June 4, 2025 • 37 mins
Join Fast Casual Nation hosts Paul Barron and Cherryh Cansler as they dive deep into the $243 billion functional beverage market with Noah Burgess, Research & Development Scientist at Juice It Up! Discover how science-driven menu innovation is revolutionizing the fast-casual industry, from plant-based smoothies under 200 calories to profitable boost add-ons that 35-45% of customers choose. Learn the secrets behind developing Instagram-worthy drinks that Gen Z craves, the food science principles that maximize nutrition without sacrificing flavor, and why ingredients like spirulina, collagen, and red beets are becoming game-changers for restaurant operators looking to increase check averages and customer loyalty in this rapidly growing category.
~This episode is sponsored by: Gusto → https://gusto.pxf.io/PBN ~ #1 rated HR platform for payroll, benefits, and more With Gusto’s easy-to-use platform, you can empower your people and push your business forward. See why over 400,000 businesses choose Gusto.
FastCasualNation #FunctionalBeverages #RestaurantInnovation
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/
Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.
Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/
Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.
Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory
~This episode is sponsored by: Gusto → https://gusto.pxf.io/PBN ~ #1 rated HR platform for payroll, benefits, and more With Gusto’s easy-to-use platform, you can empower your people and push your business forward. See why over 400,000 businesses choose Gusto.
FastCasualNation #FunctionalBeverages #RestaurantInnovation
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/
Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.
Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/
Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.
Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of Fast Casual Nation, the
podcast that started it all, and of course, joining me
today is my beautiful co host, Ms. Shrek Candler. How
are you.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I am doing fabulously. How are you, Paul?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Excellent? So you you just mentioned that you were on
another podcast? What's going on here?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah? I was on a I was a guest on
someone else's podcast, Kubricks. So there, okay, Yeah, they're helping
us out.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Okay, So when you're well listen, we're gonna be We've
got a lot to talk about today. We've got a
special guest for you guys. We're gonna be talking about
functional beverages, the health craze that is sweeping the land.
It is gonna be amazing. So you guys stick around
for this one. We'll be right back. My name is
(01:01):
Paul Baron. As the early pioneer in fast casual I've
seen the industry evolve from just a few operators the
most sought after segment by consumers around the world. Now
we're planning to shape its future. Tap into decades of
my expertise identifying the emerging brands and tech winners in
(01:22):
the space saber capital. We'll be fueling the next generation
of fast casual innovation. All right, we're back here on
Fast Casual Nation. Today's topic is going to be the
beverage category, but not in the way that you think.
We're actually going to be talking about the functional health
(01:42):
model that seems to be sweeping the land scher. Before
we get into that, I want to kind of bump
over to a couple of things that are happening, of course,
in the fast casual sector. Obviously a couple of news stories.
I'll let you break them.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, it's been interesting. You know, people have been talking
about prices being you know, menu prices having to go
up with tariffs and costs. But then we had a
couple of brands this week launched the opposite So and
Pizza Is says they're cutting prices. And then we had
another brand talking about how they are doing a fun
(02:17):
happy hour with their drinks.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So I like, this new concept is this Have you
seen this concept?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
But that and Pizza concept looks cool. It's very futuristic.
But they're cutting there. They say they're lowering their prices,
and they said, you know, we just got to do it.
I think it's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I wonder I wonder if this is a is it?
I'm kind of curious did they did they build that
outside the store?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I mean for me, yeah, to me, it looks like
it's still like, you know, a rendering, so I don't
think it's real.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Okay, it's all right, this will be this will be
an interesting I've got to go to d C and
check these guys out. The last time I got to
visit with them was a very long time ago when
Michael was still their CEO and Jesus, Yeahzza Jesus, great
guy by the way, he is a realistic But now
(03:10):
they're franchising.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So when he ran the show, you know, he was
very dedicated to not franchising. And new leadership team is
starting to franchise. So that's interesting too.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Hey, listen, you gotta do what you got to do
in these one exactly. All right, Let's go into Fuzzies
because they launched their happy hour. Yeah, Fuzzy Socco shop.
This is a full on, fast casual constant.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yep. Yeah, they bought Margarita's and the price is right, baby, Like,
I wish we had one next close to my house.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Because four dollar, which is a Sangria rita swirl.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, so it's like a margarita mixes with a singrea,
Like what could go wrong for four dollars and they
have their like, yeah, it's just it's just gonna it
looks delicious.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
So a lot of a lot of beer offerings there,
which is good. Also Jerrida's, which is, you know, obviously
one of the more lighter sides of.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So many And I guess it's not really on the
functional beverage trends, but you know, I'm high functioning when
I when I drink their margaret.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Okay, we'll work. We'll go on the opposite side of
that discussion today, because that's one of the things when
you look, you know, beverage has been one of the
hottest topics that we've had here on the show over
the last couple of months. First of all, why do
you think that we're seeing so much in the way
of beverage coming into the market right now.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, I think people are looking for ways to increase
check spins, and also the non alcoholic sector is very
popular with like the teenagers, the dirty sodas, the gen Z's,
you know, and then coming into the functional beverages. So
it's it's so we were talking about this last week,
like we've got all these drink only concepts popping up,
(04:52):
so everybody is getting on board. I mean, these these
kids have the extra money, so you know when you
have teenagers, I know what you mean.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Well, and I think the key here is is the demographic,
you know, which we'll talk about today. Get into all that.
So let's bring in our guests. First of all, I
would like to say I think this might be a
milestone for us because to my knowledge, this is the
first scientist that we had on the show. And this guy,
(05:22):
he's a scientist at Juiced Up. His name is Noah
Burgess and he runs research over there. So I'm going
to bring Noah in now and get him into the show.
Hey Noah, how are you?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Hey, Guy's pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah. So okay, first of all, did you go to
work for justed up as a scientist? Where you what
was your background? Where did you come from?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I got this job straight out of college. So I
went to college as a food scientist, and two weeks
later I there go mix we're going to do.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
If you're going to be a scientist, you might as
well be a food scientist. Science. I want to study
a great job.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Hey listen, No, let's get into the functional beverage category
with Juice it up. You guys have really done a
great job kind of leading the market around this area.
I'll bring up your website just so everybody can kind
of get a good look of what's going on over there.
But give us a rundown of some of the products,
some of the things that you've worked on that you're
(06:23):
proud of, you know, and that you see really starting
to trend. Now, give us some insight.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, I mean, we we have beverages for you know,
wherever you are in your lifestyle or health journey. Everything
from our classics smoothies which are kind of more of
a treat for the kids, to our row juice is
what you see right there, which are pressed one hundred
percent fruits and veggies. People love that as almost kind
(06:50):
of like a supplement to your breakfast or your lunch,
a little pick me up in the afternoon. Then we
have our specialty smoothie category, which is growing exponentially. We
have our superfruit smoothies which incorporate osie and dragon fruit,
which have great health benefits with all those healthy omega
fats and then are plant based smoothie line, which is
(07:12):
unlike a raw juice which kind of takes the fiber
out of the product. This is one hundred percent blended
fruits and vegetables and ice, so you're getting that fiber
aspect and it's a great meal replacement. And they're all
basically under two hundred calories for a twenty ounce drink.
