Episode 806

Is Big Food Catching Up To Startups? And, A Legend Signs Off.

February 27, 2026
Hosted by:
  • Ray Latif
     • BevNET
Is Big Food finally catching up to emerging brands on speed to market? As legacy CPG giants roll out protein- and fiber-forward innovations faster than ever, the team debates whether startups still hold the advantage. Plus, we give a heartfelt sendoff to Jacqui Brugliera as she departs BevNET after 12 years.

0:23: Honoring A Legend. More Meetups! Heading West. Speedy Delivery. Creamy Everything. – Ray Latif and co-hosts John Craven and Mike Schneider mark Jacqui Brugliera’s final show at BevNET after 12 years, sharing heartfelt praise for her impact as a teammate, friend, and steadying presence. The conversation then shifts to a recap of Taste Radio’s recently held Miami meetup as well as an upcoming event in New York City on April 16. The hosts also discuss whether big CPG brands are catching up to entrepreneurial ones as they chase “better-for-you” trends like protein and fiber and whether legacy companies can truly match the credibility and branding agility of smaller players. They also riff on the rise of “creamy condiments” and highlight a new RTD Vietnamese coffee, a decaf sparkling coffee, buttermilk pancake mix, hop-infused cocktails, and a wave of new products from Athletic Brewing.


Brands in this episode: Doritos, Smartfood, SunChips, Angie’s Boomchickapop, Rebel Roots, Poppi, Fruities, CronchClub, Lasso, Tia Lupita, Bachan’s, AleSmith, Athletic Brewing, Guinness, Fuzzee Coffee, North Shore Roasters, Phoenicia Diner

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain inaccuracies and spelling errors.

 Hello, and thanks for tuning into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and I'm joined by my co-hosts, John Craven, Mike Schneider, and for the final time. Jacqui Brugliera. Yes, you heard that right. Our colleague, our dear friend, our sister Jacqui, is embarking on an exciting new journey and career path over the past 12 years.

At BevNET, she has defined what it means to be an exceptional teammate, embodying the very best of this organization, and setting a standard, which we all aspire to. While we're deeply saddened to see here, go. We're equally thrilled for her as she steps into this next chapter of her life. I had to write that down, otherwise I would've started bawling.

My God, it sounds like a eulogy. It does. I was gonna make that joke. Obviously, Jacqui, we love you so much. You know there's no one who can fill your shoes. I have a feeling over the next year, maybe the next 10 years, we'll all be saying the same acronym, which is. WW JD, which is what would Jacqui do? Right? I think that was just added to the BevNET slang book.

I like that. It's brand new. No one's ever heard WWJD before. Yeah, right. Well, there's just a slight difference between what you've commonly used in the past and what we'll be using in the future. Jokes aren't funny if you explain 'em, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, he doesn't get that part. No, I don't get that part.

No. Jacqui, just so our audience knows, you know, what, what are you, what are you doing after BevNET? I mean, okay. I've been at BevNET for 12 years, which is crazy. I joined BevNET right outta college. I grew up here, learned a lot here, met amazing people, and had amazing experiences. And then just in the last year or so, I've been drawn towards a different direction, so I'm definitely taking a big career.

Pivot. I'm going into clinical mental health psychology, so I'm going back to grad school. I'm gonna be a student again, which is gonna be weird. It's gonna be an adjustment, but I'm excited. I'm excited for the next chapter, but this isn't a goodbye. This is just a shift I'll be around. I wanna stay in touch with everyone.

Stay in touch with the community, with BevNET. Yeah, just kind of going in a different direction. We're really excited for you and I'm glad that you're gonna stay in touch and keep contact with the community at large. I hope you'll be staying in touch with us more directly on a much more regular basis.

Yes, and I'm sure, like I said, you know. There will be times when people will hit you up on Slack or, you know, shoot. No, they won't. Text won't. No, they won't. Alright. Alright. I I, I'm Slack. Not on Slack. I'll put money on this. I'm gonna put money on this. Right. They're, they're gonna try to hit her up on Slack.

