The event of the season, BevNET Live Summer 2025, happening in two weeks in New York City, June 11th and 12th.Mike highlights.We've carefully curated an agenda designed to unpack innovation and operations challenges in food and beverage, right?Join us here, Anthony Kiedis and Jackie Atlas from Jolene, Ben Mann from Yerba Madre, Scout Brisson from Desois and more.We'll also have one-to-one meetings with H-E-B, Whole Foods, Circle K, Stop and Shop.And now for updates, we just added Jack Balsito, CEO of Voss Americas to the agenda.And big names are registering every day, just like Poppy and Vita Coco.And you can too, head to bevnetlive.com.Hello, and thank you for joining.I am Melissa Travers, Director of Community here at BevNET Inosh, and I am excited to welcome you to The Nombase Podcast.Be sure to check out nombase.com, the new platform powered by BevNET, where you'll find our partner directory, job board, press release hub, and of course, this very podcast, which brings us all together today.Here with me on The Nombase Podcast, I am thrilled to welcome Jeff Klineman, Editor-in-Chief here at BevNET and Sarah Casagrande, Principal and Chief Sales Advisor at Generation CPG.Jeff, Sarah, thank you so much for joining.This is going to be a fun one.Thank you for having me.Thanks for having me.Well, it's a pleasure, of course, and I thought in lieu of our normal Nombase Podcast, in honor of our upcoming BevNET Live, I wanted us all to sit around the table and talk a little bit about what we're looking forward to and just wet everybody's appetites as they get ready to come to the event.So of course, BevNET Live is June 11th and 12th at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City, in the Chelsea neighborhood.It's going to be a really great one.Jeff, how many BevNET Lives have you put together at this point?Oh, that's a great question, actually.So this is 2025, and we've been doing two a year since basically 2009, give or take a few.So I've probably done close to 30.Wow.Plus all the nosh lives and the brew bound lives.So yeah, I tell the family that I just can't stop moderating.I go home and I just keep moderating different discussions at home and no one likes that.The only place I really get to moderate is at BevNET Live now, otherwise I have to keep myself quiet and hidden.Well, you're going to be able to moderate to your heart's content in no time at all.I sometimes when I picture the way that you plan these, it's like, who's that woman from Homeland?Is it Carrie?Claire Danes.Yeah, yeah.Cry face.Yeah.Carrie.I picture you in front of some sort of bulletin board like that, putting all of this together.When do you start planning?Usually a few months before the previous one actually takes place.There are a few speakers who we have either wanted to have or who we booked ahead of time who we move into the next set of speaking slots.And then basically, the day it ends, I'm always looking for the next set of great speakers.Often, there are great conversations that happen at BevNET Live that kind of let me in on some piece of tactic or strategy that I think might be good for other entrepreneurs to learn.But can I tell you one of my favorite parts about BevNET Live?Please?Is when we've had speakers who didn't know about the program, who we have on stage to talk, and then they start actually coming to the program regularly.And that's, to me, the most gratifying thing because they see value, not just when they're speaking, but when they're listening and discussing, and there are a good number of folks who do that.And it makes me really happy to hear that they would want to come back.There's so much benefit to coming, whether you're speaking or not speaking.I almost think not speaking might be better in some ways because you get to relax, you get to network, you get to choose your conversations.I'm sure either way, it's fantastic, but certainly there's so much for everybody.And Sarah, I'm so excited to have you at BevNET Live this year.It's my first time.We're gonna have to give Sarah some hot tips on how to make the most of BevNET Live.Please do.I just got into the portal yesterday and I didn't realize how much was in there.So I need all the tips.So Sarah sent me a screenshot of the portal and circled Anthony Kiedis' name.I think this is the perfect segue to start talking about the content that's planned.Jeff, how do you get Anthony Kiedis to come speak at BevNET Live?And actually, just to back up, was it a bad idea to email him and ask for his autograph?Was that a bad move?I think he'd appreciate that.Okay.I didn't actually do that, Jeff.Don't worry.It's fine.I mean, it's all up to whatever he wants to do.It's interesting, we get a lot of folks who are starting up brands with a celebrity involved.And it's always for me, because I know that so much of our audience isn't coming in with that sort of marketing asset or that sort of partner or that sort of startup capital.I try and be really careful around picking those folks.And it's great that we have Anthony Kiedis on board.What I'm super excited about, though, is this idea of activating through Live Nation, this sort of powerhouse, retailer, event company, restaurant, concert venue rolled up into one.And they have, I think the number is 50 million people attend Live Nation events every year.And they've started investing in brands like Liquid Death and like Jolene, Anthony Kiedis' and Shane Powers' new coffee brand.And so this time, what we're able to do is sort of launching through Live Nation.And the fact that Anthony Kiedis is there is amazing, right?I have read Flea's autobiography.I just, you know, bought Anthony Kiedis' autobiography.I love the chili peppers.I also am really careful to make sure how do we take this person and take the wonderful brand manager, Jackie Atlas, who has a ton of