Shout-out to founder Emily Griffith.
  • Ray Lateef:

    “It's high time that we had a better option for the Rice Krispie treats... If you want a much healthier option... Little bucks.”

• Ice Cream & Pickleball Crossover (30:28–32:28):

  • Protein Pine Trees releases a new “Protein Pops” line, wittily paired with branded pickleball paddles for promo.
  • Mishap: Their samples lost due to a freezer breakdown, but hosts highlight the power of creative PR tie-ins for awareness and brand connection.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On THC Regulation:

  • Melissa Travers [08:08]:

    "...that's absolutely nothing. That's like the head of a pin compared to what you experienced at the Rose Cafe, Mike."

  • Mike Schneider [09:51]:

    “...when you've got alcohol running free... this is just gonna hurt farmers. It's gonna hurt the beverage industry. It's gonna hurt so many people.”

• On DTC-to-Retail Playbook:

  • Ray Lateef [17:04]:

    "If you are able to identify your customer, why they buy your product, why they're loyal, who that person is... the impact that can have on a retail rollout, on raising money... is a pretty powerful look at one brand that has done it seemingly very well.”

• On Protein Bar Preferences:

  • Melissa Travers [21:26]:

    "I eat protein bars when I want a candy bar, but I don't want to eat a candy bar..."

  • Mike Schneider [22:20]:

    "For me, if the packaging is interesting, I want to at least check it out..."

• On Trend Evolution:

  • Ray Lateef [27:07]:

    "Shirley Temple is... the ultimate non alcohol cocktail."

• On the Rice Krispie Craze:

  • Mike Schneider [29:49]:

    "...everything good about a Rice Krispie treat, but you feel like you might be getting a little nutrition in there too..."

• On the Power of Brand Storytelling:

  • Multiple hosts highlight how brand narratives, founder stories, and creative promotions (like pickleball paddles with protein ice cream) can build long-lasting relationships and recall.

---

Segment Timestamps

• 00:10 – 03:39: Show kickoff, Summer Fancy Food Show invitation, “Elevator Talk” segment preview, light banter
• 04:49 – 10:08: THC in beverages—current distribution and looming regulatory issues
• 10:09 – 14:29: Breeze’s evolution, DTC-to-mainstream transition, strategy of launching adaptogen lines
• 14:30 – 15:10: Market positioning: functional beverages, comparison to Celsius, Olipop
• 15:11 – 19:50: Stars and Honey: DTC success, Target rollout, investment, branding, and expansion
• 19:51 – 25:34: Protein bars: Samsara tasting and discussion on drivers of purchase in the crowded bar category
• 25:50 – 27:54: GT’s Kombucha x Cherubundi Shirley Temple, flavor trends, collaboration discussion
• 28:15 – 30:28: Little Bucks and the “better for you” Rice Krispie treats trend
• 30:28 – 32:28: Protein Pine Trees, pickleball paddles promo, power of play in food PR
• 32:35 – 33:46: Farewell shout-out to Sample Captain Colin Segrew

---

Closing Thoughts

This episode of Taste Radio provides a vivid snapshot of the food and beverage innovation landscape in 2026—regulatory twists, channel strategy pivots, flavor obsession, and the ever-present hunt for new “better-for-you” snacks. The wit, banter, and candid product reviews between hosts keep the conversation lively and insightful, making the episode a must for industry followers and brand builders.

---

Transcript

[Mike Schneider]

Foreign.

[Ray Lateef]

Hello 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 hosts Melissa Travers and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we compare two contrasting growth stories, Breeze and the cannabis centric beverage brand navigating regulatory uncertainty and growth beyond THC and Starz n Honey, the protein bar brand that earned a nationwide target launch after years of refining its D2C business. We also discussed GT Kombucha's playful take on a Shirley Temple flavor, the rise of better for your Rice Krispie treats, and an ice cream brand's pickleball inspired care package. So most of us, actually all of us in this room, are off to the summer fancy food show in New York City this weekend, which Begins on Sunday, June 28 and goes till Tuesday, June 30. If you're attending the show, if you're exhibiting at the show, please let us know. Send us a note on LinkedIn, IG or you can email [e-mail] we would love to see you. We're going to be recruiting for Elevator Talk, lots of our early stage brands exhibiting at the summer fancy food show. And we would love to have you join us for an episode of Taste Radio via our elevator talk series. If you're not familiar is a series that profiles early stage and disruptive brands from across the food and beverage industry. It's an hour long show. We feature five brands per episode, 10 minutes for each brand, and we feature a co host who is an expert in finance, retailing, distribution, what have you who can offer some feedback, advice and insights about your brand and business strategy. So once again, if you're attending the summer fancy food show, please let us know. We want to see you. We want to recruit you, of course. We want to also see you at our upcoming events, Bevnet live, Nosh live, and our Taste Radio meetups which are happening across the country.

