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Walk-In Talk Podcast
Inside the NRA Show 2026: Chicago, Royal Cup Coffee, and the Energy Behind Hospitality with Ashley Peeples
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- [00:00]
A
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Chicago. This city's a toddler in town in the best way possible. There's just this energy here. The food, the people, the architecture, the sounds of the trains rolling through the streets. It's got that old school Frank Sinatra kind of soul, but mixed with this modern edge that keeps everything moving. And honestly, every neighborhood feels like its own story. Connected by great food and hard working people. Enter in the National Restaurant Association 2026. This is where all of the action happens. This is where everything that happens in the food world takes place. This is something that you must experience if you work in this industry. And inside this show you have Royal cup coffee. And Royal Cup Coffee is the real deal. We're here with them. This is what we're doing. I like my coffee black. I don't put any sugar. I don't put any cream. And you know what? I don't sugarcoat this either. Follow along. This is the NRA 2026. We're here with Ashley Peoples from Royal Cup. Let's get into it. Ashley, my man. Like, we are 2026 National Restaurant association show. The NRA in Chicago. Welcome to the booth, man.
- [01:38]
B
I know this is kind of, kind of weird. I'm gonna feel like I'm in a fishbowl.
- [01:43]
A
It's. Well, you know what, it's pretty amazing because there's a lot of people. So for those, everyone in the audience right now, I'm looking out of this booth. There's people, there's cameras, there's a lot of folks walking by. This is actually pretty cool. Typically, we do our shows inside of our studio in Tampa, Florida, but now we are in the beautiful city of Chicago. How's the NRA going for you this year? Excellent.
- [02:08]
B
Awesome. It's always very energizing. Just you get to see customers, friends, peers, talk about our industry. It's just cool.
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A
But let's talk the meaning of energy, right? I mean, first of all, Royal Cup Coffee, we're talking about a company that's been around a long time. We're talking about relationships, we're talking about passion. Coffee is something that comes from your heart. This isn't something where we're selling pens. This is something that's intimate. This is something when you wake up in the morning, something you do by yourself. Typically when we're taking the NRA and we're taking Royal cup coffee and we're putting those together, all of a sudden there's an atmosphere and it's electric. Agreed. I agree 100% about that.
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B
Well, you know, you do coffee with people, you do it by yourself. Sometimes at home, you do it when you're going somewhere, when you're coming from somewhere. You do it in the morning, you do it in the afternoon. If you're a cold brew, maybe. And, yeah, it's a connection beverage.
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A
It goes beyond caffeine and it goes beyond hospitality culture. So I can remember when I worked in food service before this, before cameras and microphones and whatnot, I'd be an opener, and I would get to the restaurant at 6:30 in the morning. I had the key. I open the door, I go in. The first thing I do, hot.
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B
A coffee.
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A
Yeah. Turn on the light and turn on the coffee machine and make sure that's rolling. There's something about being alone in a restaurant and you hear the sound of the machine brewing and it's quiet and there's nobody in there. There's no noise, there isn't hustle, there isn't bustle, there isn't a printer printing tickets. And it's nice and calm. It's actually the quietest place on earth, believe it or not. Let's talk about how Royal cup coffee holds onto relationships like that. What's the value proposition for Royal cup in 2026?
- [04:10]
B
Well, we have a kind of internal rally cry, if you will. We call it gold, but that doesn't mean anything to anybody external. And our goal, excuse me, is for it to mean something to the folks outside. When they can explain it to us, that's when we know we hit it. And it is about relationships, and it's about doing what we said when we said we'd do it the way we said we would do it, et cetera. So, like I said, you can post that on the back of a business card or on your letterhead. But what really matters is when that chef in that restaurant, he's telling folks about our relationship.
- [04:47]
A
I've known you a good long time now. Every company has to work off of a spreadsheet and a KPI. We all understand that. But you guys are a little bit different in your approach. I know a lot of the folks on your team, and you're good people, communicative. And how do you take that into the kitchen? How are you Taking that to the client, to the chef, to the buyer, et cetera.
