You Had Me At Eat
For just three letters, E-A-T is a loaded word for those with dietary restrictions. It's not as simple as just putting food on your plate when your fuel is plotting against you. Join former magazine editors Erica and Jules as they talk about everything gluten-free (and more) with food restrictions, and a life led well avoiding the food that hates you.
You Had Me At Eat
Episode 69: Gluten-Free Expo West 2025
Something on your mind? Erica & Jules would love to hear from you!
In this episode, Erica and Jules recap their favorite products and trends from the gluten-free products spotted at Natural Products Expo West 2025.
Some trends include:
ADAPTOGENS
REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
UPCYCLING / PRE-CYCLING
HOT HOT HEAT
PICKLES
OLD GF BRANDS ARE NEW AGAIN
You'll have to listen until the very end when Jules and Erica give their favorite products that they'll be purchasing after the show!
RESOURCES
ZEGO regenerative organic oats
Lundberg Farms Upcycled Rice
Milkadamia Flat Pack
Fly By Jing Chili Crisp
Daily Crunch Sweet & SPicy Sichuan
Pop Chips Sweet Heat
NUFS hot honey crackers
Glutino Dill Pickle Pretzels
Rudi's gluten free
Purely Elizabeth peanut butter cookie granola
Cocojune greek style yogurt
San-J / Kimono Mom's Umami Sauce
Healthy Crunch Barbie Crispy Squares
Sweet Loren's Barbie cookies
Contact/Follow Jules & Erica
- Find us on IG @CeliacandTheBeast & @gfJules
- Follow us on FB @gfJules & @CeliacandTheBeast
- Threads @CeliacandTheBeast & @gfJules
- Email us at support@gfJules.com
- Find more articles, recipes & info at gfJules.com & celiacandthebeast.com
Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe!
**some links may be affiliate links; purchasing through these links will not cost you more, but will help to fund the podcast you ❤️
Erica [00:00:13]:
Hey. I'm Erica.
Jules [00:00:14]:
And I'm Jules. Most people have at least one thing that they can't or won't eat.
Erica [00:00:19]:
Now we're definitely like that.
Jules [00:00:21]:
We started this podcast to talk about the gluten free food industry,
Erica [00:00:25]:
Like new products and some of the stories behind your favorite brands.
Jules [00:00:29]:
And living life with a specialty diet and also some important health care topics.
Erica [00:00:34]:
Since we're basically both broken inside.
Jules [00:00:36]:
You had me at
Erica [00:00:43]:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of you had me at eat. This is, a continuation of our previous podcast episode that covered everything about Expo West. To reintroduce myself, my name is Erica. And this is Jules. Fantastic. I am wearing the same sweatshirt, but there is a different undershirt. Just so you know,
Jules [00:01:02]:
it's a different thing. Gonna wasn't gonna say anything, but now that we're talking about it, have you showered?
Erica [00:01:07]:
I did shower but then I also just took a Pilates class that kicked my ass and I have not showered since then because I'm really in this just a state of despair. So it's a great time to record
Jules [00:01:16]:
a class. We're not starting on that that again, are we?
Erica [00:01:18]:
Also a different mug So So just never released since a cat dad mug.
Jules [00:01:22]:
Dear listeners, yesterday's podcast, that we recorded, she was holding a cat mom mug. And today, she's holding a cat dad mug. So the gender fluid household. Yeah. We're
Erica [00:01:34]:
and household. Gender fluid continues. Anyone can be whatever they wanna be. That's just how it is. Yes. Also may I introduce this?
Jules [00:01:40]:
I respect that.
Erica [00:01:42]:
Here's my Toastie. And for those of you who are not watching, it is, a giant loaf of bread that is now perched on my shoulder with a ridiculous happy face and little arms and legs, and he is a warmie.
Jules [00:01:57]:
He's stuffed. He's he's not an actual loaf
Erica [00:02:00]:
of bread.
Jules [00:02:00]:
It's a stuffed animal loaf of bread with arms and legs and a smiley face.
Erica [00:02:04]:
It's also a a warmie. So that means you put him in the microwave and it warms up and it's like a mini heating pad. And it's weighted. So it's meant to be like We should all have one. Secure hug blanket. Anyway, this gentleman needs a name. We could not think of a name in the thirty seconds that we talked about it beforehand.
Jules [00:02:22]:
In all fairness I suggested several names
Erica [00:02:25]:
you just rejected all out of them. So dear
Jules [00:02:29]:
She wants to call him Mittens.
Erica [00:02:32]:
If you have a name for my new it's pretty hefty. My new bread loaf, please let us know in the comments or on social media. So we're starting to think of
Jules [00:02:44]:
our names now, but you're you're not gonna wanna hear them.
Erica [00:02:46]:
Nope. I don't trust your instinct anymore. So we're here to lighten the mood of yesterday's podcast. Hopefully, you're listening this in a row, and you don't just leave on the last one and be like, oh, dear god. We still won't tell you who the name of the celebrity is, just so you know. In case you're wondering, it will not be revealed in this episode. No spoiler alerts. Let's delve right into our our product themes that we found from the show, and we're specifically talking about gluten free products.