So that's crazy already and super nutrient rich.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So the market size, shaa, how big is this thing? Well?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I was just looking that up earlier today and I
was very shocked to see that. I mean it's valued
at two hundred and forty three billion dollars in twenty
twenty four and is supposed to grow, you know, to
reach four hundred and sixty three billion by twenty thirty three.
I mean, I don't know if we'll get there, but
that those are staggering even now already at two hundred
and forty three billions, So that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So size of the market, well, I would think, you know,
I'm a bit of a biohacker right now. I try
a lot of different things, and no, I want to
ask you a question because this is something I hear
from a lot of nutritionists and people out there that
are you know, they have different programs and things of
that nature. One is around vegetables and when you actually
(08:22):
put them into a liquid form, do you lose any
of the nutrient value when you do that? When let's say,
for instance, I like broccoli, you know, or bananas, Right,
what happens when you break a vegetable or a fruit
down into a smoothie from a nutrition standpoint.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So from a nutrition standpoint, you're taking basically when you're
eating a fruit and vegetable, it's a complex carbohydrate, right
when you're blending it or juicing it. Juicing it, you're
actually going to get rid of the fiber content. When
you're blending it, you still keep that fiber content, but
think of you've already skipped a few of the digestion steps,
(09:02):
so it becomes a little bit more of a simple carbohydrate.
So you've kind of already kicked started the digestion. So
when it hits your gut, you're absorbing those vitamins, nutrients
and sugar and all those other things a lot much faster.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah. Okay, So yeah, that is some of the things
that you know have been discussed and I think The
interesting thing. First of all, when you I think most
restaurants recognize the fact that most consumers they're on the go,
so being able to have access to these are very important.
I have a local spot. I wish there was juiced
up near me, but I have a local spot that
(09:40):
does this right now. They're all vegan and they do
a really good job with coconut water instead of using
mill you know, some other ingredients like that. When you
guys are building your product out, give me a construct.
Let's say, for instance, we'll go to the detoxifier. That's
a one hundred to three hundred calorie drink that you have, right,
give me a breakdown of what that thing consists of.
(10:02):
Let's get into these doxifiers. So you've got I was
looking at this one earlier because this one kind of
peaqued my interest. Cucumber, pineapple, red grapes, spinach, lemon, ginger. Right,
when you're putting a recipe together like this, first of all,
it's gluten free, vegan, vegetarian. But is there anything specific
in that lineup that you're trying to use from a
(10:24):
food science standpoint that is better for me? You know,
as you know, a healthy individual's what's in that that says, oh,
you need ginger because of this, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, so ginger for its anti inflammatory properties, spinach and lemon.
So actually, whenever I'm utilizing any green leafy vegetables, it's
always good to add some type of acid, whether it's orange, lemon, lime.
Is what that does is it actually helps with that
bitterness taste. Is I always want my drinks not only
(10:55):
to be healthy, but flavor is super important, right because
guests is going to be like, I don't want a
guess to be like, oh this is a chore. I
want them to enjoy their healthy drink as well. Yeah,
that's where the pineapple comes in as well. Also, pineapple
has some protein digestive properties brooming the specific uh that
(11:19):
help with if you're drinking this well, let's say your
breakfast in the morning. It just helps with you know,
digestive factors there as well. And then cucumber for hydration.
I always say when you're juicing, cucumber is one of
your best friends because it's high yield, right, so it
helps drag all that stuff out of the jututer. Whereas
if you're juicing too much green leafy vegetables, they kind
(11:42):
of just get stuck in there and you just not
really get content.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay, all right, so what's the I saw that you
guys have some lt O s right now, The Blue
Talks I think it was called the Green Talks. I'm
interested in. I was like going to detox me from
all the drink United last night. If I have one
of these, it will help.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
So the Blue Talks specifically is one of our, like
I was explaining before, our plant based smoothies, and we
incorporate uh spirillina which is excellent viamin B twelve, so
it helps with energy metabolism. So yeah, that's been a hit.
We've I think this is the second or third year
we've ran that as the LTO and it's been super successful.
(12:22):
But yeah, that plant based smoothie category is growing exponentially
ye over year for us.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Well, you mentioned that they could be meal replacements, but
are they filling enough? I mean, yeah, replace our meal
because it doesn't look like there's a lot of protein
in it, So what what is filling about it?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
It's the fiber content. So I believe you're getting in
a medium Blue Talks, you're getting I think it's nine
grams of fiber. You know, there's two nutrients in the
US diet that are hard to get. We're excess and salt,
and we don't get enough fiber. You know. The joke
in school was to get enough fiber is you had
to eat your cereal and then eat the box after.
(13:03):
So no, it's the fiber that gives you the satiating
feeling that you know you're actually full for a few hours.
And like I said, it's a great I like, do
you have them for breakfast? It gets me to that
lunch where I don't get that crash in the morning.
But yeah, people use it as a new replacement throughout
the day.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
This is a report that just came out US Consumer Driver,
and it was basically looking at functional you know, obviously
the healthy driver from a lifestyle standpoint is now getting
into a little bit more of a demand. And this
is everything from not only building on menu items for restaurants,
(13:42):
but also using additives. You know, so when you have
or I don't know what you guys call them, but
there are some places out there that say, okay, well
you can do a protein shot, or you can add
you know, xyz on vitamin C or vitamin D or
any Are you guys doing any of that right now?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Yeah? Absolutely, So we have three different protein options. Away,
a soy and then a plant based blend which is
a blend of gosh, pumpkin sesame and I forgot the
last one, but that doesn't have that soy allergen in it.
And then we offer collagen, a probiotic boost. We have
(14:20):
what's called an immunity boost, basically it's a vitamin C boost.
Then we have what's called to make it green boost,
so we can add fresh spinach or kale to any
one of your smoothies, juices or bulls as well. But yeah, no,
our boost category, especially protein protein spin You know, I
thought it was a trend ten years ago. It's still
(14:41):
strong and it's still growing to the overyear Yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's also a good all these boosts are a good
way to get that check spinned up. I mean, you
keep adding a boost and then you're at the price
point you're at like a full meal. So very very smart.
I was seen earlier on that article that Paul shared
that these functional beverages are going to get more social
and kind of with the sober curious movement, So people
going out inside of the bars are gonna hit you know,
(15:05):
juice it up and and have you know, functional cocktails,
I guess without alcohol. So I thought that was interesting.
Are you guys seeing that yet?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah? No, And like I said, I think it's flavors
really driving that as well. People are looking are a
little more adventurous. You know, we've in the last few years,
I've introduced flavors guava, passion, fruit, lavender. This is our
second year doing a lavender, and we incorporate collagen and
that smoothie as well has been a home run. And
(15:36):
then we're about to dabble into some stuff with ube,
which is another really popular flavor.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
That was what was that one?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Ube? So it's a it's a purple like sweet potato.
It's very popular in Asian culture. I grew up in Hawaii,
so I'm very familiar with ube, but especially in southern California,
we're seeing ube drinks, Ube pastries. It's got a very
unique pain Q. But yeah, incorporating that function into these,
(16:04):
you know more I would say exotic flavors that people
are looking for now, especially that younger demographic.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
You mentioned collagen. I feel like that is like a
buzzword right now, especially for other fellow middle aged women.
