Episodes

This week features a conversation with GN Chan, the founder of Double Chicken Please, a New York City bar widely recognized as one of the best in the world. As part of our interview, Chan explained his view of the bar as “a design and performance studio,” an innovative menu in which you “drink your food and eat your drink” and the regionality of non-alcoholic cocktail and spirit trends.

There’s big money flowing into emerging concepts… and we have the receipts. Within this episode, the hosts discussed canned wine, plant-based analogs of popular snacks and THC-centric brands. We also discussed influential trends and innovative products in the evolving world of mixology in interviews with past World Class US Bartenders of the Year Jessi Pollak and Adam Fournier along with James Beard-honored mixologist and author Kim Haasarud.

Farrah and Yassin Sibai, the co-founders of Mediterranean-inspired frozen food brand Afia, explained why they have long relied on self-manufacturing, the importance of emphasizing both brand and product awareness, the effectiveness of Instacart ads and instant redeemable coupons and how “the validity of the vision” propelled Afia’s Series A funding round.

What parallels exist between music, food and beverage and how can they inform entrepreneurs about innovation strategies? The hosts look to legendary music producer Rick Rubin for answers. We also discuss trends from behind the bar with the 2023 USBG World Class bartender of the year Renato Tonelli and Julie Reiner, the owner of world renowned NYC cocktail restaurants The Clover Club and Leyenda.

Allison and Stephen Ellsworth, the co-founders of Poppi, spoke about the reasons behind better-for-you soda brand’s explosive growth and how the company is maintaining its torrid pace. They also discussed their transition into new roles, Poppi’s remarkable trial conversion and repeat purchase rates, Amazon as a key part of the company’s marketing strategy and why video is king on social media.

At what stage of development should brands consider aligning with a celebrity or athlete? How can companies assess the potential value and impact of those partnerships? The hosts shared their perspective on both topics, and also spoke about why niche brands might need to reconsider certain positioning and packaging callouts that have them collectively scratching their heads.

Mario Carbone and Eric Skae, the co-founder and CEO, respectively, of fast-growing consumer brand Carbone Fine Food, spoke about how they attempt to incorporate the flair, panache and quality of Carbone’s critically acclaimed restaurants into the brand, their thoughtful pricing and promotional strategy and why they are cautious about new product development.

It may seem counterintuitive, but successful founders are often stung by self-doubt, a topic the hosts discussed in this episode, along with Neil Patrick Harris’ foray into the RTD cocktail business and a divisive brand collaboration. We also sat down with operations expert Andrew Guard to speak about scaling strategies, generating mainstream demand through flavor and working with non-nutritive sweeteners.