experience in launching and say, how do we use this incredible marketing asset?Because not everyone comes in with Anthony Kiedis, but they come in with something about their brand that they want to lean into.So how do they use the event space as a marketing and merchandising opportunity?How do you deploy earned media, you know, organic media that comes from that incredible thing that every brand is going to do?You know, Anthony Kiedis is just an incredible, glowing example of earned media.I mean, not just an incredible example of earned media.He's got a pretty good voice and sings really fast lyrics.But, you know, I just, I think there's this perception that you can tie a celebrity to a brand, and it's immediately going to be successful because people will recognize it through social media and Instagram.What I think is interesting about this one is, they don't want to be super out front over the long term, but it's how do you apply these, what a friend of mine calls top spin moments to a brand, and when you sort of lay back.And so that's what, you know, having him there is great, and having that whole panel there is, I think, for the benefit of the entrepreneurs.Certainly having a celebrity attached to a brand may get somebody to buy a product once, but if it's not good, if it's not strategically being distributed, if it's not the right price, then you're not necessarily going to get any repeat purchases.So, to your point, it's great to have a big name attached to a brand, so you get that earned media, but it still has to be good.Yep.There's a graveyard of celebrity-backed brands out there, so some of them, great idea, but something was wrong.Whether they went too big too fast, product just wasn't the right fit for the market at the time.I've seen a lot of those brands come and go, so it'll be interesting to see what is different about the brands that have the celebrity-backing that are still out there.Cali Water, Khloe Kardashian has a new brand.Cloud.Yes, Cloud.Yes, that's the protein popcorn.Yep.How many brands has Khloe Kardashian started?Several.The Jeans company, Good American.The Jeans.Makeup is her sister.Yeah, I don't know which one.Somebody with a K.Yeah, I'm not a, you know, I don't track all Kardashian brands, but I think there's so much going on, both with Jolene as a launch project and the different parts of it that I think it makes for an interesting area to explore.And I will say having drunk it, it's pretty good liquid.Oh, good.I wouldn't say that if I didn't think it was.I think it's tasty.I'm happy to go on the record and saying that.And it packs a real wallop.And I think it fits in with what Live Nation has been doing in recent years, which is trying to find places where it can reach fans that maybe aren't drinking, and that have you go to a festival and you're there all day long.And so it's, you know, what else can you, can you merchandise that they're going to want to interact with?So I think there's a lot of, a lot of interesting stuff.And sort of how you bring this sort of nuclear option in The Celebrity to the brand is also really interesting.So I think everyone on that panel is going to be pretty cool to talk to.I'm certainly looking forward to that.I'm also looking forward to trying it.They have a cold brew and an oat milk latte.So I'm excited to try it myself.We also have Ben Mand formerly of Harmless Harvest.Now he's over at what's now called Yerba Madre that used to be Guayaquil.So Ben Mand came over, the name changed.A really interesting move.What do you guys think about that?I like the name.I think the execution of it has been pretty interesting.It sort of followed what Bai did where you kind of, you change one thing and then you make a bigger change.So with Bai, it went from Bai, I believe to Bai5 and then back to Bai.In doing that, they were migrating out of calories.With Yerba Madre, they went, they recognized they had this great asset in the Guayaquil's yellow can.They have long been the sort of only significant brand making Yerba Madre.People just call it Yerba Madre, so they moved it.But this is, and this is where I think Ben is going to talk us through the process there is like, how do you implement that kind of change, particularly in a brand that has 25, 30 years of internal culture as well as external culture.And there's no company, I think, that is as well identified with its entrepreneurial founders as Guayaquil or Yerba Madre.And selling big change internally and externally is what Ben's going to be talking about.And sort of how the, again, because it always goes back to the entrepreneurs and the audience, how they can assess whether they need to make big changes internally and how they can implement those changes.And I can certainly see how Ben Mann went from Harmless Harvest, where he really called to attention the sustainability aspect of so many of the things that they were doing over there.And I'm sure that'll be a big part of what he focuses on at Guayaquil as well.I'm getting so excited for BevNET Live.I feel like we're getting a sneak peek behind the scenes informational session.And I just can't wait.All right.Let's keep moving through the agenda.We have a panel of some adult NA beverages, De Sua, Little Saints and The Pathfinder.Jeff, they're going to be talking about creating retail scale, which is such a difficult job in a category that's really still being developed.Sarah, I'm sure you've come up against this a number of times.The non-alcoholic category is it's still growing, consumers are still trying to figure out what their attraction is to it.Is it the functional benefits?Is it the flavor?Should it be made in the shadow of a traditional cocktail?I mean, I'm sure the answer is it should be an amalgam of all of those things.But how are non-alcoholic beverages navigating a category