I can't get enough collagen. I'm like, give me all
the collagen. So are you seeing people orderationing that too?
I mean, got to keep that skin tight.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Yeah, Like we've been working with collagen supplier now for gosh,
six or seven years. It started off, you know a
little slow, but now, like I said, we incorporate collagen
on our very lavender smoothie. And when we first launched it,
we didn't have the collagen. Still did well, but when
we incorporated the collagen with that hair, skin and nail support,
(16:49):
it was like boom wow. Like it's been absolutely killing
it for the last two years.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I'm looking at all the Yeah, let me bring this
up on on screen for you guys, because the variety
of what you guys offer right now is pretty dense.
So you've got the berry blends, then you go into
the tropical side and then tart. Now you also had
what was interesting to me, you had Mike's Hot Honey,
I know the guy that runs that, which is a
(17:19):
very unique. I use it on a variety of savory
you know products like avocado Toa's different kinds of things,
which I saw that you guys did as well, So
it's a good it's a good mix. But what about
going into more umami style drinks. Have you guys experimented
with that.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yet a little bit in my consumer testing with my group,
that's not really been as much of as a demand. Yeah,
but maybe I would say in predominantly southern California, so
I'd say maybe like a place that's not as hot
(17:58):
Mommy might be more of like and down here.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
It's like, we won't know if I would like like
a KC barbecue, It may not be the one I'm
thinking of, but I'm thinking, well, you you know, you've
kind of integrated it if you think about it, Mike's
hot honey, you know, with a combination of your bagels
and some of the things. I saw that you guys
had Dave's bread, which is I mean, you're using all
(18:22):
the right ingredients, which is something that is amazing. This
is another question I have to you. Our family uses
an app called Yuka. I don't know if you know this,
but it's a It's a grocery store app that scans
the barcode and then gives it a rating based on
chemicals that are in the food, So it'll give you
(18:44):
a rating if it's a bad, poor, good, great, you know,
excellent all the way up to one hundred. Have you
guys done anything like that with around the ingredient side,
you know? Given it almost like a rating of Hey,
on this berry lavender smoothie, it's got to thirty calories
up to five eighty, pinning on your size. But here
are all the functional nutrients that come with that.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Yeah, I mean, when I'm developing anything, I have my guarbrails. Right,
there's certain ingredients that we absolutely won't touch. No artificial colors,
no artificial flavors, anything of that nature. And then calories. Right,
it's depending on what drink I'm trying to develop. Like
the plant based smoothies, my goal for that was I
(19:29):
wanted a medium smoothie under two indred calories that still
had the functional nutrition and still was a nice meal
or placement with the fiber content. So we do have
guardrails when we do test anything or we do want
to launch anything. But yeah, so but as.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Far as fact that, what is the process for you
guys to create a new a new mooie.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Well, it starts with concept development, right, It's like you know,
these are what our franchisees are asking for. Listen to them,
listen to our consumer. And then you know, always relying
on your suppliers too, because your suppliers know their ingredients
just as much as not more than you, and they're seeing, hey,
we have this segment buying from us, or you know,
(20:13):
we're seeing X, Y and Z is really hot right now.
So incorporating all of those and then putting I'll take
a recipe even before I get into the kitchen, I'll
make a nutritional label and be like, oh shoot, like
I have to tone this or I can add this,
that and the other. So yeah, well, and I think.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
The group that tastes tests everything, like you know, to
make sure those healthy drinks taste good.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Yeah, like I said, flavor, I mean it's it's the
most important. Like, if it's not good, it's not going
to sell. I don't care. It would be, you know,
the most healthiest drink in the world. But if I
have to hold my nose and drink it and it's
just a chore, it's it's you're not going to get
that customer retention that you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Let's talk about customers for a second. Behavior right now,
mostly coming from younger consumers. We're seeing gen Z also
adapting to this. When you guys go out and look
at your market obviously Southern California, the franchise ease, you're
getting feedback from them. Are there any studies that you're
looking at these demographic shifts right now that pertain to
(21:21):
how you develop something within the brand?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Yeah, so specific in gen Z. A really big thing
with them is color, those unique flavors and energy. They
all energy, so incorporating like a B vitamin complex or
a green coffee extract. We have a peanut butter Colebrew
(21:45):
mocha protein smooth that's really popular with them. So once again,
even color, like the instagrammable act.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Like that one right there the zone.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yeah, that's a big one with weightlifters, so super approachly.
I believe it's thirty.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Non fat yogurt peanut butter. Okay, I could see that
in protein powdering. Yeah, get right, it's loaded up. I
like it gluten free and vegan, probiotic, gut health. I
love the fact that you guys let me show this
for our audience because sometimes on the audio podcast, by
the way, if you guys are not listening. If you
are listening to the audio version of this, jump over
here to YouTube search saver FM. You'll see Fast Casual
(22:27):
Nation right there. But here's a breakdown right here on
this particular smoothie where you can add boosts to it. So, Noah,
do you guys have any data on how many smoothies
get boosts added to it when you sell them? Is
it like half or more or thirty percent any kind
(22:47):
of numbers.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
It's thirty five to forty five percent.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Wow, yeah, all of those boosts. Can I get all
eight of those in my one drink?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You could? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Absolutely, Vita, soy protein, collagen, all of that. And are
these specific to that particular drink?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
No, you can get those boots in any drink and flavorless,
so they don't ruin the flavor or do some of
them have flavors?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Well, the make it green obviously, the spinach and kale's
going to alter the flavor way the protein powders, so
the way and the soy protein have a little vanilla
flavor to them, but not anything drastic. But the most
of them are pretty neutral, actually, so spare Lena. A
lot of the kids like that because of that blue
color and realize that we're getting a vitamin B twelve boost.
(23:34):
But yeah, no. But for the most part, they're all
pretty neutral in flavor. So if you were to get
all of those boosts in a drink, it would still
probably be really delicious.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I think that's what I'm going to do next time
I'm out there. I'm going to go and get every
single boost possible, and then I'll make a TikTok of
it instead of.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You, guys, it's going to be boosted up up. You're
gonna be going crazy, all right, Well, that's nuts. This
episode is brought to you in part by Gusto, the
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(24:13):
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com use our link down below to get started. See
you there. All right, so let's talk about new stuff
(25:39):
because we've got demographic in the sense of we know
where the market's coming from and where the demand is
coming from. Now, you guys got to have to go
build out product and menu to kind of prep for
that next trend. How do you discover those and what
is that process? On?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
The good old fashioned going out and visiting the mom
and pop shops, going to wherever the shops are close
to universities. There's always those little small mom and pop
boba shops, tea shops, juice bars that I can take
a look at them and it's like, I necessarily don't
(26:21):
think that this is profitable, but how can I, you know,
re engineer this to hit that flavor profile and functional
benefit that they're looking for.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
He's a sneak peak, like what you're kind of working towards?
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Do you think coming up?
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah, so we're actually going to be testing some caffeinated
like pore over drinks, so that incorporates like a lavender
blueberry poor over. We have like a mango youngberry, a
fresh cucumber lemonade that incorporates some green coffee extract and
have about as much coffee as a regular cup of coffee.