- [05:16]
B
Yeah, it's. It's important that we understand the kitchen, we understand the operations. You know, it's not just say, one page. Ours is better than theirs sales. And that goes a long way. I think, on the receiving end, the chefs, the folks in the operation, they appreciate it when you understand their business a little bit, and then you're solving their problems, not selling them what you want to sell them.
- [05:41]
A
So, as you know, I was in outside food service sales for a good long time. It's a special career path. It literally isn't for everybody. What is Ashley doing for mentorship? How do you bring it? Like, when you recognize it. Let me say it like this. When I was leading a sales team and I would see somebody that I thought had the, you know, the goods, I would make sure to spend the extra time with that person. But I wouldn't do it in a way where there wasn't any coddling. I was a little harder on those people because I really wanted to see if they were going to crack or not. Do you have an approach similar, I
- [06:24]
B
would say I had a supervisor, a boss, years ago, and he gave me my first opportunity to lead people, and he gave me a formula, kind of sorta. And it stuck with me to this day. If he hears this, he's gonna laugh. He said, half of your time needs to be spent with your people. And he said about 10% of your time is on strategy, and then the 40% of the time is removing hurdles so they can execute the strategy. And honestly, I think that's it. Just a lot of time with your people, and you'll find out who's good, who's bad, who needs coaching, who's fine.
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A
So I think there's certain products that are more difficult to. When we're talking from a sales or marketing perspective. Right. There's products that are a little bit more difficult to get out into the trade, to penetrate the market, if you will. When we're talking about coffee. For me, you know, I was in the coffee business, too, for about six years. I was a roaster. You know that. Not a lot of people do know that. That was one of the. That was one of the. I don't want to say the best. That says, for me, it was a very energizing, no pun intended, for caffeine, but it was a very energizing stretch of time for me because I got to learn so much about where. Where coffee comes from. It doesn't just come from A can, a blue can or something like that in your, you know, cupboard. Right. And if. And if most individuals knew what it takes to get a green coffee bean from a cherry in some faraway land in your house, it should cost a hundred dollars a cup.
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B
Yeah. And you're right. People do not understand what that journey looks like, but it is an amazing journey. When you think. And you said cherry, a lot of people don't know it's a cherry and it's the seed inside the cherry. But, you know. Right.
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A
And. And so for me, I'm a processes guy. I love processes. I love it. So when. If I go to a. A manufacturing plant or, you know, I love to see how everything flows and the operation, you know, whether it's a pneumatic or semi, you know, all of these different. All these different pieces of machinery, the equipment. When you go to, you know, Pereira, Colombia, or, you know, any. Anywhere around the equator where they're growing coffee, you don't really see any of that stuff.
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B
You see people.
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A
You see people and you see a
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B
lot of hard work.
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A
And boots. There's a lot of boots, right? Yeah. Have you been. Have you actually been? I had nod.
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B
No, though.
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A
Have you done your share? Have you ever. You've roasted?
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B
Oh, yeah.
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A
Okay. Your first crack and your second crack. Do you remember this? Okay. I used to. So I. I was a VP of sales and marketing at a company, but we were a small company. We had just gotten into Sam's and Costco, and all of a sudden everything exploded. Like, I'm not a roaster, right. I talk to people for a living, you know, that's what I do. But it was all hands on deck. I had to learn the process. I had to learn about. About how to make it happen. But I'm being taught by, you know, professionals, you know, and we even had farmers from, you know, where we had relationships in Colombia and a few other places.
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B
There were.
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A
Everybody was on deck for the training. Everybody was on deck for the explanation and the storytelling because everybody had to get signed up. Everybody had to drink the Kool Aid, if you will, Right?
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B
That's right.
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A
What's an experience for you from the manufacturing standpoint? That this. That coffee is special, you know, for
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B
us, with some of our customers, it's. They all want their own story too, Right. And what's important to them. So that's kind of a. If we're making blueberry muffins, it's a little different. This. We have the opportunity to do that, and we have customers that might focus on sustainability or female farming or whatever their thing is. And it's our, we get the luxury of helping them do that. And it's super cool because they're all unique, each one. And that's kind of unique. In the coffee side, I think World
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A
cup has a special story. Why don't you get into that?
