Virtually Live 2020: Livestream Studio Interview with Applied Food Sciences

Speaker 1 [00:22] Next on the Livestream Studio here at Bevnet and Nash Virtually Live is Brian Zap, who's the creative director of Applied Food Sciences. Brian, how are you?

Speaker 2 [00:31] I'm great, Ray. How are you?

Speaker 1 [00:33] Fantastic. I

Speaker 2 [00:34] unmuted for

Speaker 1 [00:35] you. Yes, you did. Well done, good sir. Uh, you're also looking good. I, I like, uh, I like your backdrop there. A lot of brands are every single one of those brands, brands you guys work with?

Speaker 2 [00:45] Uh, I'm not, I'm not actually sure. I'd have to look through it, uh, but we are an admirer of so many works at Bevnet that, uh, it's fun to have it around as, as much as possible. Beverage is such an exciting part of our industry, and You know, there's just something that feels good about it. So when you surround yourself in great brands, it just kind of makes you uh stay motivated and positive towards, you know, looking towards your goals.

Speaker 1 [01:12] 100%. Uh, you have probably as many beverages in your office as I do in my office, except mine are just like strewn all over the place. They're on, they're on my desk, they're on the floor, they're on my file cabinet, they're all over the place, but yours is, you, you've inspired me to create a nice shelving system for those beverages. I like that.

Speaker 2 [01:30] Yeah, yeah. You know, they're not too expensive and uh most of them are empty and we just, uh, you know, punctured a hole and poured them in a glass so we can save the can and uh and then try them, of course. That's a

Speaker 1 [01:42] good idea. So applied food sciences, what is it that you guys do?

Speaker 2 [01:47] So we provide innovative functional ingredients to the beverage industry. Um, we also work with nutritional supplements and food as well, but primarily our ingredients are botanical, organic extracts that are geared towards beverage. So we're really trying to focus on is highlighting functional benefits and making them as presentable in beverage applications as possible. Uh, that means improving solubility and removing bitter tannin fraction and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 [02:18] Uh, definitely some beverage industry terms in there, uh, for sure. And it's interesting because when people come to you guys or when people come to the market and they say, oh, I made this at home, here, uh, can I scale, this recipe, the answer is always no. Um, and, but nowadays, you know, all we're hearing is that consumers want more than just flavor, they want more than refreshment, they want function. And as you mentioned, you guys really focus on making enhanced functional ingredients or presenting those, those functional ingredients are palatable in a beverage. Um, what are some of the most, what are some of the most pressing, I guess, functions that folks are asking for? Um, you know, what are entrepreneurs knocking on your door to get in terms of, uh, function?

Speaker 2 [02:58] Yeah, um, so from our perspective, energy is always a key focus area. Uh, I would say of all of our ingredient offerings, our inquiries with energy probably take up about 80% of the Uh, people coming in the door. And it could be from anyone from just some college kids going, hey, I want organic caffeine and, uh, you know, make a sparkling fizz in my kitchen, in my dorm room back when there was dorm rooms, uh, to, you know, um, senior R&D at Nestle, you know, just trying to make a cleaner version of whatever project they got going on. So it's all across the board and, uh, And energy is definitely one of the top functionalities. Now, it's not just caffeine though. It's uh all this, this kind of more premium energy category actually uh just came out in your most recent Bevnet issue where uh where, you know, you guys really highlight that exact concept. It's this, uh, you know, low sugar, more premium functionality energy. Uh, whether it's BCAAs and trying to get more out of your pre-workout RTD or whether it's, uh, just adding antioxidants and things to help you focus at work. There's, uh, there's a lot going on in this category, and it's, it's pretty exciting.

Speaker 1 [04:20] And I'm assuming you guys market organic caffeine or the caffeine that you were talking about. Um, what makes it different? What makes it special?

Speaker 2 [04:27] You know, nothing. It's, it's chemically the same as caffeine, uh, synthetic caffeine. People don't realize, however, that, you know, 90% of energy products out there are synthetic caffeine. It's lab-made, it's, uh, usually from China, and it costs, you know, $12 a kilo or less. Uh, ours is extracted from coffee or tea, and it's organically grown, and there's a lot more to it, you know, so essentially coffee and tea are both handpicked. So if you ever go to these farms, it's people's hands in there, and then it's hands sorted, and then You know, we don't care if it's beautiful for roasting or, or brewing tea, you know, it's all got the active in it at that point. So it's kind of a drying process, pitting process for coffee, and then we take on the beans or tea for extraction. And then from there, it's just our, our scientists dialing in. The extraction process and trying to get it as uh pure as possible, right? And so both our tea and our coffee extracts are above 90% caffeine standardized. So it's, it actually presents an interesting problem because synthetic caffeine and, and organic caffeine are chemically, virtually identical. So we actually have to do a pretty expensive additional set of testing that's more or less carbon dating to make sure that there's no synthetic adulterant because essentially, you know, we could get the product in and it could just be spiked with synthetic caffeine and unless we do this testing, nobody would know the difference. So that's the same with turmeric at 95% or any of these high actives that are very concentrated up to These percentage of active compounds, it's uh really requires a carbon dating process to realize that this thing was once alive and therefore produced carbon atoms, right? It's, it's pretty fascinating.