(26:58):
So yeah, beautiful colors and the energy. And that's what
I'm saying before is that's what gen z is looking for.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
For sure, very cool. Well, and I think you guys
are hitting on the whole concept of building a menu
around demand, looking for those nuances around trend. But I
really think the whole boosting concept that I know it's
been around for a while, but what a great upsale
because it's there's no other category in fast casual that
I think gets to benefit from up selling like this
(27:30):
where you can add to and you know, really build
our journey walk your yeah, other than yeah adquawk. Yeah,
that's kind of the the option out there ad guak,
which is expensive these days.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
By the way, Ricey, I mean, I guess you have
a glock boost.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
We have tested avocado smoothies before, so well, I've.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Got avocado in my smoothies just because I like that
it doesn't really change the taste and that cansistency makes
it more like an ice cream.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I think it's Yeah, it's much much creamier, Yeah, for sure.
Uh and it's a good you know, listen, that's got
a functional benefit. Let's talk about before we let you go.
I want to get into as a food scientist, and
you think about biohackers out there, because we're seeing a
lot of people, whether they are getting into just better
you know, uh self care, whether it's doing something in
(28:23):
weight training, you know, they're doing endurance. Now I've seen,
you know, the amount of athletes that are coming out
of this younger generation is a bit surprising to me.
Is there anything that you're seeing from a functional science
side of things that says, this is something that we
think is going to be one of the next health
(28:45):
crases you mentioned spir Allina. You know, I, you know,
I do red light therapy, I do college, and I
do all of these, you know, functional things, But I
don't know that I know enough about it, you know,
from a science standpoint. So I just do everything.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
That TikTok tells me to buy and hope something works.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Actually give us a hack, man, give us a hack.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
No. An ingredient that I've been reading about and known
about for quite some time, and it's not anything too crazy,
is red beats. So actually, marathon runners all that it's
very good vaso dilator. So what it does is it
helps give more blood to your muscles, helps them with recovery.
(29:29):
But red Beats has been we actually have a juice
called the Optimizer that incorporates red beats and it's there
for that function. But yeah, red beats, keep your eyes.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
So I have a biohacking physician that I see and
he literally just last week recommended be powder YEP to
be mixed into He said, just do it in your
shakes and things of that nature. It's very good for
your cardiovascular health. It also is very good for your stamina,
builds out the ability for you to go longer.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And I.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
You know, I ride bikes, I do a lot of
you know, running, and I have found that these kinds
of ingredients, just little tweaks in the diet, make a
massive difference in how I perform. And I'm now I'm
seeing it happen all the time. So you guys are
onto something. It's going to be cool to watch this
(30:26):
brand grow in the coming years, for sure. Are you last,
char Do you have any last questions before we let
know ago?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well, I'll first of all, I just wanted to congratulate
them on making the Fast Casual Top one hundred lists
again and so.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Nice to see.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, that's three or four years in a row. I
got to see their CEO the last week, so that
was cool. Always getting to catch up with Susan, So
congratulations on that. But I'm interested in in the in
the beats, Like what what do you put in there
on that smoothie to make it taste good, because like,
beats are disgusting, so.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Discot thing. There's a young child her just pushing everything away.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Beats, pineapple, a little bit of red grapes. Uh, yeah,
put it a little bit of sealary for some electrolytes
as well. But yeah, no, like I said, when next
time you come to one of our stores, try the
Optimizer juice out. Uh. It's got that healthy functional benefit
and it's super tasty.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
And I'm going to try the Optimizer I like it,
and the Blue Talks. I'm going to try the Blue
Talks too it because that one just looks cool anyway,
and it's fairly low on calories, so I love it.
Noah Burg, it's been great having you on today. Thank
you for coming in and being our first. We're going
to get more sciencests back anyore.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Science is cool.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, thanks for coming in, man, we appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
All right, So that was that was fun getting in here.
I think you know the key here is for me,
I'm just discovering all these beverage brands that I didn't
I knew they existed, but I didn't realize how big
of a category it was. In the top one hundred
share are what do you what's the mix right now?
(32:20):
In top one. I know we talked about Chicken last week.
Chicken is very heavy.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Chicken is Chicken is a leader. There is only a
couple drinks categories, you know, juice it up made it.
I think swig or no brush they made it. Yeah,
there's probably three or three maybe out of it. So
there's not a lot of them that are doing that
great yet. But I think we're going to just get more,
(32:47):
get more into it. I mean gen Z loves it,
you know, and they're willing to spend you know, ten
dollars for a drink for a snack, so right, I
think it's going to be one to watch.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
I have one thing we haven't done. We have our
list of fast casual front Runners that we're doing and
this of course is going to be introduced down at
the Perfect Pitch during the event this year. Yeah, if
you guys haven't heard about it, front Runners is almost
like a small competition that we do here at Saber
and the concept is we build a documentary around your
(33:22):
brand and then we let you go out and promote it,
and whoever wins the promotion side of it, which basically
is based on video views and likes, gets a large
opportunity with us, and that is both investment and consulting
into your brand. So if you're a brand new fast
casual concept and you guys want to get in, just
(33:42):
visit sab dot fm, go over to Fast Casual Frontrunners,
or you can search that. We also publish a lot
of this over on Fast Casual Nation with Shares Team,
and we're partner with them as well.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, I was going to say that we have we're
taking applications right now for the Perfect Pitch that we're
going to be doing in October, and Paul's going to
be a judge, and the winner of that perfect pitch
is going to automatically get to be again, the winner
of the Perfect Pitch is going to automatically get to
be one of the restaurant brands featured on front Runners
(34:14):
in twenty twenty six. So we're really excited about that.
The deadline was June first, but we have excited it
to June seventh, so you have a few more days
to get it in. You need to be under seven
years old. You need to have at least one brand
one location open. It could be a food truck, it
does not have to be a brick and mortar. And
we're going to you know, we're going to pick eight
(34:36):
brands to pitch, five to eight brands to pitch, and
then we're going to get We're going to hear from
those brands each day of the Fast Casual Executive Summit,
and then the winner of that, the audience gets to vote,
and the winner of that will be in the front
Runner season.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
So yeah, and the value of this, guys is big.
I mean, it can be upwards of over two hundred
k two hundred thousand in value back to your brand,
whether you want investment or you're looking for consulting. You
get a p package from the Saber Capital team. And
you know, we've been in the fast casual sector for
a very long time, so hopefully that'll be valuable to
(35:08):
you if you are in the class this year, which
we'll be starting to release them. But you know what
I was getting at is we don't have a beverage
brand in there.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
We don't, so.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Very interesting, I got to get to work. I had
a good young beverage brand that's starting to emerge.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
We should ask Noah who's who he's looking at competing wise.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
To who's well. You know, some of these early stages
are hard to find. There's one here in South Florida
that is fairly young. I think there are three units
right now. And then you have Cali Coffee, which is
one who I just said, one of the front runners. Yes,
breaking news, you know, we're releasing the list very soon.
(35:55):
The first video is going to be dropping here in
about three or four weeks. In the first brand will
go to the race ready to go. We'll probably will
air the announcement on this podcast, so you guys will
find out who the class is for this year, and
then who will be the winner is going to get
announced at Perfect Pitch this year for the twenty five
(36:17):
class and then the obviously the winner of the Perfect
Pitch is our first front runner for twenty twenty six.