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B
So 130 year company or birthdays is October. Recently, after 129 years of family owned, we sold the company to Bremont Capital. We did that so that we could do some things that we could do quicker with a different capital structure.
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A
But to be clear, it wasn't to cash out.
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B
No.
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A
And that's what's. So the folks who are in the know or in the beverage side of things, when they hear something like a. Because it's a big deal when a royal cup does something like this. Right. They need to know very specifically this wasn't to cash out.
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B
No. This was for the next 130 years.
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A
There you go.
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B
Yeah. So what it allowed us to do was we recently acquired Farmer Brothers, another company that looks and operates very similar to us. Also over 100 years old and really gives us amazing reach to do what we do really well. Even more so.
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A
So if it's me, I'm an outsider and I'm looking in, not like we're in this booth and I'm looking out, but like, you know, if I'm looking at the playing field here and I see an operation, make the sale, get the funding, buy the, you know, for all intents and purposes the equivalent company. And now you just did your double size. What did you do?
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B
It was almost exactly a double. Yeah.
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A
How does that position you in the market right now?
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B
We think. Well, obviously because we wouldn't have done it if we didn't. But we think it positions us for the folks that really mean a lot to us and we mean a lot to them, we can be even better. And it's. I, I'm, I'm hesitant to say bigger because it's really about being better. We have more reach. Our service network, in other words, the gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen out there fixing equipment. We're now much more coverage on there. Our ability to deliver with our routes, better coverage there, our ability to touch customers, whether it's a one location hotel or a restaurant. We just feel like it's going to give us amazing reach in not just the United States, but North America.
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A
Coffee is an old world product, but we're in 2026 and every year it's another year. Right. What's happening in terms of innovation in coffee and specifically with Royal Cup.
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B
Yeah, it is really interesting because there's so much going on and you know, being, because of what you do and who you do it with, all the cool things aren't invented by the big companies. They're invented by some chef in some small restaurant in Miami or Los Angeles or New York or Chicago and, you know, dirty soda or cold brew or whatever. And you start to see those things take legs. And companies like us and what we try to do is make sure that we're seeing those things and bringing them to folks in that need them in, in scale. Right. But there's a lot going on. No refreshers and, you know, whatever. But that's super cool because it's fun and you're not going to hit a home run with all of them. You know, we just recently rolled out ready to drink for one of our customers for a World Cup. I mean, it was just a great experience. So, you know, I'm in a, I'm
- [14:29]
A
in a weird spot. You know why? Because I, I enjoy consuming various foods. And whether it's a cocktail or a food or whatever, I, I, I love the flavor profiles and the nuances and it's a flowery note there. And, you know, I love all of that stuff. And you know, when it comes to coffee, what's really interesting about it is you're talking about like, if, like for example, Guatemalan coffee. That's my favorite coffee. I'm a fan, big fan. Same as Honduran. It's the same land. You know, the ground doesn't know that there's borders. Right. But at the end of the day, that's my favorite profile for coffee. I go through these phases where as much as I love coffee, I don't want to have it anymore. I need, I need a break. I kind of get to the, to the eyelids, but then I want to jump into something. Like you said, like a refresher. I want something that has the caffeine, but I want something that's gonna quench, you know, and I go through these phases and then sometimes I'm like, all right, I'm done with that. I'm back on the back on the sauce. I'm gimme back on the coffee. Right. How are you sitting with that? Same.
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B
Yeah, pretty. I'm, I'm, I'm less the refresher and all that. I go hot and cold, back and forth.
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A
Okay, so, so in the studio in, in Tampa, John Hernandez, he's my number two in the operation photographer by trade guy's amazing. He didn't make it. He couldn't make it up to the show. This for this year. Long story short, Cuban. Cuban American, Puerto Rican background this guy makes. I'm from Miami. We're all from Miami. This guy makes a cafe con leche that will knock your socks off. I mean, it's spot on. Probably the best cafe con leche that you're going to have anywhere. Every Thursday, I go to the studio, he makes me one, and I love it. Now we're getting into summer, I'm like, all right, where's the ice? Because that's what I'm doing. I'm making these things, I'm icing them out, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay. That's where I'm living right now. That's where I'm living.
