CPG Week: Mid-Year News Quiz

[00:00:05] Monica Watrous: Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNET and Nosh, your source for the latest food and beverage industry news. I'm Monica Watrous, Managing Editor of Nosh, here with my co-hosts, Brad Avery, Lukas Southard, and Jeffrey Klineman. If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. Hey guys, what was your favorite snack this summer?

[00:00:28] Brad Avery: Black coffee.

[00:00:29] Monica Watrous: Oh.

[00:00:31] Lukas Southard: Fresh picked blueberries.

[00:00:34] Monica Watrous: Lucas, what about you?

[00:00:35] Lukas Southard: I actually picked an actual CPG product. So I picked Boom Chicka Boom, Angie's Boom Chicka Boom popcorn, which had been a big hit in my house.

[00:00:46] Monica Watrous: It's not called Boom Chicka Boom. It's called Boom Chicka Pop.

[00:00:49] Lukas Southard: Boom Chicka Pop. I don't know. I don't have it in front of me. I mean, I probably should, but yes, it's a big hit. Kids go crazy for it, and the adults love it too, so who doesn't love popcorn?

[00:01:02] Jeffrey Klineman: In the office, we've had the Mavericks cookies, which are very tasty, and those are a good summer snack that I could not stop eating, and I think they are all gone now.

[00:01:15] Lukas Southard: Are they the Transformers ones that they just released?

[00:01:18] Jeffrey Klineman: They're the little lightning bolt ones, and they're the birthday cake flavor.

[00:01:22] Brad Avery: So I was on vacation last week, and you do do a lot of blueberry and peach picking when you're on vacation with the Kleinmans, but I did bring an awesome bag of fancy pants, bakings, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which were, wow, early for the season, very delicious, and great for snacking.

[00:01:44] Monica Watrous: How early is too early for pumpkin spice?

[00:01:47] Brad Avery: I think pumpkin spice is fine. I just don't need to be deluged with it in a season, right? Like there's nothing wrong with pumpkin spice in February or July. I'd do pumpkin spice chicken given half the chance on a grill.

[00:02:03] Jeffrey Klineman: I'm looking forward to trying, we have the Poppin' Bottle new pumpkin spice latte, and I want to check that out. I think it's nice. Pumpkin spice is nice, and it got a bad name because, to be fair, it got a little oversaturated.

[00:02:17] Lukas Southard: I'm a pumpkin spice hater, I'm just going to say it. It's not that there's too much pumpkin spice, I just don't like pumpkin as a flavor. I don't really like pumpkin pie, so anything pumpkin spice is not in my wheelhouse. I think pumpkin is delicious.

[00:02:32] Monica Watrous: Yep, PSL for life.

[00:02:33] Jeffrey Klineman: Well, Monica, what's your snack of the summer?

[00:02:36] Monica Watrous: My snack this summer was huckleberry licorice that I picked up at Yellowstone when I was there with my sister in July. And everything there in Idaho and Montana and Wyoming is huckleberry flavored. I'm still not sure what huckleberry is. Seems like it had kind of a, like a blueberry type profile, but yeah, it's really good.

[00:02:59] Lukas Southard: What does a huckleberry look like? Does it look like a blueberry? I think it looks like Wyatt Earp. So a sweet mustache?

[00:03:07] Brad Avery: Yeah, yeah. It's a berry with a mustache? Yeah, because, you know, you're my huckleberry.

[00:03:15] Monica Watrous: Well, on that note, so today we are talking about the biggest hits of the summer in terms of industry news and other highlights. Jeff, why don't you kick us off?

[00:03:28] Brad Avery: This time we thought we'd do a quiz, right? So I'm gonna kick it off. One of these four things is not real.

[00:03:44] Monica Watrous: Usually I'm the one asking this question, so it's kind of fun to be on the other side of it.

[00:03:47] Brad Avery: OK, well, are you ready, mom?

[00:03:49] Monica Watrous: Yeah.

[00:03:50] Brad Avery: Oh, yeah. You're my huckleberry. I thought I was your huckleberry.

[00:03:54] Monica Watrous: You can have more than one huckleberry, Lucas.