I mean, LinkedIn, Instagram. You guys have my phone number, so, well, John Craven, you wanna say anything? I know it was you that. First hired Jacqui and it was for a very different position than the one she's now leaving. Yeah. No man, I, that's like, God, 12 years ago back in our B town Watertown office. That was, uh, very different times and yeah.

Mm-hmm. No, I, I remember when, uh, I interviewed Jacqui and, yeah. You know, fresh outta school and energetic and I'm kinda like, why the hell does she want to come work here? But you know, she did and it was great. And obviously it's been really awesome having you as you know, part of the team, both, you know, the Taste Radio team and the greater BevNET team and.

You'll be missed and obviously with, you know, love to stay in touch and a little jealous that, you know, you'll probably wake up tomorrow and be like, ah, never have to listen to another goddamn arsenal or Manchester United. Wow. Nugget of bullshit that you don't even know what it means. But anyway, I'll be tuning into Taste Radio just to get my fix.

Yeah, yeah. No, yeah. But no, very, very proud of you. And you know, best of luck in the, uh. The next chapter. Mike, you've probably had the closest relationship with Jacqui over the past, well not 12 years, but past what, nine? Yeah. I mean, we worked together before I was even part of BevNET. Came in as a consultant, we worked together and then Jacqui treated me to moving away on my first day.

I got to, you know, after Expo West, got to the Boston office and was like, where's Jacqui? Oh, we didn't tell you she moved to San Diego. Uh, no, but, uh, no, I mean. Jacqui is everything that you said, Ray, that was a very touching eulogy. I mean, I think we should have more. I lit a candle when you started doing that.

I shed a tear. You know, the last time I went to a funeral I was thinking it'd be great if we did that to someone while they were actually in the room, because they'd really enjoy hearing the kinds of things that, you know, they've done. And Jacqui, you know, you inspire me every day and you, you inspire so many people.

I know you're gonna continue to do that. You're. The kind of person that I've never, ever heard anyone say anything bad about behind their back. And, you know, almost everyone you hear that from. And it's just, you're, you're a unicorn. You're just a wonderful human. One of my, one of my very favorites and I'm gonna miss, you know, I'm gonna miss you 'cause it's just been my distinct pleasure to get to work with you every day and, and, uh, you know, have.

Someone that I could count on and for to do anything. And then, you know, trust and, uh, it's very difficult to see you walk out, but just so happy for you that you found your next chapter. I mean, I thought it was gonna come sooner to be frank, but I'm glad you spent this much time with us. Well, the good news is your basketball eligibility is still, I mean, like I know I could go back now.

The world changed. You can go back to school and play basketball, right? I could get NIL money, I could become a millionaire. There you go. That's why that's act actually why Jacqui's leaving. She's like, not with this nickel and dime, fruit and beverage industry stuff. She can play again. What we'll talk about, talk about this later.

It's, it's, it is really amazing and I, I, I don't wanna say it's the end of an era 'cause I don't think it is. 'cause you know. I am sure we're all gonna stay friends and stay in contact. Um, you know, I'm gonna miss the adventures. I mean, from, you know, getting our car jacked in, uh, Morin Oh my goodness. To, you know, lugging audio equipment upstairs in London to, you know, late nights in New York City.

I mean, it's all these amazing things. Jacqui popping her head out the window to tell us, Hey, we're up here. Yeah. In London. That was amazing. But, um, no, you know, I think you, you hit the nail on the head, Mike. I mean, you know, Jacqui. You are a unicorn and you're the person who helps people in any way. They need help.

And you're just such a giver and so generous. And you know, I, I remember four years ago we did our first Taste Radio meetup. It was in Austin. And the afternoon before the events I, something happened. I just had this wave of nervousness come over me and imposter syndrome just hit me like a ton of bricks.