Erica [00:03:17]:
There are a lot of other themes outside of the gluten free range that were really, really trendy. But we're specifically talking about products that you and I can both eat. So that's that's a huge huge point of distinction from the rest of the, trend recaps from Expo
Jules [00:03:33]:
West. Well and when when we walk the show, we are also looking for, things that are, you know, typically dairy free or meet other dietary restrictions, but they don't always. And so where possible, we will point those things out to you as well that they are also dairy free or they are vegan or, you know, they're not free or certified free from or what have you. But primarily, we are walking the show looking for gluten free. And then if they meet other things, then we will also point those out.
Erica [00:04:02]:
Yeah. Because I get really sad when I can't eat something. I know. That just got launched. I had one in my bag, and I the whole I opened it up, and I'm like, I'm like, oh, it's dairy. Oh, killing
Jules [00:04:13]:
me. But so many things do. And it still kills me every time you go to the booths and they're they're like, oh, yeah. We're a vegan company. You know, we're free from all of these different things. Here, have a sample on a gluten cracker. Like, you really missed it there.
Erica [00:04:29]:
Or something with real cheese on it. Yeah. I just wanna taste the product itself. Yeah. Yeah. I don't need any ecoutrement.
Jules [00:04:36]:
Right. I get it. But like, you know, now we have to go through the whole rigmarole of like, you're gonna have to go in the back and get a different sample and use a different, you know, whatever. It's just like let's have some awareness of, you know, I thought this is who your company was and, you know, whatever. But not everybody really gets the market. So
Erica [00:04:54]:
That's why we're here, ladies and gentlemen.
Jules [00:04:55]:
That's why we're here.
Erica [00:04:56]:
That's why we're here. Here. So to avoid a a three hour long recap, which is honestly what we did, I believe, last
Jules [00:05:02]:
year, let's dive into broke it into the, like, three three hour
Erica [00:05:05]:
long wait caps. One. Let's dive right into the trends. And the first one is one of my favorites because it's the one that got Jules into a swimsuit. And that is, adaptogens. And we love we love our adaptogens. Jules and I are big mushroom heads. We love lion's mane and reishi mushroom taken on a regular basis.
Erica [00:05:25]:
Yep. So tell us what you found in the functional and adaptogenic category. Well, I'm just
Jules [00:05:33]:
you know, we we always spot trends, right, at these shows, and it's always interesting to see what trends come and go. And this trend has been out for a while and I'm glad to see that it's still out and people are still iterating on this trend. And for those of you who are like adaptogens, mushrooms, what are you talking about? Like, I don't like mushrooms or what have you. You don't have to like mushrooms to respect that adaptogens are very healthy and have their place for you in the world of nutrition. And so you can buy supplements, you can have teas, you could have coffee, you can have bars, all kinds of things that don't taste like mushrooms. They come from all kinds of different, you know, sources that actually have some, nutritive value. So I was looking for the fact that the trend still exists and where are people sneaking these healthy things in nowadays?
Erica [00:06:26]:
So one of your brands that you showed, and you know, honestly, like you said, you don't have to taste it and you can sneak it in. But it's something to be aware of if you have a mushroom allergy, which honestly, I know someone does, and so they're kind of pissed about the adaptogenic trend. But, you know, guess what? I'm pissed about some of the collagen trends, so everyone has to eat their own. I mean, so ZEGO has a superfood blend that has lion's mane in it. I take supplements for it, just strict lion's mane, but I'm seeing it more and more in drinks, in coffees, in whatever. And we're even talking about mushrooms are great, but also stuff like, ashwagandha and, turmeric is still, like, a major adaptogen. We've been riding that turmeric trend for years now, which I love because I love the turmeric trend. Turmeric.
Erica [00:07:19]:
Turmeric. We do this every time.
Jules [00:07:22]:
No one wants a tumor. It's turmeric. Turmeric. There's an r there. Turmeric. Thank you.
Erica [00:07:32]:
I'm cutting this whole episode. You're out of here. You're out of here.
Jules [00:07:36]:
I'm just cut from the whole thing. I'm done. Yes. I get it. Okay? Fine. Yeah. Tell me about mud water. So mud water.
Jules [00:07:46]:
Mud water is what got me in the ice bath because I was like it was first thing in the morning and you know they taught mud water. Mud water was one of the very first coffee substitutes that uses these adaptogens. And you love it.
Erica [00:07:59]:
You've loved it for years.
Jules [00:08:00]:
Yes. It's good. It's good stuff. But there's all kinds of other ones out there now too and, so they had this thing set up outside and they were like have some mud water and then we got into a discussion about, you know, mud water and then that's how I got in the ice bath. But I also was talking to Wise Bar which was their partner there at the booth and Wise Bar has, these bars, protein bar kind of things that, you know, have like, the one I'm I'm holding right now has reishi, cordyceps, chaga, turkey tail, and lion's mane all in this bar, which is pretty impressive. And, you know, it's not an enrobed chocolate bar, which is a plus for me. I'm just so over those dipped chocolate bars, but it does have oats in it. I just had a discussion with them about their oats sourcing, which I do every year.
Jules [00:08:51]:
When I came up to the booth, the guy's like, oh, you again. So but you know what? Year after year when we would do this and it raises awareness because when we talked to him last year, he was like, I don't know my own stores. Guess what? This year he did and it and he, you know, if it changes them and, you know, they go looking for other oat sources or they go looking for those certifications, that's what we're looking for at the booth. So, yeah. And so he actually called somebody when I was at the booth to get the name of the source and, you know, so anyway it's cool to see that kind of stuff and, so That's such a win
Erica [00:09:24]:
for that's such a win for the community. That's really cool.