[Mike Schneider]

We should make the elevator talk army, like tartan army.

[Ray Lateef]

Oh, I like that. I like that.

[Mike Schneider]

Make some kits.

[Melissa Travers]

We need kilts too. Can we have kilts?

[Ray Lateef]

We have to do something different though.

[Mike Schneider]

I feel like no party.

[Ray Lateef]

Is that what they say?

[Mike Schneider]

No. Well, they, they will. They're gonna. They're gonna sing about you.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah. You know, seeing the Scottish folks and their reaction to Boston made me love Boston a little more. I feel like I was a little down on Boston, but.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, they definitely seem to praise the city in a way that was a little Unexpected. Typically, you don't hear that Boston is the most welcoming city. No, it's the most friendly city. And that's all the SC talk about. least that's what we saw in the news. Now maybe there's some tweet out there that's like, this is the worst experience I could have ever imagined. Boston is S H I T. But you know, that's one out of 10,000. Probably.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah. And I never think of Boston as being a place where people go to party, but I'm glad that.

[Ray Lateef]

Wait, wait, wait.

[Mike Schneider]

What?

[Melissa Travers]

No, I don't. I think everything closes early. People here like grumpy. No, I know, but I just, I feel like we were infused with the spirit. Spirit of partying.

[Mike Schneider]

You're missing something though. There's a kindred spirit between Boston and Scotland because they both beat England.

[Melissa Travers]

Right? That helps.

[Mike Schneider]

The Scotland. England banter is fantastic coming from a guy.

[Ray Lateef]

Next level loves a London based team.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah, I love it. I mean, I'm, I'm still with England, man.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay, fair enough.

[Mike Schneider]

I want England to win the World Cup.

[Ray Lateef]

Do you?

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay.

[Mike Schneider]

But you know who Scotland wants to win? They want Abe to win. Anybody but England.

[Ray Lateef]

Oh, I never heard that before.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah, just talk to a few of them.

[Ray Lateef]

So I'm sipping on this drink at the beginning of our episode here. It's called Nutonic N E U T O N I C. It's described as a productivity drink and the tagline is fuel your focus. It's got a bunch of ingredients that are designed to, I assume, enhance brain health. Is that a thing? Brain health.

[Mike Schneider]

Cognitive ability.

[Ray Lateef]

Cognitive ability. So it's got cognizant, it's got rhodiola, rosea, panax, ginseng, l theanine and 120 milligrams of natural caffeine. This is their strawberry lemonade variety. It's got zero grams of sugar, comes in a 12 ounce slim. Can I mention this drink because a I wanted to test it out and listeners can let me know if I sound somewhat more coherent and smarter by the end of the show or if it didn't work at all. But you know what, Please send Your

[Mike Schneider]

responses to askatasteradio.com Yes, I can only

[Ray Lateef]

imagine the emails going to get. But I also want to mention this because this brand was recently reviewed as part of Bevnet's weekly product reviews. These are the official product reviews that are featured on bevnet.com on a weekly basis. And I encourage folks in the beverage industry to send products to our office and you can find our address on our website, bevnet.com, and you can find out exactly how to address the package so that it reaches our product review team. Same with Nosh, we do product reviews on nosh.com as well. So if you want to find the address, if you want to find all the information about how to submit your brand for a official review and official review. Head to bevnet.com or nosh.com for more details. I mean, you know, we offer some semblance of a review on tasteradio.com, excuse me, on Taste Radio, a weekly basis. But these are. These are starred reviews. These are officially starred reviews.

[Melissa Travers]

This is a finite review.

[Mike Schneider]

Yes, I just say DNS or something like that.

[Ray Lateef]

DNS meaning does not suck, which is the highest rating you can have on Taste Radio for a person.

[Melissa Travers]

It's a cfd, right?

[Ray Lateef]

Yes, the CFD is the highest.

[Mike Schneider]

Chill dude.

[Ray Lateef]

It's the highest word or name you can offer someone in the industry. It means chill effing dude.

[Melissa Travers]

Right?

[Ray Lateef]

Yes. Now, what's the gender equivalent for. For chill dude?

[Melissa Travers]

I. I would say in that respect that that's an all gender.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay. You know, gender neutral.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[Ray Lateef]

Fair enough. I like that.

[Mike Schneider]

My daughter calls her friends bro. So I think, yeah, I think you

[Ray Lateef]

can go down bro.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah.