And I didn't know what to do, and I'm a pretty private person. I mean, I don't talk about myself a lot and you know, I certainly don't talk about myself when I need something, especially when it comes to things like fear. But I reached out to Jacqui and she gave me the confidence I needed to get up there on stage and do what I needed to do.

And she did it in a really positive, effective way. She was the only one I felt I could, I could reach out to. And that just, I think that says a lot about her and why we love her so much. So thanks so much Jacqui. Aw, the love is mutual. I think like those memories and traveling around and all of just like the personal relationships makes it the hardest thing to leave.

But I know that we'll all stay in touch. And again, I'm not going anywhere. That's right. I wonder how many expo Wests it will be before somebody's like, Hey, where's Jacqui? Can I meet her for, for people? Stop asking. Within the first seconds of landing in Anaheim, someone's gonna say, where's Jacqui?

Someone's gonna be like, what did you clowns do? Yeah. To scare Jacqui. Yeah. You bozos is Micah, so here's the word he used lights. Yeah. I just couldn't stand it anymore. Get me outta here. Fortunately I have an exit interview that suggests otherwise it's true. Now ex Expo West is starting on Tuesday of next week.

That's March 3rd. Luckily, Jacqui doesn't have to be there for the chaos, and I'm sure you get or the hurt back or feet or Yeah, all the above. Yeah. But yeah, if you're attending the event, and I'm sure a lot of you are actually, I, I found, you know. On LinkedIn or Instagram. It turns out a lot of people are missing this show intentionally, but if you are attending reach out dms on LinkedIn, Instagram.

If you still use the Twitter or the X or whatever the heck it is, reach out. 'cause we definitely wanna see you. We definitely wanna talk to you. I email box has been blown up, so I have a lot of booths to visit. I'm very excited to visit these booths, but as we talked about last week, the best thing you can do.

So let us know what you're doing before the event. 'cause once the event starts, it's very difficult to adjust schedules and try to figure out where to be and so on and so forth. So just shoot us a note. Should be an exciting event. Speak for yourself. I have no agenda. Just hit me with your booth number.

Yeah. Okay. We'll show up. Dm. Fair enough. Slide in there was an exciting, I saw your post on LinkedIn today. There was someone who replied and said they have a sparkling RA water. I saw what, which looks amazing. Yeah. Didn't know okra could be made into a beverage. Well, it's gonna be in the, um, the, what is it, the third floor, the new morning product.

I have it on my list. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's on the hot products or whatever they call it that. Yeah. So, and Jacqui, we're gonna see you in San Diego in September, I hope. Yes. Oh yeah. I'm moving, so I'll be here. How about April? Oh yeah, April. Maybe. April. Guys are here a lot. Yeah, I can't get rid of you. I'm going to be in San Diego in April.

John is as well. And Mike, are you going? No, maybe not. No, it's for naturally San Diego's pitch Slam. Mike's like, can I go? No. Did you see that? The door was slightly open and then Craven came and slammed. Its shut. As hard as he could. Who know he's doing recon in, I don't know, pick a bad city. I'm not gonna crap on one.

He said it. No, I mentioned San Diego. And April again. Naturally San Diego is pitch slam. Very excited to mc that. Once again, John's gonna be there as well. Uh, the BevNET team, I'm gonna be the one heckling you. Okay. Heckle away. And in September I mentioned September because that's when we're gonna going to be holding our Taste Radio San Diego Meetup.

So very excited for that. Just a quick follow up on our Miami Meetup, which was last week, our first event of 2026. More than a hundred attendees from South Florida and beyond joined us for a very fantastic evening of networking, live interviews, and plenty of pints at Casa la Rubia. A tap room in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood.

Once again, many thanks to our event partners. Of course, Casa Rubia, vibrant Ingredients, matriarch Wealth Management, belay Solutions, and Atomos, strategic Marketing. It was great to see Steven from Matriarch, Molly, and Jack from Vibrant, and of course Rich and Cedric from Atomos who hosted that Ask Me Anything.