Jules [00:09:27]:
Yeah, it is. It's great. And, and we can talk about this later, but there was another brand that, you know, you and I had called out last year that was, erroneously labeling, their packaging. And we talked to them and, you know, there's this big, you know, hoo about that. And guess what? This year their packaging is is accurate. And so Big. You know, there's a lot. There was.
Erica [00:09:57]:
Yeah. I mean, Anna wouldn't say hoo but it was a big to do about it and Trisha Thompson
Jules [00:10:03]:
got involved. And Yeah. After Yeah.
Erica [00:10:05]:
Because After
Jules [00:10:05]:
After Yeah. I actually, like, contacted her through the show floor and I was like, yeah, this is a problem. And sometimes these manufacturers just are completely unaware of what the heck's happening. Like, we're, you know, almost into, Saint Patrick's Day and I'm sure, you know, Erica has seen this, but a lot of our listeners might not have that there's this, you know, brand of Guinness potato chips out now. And they're they're labeling their potato chips that says, oh, it's got dried Guinness beer in there for flavoring, but that's okay. Even though it's made with barley, it's dried. So somehow that makes it okay and and no longer has gluten in it. Like, what? Like, what are you smoking? You've definitely had one too many Guinnesses because drying it doesn't have anything to do with getting rid of the gluten in the Guinness beer.
Erica [00:10:55]:
So Just like obviously people are very confused by it which I Yeah. Honestly, I get it because honestly sometimes I have to relook at the law. I just be like wait hold on is this legal? I think I know it's wrong but like is this legal? And most of the times it's like no Of course, it's not legal. But these people just they don't they don't consider it. And that's Right. Part of the reason we we're not considered. That's part of the issue. Like, we're just not thought of.
Erica [00:11:20]:
So that's why we're here to cause chaos on this show floor.
Jules [00:11:24]:
That's right. And that's why when when I walk up to booze, they're like, oh, you again. Here, have a bathing suit. That's pretty much what he said to get rid of me. I think that's why I got him the ice bath. Get him the ice bath, lady. Yeah. So, but anyway, so there's, you know, there's MUDWTR and then there was another one that I tasted that was, it was really good.
Jules [00:11:43]:
It was, what was the name of oh, La Republica Superfoods which is an adaptogenic mushroom drink that was actually really, really tasty as well. Small small company that, was, you know, founded just to make really good tasting coffee alternatives. And then Teeccino, has introduced their mushroom herbal coffee.
Erica [00:12:05]:
Yeah. But do we like Teeccino? Because honestly, didn't they have barley in their product for a long time about twelve years ago and they said it was gluten free and that was a whole Yep. I know. Do we trust these people now?
Jules [00:12:17]:
I don't know. I'm just saying they're on the the adaptogen train. Okay.
Erica [00:12:21]:
That's always check tichino because I was burned by that. God, that was my first one of my first few years being gluten free. Wild. Okay. Well, one thing that I like in adaptogens because I'm always a sweet tooth girl, and I know that you loved it is Green Girl. Yeah. And they make ice cream sandwiches. They make ice cream pints.
Erica [00:12:41]:
We've talked about them for forever. They're just so good, and they keep innovating. Their ice cream sandwich things were just just the best.
Jules [00:12:48]:
And they're vegan.
Erica [00:12:50]:
And they're vegan and everything has adaptogens. So one Not everything. Well, there's a couple skews. I think most of the skews have adaptogens in it. There's one with ashwagandha. There's one with reishi mushroom. There's one with with turmeric in it, and there's, another one I think in there as well. But they just launched these icebox sandwich cookies that are so good.
Erica [00:13:13]:
They are completely enrobed in chocolate. She makes a cookie herself. They're teeny tiny. They're so freaking cute, and they are so good. And there's only one place in Arizona, maybe now two places that sell it. AJ's and then this very, very small healthy living store by me. And I cannot wait for them to get these in because they are so, so good.
Jules [00:13:35]:
Yeah. They're a real treat. They're, they're decadent.
Erica [00:13:40]:
They are. But, I mean,
Jules [00:13:43]:
we're worth it.
Erica [00:13:44]:
Yeah. I also went to Disney and I'm like oh there's no desserts at Downtown Disney so I went salt and straw and got the only like gluten free dairy free pint of ice cream that there was and I'm like oh then I'm gonna buy you ice cream for dessert so I don't really care you know like at all whatever. Yeah. It is what it is.
Jules [00:14:01]:
I mean to find a gluten free vegan ice cream sandwich that actually is really good. I mean Yeah. I'd be all over that if I found that in a store. Yeah. So yeah.
Erica [00:14:18]:
Okay. Next up, we have I hesitate to to say save the planet or else I feel like we're gonna get canceled. It's more, talking about really, like, climate friendly upcycling, regenerative organic. It was all over the show floor. I love to see it because the more people that do regenerative organic, the better. Regenerative organic is really about caring about soil health. So it it it pertains to, like crop rotation that is the healthiest for the soils. It doesn't deplete the nutrients, plants that actually give back to the soil, making sure that you're using, no pesticides and doing no tilling.
Erica [00:15:04]:
So I'm making sure that you're preserving as much of the soil microbiome as possible because the healthier the microbiome, the healthier the plant will be and the less likely you are to have, like, heavy metal issues and all these other things that happen when soil health is really degraded.