[Ray Lateef]

What happened to bra? I thought bra was the, the new term.

[Mike Schneider]

Bro bra, whatever. Yeah, they use them both.

[Ray Lateef]

When you were toking back in the day, Mike, did you call your toast buddies bra or bro? Mike never.

[Mike Schneider]

Yes, right. Both.

[Ray Lateef]

Mike never touched cannabis until 2019, and then he had a real serious reaction to it. Everyone knows this.

[Melissa Travers]

Everyone literally. The meltdown has been mentioned at the

[Ray Lateef]

Rose Cafe 115 times on taste Radio.

[Mike Schneider]

It tripped balls at the Rose Cafe.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, I, you know, look, it's pretty ubiquitous. You can get THC anywhere these days. You can get THC via the traditional rolled up smoke version of thc, AKA a joint where you can get topical THC lotions and whatnot. You can even get THC in olive oil.

[Mike Schneider]

Get it in Target right now until November at least.

[Ray Lateef]

You can get THC in beverages at Target. Certain targets, that is.

[Melissa Travers]

Yep. Go Minnesota and Florida and Texas.

[Ray Lateef]

You touched on something there, Mike. You can get THC at Target until November.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah, Ray, until November, when the ban goes into effect or presumably goes into effect.

[Ray Lateef]

Presumably goes into effect.

[Melissa Travers]

There's a looming regulatory change. Hopefully we won't see that completely turn over. I'm hoping that it won't. And I'm sure so many Other people in our industry are hoping that it won't.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah. As we've mentioned on the podcast in the past, there is a federal ban on THC beverages and consumable products looming, and it is slated to hit in November of this year. It is a very controversial topic amongst folks in the industry, especially those who market cannabis products, and that includes a brand called Breeze B R E Z.

[Melissa Travers]

It really is a serious change right now. Under, under the farm bill, hemp is regulated by weight. But starting in November, if the change goes through, the regulation will be that 0.4 milligrams of THC total per any unit or container will be what's allowed. And that's absolutely nothing. That's like the head of a pin compared to what you experienced at the Rose Cafe, Mike.

[Mike Schneider]

Well, that was dispensary grade stuff. I mean, the ridiculous thing about this is you don't hear anything but stories of people finding joy after discovering 5 milligrams of cannabis or 2 1/2 milligrams of cannabis in a, in a beverage.

[Melissa Travers]

And this is 0.4 milligrams, which I can't imagine anyone would feel anything from that.

[Mike Schneider]

Also, when you talk to our editor in chief, Jeff Kleinman, who I would consider my cannabis Sherpa along with John Landis, he, he says basically, you know, this cannabis, the hemp derived cannabis, is made from cannabis that was grown to make rope, not to get you high. So it's like basically the Bud Light of cannabis. Anyway, it has very little impact and it's pretty great in general for people who need an alternative to alcohol, who. People use cannabis for a lot of different reasons. Medical grade cannabis helps a lot of people. It's just good to take the edge off a little bit. Have two or three of them. You might end up in the couch. But still, I don't know. I think it's pretty ridiculous when you've got alcohol running free, which again, I'm also for alcohol running free with regulation, you know, 18 and over sort of thing. But I don't know. This is just gonna hurt farmers. It's gonna hurt the beverage industry. It's gonna hurt so many people.

[Melissa Travers]

And obviously THC beverages allow you to feel something almost immediately, just like alcohol. There are so many non alcohol alternatives. But the trick is, do you actually feel anything immediately from the L theanine or ashwagandha or, you know, magnesium, whatever it is.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah. Not like those mints you gave me and then I felt them later.

[Ray Lateef]

Those are strong.

[Melissa Travers]

Right? But with beverage though, you do Feel it immediately.

[Mike Schneider]

I think it's pretty immediate onset, like 10, 15 minutes.

[Melissa Travers]

Right. So it is a good trade in for an alcoholic beverage.

[Ray Lateef]

Just circling back to Breeze for a sec. You know, Breeze was one of the fastest growing brands in the industry. A couple years ago we gave it an award, Bevnet, that is for a. What's the term that we use? Rising star.

[Mike Schneider]

The award for outstanding achievement in the field of excellence.