Table focused, focused on marketing and design. Stay tuned for an upcoming episode of Taste Radio. Where we will revisit interviews with Spencer Slaine of the Angel Group. Megan Klein of Little Saints and Conrad Barrett of a BI in Bev. Next stop. Where's our next stop folks? New York. New York is correct.

Jacqui is leaving tomorrow and you got, she's just doing her job. We're so screwed. New York City, indeed. Still doing her job on April 16th in Times Square at the offices of Anchin. Anchin is a best in class accounting tax, audit, and advisory firm. Register for that event as well as upcoming meetups in Austin, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, and london@tasteradio.com slash meetups.

Of course. If you're interested in sponsoring the New York event or any one of the other six Taste Radio meetups happening this year, email us at ask@tasteradio.com to learn more. Operators are standing by. I don't think so. No. You'd be surprised. You're the operator. I am the operator. The operator of Taste Radio.

That's your new job title? I like that. Yes. What's my, what's my opening line? Ray. Ray is neither a doctor nor. I'm Ray Latif, the operator of Taste Radio. I'm Dr. Ray Latif surgeon. It's like when you say job title operator, I think forklift. So I love that you put Taste Radio on the same level. Well, I was shoveling snow this morning still.

And So you used a forklift over there in Brooklyn? Yeah, I was operating, no, no, I. I, I wish I had a snowblower. I don't have one of those. Your leaf blower was broken for snow removal. I expected my flame throw was broken. Flame throw. That's what you need to melt all this damn throw snow. Yeah. John and I have considered this, you know, expo West.

I know we just talked about the show and one of the halls I don't visit as often as I probably should. Is Hall A, you know, hall A is So it's main level. Yeah, main level. The, yeah. Big boo is the biggest. Yeah, exactly. Big booze. Typically it's the. Exhibit hall where humongous big food and beverage companies exhibit.

So with our brands. Yeah, super brands. I might roam the aisles this year because it feels like big food. Might start to be catching up with entrepreneurial brands. I mean, case in point. So Monica Watchers, our dear colleague, wrote a recent article on NAS about how PepsiCo is introducing a bunch of new better for you products that seem in line with current trends including Dorito's protein chips.

Now, I know this is not groundbreaking, but it's something smart Food fiber, pop popcorn, sun chips, fiber. I'm not saying that they are. You know, at, at the level of, or moving at the, at the speed of entrepreneurial brands, I'm just saying they're, they're a little bit faster than they had been in the past.

Sure. I mean, I think these are pretty obvious low risk trends that right now seem like they can be kind of applied to anything. I mean, I wouldn't really say they're catching up though, and that what you're largely talking about is just enhancing the existing. Product, which at its core is not necessarily like premium.

So to some extent, like if you take a super processed like mainstream product that's trying to compete with, I don't know, more wholesome better for you brands, this kind of, I don't know, maybe at a minimum makes a bit of a facade that makes these legacy brands seem innovative or better for you. But I don't know.

I just think the consumer is. Gonna see through that a little bit. I wonder, I mean, those are good examples of. Legacy brands that people might see through, they might say, oh, I know Doritos. If you add protein to it, screw it. I, I'm not gonna, how much better could it be for me? But ConAgra also introduced a couple new products, and these were all announced during the Cagney conference.

ConAgra brands introduced Angie's Boom, chick pop popcorn cooked in avocado oil. Again, not a stretch, but they also introduced a new line of snack fries called Rebel Roots. So it's a corn and potato based snack made with. Beef Tao. Come on, man. Beef. I was gonna say, why not just use beef towel on everything?

No, but that's the thing. Beef tallow, we talked about that last time. Well, beef tallow is a stretch for me. I don't think I'm like necessarily interested in that. I'm, I'm kind of surprised that a big brand, or at least a big company is getting into that kind of business. I also will say this, John, you know, there had been maybe a little bit of.