So it's going to be It's magical.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
It's magical.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Jera is good seeing you and guys. If you are
not subscribed to the show right now, do that. If
you're watching the video, just click the subscribe right down there.
And if you're listening over on the podcast side of things,
give us some love over there, give us a star,
tell us what you like about the podcast, who you
want on the next Fast Casual Nation. We'll catch you
next week. Take care,
Welcome back to another episode of Fast Casual Nation, the
podcast that started it all, and of course, joining me
today is my beautiful co host, Ms. Shrek Candler. How
are you.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I am doing fabulously. How are you, Paul?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Excellent? So you you just mentioned that you were on
another podcast? What's going on here?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah? I was on a I was a guest on
someone else's podcast, Kubricks. So there, okay, Yeah, they're helping
us out.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Okay, So when you're well listen, we're gonna be We've
got a lot to talk about today. We've got a
special guest for you guys. We're gonna be talking about
functional beverages, the health craze that is sweeping the land.
It is gonna be amazing. So you guys stick around
for this one. We'll be right back. My name is
(01:01):
Paul Baron. As the early pioneer in fast casual I've
seen the industry evolve from just a few operators the
most sought after segment by consumers around the world. Now
we're planning to shape its future. Tap into decades of
my expertise identifying the emerging brands and tech winners in
(01:22):
the space saber capital. We'll be fueling the next generation
of fast casual innovation. All right, we're back here on
Fast Casual Nation. Today's topic is going to be the
beverage category, but not in the way that you think.
We're actually going to be talking about the functional health
(01:42):
model that seems to be sweeping the land scher. Before
we get into that, I want to kind of bump
over to a couple of things that are happening, of course,
in the fast casual sector. Obviously a couple of news stories.
I'll let you break them.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, it's been interesting. You know, people have been talking
about prices being you know, menu prices having to go
up with tariffs and costs. But then we had a
couple of brands this week launched the opposite So and
Pizza Is says they're cutting prices. And then we had
another brand talking about how they are doing a fun
(02:17):
happy hour with their drinks.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So I like, this new concept is this Have you
seen this concept?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
But that and Pizza concept looks cool. It's very futuristic.
But they're cutting there. They say they're lowering their prices,
and they said, you know, we just got to do it.
I think it's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I wonder I wonder if this is a is it?
I'm kind of curious did they did they build that
outside the store?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I mean for me, yeah, to me, it looks like
it's still like, you know, a rendering, so I don't
think it's real.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Okay, it's all right, this will be this will be
an interesting I've got to go to d C and
check these guys out. The last time I got to
visit with them was a very long time ago when
Michael was still their CEO and Jesus, Yeahzza Jesus, great
guy by the way, he is a realistic But now
(03:10):
they're franchising.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So when he ran the show, you know, he was
very dedicated to not franchising. And new leadership team is
starting to franchise. So that's interesting too.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Hey, listen, you gotta do what you got to do
in these one exactly. All right, Let's go into Fuzzies
because they launched their happy hour. Yeah, Fuzzy Socco shop.
This is a full on, fast casual constant.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yep. Yeah, they bought Margarita's and the price is right, baby, Like,
I wish we had one next close to my house.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Because four dollar, which is a Sangria rita swirl.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, so it's like a margarita mixes with a singrea,
Like what could go wrong for four dollars and they
have their like, yeah, it's just it's just gonna it
looks delicious.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
So a lot of a lot of beer offerings there,
which is good. Also Jerrida's, which is, you know, obviously
one of the more lighter sides of.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So many And I guess it's not really on the
functional beverage trends, but you know, I'm high functioning when
I when I drink their margaret.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Okay, we'll work. We'll go on the opposite side of
that discussion today, because that's one of the things when
you look, you know, beverage has been one of the
hottest topics that we've had here on the show over
the last couple of months. First of all, why do
you think that we're seeing so much in the way
of beverage coming into the market right now.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, I think people are looking for ways to increase
check spins, and also the non alcoholic sector is very
popular with like the teenagers, the dirty sodas, the gen Z's,
you know, and then coming into the functional beverages. So
it's it's so we were talking about this last week,
like we've got all these drink only concepts popping up,
(04:52):
so everybody is getting on board. I mean, these these
kids have the extra money, so you know when you
have teenagers, I know what you mean.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Well, and I think the key here is is the demographic,
you know, which we'll talk about today. Get into all that.
So let's bring in our guests. First of all, I
would like to say I think this might be a
milestone for us because to my knowledge, this is the
first scientist that we had on the show. And this guy,
(05:22):
he's a scientist at Juiced Up. His name is Noah
Burgess and he runs research over there. So I'm going
to bring Noah in now and get him into the show.
Hey Noah, how are you?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Hey, Guy's pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah. So okay, first of all, did you go to
work for justed up as a scientist? Where you what
was your background? Where did you come from?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I got this job straight out of college. So I
went to college as a food scientist, and two weeks
later I there go mix we're going to do.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
If you're going to be a scientist, you might as
well be a food scientist. Science. I want to study
a great job.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Hey listen, No, let's get into the functional beverage category
with Juice it up. You guys have really done a
great job kind of leading the market around this area.
I'll bring up your website just so everybody can kind
of get a good look of what's going on over there.
But give us a rundown of some of the products,
some of the things that you've worked on that you're
(06:23):
proud of, you know, and that you see really starting
to trend. Now, give us some insight.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, I mean, we we have beverages for you know,
wherever you are in your lifestyle or health journey. Everything
from our classics smoothies which are kind of more of
a treat for the kids, to our row juice is
what you see right there, which are pressed one hundred
percent fruits and veggies. People love that as almost kind
(06:50):
of like a supplement to your breakfast or your lunch,
a little pick me up in the afternoon. Then we
have our specialty smoothie category, which is growing exponentially. We
have our superfruit smoothies which incorporate osie and dragon fruit,
which have great health benefits with all those healthy omega
fats and then are plant based smoothie line, which is
(07:12):
unlike a raw juice which kind of takes the fiber
out of the product. This is one hundred percent blended
fruits and vegetables and ice, so you're getting that fiber
aspect and it's a great meal replacement. And they're all
basically under two hundred calories for a twenty ounce drink.
So that's crazy already and super nutrient rich.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So the market size, shaa, how big is this thing? Well?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I was just looking that up earlier today and I
was very shocked to see that. I mean it's valued
at two hundred and forty three billion dollars in twenty
twenty four and is supposed to grow, you know, to
reach four hundred and sixty three billion by twenty thirty three.
I mean, I don't know if we'll get there, but
that those are staggering even now already at two hundred
and forty three billions, So that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So size of the market, well, I would think, you know,
I'm a bit of a biohacker right now. I try
a lot of different things, and no, I want to
ask you a question because this is something I hear
from a lot of nutritionists and people out there that
are you know, they have different programs and things of
that nature. One is around vegetables and when you actually
(08:22):
put them into a liquid form, do you lose any
of the nutrient value when you do that? When let's say,
for instance, I like broccoli, you know, or bananas, Right,
what happens when you break a vegetable or a fruit
down into a smoothie from a nutrition standpoint.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So from a nutrition standpoint, you're taking basically when you're
eating a fruit and vegetable, it's a complex carbohydrate, right
when you're blending it or juicing it. Juicing it, you're
actually going to get rid of the fiber content. When
you're blending it, you still keep that fiber content, but
think of you've already skipped a few of the digestion steps,
(09:02):
so it becomes a little bit more of a simple carbohydrate.