Speaker 1 [06:25] You mentioned turmeric, uh, valued for its, uh, immunity function, or at least, uh, that's how people perceive it. Um, is immunity a, a big ask for a lot of your customers at this point, or, uh, you know, ingredients that have, uh, an immunity component to them? Yeah,

Speaker 2 [06:42] we've had some interesting kind of, uh, consequences from all this pandemic, uh, COVID stuff, uh. You know, one of which is positive in that we have certain ingredients that have seen a, a large spike in demand. And one of them is our organic vitamin C extract. Um, so, uh, I think You know, I can't verify this fact, but somewhere along the way, I heard that, you know, 90% of uh ascorbic acid, which is synthetic vitamin C, it comes from China. China had a really difficult phase for obvious reasons in exporting ingredients. And so, uh, people were looking for, for, uh, vitamin C. Now organic vitamin C, people are becoming a little bit more conscious about The quality of the products they're putting in their body. I feel like everybody with this has taken a step back and become a little bit more focused on, uh, on what and why as far as the things they're consuming. And so, yeah, we've seen a huge spike in organic vitamin C sales. Now, we're not going out there and pumping into people's faces saying, hey, this is for immune support. This will, you know, help save the world at this point. You know, nothing like that. We're just going for the pure essence of saying this is organic, sourced from Amla is the fruit. It's uh Ayurvedic, uh, fruit that's been grown in India for thousands of years, and, um, it's a very pure ingredient, right? And, uh, and then of course, it's water soluble, which helps. Mhm.

Speaker 1 [08:21] We've got less than 1 minute left, but I'd, I'd love to ask you about some of the companies you work with. I mean, as you mentioned, it could range from someone, uh, some college kid in his dorm room to the uh VP of innovation for a company like Nestle. Um, but for the majority of folks who are probably watching, um, they are, you know, under 5 years in. What's the best time to approach you guys, um, you know, and What is it that, uh, what is it you need from entrepreneurs to succeed, uh, from the get-go?

Speaker 2 [08:52] Hm, great question. So, typically we accept anybody from entry level to, you know, senior stages. Uh, obviously, the challenge is how qualified are you as a beverage entrepreneur to receive these ingredients and, and then know what to do with them. It, it's not as intuitive as it sounds, and hey, these are water-soluble extracts. It, it's not as simple as just kind of mixing them in a cup of water and boom, you got uh ginger or turmeric beverage, right? It's, uh, it's a lot more complex. Caffeine is something that, you know, that much can kill you. So, you know, we really are looking that people have a GMP certified. facility or uh are working with the contract manufacturer, flavorho formulator that know what they're doing, right? That's really important for all of our success uh or if you're highly skilled, that's also uh awesome. We can certainly send the ingredients, but we have uh at this point, I mean, Ray, you've known us, we've been at Bevnet for as long as it's been around and we have a great Network of people that can help formulate. And so if you have a bright idea, that's a great place to start and you know, hey, I want organic ginger, organic caffeine, or guayusa or whatever, that's awesome. Some people start there and they have an ingredient first product, and then we can help usher them into the right pathway to develop that idea. Um, but we don't do that ourselves. That, that's where the Bvnet really comes into play. It takes a network of a lot of other professionals that we've worked with and trust to have any great ideas succeed. And at the end of the day, we're one ingredient on the label. So, in order to get the flavor, the packaging, the regulatory guidance, all that stuff, You know, it's the family that comes together. Now, you know, we've been doing it for 20 years, so we have a lot of that intel inside, but it's best for us to pass the buck around this community and get uh the best product, and then we all succeed moving forward with the, hopefully, that bright idea or that ingredient-centric product that now has Uh, an identity and a beautiful face, and it's regulatorily sound, it tastes great, and we'll get that repeat purchase that, you know, becomes a success.

Speaker 1 [11:16] Beautifully said, Brian. Thank you so much. Uh, we're out of time, but, uh, website in case people wanna check you guys out. Yeah,

Speaker 2 [11:23] just appliedfoods.com and, uh, otherwise, Google us, Google organic caffeine, guayusa, something like that. We'll, we'll be around and we have an expo booth here at, at this virtual show too.

Speaker 1 [11:35] That is very true. You should definitely check out Applied Food Sciences, uh, virtual booth here at the virtual event. Uh, I have a feeling there's quite a bit of information that, uh, you know, people who are watching would love to know more about. Brian, once again, thanks so much for joining us in the Livestream Studio. We'll

Speaker 2 [11:51] see you soon. Appreciate you, man.

Speaker 1 [11:53] Appreciate you as well.