Leeway, or at least an extra few months, perhaps that small brands or emerging brands would have to introduce their products like a, you know, snack brand made with beef towel or a, you know, hey beef towel sounds a lot better than lard. I'm just saying. Right. But have you seen a snack Fries brand or a corn and potato based brand snack brand that is, that's using beef tallow at this point?

Snack branch? Yeah. Yeah. Which ones? I don't know. We just had a whole slew of tortilla chips that were in beef Tao. Which ones? Smaller brands. Okay. Perhaps there's one on NAS that was covered. Definitely seen another on Instagram. I just wonder if the speed to market thing is, is less of an advantage for smaller brands than it had been in the past.

That's what I'm trying to say. I don't think so. Okay. I think also with big CPG, they're always just throwing stuff out at the wall and seeing what sticks. I mean, for example, smart food, they came out with fiber pop and they have a flavor toffee and sea salt, like that just doesn't sound good. Like they're just like, let's make this fiber for a brand that's not really known for being better for you.

It just feels like a disconnect. I don't think there, there. Necessarily throwing stuff at the wall. I think they're traditionally just slower and more like the laggards in the sense that like someone else has to go out there and prove that these things are wanted by the consumer. And also their ability, just product innovation cycles are more complicated and probably have more layers, which I'm not crapping on what they're doing.

It's just that that's a more methodical kind of, I don't know. Approach than your typical like, you know, entrepreneur who's like, Hey, I really liked making this at home, or some other type of thing. But I do think that, you know, bigger CPG getting into the fiber and protein game is probably good for other brands that are, you know, downstream and smaller.

Just in, you know, as we've talked about before, like. If they're gonna put money behind this in terms of like consumer education and trying to create demand and like, you know, we've seen how that plays out before, which is other brands are gonna benefit, you know, whoever's out there. Trying to promote this stuff now on their own.

Like it's not gonna be a bad thing when someone else pours tons of money into it. Yeah. And fiber, I think is still, it's trending, but it's still not sexy. So I think like it needs some marketing help on that front with like mainstream consumers. No, I, I would agree that it has a very different, obviously both have a positive health benefit, but the positive health benefit of fiber is kind of a.

It's weird to talk about. Sure. It's not about gains protein. You're like, I about the opposite. I'm getting buff and fit. Yeah. And fiber, it's just like, yeah. You just don't talk about it. You're like, man, my gut. It's just stuff going right through it. Like I just went to the bathroom multiple times. That was good.

Good day. Oh, Jesus. There. There we go. We're gonna miss that. That was, that was a ray impersonation, to be clear. Certainly not. She's going for it on the last day. Yeah. Well, I mean, you can't get canceled when you've canceled yourself, right? Yeah. I, it would take a lot for Jacqui. It would take a lot to cancel.

Yeah. Well, a lot of these companies that used to have sort of skunk works divisions and emerging brands, innovation divisions, innovation divisions and stuff like that, those seem to have gone by the wayside. And now everything is done at a more corporate level, I would say. Well, it's, I mean, look, it's just part of the cycle.

Like you can't have this division that's kind of doing cool, innovative stuff separate from your core for like too long. It's also not gonna change the fact that the entire industry is a lab for the strategics and they're watching what's happening and they're trying to figure out if they can either, should either do it themselves, acquire someone, or do both.

In the case of. Pepsi. Like with Poppy? Yeah. With their prebiotic sodas. And then buying Poppy. And keeping Poppy as a going concern. Well, until they fix their, I guess, branding to not look as corporate as it is. 'cause that's, I mean, that's how you can tell, right? I mean, obviously you've known some of these brands forever, and so do you trust that a big brand is actually gonna have something that's truly better for you?

Well, some people do. Yeah. You see the Bobby approved out there on big brands and, and PE and people asking that sort of question. And I think the, it depends on your perspective, Ray, whether you trust big brands or not. Well, these small brands that I'm looking at right now, there's one that's called Fruities and one that's called Crunch Club.