[00:03:57] Brad Avery: They grow in a bush. There's many. There's many. Brad may be my huckleberry next. One of these four things did not happen. There was video of an Olympic athlete being held hostage on social media by Chocolate Ganache Muffins. There was a statue of rookie WNBA sensation Kaitlyn Clark crafted entirely of butter located in Ohio. Not the state she plays in, by the way. there was a gymnast posing with a parmesan wheel and there was a giant statue of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelsey made entirely from thrown sport coffee cans as a tribute from founder of thrown coffee Patrick Mahomes to his favorite pair of hands.

[00:05:08] Monica Watrous: Oh, yeah, that last one is not a thing. I know, I knew, I know specifically of the other things that you named and that last one you made up.

[00:05:19] Brad Avery: Kansas City on the phone here. But I mean, I think it's really amazing how ingrained in sporting life food is. And it's just incredible that we have these sort of under the radar stories involving food that immediately hop over the radar, like the wheel of cheese.

[00:05:41] Jeffrey Klineman: But wasn't there also a Butter statue of Mahomes?

[00:05:44] Brad Avery: I don't think there was one in the Ohio State Fair this year, but I haven't seen pictures of every single Butter statue. I do know that there was a Butter Buckeye, the Ohio State mascot at one point. But I believe that they're all sports stars this year. So, you know, Madame Tussauds got nothing on the Butter statue.

[00:06:11] Monica Watrous: I personally loved that swimmer, the Norwegian swimmer who was obsessed with the chocolate ganache muffins at the Olympics.

[00:06:17] Lukas Southard: Yeah, so held hostage though? That was what was, I remember seeing something about like, like tied up by muffins or something?

[00:06:25] Brad Avery: Yeah, at one point he was like, he appeared like tape over his mouth, like his hands taped and the muffin at the other end of the room holding him hostage. There's a recipe out there, by the way, for the muffin, not for the swimmer.

[00:06:40] Jeffrey Klineman: for the hostage-taking muffins. I'm kind of surprised that didn't result in any controversy, given how much hostage situations and athletes in foreign prisons have been in the news lately. You'd think there would be a little bit of a taste issue there.

[00:06:55] Brad Avery: Yeah, no, it's true, but I guess butter and muffins conquer all.

[00:07:01] Jeffrey Klineman: I guess if muffins are doing it, it sort of defangs the issue.

[00:07:08] Monica Watrous: Speaking of food and sports, Pop-Tart had a big year as the sponsor of the Florida Citrus Sports Pop-Tart Bowl in January. Y'all remember that?

[00:07:23] Brad Avery: Yeah, absolutely. The winners got that giant Pop-Tart.

[00:07:26] Monica Watrous: Pop-Tarts has been having a really big year between the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the movie Unfrosted on Netflix, which we've discussed on this podcast a couple of times, and now the most recent thing, the Pop-Tart party pastry that folks in Chicago could buy apparently is 73 times the size of a standard Pop-Tart, meant to feed 73, but let's face it, I mean.

[00:07:52] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, that's like when they tell you that a bag of chips has six servings in it. It's like, that's one serving. It's like a box of mac and cheese.

[00:08:02] Monica Watrous: If you can't reseal it, that's one serving.

[00:08:04] Brad Avery: That's my rule. You can't put the jam back in the tart.

[00:08:09] Jeffrey Klineman: We're going to need four Mega Pop Tarts ordered to this office now.

[00:08:16] Brad Avery: I think that's why the deal happened, honestly, was so that Mars could get a hold of Kelenova's giant Pop-Tart capacity.

[00:08:26] Monica Watrous: Perhaps. My quiz question for you guys, though, and it's actually not multiple choice, so it's open-ended. What was the original name of Pop-Tarts?

[00:08:38] Jeffrey Klineman: Ooh, oh, and I saw that damn movie too.

[00:08:44] Brad Avery: Yeah, I know, I know. Seinfeld Squares.

[00:08:50] Monica Watrous: Nope.

[00:08:51] Lukas Southard: Toaster Pastry.

[00:08:54] Monica Watrous: That's the generic name.

[00:08:57] Lukas Southard: Yeah. Yeah. Toaster Strudel.

[00:09:02] Monica Watrous: That's a different product.