Jules [00:15:23]:
Yeah. And just a plug for the film Common Ground and also Kiss the Ground. Like, if you haven't seen those, you you should spend the time watching those. They're absolutely phenomenal films, and they'll give you a lot of education on regenerative farming and soil depletion.
Erica [00:15:39]:
Yeah. It's really interesting. I toured a regenerative agriculture farm years ago, about five years ago, and it was totally game changing for me to to see how they're, like, moving their pastures around to where, like, the chickens will come after the cows and therefore the manure of the cows and the chicken feed and all goes together. And that's how they, like, rotate their their actual animal usage and how everything goes back to the soil and, like, what's buried and what's used and really, really interesting. And it's the way that farming should be. It's just that it's like the basics of small farming is just like caring for your soil the way you would care for an animal, the way you'd care for a crop. And, unfortunately, we just have a lot of factory farming, a lot of factory agriculture, and we're just not caring about the soil. So we're using a lot of pesticides that will deplete the soil health.
Erica [00:16:33]:
We're using a lot of crop rotation or monocropping that's depleting the soil health. Just we're not we're not really caring for the earth, which I know is shocking to people to hear. But yeah watch the film you'll probably cry. You'll probably become like an advocate for regenerative farming and then, you'll want to start a farm and then you realize that right now The US doesn't really care about small farmers and then you'll be sad again.
Jules [00:16:57]:
See that's also regenerative. It's a regenerative cycle. It's great.
Erica [00:17:00]:
Yeah. Yep. Totally. But yes. So it is everywhere, which is fantastic. We love to see the natural product industry really moving forward with this because we're already talking about natural. Like, what is more natural than, like, going back to the roots of, like, sustainable agriculture or sustainable farming? And we've always really talked about it with organic, but I think being regenerative is really making sure that you're taking the steps to be as kind and as favorable to the soil as possible.
Jules [00:17:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good point. And so when we see these things at natural products, we're seeing products that were created in this way, but we're also seeing companies that are doing other things. They're taking, you know, ugly foods and they're making them into food. So, you know, there's things called upcycling and even brands that you might recognize like Lundberg Farms that has great rice products. They now introduce something called upcycled rice. So they're taking all the broken bits of rice and they're putting them in a bag because they taste all the same, whether they're broken or, you know, large pieces.
Jules [00:18:08]:
And it's good for the company because it's not waste and it's good for the consumer because they're getting, you know, a product that, tastes just as good and they're able to, you know, contribute to the the solution instead of the problem. So look for that product out there on the market.
Erica [00:18:24]:
And again, like, really taking the waste and and utilizing your waste as much as you possibly can. I, for one, have, a couple items here. This is called Hello. I'm Ugly. It is the Ugly Food Company, and it says beautiful on the inside because they're ugly looking, but they taste the same as other dried cherries. This is from a fourth generation farmer, which is amazing. They're also part of the Upcycled Food Association. I'm pointing to a, certification that's on some upcycled food.
Erica [00:18:56]:
This whole association is doing amazing things to really help people understand what is upcycling, what can brands do to make an upcycled product, and also why upcycled helps save the planet. So waste not walk not great product. So another one that I have that I wanna show is from the brand Good Sam. You know them. We love them. Obviously, the call out of doing small farms is amazing, but then they also have supporting regenerative farming, which is fantastic. So they actually go everywhere across the country and source small farms, and they actually pay what farmers should be paid instead of just, like, you know, paying the cheapest labor that you can find, wherever. If you're a coffee bean farmer or chocolate farmer, they're trying to do livable wages.
Erica [00:19:43]:
They're trying to do, investing into regenerative soil. They really care about the food and the land in which they come from, and they're one of my favorite, like, regenerative, brands that are out there. Plus all their stuff is really good.
Jules [00:19:57]:
Yeah. And actually, it's not I mean, I know you know this, but I think it's not around the country. It's all around the world.
Erica [00:20:04]:
Oh, yes. Sorry. I meant the world. Yes.
Jules [00:20:06]:
They're all over. Knew
Erica [00:20:06]:
that. All over. Like, they're going the places that she goes, the founder is incredible. I mean, because, like, she's sourcing coffee, she's sourcing chocolate. Those are not from here.
Jules [00:20:17]:
No. You can't
Erica [00:20:17]:
get it here. Yeah. So, yeah, it's it's incredible. And I hope with all the tariffs that she is able to still like keep things the way that they are because her stuff is so incredible. And with the chocolate shortage and the coffee shortage already, like, please support people like this. Her coffee is available at sprouts. Hers her chocolates, I believe, available at sprouts too. Her nuts are available at Whole Foods.
Erica [00:20:42]:
Support her. She's doing really, really great thing. Yep. And she's such an icon in, like, the regenerative farming small farming world.
Jules [00:20:50]:
Yeah. It's really good to see her new products coming out too.
Erica [00:20:54]:
Yeah. Her macadamia nuts are stellar and her like her pecans are good. Like everything she makes are just so good. Yeah. And
Jules [00:21:02]:
she's a good person.
Erica [00:21:05]:
Okay. Let's jump into the other trends. Well, hang on
Jules [00:21:08]:
one second. I just wanted to say in terms of that, it's not just the the actual products but it's also the packaging. Oh,
Erica [00:21:16]:
good point. Mhmm.