Crunch Club is a maker of crunchy protein crisps. They have 21 grams of protein and eight grams of fiber per 1.5 ounce ounce pouch. These fruities are fruit snacks. This one is a citrus mango flavor. Five grams of protein, four grams of, excuse me, five grams of fiber, four grams of protein, zero grams of added sugar per one ounce pouch.

Oh, you know, crunch clubs made by, yes. That's what I'm saying about, I was about that. Lasso food. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a company called Lasso. Lasso is basically a tech company that's coming out with new food concepts, including these two. They have these, they have the specialized equipment and technology that helps them create snacks and foods that are high in protein and high in fiber in particular.

Now, they both, again, look like these very early stage upstart brands that you would see at an or, you know, a pop-up roaster or something like that. Well, they're not exactly Mitsubishi, so no. But I think, I think, you know, to the point we were all talking about, these definitely feel like they are more trustworthy than.

At least for, for consumers looking for better for you products, these might feel a bit more trustworthy than the legacy brands. So that's still the advantage I think that these smaller brands have. I just opened the Fruities because on the back it says, if you were a robot, what robot stuff would you do?

Also, how do you know you're not a robot?

So there's some going on, man. Snacks. Yeah. Okay. It's happening. Okay. You guys are gonna be full of protein and fiber by the time this is, uh, all said and done. These are great. So yeah, I guess what I'm saying is I think, you know, the, if speed to market isn't necessarily the advantage that smaller brands had in the past, perhaps, you know, branding and design can still be that.

Differentiator in, in a way that the bigger brands still haven't caught up to. Last thing I wanna talk about is I saw this other story on, on Na about how Teal Lupita, tea Lupita is a maker of Mexican inspired foods. They make chips, they make a, uh, had made uh, a traditional salsa called a salsa. Ah, matcha, which is delicious.

They have gotten into the creamy hot sauce and Mexican barbecue sauce category. Understand there's really no Mexican barbecue sauce category. That's the f I'm sure that's the first. Is that even a thing? It is a thing now. No, but I'm saying, was it a thing. What do you mean? Did they just invent it? They may have just invented it, especially after the buchan's $400 million exit.

I would've started barbecue sauce. I mean, you know, look, their stuff is all solid. I, I can't wait to try that stuff. Yeah, but it feels like everything is becoming Mayo fried. Have you noticed this hot sauce? Everything is like, there's just all these sauces on everything and it feels like everyone loves Mayo.

They just don't wanna say it. So now everything's become rebranded and repositioned as creamy condiments. Have you noticed this? Or aioli? Aioli. But like aioli iss, mayo. Yeah, so but how is this? How is this, I think it's happening now, Ft. People like it don't be, or bro, yeah, it sounds tastier. I don't know.

You think of mayo and you think of like crappy mayo on like white bread with like ham and cheese raised is a miracle whip guy. No, actually I used some hot sauce, some creamy hot sauce this morning actually on my breakfast sandwich and it was delicious. I just never would've thought to use something like that in the past.

And. I think it's because I never would've considered Mayo on my breakfast sandwich. And essentially what I was putting on there was that plus some hot sauce or hot sauce mixed with mayo. It's a versatile ingredient. Yes. Mm-hmm. Yes. But interesting to see where this all goes. 'cause it feels like the market is getting pretty saturated pretty quickly with these creamy condiments.

Alright. Mike has been chomping at the bit to talk about this coffee he has. Yes. Vietnamese coffee, cinnamon, coconut latte. We got some ear of the fire horse hung ba with it. Red envelopes with some, uh, cool little robusta dollars in it. Robusta bucks in it. I'm, I'm going in trying for the first time here.