[Ray Lateef]

Exactly. No, a rising star award. And it seemed to be a rocket ship. And according to an article written by our colleague Lucas Southard about Breeze, they had a challenging year in 2025. They described themselves as growing a little too fast, too far. Despite that, they still pulled in 90 million in revenue and they're in 10,000 retail stores. But of course they're facing a potential reckoning as well in November and they're trying to determine the right course forward because they not only market THC drinks, right, they've diversified. They have non infused TH drinks which are infused with adaptogens and nootropics. And Breeze has described these drinks as a quote unquote Trojan horse into mainstream retail, introducing consumers to the brand without the baggage and regulatory uncertainty of intoxicating hemp. Now note that Breeze is not the first THC brand to attempt this strategy. Can C A N N, which is one of the pioneers of this space, introduced a line extension or brand extension called Unspiked. These products did not contain any thc but they were able to get the can brand out there and on shelves in major retailers because like Breeze is attempting to do, they wanted to get that name out there. They wanted to get the word out there about can itself. Unspiked, however, hasn't been on the market since, according to, well, our little research here, 2023.

[Mike Schneider]

So I tried to buy some just now. The website's still up, but when you get to the checkout, it ends.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah, and they haven't posted anything on Instagram about this on Spikeline since 2023. So I suspect it's not something they are pursuing anymore. And it'll be interesting to see if Breeze. Now look, Breeze launched their Unspiked or Uninfused line a couple of years ago as well. And I don't know how well it's doing in comparison to their THC line. But if come November they can't sell THC anymore, how many people are actually going to buy they're on infuse products? I don't know.

[Mike Schneider]

I don't know. It's a good strategy though. I Mean, you saw Tripp who was struggling with CBD regulations in the US and they pivoted into Adaptogens and calm and well, you could certainly see Breezes Adaptogen products sitting next to Tripp and making a pretty strong category. They're both, you know, fantastic beverages.

[Melissa Travers]

I think as always it depends on how good the product is. So the non THC line, if it tastes good, if the functionality actually resonates with consumers and you know, all the check boxes. Yeah. I think the trick is though is that consumers who are familiar with Breeze's THC line, if they're expecting to feel something while they're drinking the product, I think that's tricky. But at the same time, if it tastes great and it offers something that other modern sodas, other functional beverages don't, then they have a great chance.

[Mike Schneider]

They did go similar route to Trip too. The packaging isn't that much different than the original packaging. It's just differentiated in whether it has THC or whether it has Adaptogens. I think it's a good path for Breez because they've built up some brand equity. They are a brand that's supposed to give you that chill out impact and so the uninfused versions are supposed to do the same thing. I think they do. I mean in my, in my experience it's a good product. So I think they have a chance. They have a good team.

[Melissa Travers]

Speaking of the team right now, as they're pursuing this non THC line, they're also doing a lot of restructuring within the company. So Aaron Nosbich, their CEO has stepped down from that role. I think they're slimming the team down a little bit. Right now they have 10 products. So you know, I don't know if they're going to slim those down as well, but it'll be really interesting to see how all of this reorganization will coincide with them promoting the non THC line.

[Ray Lateef]

I think it really will come down to positioning. How do people see and perceive Breeze as a brand? And it was interesting. Toward the end of the article there are new CEO talked about how he would like to see the brand move out of the non alk alternative set and closer to modern soda and functional beverages. This kind of threw me for a loop. He said, quote, putting us between Celsius and Olipop is really framing us in the correct placement, which you're talking about a fitness centric energy drink and prebiotic sodas. And I'm not sure how Breeze fits right into the middle of those two. What just happened There, I just got

[Mike Schneider]

some, I got some lumen in my.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay.

[Mike Schneider]

Down the wrong pipe.

[Ray Lateef]

So we weren't laughing at the idea of putting Breeze in between those two?

[Mike Schneider]

No, no, I think it's a great idea.

[Ray Lateef]

There you go. All right. So, well, anyway, for the full story on breeze, head to bevnet.com Much more information about the brand and where it's headed in this story by Lucas Southard. Also big news. I was thrown for a loop on this one because I had never heard of this brand before. It is a brand called Stars and Honey that is launching a Target nationwide. But as part of this announcement that they're launching nationwide in Target, they also picked up a $24 million investment from VMG. From VMG, which is a very well known and very successful private equity fund. I mean, they've had many funds, but it's a firm that has had a lot of success over the years and $24 million is nothing to sniff at. I mean, that is a big number, especially for, once again, a brand that I'm not familiar with. And look, I'm not the be all end all of cpg, but it's kind of strange.

[Mike Schneider]

That's only because Stars and Honey are not on Wayne wu's pants yet.

[Ray Lateef]

Oh, that's perhaps correct. Wayne Wu being one of the founders of vmg. Yes.

[Melissa Travers]

I was introduced to Stars and Honey by a friend of mine who said that he had found the best tasting protein. And this isn't someone that necessarily gives me food recommendations, but he was talking about how much he loved this protein bar and how it tasted really good. And so I looked them up and went to order. But you had to order a full case. And I don't really eat protein bars that often, but I think it's the way that they are going about this business. They've grown the business on D2C for three years. They know who their consumer is. They've iterated through DTC and through those channels and now they're launching nationwide with Target having all of that research and information underneath their belt.