that still may not have an exact set in a grocery store?And you know, maybe if they're in a grocery store that has alcohol, do you put it with the alcohol?Do you put it in the functional beverages?Do you put it in the grab and go cooler?Gosh, I mean, every retailer is different, every brand is different.I think if you can stay nimble, if you can stay flexible, try to figure out when your category review is, like which category review best fits your item.And then don't stop there.I would just keep the conversation going.Like if you don't hear anything and you submitted for non-alcoholic, try to figure out when the next RTD cooler review is.Get in for that one too.Every single buyer is different in my experience.Some will mix things up, try new things out.Especially if you have something that can go in a couple different sets.If you can get multi-store placement, that is chef's kiss.Amazing.That's a great point.The category review schedule is something that I think we...When we think about category construction stories, yeah, a lot of it just depends on that schedule.Until you can build a kind of cell story.And what's always interesting in the...You know, when you're dealing with these category pioneers is there's often a willingness to sort of share that cell story early, so that everyone can kind of build a foothold at retail.This one's also interesting because it has that on-premise component too.And again, we don't want it to be something that's just focusing on NON-ALC.We want the folks in the audience to walk away with thoughts about how they establish their own categories, particularly since so many of them are sort of in this innovative, emerging, new category space.And that, you know, I think Sarah makes a great point, you know, one thing you gotta do, so this is a freebie.Know when those category reviews are and be prepared to pitch it and see how well it resonates with those buyers.We've also got the investors in attendance.Jeff, you set up a panel with the Angel Group, Paperboy Ventures and the Family Fund.How did you choose these groups to talk?Well, they're interesting.So we have a set of really early stage investors in these sort of funding collectives.And then we have a kind of strategic investor panel the next day.On the early side, people used to call it almost like pass the hat investment.But now it's much more formalized.You have folks like the Angel Group, who just had a really significant exit in Poppy.And folks like the Family Fund, who were investors in Ghost and a bunch of other brands that have exited.What I think is interesting about both of them is they're founded by operators and people who have specialized knowledge.One goes in a little bit earlier than the other.You know, one drives the investment a little bit more.You know, they're higher up in the cap table.But they're both doing really good jobs of identifying brands and also getting in there early and providing assistance as operator-defined funds.The other one, Paperboy Ventures, I think, is really this sort of open secret in the CPG world.It's every, you know, every few months, the Paperboy, Kyle, delivers a series of eight brands in a cohort that are kind of looking for that first set of early stage investors.So it's really kind of seed round investing.And he's just, they're basically, he's, you know, he's not operating with a fund.He's operating with connections and people will, you know, it's almost like a crowdfunding platform.So the idea is how do brands access these platforms?And also, how do the platforms decide what should be investable?And what they can offer as these sort of value add investors?And everyone on these, you know, in these platforms is super interested in entrepreneurial CPG because they're coming from it.They have limits in how much they can invest, but they're doing really well.And as they go, they will be able to drive more and more investment in the future.Groups like this can be an option for early stage businesses.And it's notoriously hard to raise cash at that level.And I also want to point out that the majority of folks who speak at our events hang out, too.So, you know, you see these people on stage, pay attention to what they're saying and then track them down in our networking sessions and introduce yourself and say hello, even if you're not in the process of raising money right now.Of course, the best time to be talking to investors is when you're not actually raising money.So everyone you see on the agenda, go into the networking portal, see who's there and make a plan for who you want to talk to, because it really is unparalleled networking.I don't want to go through the through the agenda too definitively.But what I want to say is there are some really interesting folks who I love.One of the great parts about this job is I get to talk to them, you know, and they have really some really, they're very interesting people.Someone like Chris Hunter, whose book I'm reading right now and who has really kind of invented himself as a sort of thoughtful, grinded out entrepreneur.Of course, Ralph Crowley, the CEO of Polar, who is one of the real linchpins for brands that are either getting ready to be sold to larger organizations or that are in this sort of massive growth period.And his thoughts on strategy and as well as growing, you know, Polar beverages itself.We have the Chief Customer Officer of Chobani, and we also have Marissa Bertha, who is the Head of Strategy at Liquid Death.And we're going to talk through a bunch of what they do based on brand and how that can be the sort of guiding force in any kind of innovation strategy or sales strategy.So, ready to talk to a lot of people.And what's cool is they're ready to talk to you, the entrepreneur, the attendee, the people get interested in the aspects of the business and