What flavor is that? Heaven, sorry. Cinnamon coconut latte. Seven 70 milligrams of caffeine. Plant-based milk, 90 calories. It's coconut milk. It's awesome. I like their brand refresh. Oh my God. I point that out on uh Instagram like a month or two ago. It looks really good. Oh, the cinnamon just keeps coming.

This is awesome. Nice. You can get that at Whole Foods. Yes. Nice. Well, I gotta shout out our dear friend Jam Guthrie, who sent us some of his fuzzy coffee sparkling coffee. A sparkling coffee. This, yes, this is their unsweet black variety position as both a coffee and an energy kind of beverage. We also got sent some beans from North Shore Roasters who are from the South and who actually do the form happen to do the formulation for Fuzzy.

Yeah. Uh, great, great coffee. Yeah, I love what they're doing here. This is also made with Lion's Mane Ginseng, L-Theanine. Sparkling coffee is not something which you'll commonly see, which is why I like what they're doing, kind of to differentiate themselves in that very difficult space. Yeah. That stuff, Stacy certainly is.

Last brand I wanna shout out is Fania Diners. New buttermilk pancake mix. Venetia Diner is a well restaurant that's been around for a long time, so lemme take a guess here. Yes, they're based in Venetia, New York and they recently, which is in the Catskills, and they recently got into the CPG game. Love what they're doing here.

It looks very special, so it comes in this brown bag with. Sort of what is a rip cord? A rip cord? No, it's uh, yes, definitely doesn't look like your everyday buttermilk pancake mix, but this thing is the real deal. Well done. Jacqui, before we, uh, sign off, anything else you got to talk about? I have a couple products.

I have Ale Smith's New Hop Tails. It's a cocktail with hot water, which is really cool. So it's vodka with sparkling water, hops and natural flavors. 5% alcohol, which I feel like is. Pretty good for, uh, cocktail. It's low and I love hot water and I do spike it occasionally, so I think it's kind of smart on their, on their house.

That's like the fifth hot water brand that you've talked about on the show. I love, like the last two weeks I love hot water and I'm, is it big in San Diego? Is that what's going on? Yeah, it's pretty big here. Yeah. Okay. But I think this is the first time I've seen a cocktail version, which is cool. And then I have a bunch of athletic brewing, which.

I feel like they're just cranking out a million different beers now, which is really cool to see. They have, you know, a Nitro Irish style dry emerald cliffs. They have an Irish red, they have their Kerr Royale, which I'm not actually quite sure what a Kerr Royale is, but it says it's a classic Kerr Royale with bubbly light bodied brew bursting with BL bold black current flavor.

And a pale, hot pale. And then they also have a raspberry espresso. So I feel like it's just like. Got got loaded over there. Look at that. You, we got a new shipment. Not complaining. She's just looting on the way. Thanks, bill. Literally. Thanks Bill and Chris. These are going in my car. Don't, don't take the furniture too.

I think that you're more concerned about the, uh, the audio equipment than the No, I was gonna say, but if you wanna help yourself to any, uh, ninja Turtles or comics from Josh's office, uh, be my guest. I do wanna try the athletic Irish Stout. Yeah. Is that what it is? Same. Mm-hmm. It's their version of Guinness, essentially.

Yeah. And, uh, yeah, I, I, I'm definitely interested in that because that would be, as far as I know, the only competitor to Guinness. Guinness Zero. I had a Guinness Zero last night. That's a damn good beverage. It's so good. Yeah. Yeah. Alright, well I think we've said all we can, uh, say about Jacqui without her getting mad at us for so overdoing it.

But I just will say one more time, Jacqui, we're gonna miss the heck outta you. And the show's not gonna be the same without you, you know, certainly Melissa Traverse, who's joining the team on a permanent basis is gonna be, well she has been a host, you know, for, for many years and then, you know, she's gonna be rejoining us, but just, uh.

A different vibe for sure. And we will miss the heck outta you. So Love you, Jacqui. Yeah, love you guys. I'll miss you. You too. Love you too. 

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