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B
Well, I'm gonna come over on Thursdays because.
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A
Say it again.
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B
I'm gonna come over on Thursdays because I grew up in South Florida. So it sounds like a good time.
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A
Okay? So you know what I'm talking about, man. I went. I was about 30, and I was living on South Beach. I was living on, literally, Lincoln and Collins. And it was a. It was like a hotel condo, right? So it had. Downstairs where there was a cafe. Everybody in that place was Cuban, every one of them. I would go down every single day. I would either have a colada or a cafe con leche. I'd have a Cuban sandwich or an egg sandwich right off the. That was the best. That was the best living moments of my life. You know, obviously, I have family, I have kids, and I love them, and I would never change anything. But in my single moments in my life, that was it. That was the pinnacle of it, of it all. It was amazing.
- [17:24]
B
It's funny you say that, because a group of us were in Miami two weeks ago, and several of the folks with us had never been to Miami. And we were in, like, the Little Havana area. And I'm showing em. I'm like, you gotta look for the windows. And they're like, the windows. Like, that's where you get your Cuban coffee. You gotta. There's a window everywhere. And then they start looking and they're like, oh, my gosh, they're everywhere.
- [17:47]
A
So, all right, here's a funny story. So when I was about 20. Well, 20 years old, and I worked for a carpet cleaning company, and, you know, there were teams, so I had a partner, right? We had a van And a thing, we'd go around doing their thing. He was a little Cuban guy and his name was Mario and hardly spoke. He spoke English, but it was, you know, Miami style Spanglish. So he's like, hey, you, you know, you want to get some coffee? And I said, yeah, sure, why not? You know? So we stop into a spot, we go to the window, and he ordered the Styrofoam. This is my first time having Cuban coffee. So he orders the Styrofoam. And, and there was actually a few other people with us, so we had the little, the little shots and he lined them all up. So here I am. What do I know? I thought those were like little, little sample poppers. And he's like, just bang them down or something like that. I had about six or seven of these things. Right. And it was a very productive day for you. It was, it was really great because, you know, we did our thing, we get in the, we get in the truck, we go to the job site, and I don't know, about 20 minutes into this, like 30 minutes into this, I start sweating, right? I'm like, I'm like, something's, something's happening. And I found myself, I was, I was really, really making things happen. I was, like, overly productive for the day, but I also thought I was going to have a heart attack. I, I, you know, I, that was my entry point into Cuban coffee. Let's talk something. Royal Cup, 130 years old, making moves. And in today's age, in order to make certain moves, you have to be seen in places that you're not accustomed or normally being viewed. Enter in media. Enter into partnerships and relationships with media companies, I. E. Walk and talk media. What is it like for a 130-year-old company to begin transitioning into. Call it the social media, media, content creation side of things.
- [19:55]
B
Yeah, it's interesting because everybody could put a ad in a magazine that probably doesn't exist anymore. Personally, I love what's going on in media. I probably had the wrong word to describe it, but it's more of a conversation. Right. Printing words on a piece of paper, that's not a conversation. What we're doing right now is conversation. What you guys do is a conversation, and it stimulates much more thought. So we're probably, as 130-year-old company, not quite that great at it yet, but we're trying to, because the essence of what we do is we just want to have a conversation with folks.
- [20:34]
A
So if you're talking about conversation and we circle this Back to from a sales perspective, right? And let's face it, we're here at the nra. People are here to sell, people are here to be seen. Sell, make relationships, start the ball rolling. Salespeople need to be able to communicate without coming off like they just want a check. Right?
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B
Right.
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A
So the best way to do that is to storytell. And I don't mean making stories up, I mean to, to tell their story. And that's where the conversation comes up. And that's where that potential buyer, the chef, the F and B director, whomever it is you have to talk to, they can stand to see your face at that point.
- [21:18]
B
Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right.
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A
How is Royal cup bringing this feel of genuine to make this more genuine instead of transactional? How is the sales team approaching, approaching that?