building each other up at this event.And that's always been the core part of it is there's something about beverage folks where they do offer advice as a group to each other.And it's always remarkable to see.And of course, there will be distributors there.The key pivotal part of the whole game.Absolutely.And everyone from small, bespoke distribution and merchandising shops, like your friends at Gotham distributors, all the way up to folks like Big Geyser and Polar will be there.I would imagine we have upwards of 40, 50 distributors in the audience.So those are some great connections.All these brands have something in common.They need a distributor.So great time to meet those connections.They sure do.But they can also understand how they operate, understand what it's like to work with them, what their role is, what your role is as a brand.That can be perplexing for a lot of early stage brands is trying to figure out how to work with distributors or how to select one.Yeah, absolutely.And also the notion of sort of churn as brands either move up or move out.You know, a lot of these independent distributors are always on the lookout for folks who can move into categories that they've helped to build.Well, Jeff, you have put together such a stellar lineup.I can't wait for BevNET Live.And not only do you pick really amazing guests, but you also get the best out of them as well.So I look forward to the content, of course, every year as everybody else does.Super excited for that.We're gonna kick the whole event off with Beverage School.That starts at eight o'clock.So make sure you go to Beverage School.I think sometimes it gets overlooked, but make sure that you're there.We're gonna have Remedy Organics as the presenting entrepreneur.We're gonna talk about FDA compliance, equity and convertible notes, designing a memorable brand.Really important stuff to kick off with.We're also going to be doing one-to-one retailer meetings all day with key buyers.We are going to have Circle K, The Goods Mart, Whole Foods Market, and we just added Stop and Shop and HEB.So these are one-to-one retailer meetings.The retailers decide who they're gonna chat with and they're very short meetings.Sarah, if you had a brand who was gonna do a one-to-one meeting, how would you counsel them to get the most out of a small amount of time?Make sure they have their key elevator pitch, you know, what makes them different, what makes them stand out, velocities, an understanding of the retailer.So do your homework ahead of time.Understand, you know, HEB, how many stores, where they're located, who they pull from, from distributors.Like the better prepared that you can be, the better the meeting will go.And most importantly, show how you're gonna be a good partner with that retailer.Make sure that they know that you're gonna promote, you're gonna run some marketing programs.That's a key part of any kind of relationship.Such good advice.I can certainly see how if you go in there educated, and to your point, if you know which warehouses they're pulling from, you know where you are, you can start the conversation much further ahead and hopefully get further ahead in that meeting.So great advice.And the buyers probably appreciate it too, because they don't have to educate during the meeting.And they're there to do business.Exactly.They want to get some, tick them some things off the list.So one-to-one retailer meetings.And may I just mention that all you have to do is go to bevnetlive.com and all of the information for everything that we're talking about is right there.We've got new beverage showdown.Even if you don't win, you win because you're on stage and you're talking to the entire beverage industry.All the networking that we've talked about, seeing the latest beverage trends and innovation.We've got some great workshops.For example, we have Driving Growth with NIL, Name, Image, Likeness, which is certainly more part of the conversation now that the NCAA athletes can make money from their personal brands now.Also gonna be talking about AI and how to use cannabis as a mocktail.And so it's going to be a very full two days.I can't believe that I get to do it with the both of you.And I just wanna thank you so much for joining me in this little sort of BevNET Live pep rally.I hope that everyone out there got some great information on what's gonna happen and how to make the most of it.And you too, I just thank you so much, Jeff and Sarah, for joining me.Well, thanks for having us, Melissa.I just wanna say one thing to the folks that are coming or the folks that are gonna be watching on the livestream.Send questions.We take them all throughout the event.You can text them in to me and we'll take them and make sure that they're gonna have the most benefit to the audience, but one of the cool parts is that we're just trying to be your mouthpiece with a lot of the folks that we're talking to.Free advice.Get your free advice here.They say there's no such thing as a free lunch, but there is at BevNET Live.And one last note, I would absolutely love to talk to every single one of you who's gonna be at BevNET Live.So please come up and introduce yourself.I love to chat with you, hear what you're up to.And who knows, maybe we can even collaborate on some content together.So can't wait to see all of you at BevNET Live.Thank you so much for joining us on the Nombase Podcast, and we will see you next time.That concludes another episode of the Community Call Podcast.If you've enjoyed this show, please give us a review and follow us on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice.To join Community Call live on Zoom, go to bevnet.com/communitycall to see what's coming up and register for upcoming shows.And don't forget to join our BevNET, Nosh and Brew Bound Slack community at slack.bevnet.com.