[00:09:04] Brad Avery: That's the other product. Yes, I know. Used to beg for toaster strudel.

[00:09:08] Monica Watrous: Oh, they're so good. Brad, do you have a guess?

[00:09:11] Jeffrey Klineman: Nah. Totting pots. I don't know.

[00:09:16] Monica Watrous: Fruit scones. Ah.

[00:09:18] Lukas Southard: Yeah.

[00:09:19] Jeffrey Klineman: Generic.

[00:09:20] Monica Watrous: Which is strange, because they're not really a scone. Yeah. And to be fair, it's not really fruit.

[00:09:25] Lukas Southard: Yeah, scones don't have like a stuffing like a fruit jam stuffing. You put jam on top. Yeah, highly sophisticated name, though.

[00:09:34] Monica Watrous: Mm hmm. Well, Pop-Tarts definitely a big part of our zeitgeist and really just the the pop culture of the past 60 years. But to your point, Jeff, Pop-Tart is also involved in the biggest deal in food and beverage in recent history with the proposed Mars acquisition of Kelinova for $35.9 billion. To put that in perspective, that's about the size of the last three biggest transactions in food and bev. When you look at like Danone and White Wave and the PepsiCo acquisition of Quaker Oats in 2000 and General Mills buying Pillsbury in 2001. So it's a big deal, but it also brings together a number of iconic brands across confectionery and snacks. And I mean, what do we think this is going to do for the rest of the industry? Is this the beginning of a big wave of M&A and consolidation?

[00:10:38] Brad Avery: I don't know. I think there's, as one analyst told me, that this was sort of a, hey, you take it, kind of surrender deal on the part of Kellenova, that the idea was they weren't getting the kind of return out of it that they thought it could generate, so let's turn it over to someone who's really well-managed. Not to say that Kellenova wasn't well-managed, someone who might be able to find a better approach. I also think the brand combination possibilities are mouth-watering if you could imagine M&M Pop-Tarts or Pop-Tart filled M&Ms.

[00:11:24] Jeffrey Klineman: There is the larger issue of consolidation, and I'm curious. I think a lot of it's going to depend on how the election goes, but we've seen the Democrats speak out more about consolidation in the beverage industry, in large part because of the rising consumer prices and the inflation of the past few years. Kamala Harris recently called out specifically the Kroger-Albertsons deal by name, which is currently on pause. It's interesting that in this period where we talk a lot about how investment and M&A is down, we are seeing a number of mega mergers and we also just had that offer for the Circle K owner to acquire 7-Eleven, which the U.S. doesn't really even have a role in because those are international companies.

[00:12:09] Brad Avery: Yeah, there are a lot of issues that are rolled into that. You know, certainly the idea of monopolistic behavior is a concern. I don't know that the Mars-Kellinova deal is going to create a snack monopoly, whereas something like the Kroger-Albertsons deal is combining, I think, the second and fourth largest grocery chains in the country. You know, look, there are different approaches to, you know, sort of evaluating pricing in a political sense. And we know that the Biden administration has been really fired up about cost to consumer, I just think that there are two approaches to price gouging. One is a legal definition and one is more of a sort of implied, connotative definition. I think people are really looking into things from that second lens. Prices are up because of supply chain issues and inflation, but also are people taking a little extra because of the opportunity to raise prices? And I think that's something that's been discussed both at the big corporate level and also at the supermarket level and at the small company level. But I also think it's a red meat issue that's going to come up during a period where inflation has been a concern for a lot of people and where both sides are blaming the other for higher prices.

[00:14:00] Jeffrey Klineman: Well, speaking of red meat, I've got a trivia question for you all. This one's also a little open-ended. This is, if you haven't heard, Bratz Summer, ushered in by Charli XCX. What sausage maker was the brand, to capitalize on it, with a bratwurst billboard in that lime green black font text of the Charli XCX album? Tell me it was You Singers. No. Here's a hint, it's plant-based.

[00:14:36] Lukas Southard: Oh. Impossible? Nope.

[00:14:41] Jeffrey Klineman: Field roast? Yes, it was field roast.

[00:14:44] Brad Avery: Wow, nailed it. Those clever farmers at field roast.