- [21:32]
B
Yeah, it's, it's hard to put into like a formulaic thing, but I think culturally that's, that's where your culture comes down. And when I say culture, I mean everybody uses big marketing and buzzwords and all that kind of stuff. But we want our people to engage with our customers, our potential customers in an authentic way.
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A
Right.
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B
We're, we're talking about coffee. It requires equipment, it requires someone to fix it because if it's down, they, they're not serving customers. But really, I think ultimately it comes down to do they believe what you're saying? Did you do what you said? Did you do what you said? I'll give you an example. I had a customer conversation in the last six months. Coffee over the last year has been really strange. It's been at an all time high. It's gone down half as much. It's gone back up. We've had court strikes.
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A
Right.
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B
All of our raw materials come from other countries. We've had tariffs. We had tariffs again. We've had tariffs come down. We have, we think we're getting tariff money back. We have no idea. Right. So all that's going on, so we have this conversation with a customer, it's a great customer of ours, and we just had a conversation about it and what we're going to do and how we're going to do it and how we're transparent. I thought nothing of it. About a month later, I ran into this person and they looked at me and it was like, I really enjoyed this. And if she hears this, she's gonna smile.
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A
She will hear this.
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B
Yeah. She looked at me and she said, you know what? I really appreciate how authentic and how transparent you were on this. It really meant a lot to us. And again, it's. I don't know how you can make that formulaic. We try to make it culturally just be authentic. But that was, like, the most validating moment in the last six months for me, that they appreciate the way we approach it, and we try to emulate that across our organization.
- [23:31]
A
So I had Mike Lombardi come out, and, you know, he's a seafood distributor out of Orlando, and he was paired with one of our chef pals. And the long story short is we were talking about what it takes to have the relationship, and it comes down to answering your phone. It just comes down to being accessible.
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B
Right?
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A
So. And I know you, Ashley. I know you're hiring good people. So ultimately, it starts at the hire. It starts on bringing in the right team member. Right? And then they're going to do the right work and they're going to answer their phone.
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B
We hope.
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A
We hope. Right? So. So when the. When the. When the. Because at the end of the day, most people don't run out of coffee, right? I was in produce for 25 years, and, you know, fruits and vegetables disappear. And all of a sudden. And all of a sudden you have to, you know, let's throw stuff in your car and do, you know, bail them out and yada, yada, yada. That doesn't generally happen with coffee. But what does happen is the equipment breaks. Somebody has to be there for that. Oh, wow. So Pooch just walked in the door, and he brought me a cold.
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B
It looks like a very refreshing beverage.
- [24:42]
A
It does. I can tell you that. It's not a Medusa face. I can tell you that it's. Which one is this?
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B
Sweet cream.
- [24:52]
A
Sweet cream. Did you. Did you sip on this? Did you sip on this? Yes, I did. You may have Jaredy's prop. It's a prop. Thanks a lot. See, you know, for a minute there, I was like, look at. Wow. He did? Really? No, but it's. It was for him. Thanks. Okay. Okay. That's a most important man on the show, you know, but you know what? I'm gonna. I'm omitting all of the Pooch content right now. All right. I love you, baby. I'm only kidding. All right, so. So it comes down to the higher. It comes down to who you're bringing in your organization. When you do that properly, everything seems to fall into place.
- [25:30]
B
You're not wrong. You're not wrong. Right. Can I give you my reference on that?
- [25:35]
A
Well, yes.
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B
So I'm a Florida State guy. Sorry, everybody.
- [25:39]
A
Yeah. No, no. What?
- [25:41]
B
Oh, And a Bobby Bowden guy, clearly. I know, I know. You're the you. I get it. Back when I was in college, some reporter asked Bobby Bowden, hey, you know, you're doing really well. You, you just repeating victories and all that. What's the secret? And the secret to what you just said, he said, put the best 11 people on the field and get out of the way.
- [26:05]
A
And you could take that and you can extrapolate that or you can expand that from owner, CEO, founder, whatever, downward. Because when the guy or gal up top, when they hire their C suite folks, their middle management folks, all of them, if everybody is in alignment with what the company's culture is, provided it's a good culture, all of a sudden, everything just jives. Everything just works.