[Ray Lateef]

I mean, it is really interesting if you are able to identify your customer, why they buy your product, why they're loyal, who that person is, and the fact that they are buying not only on a regular basis, but being a loyal ambassador for your brand, talking to other people about Stars and Honey, the impact that can have on a retail rollout, on raising money. I mean, I can't claim that it's a case study for how to build a brand online and eventually go into Retail. But this is a pretty powerful look at one brand that has done it seemingly very well.

[Melissa Travers]

And you know, their value proposition is that it's a product that tastes great. Their flavors are dessert forward. Like there's one that's cherry chocolate waffle cone. They have 15 grams of protein. So it's not like a David bar. It's not a wild amount of protein. They're clean label. But what they lead with is the flavor. And I think that there's so much competition in this category. If you can get a bar that tastes really good and has the nutritionals that you're looking for, then that's a really great start.

[Mike Schneider]

The letter blocking in the logo is horrifying and I love it.

[Ray Lateef]

It looks.

[Mike Schneider]

It's so confusing. It looks like something I doodled in high school and I hate it, but I love it so much. And the ads are really cool too. It's a really clean package. The geometry is beautiful in it. But the ads, like have the flavors kind of exploding out of the bar. So you have to see the mint cookies and cream one in particular. It looks really cool. But I think they're just going with a little bit of confusion here. Like the first look at this, if you can read that it says Stars and Honey, you're doing a great job.

[Ray Lateef]

Which will be interesting as they introduce the brand new consumers at Target. They've identified that retailer as. What's going on right now.

[Mike Schneider]

That's the cookies exploding out of the bar. Now I want to in the ad, it's cool, right? Looks good.

[Ray Lateef]

But yeah, they've identified the Target shopper as aligned with their current shoppers, their current consumers, and feel like there's a lot of synergy between the two. And in addition to this rollout at Target, they are in the process of expanding into a new 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility. So I assume that's where a lot of that $24 million is going to go to as well, is building this, this manufacturing plant.

[Melissa Travers]

I also read that they are doing a lot of out of home advertising to support the Target launch, which I think is interesting is they're expanding into their first retail locations. I always hear about out of home as being a really tricky thing because it's really hard to track roi. But I'm wondering if that approach was informed by their D2C consumers. And of course, with all of the Target locations, they're trying to draw traffic to those retail stores.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah, very interesting. We'll continue to follow this story. You can read about Stars and Honey's expansion and investment on nosh.com in a story pen by our very own Monica Watrous. In the meantime, I want to talk about another protein bar brand that I recently saw upstairs. It's called Samsara S A M S A R A. It appears to be a protein bar brand that is influenced by Indian flavors and cuisine. They have two varieties that I'm holding in my hand. They have a masala peanut butter and a spiced chai. Beautiful packaging. They're kind of on the smaller side for protein bars, which I like because, you know, I don't eat a huge.

[Mike Schneider]

But they're dense.

[Ray Lateef]

But they are dense. They each contain 15 grams of protein and 2 grams of sugar. But it got me thinking, got me wondering, why do you guys eat protein bars? Why would you. Is it because protein bars.

[Mike Schneider]

Why would I eat them?

[Ray Lateef]

No. Is it because. Why would you be interested in buying a new.

[Mike Schneider]

What makes me choose a protein bar?

[Ray Lateef]

What would make you interested in buying picking up a new protein bar? If you saw one, say, at Target? Would it be the fact that a brand like this Sansara, has pretty unique flavors. I've never seen a masala peanut or a spice. Maybe a spice chai, but I've never seen a masala peanut protein bar. Is it the actual protein count? This is 15 grams. Is it the low sugar count? Is it the packaging? You can't say everything. But if there's one thing to.

[Mike Schneider]

And I will.

[Ray Lateef]

No, no. But if there's one thing that you, as, you know, a focus group of one or two or three here, what would motivate you to be interested in? Pick this up.

[Melissa Travers]

So for me, I eat protein bars when I want a candy bar, but I don't want to eat a candy bar. Really. The only ones that I buy are the mezcla bars, and I specifically buy the green tea.

[Mike Schneider]

Those are good.

[Melissa Travers]

They're so good. They taste delicious. They're low sugar. I don't really even care that much about how much protein and I also really care about whether it's going to ruin my stomach because sometimes you get a gut bomb. And who wants that?