Jules [00:21:17]:
Yes. And so one of the things, you know, we've been talking about, like, regenerative farming and all that. There's also something called pre cycling, and we've started to see some things coming out in terms of pre cycling. And
Erica [00:21:29]:
That sounds like that sounds like a scam. And it sounds like someone asked me to sell me bitcoin. Like I just don't really understand what
Jules [00:21:35]:
pre cycling is but I
Erica [00:21:36]:
can't wait to hear more about it.
Jules [00:21:37]:
Well, it was funny because I actually I so I get like industry, magazines like as a food manufacturer and I had read about this company doing pre cycling on the airplane on my way out to natural products. I'm like, oh, this is interesting. And so then I actually really wanted to go look and investigate for myself. But one of the companies is Milkadamia who we know for their macadamia nut milks. But they started making oat milk in sheets of like paper almost. And so imagine if you could buy your oat milk and it takes up five times less space and weight And all you do is you add water to a sheet of essentially like dehydrated oat milk. And you, the consumer, get exactly the same product at the end, but it's taking up so much less space and weight. So for shipping purposes, for packaging purposes, all of those things, you basically have pre recycled, pre cycled the product.
Jules [00:22:37]:
And it is just so much more cost effective and efficient in that regard. So I think we're gonna because of their success with this, I think we're gonna start seeing a lot more companies do that which is fantastic.
Erica [00:22:48]:
Well, I still buy powdered coconut milk. So I love that coconut milk. It takes up so much less space. I think the oat milk Well, I use it in my baking too. Oh, yeah. Oh, smart. Didn't really even think about that. Yeah.
Erica [00:23:02]:
I think, I think that's super smart. I would love to see more of that. I mean, I buy, the coffee disposable coffee packages that are, like, when you go to traveling or whatever. I love that. I just think that if we can do more of that and less of the single use dehydrated would be amazing.
Jules [00:23:22]:
Yeah. And then, you know, you're gonna see this a lot more in other, areas as well. So like, True Earth, for example, has very eco friendly packaging for all of their dryer sheets, for their, you know, washing machine sheets instead of, you know, those big clunky plastic, you know, bottles that just take up so much space. And you've seen the visuals on all of that. And they're one of the the leaders of, you know, bringing that into the market where you just put a a, you know, a sheet into your washing machine and it dissolves completely. It doesn't take up any space. And they now have come out with the dishwasher tablets that you just sort of open this box and all it is is these tablets that you just break off and put into the dishwasher. And so it's you're not don't have all that packaging.
Jules [00:24:10]:
Like we don't need the packaging. Your dishwasher tablet does not have to be pretty. It does not have to be perfectly formed. And you know, it's it's we have to break that cycle in our minds of expecting things to come neatly packaged and have all of that plastic. We just don't need it.
Erica [00:24:28]:
There is a lot of plastic use around dishwasher tablets. Like, I, I ran out of a tablet and I bought, like, a thing at Cascade. Even their free and clear line comes in that big plastic receptacle. So now I've just been using that and putting all the true earth things in there and
Jules [00:24:45]:
just being like, well, I guess
Erica [00:24:46]:
I bought it once. So Yeah. Might as well use it as much as I can and so I think that they take advantage of that and it's so great to see because I threw away that paper and it's folds up and it's like one paper sheet basically when you're done and you have all these dishwasher detergent tabs
Jules [00:25:02]:
Right. And it's not like they don't work. They work great. Yeah. You know? I think there's there's this preconception of these other brands that have been in the market for so long that they have, you know, the they've capitalized on that and they're like, oh, ours works so much better. No. It doesn't. Yeah.
Jules [00:25:17]:
Just because it's packaged like that doesn't make it work.
Erica [00:25:19]:
And all of them to me have, like, a really weird smell that I can't get over. So every time you wash with something like that, I have to wash the dishes. Like, I'll run my cup underwater and it's just such a habit to me because if I put a glass of water up to my nose and it smells like dishwasher detergent tabs, I will lose my mind. It's like one of my, like, I like I can't do it. Like, my scent reflexes and I can't do it.
Jules [00:25:41]:
Yeah. Well, a lot of us have that, like, with scents and and you know the scents are in large part so artificial that it's better that you don't have those in your life or on your dishes either.
Erica [00:25:57]:
Moving next, we're talking about hot hot hot heat, and it continues to be the reign of hot honey. This is one brand Nate's hot honey. So it's basically if if you've never had hot honey, it's honey, vinegar, and then chili pepper flakes. And it's delicious. It's really and you can put it literally on anything, ice cream, in your tea. Hummus. Hummus. There has been so many amazing hot hot heat products, and I know that we've talked about this, when we're talking about the KeHe show recap that we were just talking about.
Erica [00:26:35]:
And, we talked about NUFs. I think we talked about NUFS. NUFS is a seed free cracker. They're awesome. The woman who runs it is awesome. They were at Expo West. They have a hot honey flavor, and they were sampling it with vegan cheese. And it's like, oh my god.
Erica [00:26:50]:
What a great pair. It's such a great pairing.
Jules [00:26:52]:
That'd be delicious.
Erica [00:26:53]:
And there are so many hot hot flavors that are just so popular right now. I'll show you a couple. Uglies, which is another one of my favorite upcycled companies. They have their upcycled food association that they're a part of right here, and they are basically just sweet potatoes with a bunch of flavors, and they're all, like, really not pretty, but they're ugly sweet potatoes that they
Jules [00:27:15]:
get them from. Mhmm.