- [26:40]
B
Yeah, right.
- [26:42]
A
All right. You know, at the end of the day, Ashley, we are, we're, we are in a partnership. And, but, but here's the thing. I don't enter Walk and Talk Media, doesn't enter into partnerships with companies that are soulless, if you will. I have been working with companies like that all my life. And now that I have the power to pick and choose whom it is that we work with, I won't ever do that again. So when I say something like what I'm going to say now, which is Royal Cup Coffee is a real operation, it's a good operation. What I mean by good is in the heart. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not going to have anyone come to me and say, well, that's just because it's a brand partner. No, no, no, no, no. Because I don't allow bootleg people in the door. So that is the highest compliment that I can pay to you, sir.
- [27:43]
B
Yeah, thank you. I was thinking that in my head. That is a very nice compliment. And, you know, we hope we're doing those things that way. And it's, it's always great to hear someone acknowledge it, so to speak, and it's coming off that way.
- [27:57]
A
Well, listen, every company that's out there, and I don't care if it's the manufacturer, the distributor, the actual, the restaurant or whatever, whatever sector or spectrum, part of the spectrum of the, of the industry that you're in, somebody, you're going to mess the bed, it's going to have everyone messes the bed. But at that point, it's really, it's how you make the fix, what's the corrective action and that. And, and again, it comes back to, okay, there was a problem. Either be proactive on the problem. Or, hey, sometimes you can't be. Answer the phone. Make, make, do what you can do. Don't hide. The worst thing you could do is, is go to voicemail or just let it ring to voicemail. You, you have to take the call. Like, you have to take the call.
- [28:40]
B
And, and you're right, it's not the problem. Everybody has problems. I mean, we have problems every day. It's what you do about them and how quickly you do something about it and how transparent you are.
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A
If you were going to sum up what NRA ing this week, what you're looking for from it for Royal cup, what is that?
- [29:02]
B
Well, obviously, you always want to ROI on your spend because it's a big spend. But. And that is important. But what, what it really, what's really important for us is it's a place where we can see a lot of our customers at one time and have really good conversations. A lot of potential customers, a lot of partners, you guys. I mean, we have three partners in the booth with us as we. And really talk about business. And it's, it's go, go, go, go, go. Because, you know, we have the, we call them the brew CRE here before we get pummeled in the morning. And, and then you're there all the way to the end. But it's really about all those connections, right? Whether it's customers, potential customers, you know, partners, and just continuing to figure out ways to do better. You know, we, we have a thing, a saying in our company, like every day, 1% better.
- [29:59]
A
It's 1%.
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B
And you do that for 365 days, you're going to be a lot better.
- [30:04]
A
And you know what's funny about that? So first of all, I agree with that. That's, that's a terrific. And you're not hurting yourself. It's not a strain on the organization. It's not a strain on resources. You're not trying to create these artificial bottlenecks or whatever. You're. You're moving into it nicely. That's awesome. When you're talking about trade shows and you're talking about rois, you know what's funny about that? The, the amplification that you get at a show. And hear me out now, there are happy booths and unhappy booths. I've been doing this long enough to know that you're walking down an aisle and you see a booth and there's four people in there sitting down, staring at their phones. They're not out engaging. They're not trying to bring people in. That's a push that will push people away. You're creating this, this imaginary bubble, and nobody's going to go there. What is your roi? I want to acknowledge the fact that, first of all, the nra, this is like the super bowl of trade shows, but you still have to get out into the field and play. You have to still go out and make the effort to walk away with a win. I want to acknowledge that you guys, you made a decision because this is something you've never really done before. This is something new. What you did is by bringing us along for the ride, regardless of how busy or not a trade show is, your VIPs, all of the relationships, all of the folks that you invited to the booth to get the interview, to participate in with the media and the podcast and all that stuff, that's evergreen content that is going to live far beyond the four days of the show.
- [32:05]
B
Absolutely.