[Ray Lateef]

I just want to point out the medscal bars. That's a really good call, Melissa, because I think there's a lot of people who want a candy bar but want a protein bar, want something in between. And mezcla is a really good sort of in between there. It's not very heavy at all. You could crunch on that thing and be done with it without much effort. A protein bar. Sometimes you gotta chew on that thing for a while before you finish it.

[Mike Schneider]

Mosh bars also come to mind.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah, for sure.

[Mike Schneider]

For that. You like those too?

[Melissa Travers]

I do, but I, I think the Mezcla bars are closer to what you're looking for.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah, for me, if the packaging is interesting, I want to at least check it out. Certainly I'm looking for 15 to 20 grams of protein in a protein bar. Because you asked about protein bars, I don't really use them as a candy replacement. Like, if I want candy, I just go for it, which is a problem for me. But if I pick it up and it has interesting flavor, interesting packaging, the right amount of protein, and as you said, Ray can't have too much sugar. But I just don't want a lot of crazy alternative sweeteners either. So I'm looking for clean ingredients.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, I mentioned all this. If you look at the SARA packaging, the first thing you see is the flavor right at the very bottom.

[Mike Schneider]

That's the most important thing.

[Ray Lateef]

Flavor at the very bottom. Almost. You know, under the base of the wrapper are the macros, the 15 grams of protein and the 2 grams of sugar. So in this case it's clear that they're going for a consumer that's looking for different kinds of flavors that are out there.

[Mike Schneider]

The flavor's the hero there, and then protein bars next.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah, but is this the right approach?

[Mike Schneider]

I think those are nice matte, premium looking packaging. So you, you see that and you, you ask yourself first if it's a chocolate bar.

[Melissa Travers]

Right, Exactly.

[Mike Schneider]

It looks like a chocolate bar.

[Ray Lateef]

But this will be positioned in marketing, of course, in merchandise with others still,

[Mike Schneider]

it looks like a premium piece of chocolate.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay.

[Melissa Travers]

And you know, I also think nowadays it's really easy to find convenient, delicious, fun foods, you know, wherever you are. So if you're going to choose something like a protein bar that you can keep with you, it should look good and taste good. If you're choosing that over food.

[Ray Lateef]

It is food though.

[Melissa Travers]

It is, but I mean, it's like, but it's like compacted food. You know what I mean? It's compacted food.

[Ray Lateef]

I know, exactly.

[Mike Schneider]

Bars are food, Melissa.

[Melissa Travers]

I know, I know.

[Mike Schneider]

Bars are food dot com.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah, Go to the web app machine. Yeah, Sansara. I keep calling it Sansara. I'm sorry. Samsara. S A M. S A R A.

[Mike Schneider]

Isn't there a long A too Samsara?

[Ray Lateef]

It could be.

[Melissa Travers]

Mike, you said you tried these.

[Mike Schneider]

I tried them. They're fantastic. Like they're nice and dense. They definitely hit the spot, I think it's 210 calories. And after you eat one, you feel pretty satiated.

[Melissa Travers]

What's the consistency like?

[Ray Lateef]

There you go.

[Melissa Travers]

Oh, thank you.

[Mike Schneider]

You should give it a try. The density of it pays off. It's chewy.

[Melissa Travers]

Here we go.

[Mike Schneider]

It's got peanuts.

[Melissa Travers]

Very tasty. Not as chewy or dense as, say, an Rx bar, but it definitely has some density to it. I actually think these aren't dissimilar to a mosh bar.

[Ray Lateef]

Oh, interest.

[Mike Schneider]

They're not that dissimilar. I would say that's kind of like consistency wise, power Bar version 5, like what you wanted them to be in the beginning.

[Melissa Travers]

And I love the fact that there's only 2 grams of sugar and it has really great flavor. I don't miss it at all.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah.

[Mike Schneider]

What do you think of the call outs on the back? Do those speak to you?

[Melissa Travers]

Gluten free, no artificial sweeteners. Vegetarian. South Asian female. Founded the Vegetarian. That's not something that I would typically worry about in a nutritional bar.

[Mike Schneider]

Does that mean it's pea protein or what's the protein?

[Ray Lateef]

Well, as opposed to egg whites or it's whey protein.

[Melissa Travers]

So it's vegetarian but not vegan.

[Mike Schneider]

But not vegan. Okay.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah. I think they could probably change out the vegetarian for something else.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, at the end of the day, I want to know more about this brand. I want to meet its founder. So if you're listening, Elevator Talks, Samsara's founders, who I once again apologize for calling it Samsara. Yeah, reach out to us. We'd love to feature you in a future episode of Elevator Talk.

[Mike Schneider]

Let's do it now.