Erica [00:27:16]:
And this hot honey flavored is so good. It's not too much, which is one of my favorites and one I haven't tried yet, but you know that it's gotten to mainstream, is pop chips. And this is one of the gluten free versions, the sweet heat pop chips. And so this is made with, what, spices? Of course, it's just spices. It won't tell me. But this is along the line of hot honey, but also, sweet and spicy Szechuan from the daily crunch. These are really great, flavored nuts. So there's there's dill pickle almonds, which we'll talk about dill pickle next.
Erica [00:27:55]:
But this is a new flavor that is a collab with fly by jing, and they are a great company that really is focusing on, very unique flavors from the Asian market with, hot chilies. So the big hot chili crunch paste that you can get, Fly By Jing is like the company. And so they've partnered and collabed with Daily Crunch. They partnered and collabed with Lundberg Farms to do a hot rice, which is awesome. And I think the more collabs that you can do with a great company like them is fantastic. So you see a lot of people partnering with hot honey brands or partnering with, like, sweet chili brands to monopolize the whole, like, sweet heat. And it'll be interesting to see if any of these LTOs, these these limited time offer chips will actually, like, get into the mainstream as far as, like, is hot honey here to stay? And with that comes kind of another trend with that is the dill pickle craze. We talked about it last time.
Jules [00:28:56]:
You rode the pickle.
Erica [00:28:57]:
I rode the pickle. I guess we're gonna have to show this video now.
Jules [00:29:02]:
Yes. You're gonna have to show the pickle. The pickle riding. Mhmm. I mean, you can't unsee it when
Erica [00:29:07]:
you see it.
Jules [00:29:08]:
So you gotta have to see it.
Erica [00:29:09]:
What was awkward is it was I was no one else was on the show floor because I got there early as an exhibitor, and I just walked around to see if I could find anything. And, the guy was there. I go, do you mind taking a picture or video? And he goes, yeah, that's fine. And then he got on and then I'm like, okay. Thank you. And he's like, no. And I'm like, what do you mean? And I'm like, righty in the puddle. He's like, no.
Erica [00:29:27]:
You're gonna say, I'm like, oh my god. It's I just, like, make this space where I'm like, stop looking at me. Stop recording. And I'm just like, please let me leave. He's like, you gotta ride it the whole minute. I'm like, this is so awkward.
Jules [00:29:37]:
Let me off the pickle. I just sat there being like,
Erica [00:29:42]:
yeah. Anyway, that was sounds That's, like, right up
Jules [00:29:44]:
there with the llama moment.
Erica [00:29:45]:
It was good. So Grillo's pickles having a moment for sure. And then, I have this video of Gail from Caulipower, talking about her dill pickle pizza, which goes off of last year's dill pickle, chicken tenders, which honestly I have not found yet. And I'm very angry about it because those were the best because they're a Chick fil A dupe. And I'm like, I can't get this. Like, where can I find this? And I think probably they're at Walmart, and I just don't go to Walmart because there's no one near me. I'm like, oh, man. I'll totally go to Walmart if I find those.
Erica [00:30:22]:
But oh god. I just ripped this out of my ear. I'm loud. I'm loud outside. I need to calm it down. Another one that we didn't tell you about last time was these, speaking of Walmart, they have glutino dill pickle. They've collabed with Vlasic, which is a really great dill pickle brand that's been around for forever. I gave these to my girlfriend who does the samples from the Katie show, and she's like, where do you get these? I'm like, I don't know.
Erica [00:30:54]:
I don't know. I have obviously, they're samples. They're not this is not how they retail them. I'm like, I don't know where you find them. She goes, I don't go anywhere. I go, I think they're in Walmart. She goes, I will go to Walmart right now.
Jules [00:31:04]:
Oh my god. So for our listeners, you're holding up a bag of
Erica [00:31:09]:
Latino dill pickle pretzels and that they did in a collab with Vlasic.
Jules [00:31:13]:
Yeah. Which is pretty cool that, you know, they're iterating and and innovating. They sure are. Stagnating like they haven't for so long.
Erica [00:31:22]:
Yeah. They sure are. Honestly, we are gonna talk about this later, but I think it's a good time to diverge and talk about it now. Yeah. Glutino and Rudi's, they both have, like, gotten some sort of new cash infusion or Yes. A new CEO or a new r and d person or something because they're all over the place, new innovations, and they're good. And they're good. Mhmm.
Erica [00:31:45]:
And Latino was just like, I went to their booth and, like, you've got to be kidding me. Like, these are so good. Oh, I wasn't even gonna plan on showing this because I'm hiding them from Matt. They are Swiss Miss hot cocoa sandwich cookies from Glutino. They're gluten free. They are dairy free. They contain soy. Everything that Glutino makes contains soy.
Erica [00:32:06]:
Yes. Oh my god. They're so good. I finally opened them yesterday, and I had two and they're, like, exactly like a hot cocoa. They're so perfect.
Jules [00:32:16]:
I love that they're dairy free. I mean, because Swiss Miss isn't dairy free. So
Erica [00:32:22]:
Yeah. So it's really interesting. That's fantastic. And I think they're just, like, they're doing such amazing things. Like, they've got these, like, strawberry lemonade wafers. They're doing things that I was, like, oh, this is what Glutino should have been when we had Glutino Yes. Twelve years ago when Glutino was the first doing things. Yes.
Erica [00:32:41]:
They were bought. They were sold. They were bought. They were sold. They're whatever. And so now they're finally back. Same with Rudy's. Honestly, they've been launching so many great gluten free things.