- [32:06]
A
And when you're thinking of it from that perspective, it's a great return. It's a great return. And it's a. And it's an ongoing giver. And it's smart. It's a smart thing to do. And I'm not saying it just because. And I'm not saying it just because, you know, it's so whatever. Most companies do not understand media, social media, an iPhone versus a Sony camera, they don't know any of that. And I know because I see, I see what's posted, I see what's put out there in general. It's scary, to tell you the truth. But I just wanted to acknowledge. Do I want to backslap myself? Sure, sure, whatever. But it's really not about that. It's really recognizing that you made a conscious decision, which is smart for 130-year-old company to do, to jump into the now, the 20, 26 of it right
- [33:06]
B
now, that was our 1% better that day. Right?
- [33:09]
C
We.
- [33:10]
B
We figured out, hey, we. We need to be more engaging. So. All right, look.
- [33:14]
A
So what's. What's new? What's coming up? What's new? What are we looking for from Royal cup this year at the show specifically, too.
- [33:22]
B
Yeah. New for us is first, integrate our new partners, our new cuppers. That's what we call every cuppers. Make them feel welcome so that we can be us and not us and them. That's the first thing. Cause culture's gonna matter so that we can touch our customers and potential customer care. So that's gonna be a lot of our time. Is that integration of the new company, the Farmer Brothers Organization, and Once we get past that, obviously during that whole journey, it's always about taking care of our customers. And I could sit here and tell you a lot of great new things. We have partnerships and things going on, but you probably don't want me to go on and on about that. But we're super excited about some of the things we have coming down the pipe.
- [34:06]
A
Well, what we have coming up next in our relationship, we're going to help you amplify that. We're going to get that to market in a, in a whole different capacity than you're accustomed to. So we're going to, we're going to continue that part of the conversation. How do people find you?
- [34:21]
B
How do they find us? Royalcup.com it's easy. Yeah, we're pretty easy to find my marketing guru sitting outside there. She's probably looking at me like, don't you know the answer to this question?
- [34:34]
A
I'll make sure that it's in the description. I wanted to thank Connor Stewart from NRA for inviting us out here and giving us the booth space and everything. Just wanted to acknowledge that. And obviously you guys, for Royal cup, you specifically, you know, the whole gang for, you know, Lindsay and everybody for, for making this happen and bringing us out. So for us, walk and talk media, this is a terrific trip and there's a lot more of this to come and we look forward to it.
- [35:03]
B
We look forward to it. You guys are great. It's been better than we could have thought of.
- [35:07]
A
So did you see the video? Did you see the first day recap video? It was amazing. It was cool, right? Yeah, it was.
- [35:13]
B
It was super cool.
- [35:13]
A
We're doing it different, man. Like we're not just out there. Again, I'm not out there with an iPhone taking pictures and stuff like that.
- [35:19]
B
We're.
- [35:20]
A
We're doing cinematic movie style recap videos and it's the coolest thing ever. This is, this is the life I wanted to live. I don't know what to tell you,
- [35:30]
B
but you don't want to go back to produce. You know what?
- [35:32]
A
Sometimes I do. I'll tell you the truth. I miss it sometimes. You know, it was a part of my life for 25 years, right? But this is something different. This is my baby, right? And I have an amazing team that without, you know, the will and the pooches and the John Hernandez's and the cows and the Jordans, all these, all these people who are on our team and then forget about our chef network. I don't even know if you know this yet, but maybe you did. But Chef Michael Colantis, Michelin star chef out of Orlando Saseki restaurant, he's part of the team now. He's got, he's got a one star Michelin and then he has his bib gourmand with another concept called Sushi Saint. Sushi Saint. And who's doing this?
- [36:12]
B
It's good stuff.
- [36:13]
A
Who's doing it? He's a team member. He's with us. Like, it's really amazing how.
- [36:19]
B
Thank you for everything, man.
- [36:20]
A
No, thank you. I appreciate you. You know, we're, we're 40 minutes in and you know what? I think we hit every data point. I think we talked about a lot. I think this is going to be a delicious episode, if you will. And you know, thank you. I appreciate you, man.
- [36:35]
B
Thank you.
- [36:40]
C
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