So you've kind of already kicked started the digestion. So
when it hits your gut, you're absorbing those vitamins, nutrients
and sugar and all those other things a lot much faster.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah. Okay, So yeah, that is some of the things
that you know have been discussed and I think The
interesting thing. First of all, when you I think most
restaurants recognize the fact that most consumers they're on the go,
so being able to have access to these are very important.
I have a local spot. I wish there was juiced
up near me, but I have a local spot that
(09:40):
does this right now. They're all vegan and they do
a really good job with coconut water instead of using
mill you know, some other ingredients like that. When you
guys are building your product out, give me a construct.
Let's say, for instance, we'll go to the detoxifier. That's
a one hundred to three hundred calorie drink that you have, right,
give me a breakdown of what that thing consists of.
(10:02):
Let's get into these doxifiers. So you've got I was
looking at this one earlier because this one kind of
peaqued my interest. Cucumber, pineapple, red grapes, spinach, lemon, ginger. Right,
when you're putting a recipe together like this, first of all,
it's gluten free, vegan, vegetarian. But is there anything specific
in that lineup that you're trying to use from a
(10:24):
food science standpoint that is better for me? You know,
as you know, a healthy individual's what's in that that says, oh,
you need ginger because of this, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, so ginger for its anti inflammatory properties, spinach and lemon.
So actually, whenever I'm utilizing any green leafy vegetables, it's
always good to add some type of acid, whether it's orange, lemon, lime.
Is what that does is it actually helps with that
bitterness taste. Is I always want my drinks not only
(10:55):
to be healthy, but flavor is super important, right because
guests is going to be like, I don't want a
guess to be like, oh this is a chore. I
want them to enjoy their healthy drink as well. Yeah,
that's where the pineapple comes in as well. Also, pineapple
has some protein digestive properties brooming the specific uh that
(11:19):
help with if you're drinking this well, let's say your
breakfast in the morning. It just helps with you know,
digestive factors there as well. And then cucumber for hydration.
I always say when you're juicing, cucumber is one of
your best friends because it's high yield, right, so it
helps drag all that stuff out of the jututer. Whereas
if you're juicing too much green leafy vegetables, they kind
(11:42):
of just get stuck in there and you just not
really get content.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay, all right, so what's the I saw that you
guys have some lt O s right now, The Blue
Talks I think it was called the Green Talks. I'm
interested in. I was like going to detox me from
all the drink United last night. If I have one
of these, it will help.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
So the Blue Talks specifically is one of our, like
I was explaining before, our plant based smoothies, and we
incorporate uh spirillina which is excellent viamin B twelve, so
it helps with energy metabolism. So yeah, that's been a hit.
We've I think this is the second or third year
we've ran that as the LTO and it's been super successful.
(12:22):
But yeah, that plant based smoothie category is growing exponentially
ye over year for us.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Well, you mentioned that they could be meal replacements, but
are they filling enough? I mean, yeah, replace our meal
because it doesn't look like there's a lot of protein
in it, So what what is filling about it?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
It's the fiber content. So I believe you're getting in
a medium Blue Talks, you're getting I think it's nine
grams of fiber. You know, there's two nutrients in the
US diet that are hard to get. We're excess and salt,
and we don't get enough fiber. You know. The joke
in school was to get enough fiber is you had
to eat your cereal and then eat the box after.
(13:03):
So no, it's the fiber that gives you the satiating
feeling that you know you're actually full for a few hours.
And like I said, it's a great I like, do
you have them for breakfast? It gets me to that
lunch where I don't get that crash in the morning.
But yeah, people use it as a new replacement throughout
the day.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
This is a report that just came out US Consumer Driver,
and it was basically looking at functional you know, obviously
the healthy driver from a lifestyle standpoint is now getting
into a little bit more of a demand. And this
is everything from not only building on menu items for restaurants,
(13:42):
but also using additives. You know, so when you have
or I don't know what you guys call them, but
there are some places out there that say, okay, well
you can do a protein shot, or you can add
you know, xyz on vitamin C or vitamin D or
any Are you guys doing any of that right now?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Yeah? Absolutely, So we have three different protein options. Away,
a soy and then a plant based blend which is
a blend of gosh, pumpkin sesame and I forgot the
last one, but that doesn't have that soy allergen in it.
And then we offer collagen, a probiotic boost. We have
(14:20):
what's called an immunity boost, basically it's a vitamin C boost.
Then we have what's called to make it green boost,
so we can add fresh spinach or kale to any
one of your smoothies, juices or bulls as well. But yeah, no,
our boost category, especially protein protein spin You know, I
thought it was a trend ten years ago. It's still
(14:41):
strong and it's still growing to the overyear Yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's also a good all these boosts are a good
way to get that check spinned up. I mean, you
keep adding a boost and then you're at the price
point you're at like a full meal. So very very smart.
I was seen earlier on that article that Paul shared
that these functional beverages are going to get more social
and kind of with the sober curious movement, So people
going out inside of the bars are gonna hit you know,
(15:05):
juice it up and and have you know, functional cocktails,
I guess without alcohol. So I thought that was interesting.
Are you guys seeing that yet?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah? No, And like I said, I think it's flavors
really driving that as well. People are looking are a
little more adventurous. You know, we've in the last few years,
I've introduced flavors guava, passion, fruit, lavender. This is our
second year doing a lavender, and we incorporate collagen and
that smoothie as well has been a home run. And
(15:36):
then we're about to dabble into some stuff with ube,
which is another really popular flavor.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
That was what was that one?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Ube? So it's a it's a purple like sweet potato.
It's very popular in Asian culture. I grew up in Hawaii,
so I'm very familiar with ube, but especially in southern California,
we're seeing ube drinks, Ube pastries. It's got a very
unique pain Q. But yeah, incorporating that function into these,
(16:04):
you know more I would say exotic flavors that people
are looking for now, especially that younger demographic.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
You mentioned collagen. I feel like that is like a
buzzword right now, especially for other fellow middle aged women.
I can't get enough collagen. I'm like, give me all
the collagen. So are you seeing people orderationing that too?
I mean, got to keep that skin tight.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Yeah, Like we've been working with collagen supplier now for gosh,
six or seven years. It started off, you know a
little slow, but now, like I said, we incorporate collagen
on our very lavender smoothie. And when we first launched it,
we didn't have the collagen. Still did well, but when
we incorporated the collagen with that hair, skin and nail support,
(16:49):
it was like boom wow. Like it's been absolutely killing
it for the last two years.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I'm looking at all the Yeah, let me bring this
up on on screen for you guys, because the variety
of what you guys offer right now is pretty dense.