[00:14:49] Jeffrey Klineman: Just over a month ago, they went all in on social media and with a billboard. You can read about it in Ad Week. The billboard's in Toronto, featuring the Bratwurst Summer. And I, we were saying earlier before the recording about how, you know, have, how did brands not immediately jump on that? And FieldRoast, it seems, did. So props to them for taking what is probably the most obvious marketing opportunity around a, what is it, homophone?

[00:15:26] Brad Avery: Yeah, summer versus broad summer is, yeah, I can't, I can't believe you singers didn't come up with it.

[00:15:34] Lukas Southard: My question is, is a little bit pivot away from CPG food, but in the, in the food realm, and it's looking at how we've, we've kind of just seen the, the broad reach of influencer culture and celebrities in just putting their names behind food and beverage. And my question is, this is a multiple choice. What food icon has been announced as the subject of an upcoming biopic? A. Guy Fieri, B, Clarence Birdseye, founder of Birdseye Frozen, C, Anthony Bourdain, or D, Colonel Harlan David Sanders. Want to call him Saunders for some reason. Colonel Sanders.

[00:16:23] Jeffrey Klineman: Colonel Saunders.

[00:16:24] Lukas Southard: Colonel Saunders.

[00:16:25] Jeffrey Klineman: Anyway, the answer is C.

[00:16:28] Monica Watrous: Anthony Bourdain. Oh, yeah, that would make sense. You know, I would watch the heck out of a biopic about Guy Fieri, though. That dude fascinates me.

[00:16:35] Lukas Southard: I thought they all kind of sounded like him.

[00:16:36] Brad Avery: Yeah, no, I think they are all worthy subjects, although the Clarence Birdseye one has already been done. It was called East of Eden.

[00:16:46] Jeffrey Klineman: I think you should do just a maudlin, depressing Guy Fieri biopic, like, really hammering the dives and just, you know, at his lowest point, eating just the most disgusting burgers known to man.

[00:17:01] Lukas Southard: Yeah, what happens after he records and him spitting out all the things that he has to eat?

[00:17:06] Jeffrey Klineman: You could have the moment where he first, like, puts his hair in that style, like, twisting the little spikes, and it could just be this really slow montage.

[00:17:16] Brad Avery: It's right after he gets that horrible moment where he gets honked at at the drive-thru.

[00:17:21] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, it's like, I would do it, it's like the Joker movie with Waheed Phoenix, and it's like he's putting on the makeup for the first time, it's Guy Fieri for the first time putting on the sunglasses.

[00:17:31] Lukas Southard: Painting on the bleach into his goatee.

[00:17:34] Brad Avery: Wait till they get a load of me.

[00:17:37] Lukas Southard: I mean, I have to say, as much as I, as a former chef, was a big admirer of Anthony Bourdain. I don't know how I feel about a biopic with him. It kind of depresses me for some reason. I don't know if I'll be able to watch it. It's a really sad story and so much of his identity was through his show that I don't know if we need a fictionalized version when you can just go back and watch his show if you want to learn about him and his life.

[00:18:04] Jeffrey Klineman: His whole life is documented. He wrote books. There's everything. You have the story in front of you.

[00:18:11] Brad Avery: On the other hand, Guy Fieri, it's more like a behind the music than any kind of necessary movie. Behind the tragedy. Behind the grease.

[00:18:27] Monica Watrous: Behind Flavortown.

[00:18:29] Jeffrey Klineman: Flavortown's a place in your heart.

[00:18:32] Monica Watrous: Is Colonel Sanders brat?

[00:18:34] Jeffrey Klineman: Ooh.

[00:18:36] Brad Avery: Yes. He's bad for you, kind of, but delicious. I think that's Brat.

[00:18:44] Monica Watrous: Yeah. OK. Yeah. Finger looking good?

[00:18:47] Brad Avery: Brat.

[00:18:49] Monica Watrous: Thanks, guys, for all the yucks and yums. And looking forward to returning to the studio next week with more of the industry's latest news. That wraps up this edition of CPG Week by BevNET and Nosh. Thank you to our audio engineer, Joshua Pratt, our director is Mike Schneider, and our designer is Aaron Willette. If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice, and we will see you next time.