Erica [00:32:50]:
They started with their brioche buns, then they had their breakfast sandwiches, and their new collab, which we will talk about in a second, we won't talk about now, is perfect. I think just they're they're doing so well, and I just wanna say it's 2009 again. You know?
Jules [00:33:07]:
Yeah. Mhmm. Bringing it back.
Erica [00:33:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. The the the first brands, the first movers on the gluten free market are finally back, which is great because Enjoy Life isn't. So
Jules [00:33:18]:
No. Definitely not. I will say the thing about Rudi's is, you just have to be careful because Rudi's has a line of products that is gluten free and they have a line of products that is very definitely not gluten free. And, just like any other brand that does that, they are trying to be brand consistent in their packaging. And so oftentimes it's difficult to tell which one is gluten free and which one isn't. And even at the booth for Rudi's, it was difficult to tell which samples were gluten free and which were not. That's sketchy. It was sketchy.
Jules [00:33:56]:
And, like, they had these signs up and it was it was really weird. It was like this corner contains wheat and dairy or peanuts or something like that. And it was anyway, it was just it was very odd and, it's just a really good reminder to everybody that they're doing a great job and more power to them but anytime you go to make a purchase from that brand, you have to be doubly sure you're buying the right product.
Erica [00:34:24]:
Yeah. I didn't go to the booth, so I didn't see that. So thank you for pointing that out because I'm pretty cautious about them because I've known them for so long. But if you're new to Rudi's, because if you weren't old school
Jules [00:34:35]:
Right.
Erica [00:34:36]:
Then you might not know that they have an entire line that's not gluten free that they've been working on for a very
Jules [00:34:40]:
long time. And and the the product I mean, are we gonna talk about this product now? The new product?
Erica [00:34:45]:
We're gonna talk about the new go ahead, Joel. Spoil it for everyone.
Jules [00:34:48]:
Alright. I'm spoiling it. Alright. The new product is basically like an Uncrustable. They call it a Sandoz. I don't know why, but it's an Uncrustable. And it it was really good. It was like wonder bread with peanut butter and jelly in the middle and it, It's gluten free and dairy free.
Jules [00:35:07]:
It's gluten free and dairy free, and it's made with Justin's Nut Butter. What? But they also have But they have the gluten version, And they made this gluten free version because they had so many people who ate the gluten version or saw that they had the gluten version and said, please make a gluten free version. So they have the exact same thing in gluten. So, you really have to make sure you're buying the right one. And so I obviously couldn't taste the one with gluten but I was talking to the marketing person at the booth and she said she likes the gluten free version better because it's it is even like more wonder bread y. I mean, it's it literally you know, not having eaten wonder bread in a hundred and seven years, but it that's exactly what it reminded me of when I ate it. It was so soft that it just, like, almost wanted to fall apart in your mouth. And there's a lot of peanut butter and jelly in the middle, which is good because I like that that, you know, proportion of peanut butter and jelly to bread.
Jules [00:36:06]:
So So it's gonna be fantastic for people, you know, for kids
Erica [00:36:09]:
and, you know, lunch boxes and things like that. Oh, let's let's back up and talk about the
Jules [00:36:09]:
trend and the boxes and things like that.
Erica [00:36:11]:
Oh, let's let's back up and talk about the trend, and the trend is peanut butter and jelly. Yeah. And,
Jules [00:36:17]:
love that trend. So glad it's back.
Erica [00:36:19]:
My favorite. And when I saw that Rudi's was having this, I grabbed the box, I tore it off the shelf, and it was taped down. I'm like, I don't even care. And I, like, cry. You'll see me tear up in this, like, little video that I have. I'm like, this is so wonderful because we've been asking for this for so long. And SunButter had launched theirs, and we thought for sure with SunButter, we're like, listen. Hey.
Erica [00:36:43]:
You're allergy friendly. You get it. Right? Let's make a gluten free version. They're like, we can't. We have tried so hard, and nothing is working. And I'm like, I don't even care if it's good. Honestly, I was at the point where I'm like, I am really tired of seeing the sunburner and jammy thing, and I really want because, like, I, like, I want something that's nut free that I can take on a plane that I you know, I try to be nut free as possible on a plane just in case. Because I'm still a weirdo about, like, going to food allergy conferences and make sure all my samples are nut free, because I care.
Erica [00:37:11]:
Right? And so I'm like, I would really like to take these when I travel, especially to, like, the fact conference where everything is peanut free. Like, I don't wanna be eating peanuts there. So I'm like, I really want some butter to make this. And then Rudy's came out with them. I'm like, alright. Some butter or whatever. Like, I'm sorry. You're bumming me out.
Erica [00:37:27]:
But, like, I'm really just happy to have it. And I went to I got the Justin's press box, and I'm like, oh my god. There's one inside. I'm like, oh, it's a gluten one. I'm like,
Jules [00:37:37]:
oh, you're kidding.
Erica [00:37:38]:
And I was so pissed.
Jules [00:37:40]:
Oh my god. Because I still
Erica [00:37:42]:
oh, so I still didn't get to try it because I didn't make it to Rudi's booth. So I don't know what it tastes like. But everyone else is like, I can't tell you this is the most amazing thing. So I just have the picture of me with the box being like, I love this so much. And I haven't
Jules [00:37:55]:
even seen it. They ran out too. Like, when I was there, they didn't I mean,
Erica [00:37:58]:
every other influencer is like, oh, this is incredible. So it's not like I doubt them. Like, I obviously am just like I'm all in. Right? Like, I'm all in. So it's not like I am like, oh, I have to wait to see him. Like, I'm in. Whatever.