[Ray Lateef]

Melissa, you've got by your side here a beverage that I have wanted to try for a while. And by a while, I mean a week because it only launched a week ago. This is GT's newest product, which is.

[Melissa Travers]

This is Synergy. It's the Unity Artist series, and this is the Shirley Temples. Q. You actually can't try this because I grabbed it out of the sample fridge. I think there were like nine of these in our cooler and they disappeared.

[Mike Schneider]

Gee, I wonder where they went.

[Melissa Travers]

They disappeared immediately. I did actually get to try one when they were in the cooler. I think it's so tasty. They did a collab with Cherubundi, so it's enhanced with Cherubundi's natural tart cherry juice. And it really does. It tastes like a Shirley Temple. Like you'd want a Shirley Temple Kombucha to taste. I think it's delicious.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah, that stuff's fantastic. I mean, the previous iterations of Unity were also really good, but I think the Cherubundi collaboration is excellent. And of course, they're just capitalizing on the Shirley Temple trend.

[Melissa Travers]

Isn't it amazing to see how these trends roll out? I mean, how many Shirley Temple SKUs did you see out in market two years ago and now you see it everywhere.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah. And how many flavor companies could have told us it was coming?

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah, right, exactly.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, look, I think it's in line with other trends that we've been seeing, which is the reduction of alcohol consumption. Shirley Temple is, you know, the ultimate non alcohol cocktail.

[Mike Schneider]

Nostalgic flavors.

[Ray Lateef]

Nostalgic flavors, Just differentiated flavors. If you don't want a lemon lime soda or if you want Shirley Tumbler Bomb Pop, you know, but if you're of legal drinking age or I would say anywhere between 15 and 25, I feel like the Shirley Temple flavor is right up your alley for that generation, for that age group and how long it lasts, you know, we'll see. But really cool to see GTs get together with Cherubundi. I don't know if this is their first brand collab like that. I can't recall seeing them or hearing about them do one like this.

[Mike Schneider]

I can't remember a collaboration either. I would say this is one of

[Melissa Travers]

the first, at least.

[Mike Schneider]

Yeah. Good job. Thanks to GT and the Synergy Kombucha team for sending those over.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Schneider]

And we're out of them, so if you'd want to.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, there is one more left.

[Mike Schneider]

One left in. Ray and Melissa are going to have a stone circle.

[Ray Lateef]

No, no, no. The sample team needs to. To taste this product.

[Mike Schneider]

Sample team has tasted it.

[Ray Lateef]

I don't know about that.

[Mike Schneider]

I do, because I put some of them in the sample team.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay. Anyway. All right. Mike's got some bucks. More specifically, he's got Little Bucks.

[Mike Schneider]

Our dear friend Little Bucks, Emily Griffith, the founder of the company, is also a genius.

[Ray Lateef]

Just give our audience a little bit of information about Little Bucks.

[Mike Schneider]

Little Bucks is a brand of sprouted buckwheat snacks. Snacks.

[Melissa Travers]

Regeneratively farmed buckwheat.

[Mike Schneider]

Thank you, Melissa. Emily Griffith has been the poster person for Buckwheat for how long has this brand been out now? Has it been like five years?

[Ray Lateef]

I want to say it's been five or six years. I remember Emily. Yeah, I want to say this was 2020 or 2019.

[Melissa Travers]

And, you know, I remember Emily and Lilbucks on, I think when we Were doing virtual nosh live. We did a brand refresh live with Lil Bucks.

[Mike Schneider]

We did. That's right. Last Expo west marched over to her booth and found out that she'd come up with the idea to make Lil Bucks into a Rice Krispie treat style product. And oh my God, are they fantastic.

[Melissa Travers]

They are so good.

[Ray Lateef]

They're really, really good. And the packaging is dynamite.

[Mike Schneider]

The packaging is dynamite. Everything about this hits 90 calories. Which one you got there, Melissa?

[Melissa Travers]

I have this strawberry shortcake.

[Mike Schneider]

I'm going for chocolate.

[Melissa Travers]

It's so good. It's got some, I think freeze dried strawberries in here. It really does taste like a rice. Everything good about a Rice Krispie treat, but you feel like you might be getting a little nutrition in there too, but not at the expense expense of the flavor.

[Mike Schneider]

Emily's one of the nicest people you can meet. She's like so humble. You just walk up, you're like, you're a genius. Thanks.

[Ray Lateef]

I am really loving this. It's not really a trend, but the number of brands, snack brands that are getting into the Rice Krispies business, ETR Nation is another one. They make these what they describe as superfood crispy treats. They are delicious.

[Mike Schneider]

They're awesome too. Yeah.