So you've got the berry blends, then you go into
the tropical side and then tart. Now you also had
what was interesting to me, you had Mike's Hot Honey,
I know the guy that runs that, which is a
(17:19):
very unique. I use it on a variety of savory
you know products like avocado Toa's different kinds of things,
which I saw that you guys did as well, So
it's a good it's a good mix. But what about
going into more umami style drinks. Have you guys experimented
with that.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yet a little bit in my consumer testing with my group,
that's not really been as much of as a demand. Yeah,
but maybe I would say in predominantly southern California, so
I'd say maybe like a place that's not as hot
(17:58):
Mommy might be more of like and down here.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
It's like, we won't know if I would like like
a KC barbecue, It may not be the one I'm
thinking of, but I'm thinking, well, you you know, you've
kind of integrated it if you think about it, Mike's
hot honey, you know, with a combination of your bagels
and some of the things. I saw that you guys
had Dave's bread, which is I mean, you're using all
(18:22):
the right ingredients, which is something that is amazing. This
is another question I have to you. Our family uses
an app called Yuka. I don't know if you know this,
but it's a It's a grocery store app that scans
the barcode and then gives it a rating based on
chemicals that are in the food, So it'll give you
(18:44):
a rating if it's a bad, poor, good, great, you know,
excellent all the way up to one hundred. Have you
guys done anything like that with around the ingredient side,
you know? Given it almost like a rating of Hey,
on this berry lavender smoothie, it's got to thirty calories
up to five eighty, pinning on your size. But here
are all the functional nutrients that come with that.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Yeah, I mean, when I'm developing anything, I have my guarbrails. Right,
there's certain ingredients that we absolutely won't touch. No artificial colors,
no artificial flavors, anything of that nature. And then calories. Right,
it's depending on what drink I'm trying to develop. Like
the plant based smoothies, my goal for that was I
(19:29):
wanted a medium smoothie under two indred calories that still
had the functional nutrition and still was a nice meal
or placement with the fiber content. So we do have
guardrails when we do test anything or we do want
to launch anything. But yeah, so but as.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Far as fact that, what is the process for you
guys to create a new a new mooie.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Well, it starts with concept development, right, It's like you know,
these are what our franchisees are asking for. Listen to them,
listen to our consumer. And then you know, always relying
on your suppliers too, because your suppliers know their ingredients
just as much as not more than you, and they're seeing, hey,
we have this segment buying from us, or you know,
(20:13):
we're seeing X, Y and Z is really hot right now.
So incorporating all of those and then putting I'll take
a recipe even before I get into the kitchen, I'll
make a nutritional label and be like, oh shoot, like
I have to tone this or I can add this,
that and the other. So yeah, well, and I think.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
The group that tastes tests everything, like you know, to
make sure those healthy drinks taste good.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Yeah, like I said, flavor, I mean it's it's the
most important. Like, if it's not good, it's not going
to sell. I don't care. It would be, you know,
the most healthiest drink in the world. But if I
have to hold my nose and drink it and it's
just a chore, it's it's you're not going to get
that customer retention that you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Let's talk about customers for a second. Behavior right now,
mostly coming from younger consumers. We're seeing gen Z also
adapting to this. When you guys go out and look
at your market obviously Southern California, the franchise ease, you're
getting feedback from them. Are there any studies that you're
looking at these demographic shifts right now that pertain to
(21:21):
how you develop something within the brand?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Yeah, so specific in gen Z. A really big thing
with them is color, those unique flavors and energy. They
all energy, so incorporating like a B vitamin complex or
a green coffee extract. We have a peanut butter Colebrew
(21:45):
mocha protein smooth that's really popular with them. So once again,
even color, like the instagrammable act.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Like that one right there the zone.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yeah, that's a big one with weightlifters, so super approachly.
I believe it's thirty.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Non fat yogurt peanut butter. Okay, I could see that
in protein powdering. Yeah, get right, it's loaded up. I
like it gluten free and vegan, probiotic, gut health. I
love the fact that you guys let me show this
for our audience because sometimes on the audio podcast, by
the way, if you guys are not listening. If you
are listening to the audio version of this, jump over
here to YouTube search saver FM. You'll see Fast Casual
(22:27):
Nation right there. But here's a breakdown right here on
this particular smoothie where you can add boosts to it. So, Noah,
do you guys have any data on how many smoothies
get boosts added to it when you sell them? Is
it like half or more or thirty percent any kind
(22:47):
of numbers.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
It's thirty five to forty five percent.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Wow, yeah, all of those boosts. Can I get all
eight of those in my one drink?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You could? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Absolutely, Vita, soy protein, collagen, all of that. And are
these specific to that particular drink?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
No, you can get those boots in any drink and flavorless,
so they don't ruin the flavor or do some of
them have flavors?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Well, the make it green obviously, the spinach and kale's
going to alter the flavor way the protein powders, so
the way and the soy protein have a little vanilla
flavor to them, but not anything drastic. But the most
of them are pretty neutral, actually, so spare Lena. A
lot of the kids like that because of that blue
color and realize that we're getting a vitamin B twelve boost.
(23:34):
But yeah, no. But for the most part, they're all
pretty neutral in flavor. So if you were to get
all of those boosts in a drink, it would still
probably be really delicious.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I think that's what I'm going to do next time
I'm out there. I'm going to go and get every
single boost possible, and then I'll make a TikTok of
it instead of.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You, guys, it's going to be boosted up up. You're
gonna be going crazy, all right, Well, that's nuts. This
episode is brought to you in part by Gusto, the
number one rated HR platform for payroll, benefits and more.
With Gusto's easy to use platform, you can empower your
people and push your business forward. Over four hundred thousand
(24:13):
businesses choose Gusto every day. And let's get into it, guys.
There's a couple of things you can do with Gusto
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of course the best thing is pricing. The thing a
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Check it all out. Just go over to Gusto dot
com use our link down below to get started. See
you there. All right, so let's talk about new stuff
(25:39):
because we've got demographic in the sense of we know
where the market's coming from and where the demand is
coming from. Now, you guys got to have to go
build out product and menu to kind of prep for
that next trend. How do you discover those and what
is that process? On?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
The good old fashioned going out and visiting the mom
and pop shops, going to wherever the shops are close
to universities. There's always those little small mom and pop
boba shops, tea shops, juice bars that I can take
a look at them and it's like, I necessarily don't
(26:21):
think that this is profitable, but how can I, you know,
re engineer this to hit that flavor profile and functional
benefit that they're looking for.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
He's a sneak peak, like what you're kind of working towards?
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Do you think coming up?
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah, so we're actually going to be testing some caffeinated
like pore over drinks, so that incorporates like a lavender
blueberry poor over. We have like a mango youngberry, a
fresh cucumber lemonade that incorporates some green coffee extract and
have about as much coffee as a regular cup of coffee.
(26:58):
So yeah, beautiful colors and the energy. And that's what
I'm saying before is that's what gen z is looking for.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
For sure, very cool. Well, and I think you guys
are hitting on the whole concept of building a menu
around demand, looking for those nuances around trend. But I
really think the whole boosting concept that I know it's
been around for a while, but what a great upsale
because it's there's no other category in fast casual that
I think gets to benefit from up selling like this
(27:30):
where you can add to and you know, really build
our journey walk your yeah, other than yeah adquawk. Yeah,
that's kind of the the option out there ad guak,
which is expensive these days.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
By the way, Ricey, I mean, I guess you have
a glock boost.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
We have tested avocado smoothies before, so well, I've.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Got avocado in my smoothies just because I like that
it doesn't really change the taste and that cansistency makes
it more like an ice cream.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I think it's Yeah, it's much much creamier, Yeah, for sure.
Uh and it's a good you know, listen, that's got
a functional benefit. Let's talk about before we let you go.
I want to get into as a food scientist, and
you think about biohackers out there, because we're seeing a
lot of people, whether they are getting into just better
you know, uh self care, whether it's doing something in
(28:23):
weight training, you know, they're doing endurance. Now I've seen,
you know, the amount of athletes that are coming out
of this younger generation is a bit surprising to me.
Is there anything that you're seeing from a functional science
side of things that says, this is something that we
think is going to be one of the next health
(28:45):
crases you mentioned spir Allina. You know, I, you know,
I do red light therapy, I do college, and I
do all of these, you know, functional things, But I
don't know that I know enough about it, you know,
from a science standpoint. So I just do everything.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
That TikTok tells me to buy and hope something works.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Actually give us a hack, man, give us a hack.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
No. An ingredient that I've been reading about and known
about for quite some time, and it's not anything too crazy,
is red beats. So actually, marathon runners all that it's
very good vaso dilator. So what it does is it
helps give more blood to your muscles, helps them with recovery.
(29:29):
But red Beats has been we actually have a juice
called the Optimizer that incorporates red beats and it's there
for that function. But yeah, red beats, keep your eyes.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
So I have a biohacking physician that I see and
he literally just last week recommended be powder YEP to
be mixed into He said, just do it in your
shakes and things of that nature. It's very good for
your cardiovascular health. It also is very good for your stamina,
builds out the ability for you to go longer.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And I.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
You know, I ride bikes, I do a lot of
you know, running, and I have found that these kinds
of ingredients, just little tweaks in the diet, make a
massive difference in how I perform. And I'm now I'm
seeing it happen all the time. So you guys are
onto something. It's going to be cool to watch this
(30:26):
brand grow in the coming years, for sure. Are you last,
char Do you have any last questions before we let
know ago?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well, I'll first of all, I just wanted to congratulate
them on making the Fast Casual Top one hundred lists
again and so.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Nice to see.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, that's three or four years in a row. I
got to see their CEO the last week, so that
was cool. Always getting to catch up with Susan, So
congratulations on that. But I'm interested in in the in
the beats, Like what what do you put in there
on that smoothie to make it taste good, because like,
beats are disgusting, so.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Discot thing. There's a young child her just pushing everything away.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Beats, pineapple, a little bit of red grapes. Uh, yeah,
put it a little bit of sealary for some electrolytes
as well. But yeah, no, like I said, when next
time you come to one of our stores, try the
Optimizer juice out. Uh. It's got that healthy functional benefit
and it's super tasty.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
And I'm going to try the Optimizer I like it,
and the Blue Talks. I'm going to try the Blue
Talks too it because that one just looks cool anyway,
and it's fairly low on calories, so I love it.
Noah Burg, it's been great having you on today. Thank
you for coming in and being our first. We're going
to get more sciencests back anyore.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Science is cool.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, thanks for coming in, man, we appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
All right, So that was that was fun getting in here.
I think you know the key here is for me,
I'm just discovering all these beverage brands that I didn't
I knew they existed, but I didn't realize how big
of a category it was. In the top one hundred
share are what do you what's the mix right now?
(32:20):
In top one. I know we talked about Chicken last week.
Chicken is very heavy.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Chicken is Chicken is a leader. There is only a
couple drinks categories, you know, juice it up made it.
I think swig or no brush they made it. Yeah,
there's probably three or three maybe out of it. So
there's not a lot of them that are doing that
great yet. But I think we're going to just get more,
(32:47):
get more into it. I mean gen Z loves it,
you know, and they're willing to spend you know, ten
dollars for a drink for a snack, so right, I
think it's going to be one to watch.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
I have one thing we haven't done. We have our
list of fast casual front Runners that we're doing and
this of course is going to be introduced down at
the Perfect Pitch during the event this year. Yeah, if
you guys haven't heard about it, front Runners is almost
like a small competition that we do here at Saber
and the concept is we build a documentary around your
(33:22):
brand and then we let you go out and promote it,
and whoever wins the promotion side of it, which basically
is based on video views and likes, gets a large
opportunity with us, and that is both investment and consulting
into your brand. So if you're a brand new fast
casual concept and you guys want to get in, just
(33:42):
visit sab dot fm, go over to Fast Casual Frontrunners,
or you can search that. We also publish a lot
of this over on Fast Casual Nation with Shares Team,
and we're partner with them as well.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, I was going to say that we have we're
taking applications right now for the Perfect Pitch that we're
going to be doing in October, and Paul's going to
be a judge, and the winner of that perfect pitch
is going to automatically get to be again, the winner
of the Perfect Pitch is going to automatically get to
be one of the restaurant brands featured on front Runners
(34:14):
in twenty twenty six. So we're really excited about that.
The deadline was June first, but we have excited it
to June seventh, so you have a few more days
to get it in. You need to be under seven
years old. You need to have at least one brand
one location open. It could be a food truck, it
does not have to be a brick and mortar. And
we're going to you know, we're going to pick eight
(34:36):
brands to pitch, five to eight brands to pitch, and
then we're going to get We're going to hear from
those brands each day of the Fast Casual Executive Summit,
and then the winner of that, the audience gets to vote,
and the winner of that will be in the front
Runner season.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
So yeah, and the value of this, guys is big.
I mean, it can be upwards of over two hundred
k two hundred thousand in value back to your brand,
whether you want investment or you're looking for consulting. You
get a p package from the Saber Capital team. And
you know, we've been in the fast casual sector for
a very long time, so hopefully that'll be valuable to
(35:08):
you if you are in the class this year, which
we'll be starting to release them. But you know what
I was getting at is we don't have a beverage
brand in there.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
We don't, so.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Very interesting, I got to get to work. I had
a good young beverage brand that's starting to emerge.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
We should ask Noah who's who he's looking at competing wise.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
To who's well. You know, some of these early stages
are hard to find. There's one here in South Florida
that is fairly young. I think there are three units
right now. And then you have Cali Coffee, which is
one who I just said, one of the front runners. Yes,
breaking news, you know, we're releasing the list very soon.
(35:55):
The first video is going to be dropping here in
about three or four weeks. In the first brand will
go to the race ready to go. We'll probably will
air the announcement on this podcast, so you guys will
find out who the class is for this year, and
then who will be the winner is going to get
announced at Perfect Pitch this year for the twenty five
(36:17):
class and then the obviously the winner of the Perfect
Pitch is our first front runner for twenty twenty six.
So it's going to be It's magical.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
It's magical.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Jera is good seeing you and guys. If you are
not subscribed to the show right now, do that. If
you're watching the video, just click the subscribe right down there.
And if you're listening over on the podcast side of things,
give us some love over there, give us a star,
tell us what you like about the podcast, who you
want on the next Fast Casual Nation. We'll catch you
next week. Take care,
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