[Ray Lateef]

And it's high time that we had a better option for the Rice Krispie treats which are still pretty amazing to eat. But if you want a much healthier option.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah.

[Ray Lateef]

Little bucks.

[Mike Schneider]

BTR 3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, gluten free, non GMO and vegan.

[Melissa Travers]

Amazing.

[Ray Lateef]

Nice.

[Mike Schneider]

Well done, Emily and team.

[Melissa Travers]

Their blueberry Lil Buck squares are one of my absolute favorite snacks of all time.

[Mike Schneider]

USD organic too.

[Ray Lateef]

Very cool. All right, well, I got to apologize to the fine folks from Protein Pine. So Protein Pine trees is a maker of ice cream that is infused with extra protein. Introduced a new brand extension called Protein Pops. These are, as you might expect, protein ice cream on a stick. And they sent along with some samples a pretty incredible.

[Mike Schneider]

What?

[Ray Lateef]

Oh, God. Pickleball everywhere. A pretty cool set of pickleball paddles and balls and yeah, I can't wait to eat these. No, we're not gonna play any studio.

[Mike Schneider]

No, Melissa and I can play.

[Ray Lateef]

Yeah, these are really nice. They're really high quality. I am really excited to use these. I was probably more excited to eat the Protein Pops, but once again, I, I already referenced this. Apologies to the team. Our freezer broke down and we lost the samples.

[Mike Schneider]

Unfortunately, we had to put them down.

[Ray Lateef]

We did have to put them down.

[Mike Schneider]

We had to put the samples down.

[Ray Lateef]

But Every time that I play pickleball with these paddles, I assume because they are branded paddles, I'll be thinking of the brand and try to find, like, the pop. To try to find an opportunity. Well, that's the whole point. Try to find an opportunity.

[Mike Schneider]

I understand the point, but, Ray, you might bite into one of those when you're serving.

[Ray Lateef]

Oh. Because they. They do have some. Oh, look at that. Yeah, they do have. This looks very appealing.

[Melissa Travers]

It does.

[Ray Lateef]

It looks very pickleball, right? No, I don't. But it looks like a very textured protein pop.

[Mike Schneider]

You Melissa, a little pickleball?

[Melissa Travers]

No, but I would.

[Mike Schneider]

Okay.

[Melissa Travers]

If I had paddles.

[Ray Lateef]

What Mike is trying to say is that he wants these paddles, but Melissa is probably more worthy of these paddles.

[Mike Schneider]

I'm not saying I need. I don't need those paddles.

[Ray Lateef]

You can have this towel that they sent with us to dry your. Yes. One, two, and three. We got it.

[Melissa Travers]

I can picture myself trying to play pickleball with the actual ice cream bars.

[Ray Lateef]

Okay. Mike just covered his entire head.

[Mike Schneider]

This is what you all wanted anyway. All right.

[Melissa Travers]

Much better. I'm just kidding.

[Ray Lateef]

Kidding.

[Mike Schneider]

Improvement.

[Ray Lateef]

Before we wrap up, I want to give a shout out to one of our teammates. His name is Colin Segrew. We know him as sample captain. Colin. He's moving from Boston to Hoboken, AKA Metro New York, and we're going to miss him. And I just want to say that Colin's been one of the best and most consistent and reliable teammates here at Bevnet for a very long time. Clearly, he's not leaving the company.

[Mike Schneider]

He's not leaving the company.

[Melissa Travers]

But we'll miss his presence in the office.

[Ray Lateef]

Absolutely. We're gonna miss his presence in the office. And I really hope he continues.

[Mike Schneider]

I'm gonna miss sample captain S P R E S E N T S. Because he brings samples in my office, like, every day.

[Melissa Travers]

Yeah, that's right.

[Ray Lateef]

And also he has great Instagram content at Sample Captain.

[Melissa Travers]

That's right.

[Ray Lateef]

I hope he's able to continue doing that. Where? How is he gonna get the samples in Hoboken? I guess I'll just have to go into bodegas and pick stuff out.

[Mike Schneider]

Barry's office.

[Melissa Travers]

He'll find where there's a will, there's a way.

[Mike Schneider]

He should go into to Barry's office and try all the samples in there. That's a good idea. For those of you who don't know, Barry's office is like a archive of old beverages. Basically a museum of old beverages.

[Melissa Travers]

Colin is the epitome of a cfd.

[Mike Schneider]

If you think Ray has a museum, you should see Barry's office.

[Ray Lateef]

Well, you said it. Well, Melissa. If there's a will, there's a way. And you know what? If there's a sample, there's a captain. Oh, God. 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 Inc. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Kratchi. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Gallang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinsky, 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 podcast, Apple 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 askaseteradio.com on behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time.