Jules [00:38:10]:
Well, I mean okay. I'm sorry. They put Justin's Nut Butter in the middle of it. Like, the most delicious Nut Butter. And the reason is because Justin's bought them. So that's why. So that's where the collab comes in.
Erica [00:38:21]:
And then Justin's also launched new things. So I'm holding Yes. A new crunchy classic peanut butter. So they finally have crunchy, which is awesome. So excited. Yes. And their peanut butter is so good. I don't know how they get their peanut butter so good.
Erica [00:38:36]:
We actually our Whole Foods ran out of the regular peanut butter. They just had their almond butter or their honey peanut butter. I'm like, that's not what I want. And for some reason, that's all they had. And I couldn't find it at, like, my Target, so I bought a generic one. And let me tell you, that generic's going in the trash. And I we just talked about food waste, but I'm like, I cannot eat this because this is truly the best peanut butter. And you can't Yeah.
Erica [00:39:01]:
Not eat this peanut butter. Right. But was actually really cool in the pressed the press box with this came two new things of Crocker jelly. And when I say this is I'm holding up a squeeze like a a pouch like a a baby food pouch.
Jules [00:39:19]:
As big as your head.
Erica [00:39:20]:
It is possibly as it is this exact same size as my head. This is 13 ounces of jelly. I got these in my bag. I'm like, why is it so heavy?
Jules [00:39:29]:
Open your mouth and just squeeze.
Erica [00:39:32]:
Exactly. This is let me just tell you the amount of times where I thought about opening this and consuming this entire thing on the show floor more than once because I'm like, I am so hungry. I will eat this entire thing in jelly. But it is 20 servings, and each serving is 300 calories. So could I eat 600 calories worth of jelly in one shot? Probably. Would I go into some sort of diabetic coma? Also, possibly. That's definitely more than your daily value sugar. So I was just like, oh my god.
Erica [00:39:59]:
This is so awesome. I'm like, this is so cool. So what's really interesting about this jelly is our jelly, I don't know about you and your family, it gets really gross because someone that is not me is using peanut butter first and then putting that knife into the jelly. And I'm, like, going straight to jelly gel. This is so great. You just squeeze it on something, and then you reseal it. And there's no cross contact. So perfect.
Erica [00:40:23]:
Love it. So it's such a cute little package that they gave and there's like this little sandwich holder that they gave us. It had a sandwich inside and I was like really hoping it was a gluten free one and it wasn't. But No. Eventually I will find it and I think that that is just like the best solo collab for peanut butter and jelly since peanut butter and jelly.
Jules [00:40:42]:
You know? Since peanut is it's the best thing since peanut butter and jelly.
Erica [00:40:45]:
It is.
Jules [00:40:45]:
But they're not the only ones bringing peanut butter
Erica [00:40:47]:
and jelly back. Many.
Jules [00:40:48]:
So our favorite pretzel collab, you know, the Quinn's, they put peanut butter in pretzels. Like, they're the ones, and I have a problem with them because I eat way too many Quinn's pretzels of every flavor combination. And I walked up to them, I said, great. Thanks a lot. Now you're just introducing another flavor that I'm not gonna be able to put down and it's true because it's peanut butter and jelly in the middle of the pretzels and they're really, really, really good and it's hard for me to put them down as well. And of course, one night they gave me a bag and that is all I had for dinner because we've already established that I didn't eat any real food.
Erica [00:41:28]:
Margaritas. For three days. Combination.
Jules [00:41:30]:
Yeah. That was the night no. That was the night after the margaritas and I was like, I'm gonna get real food tonight and I didn't. I ate I ate like half of a bag of Quinn pretzels and the the people I was with ate the rest of it and none of them are gluten free. I'm like, thanks for stealing my pretzels. That was my dinner. But that's that's how it goes, you know.
Erica [00:41:50]:
They sent me, one of those family size packs, the big ones. Oh, nice. They're pretty good. Uh-huh. I ate that whole thing in one second. It's a family size. And I was
Jules [00:42:00]:
See, that's what I'm saying. Like, it's just too big.
Erica [00:42:02]:
Sick to my stomach. I'm not gonna lie.
Jules [00:42:03]:
I have to keep a rubber band next to the bag and then remind myself that I have to wrap it around the bag at some point because I can't eat the whole bag.
Erica [00:42:10]:
It's, yeah. It's a lot. And it
Jules [00:42:13]:
is It's not a good thing
Erica [00:42:14]:
for me. So, like, I'm around to pre portion them because I Yeah. I don't know what serving sizes are for those. They're so good. I am not like a super fan of like their cheesy or their pizzeria a lot of No. I go I go
Jules [00:42:25]:
for like the maple almond and the peanut butter stuffed and yeah. And now the peanut butter and jelly.
Erica [00:42:30]:
I think the peanut butter and jelly is honestly better than the peanut butter. I think it's such a good cone. It's such a good combo.
Jules [00:42:35]:
Yeah. It's really delicious. It's really good. And another another brand that came out with the combination like that, we love OctoNuts.
Erica [00:42:45]:
So good.
Jules [00:42:46]:
Yes. And they now have a cashew butter and strawberry all mixed up together. And it's not one of those jars that you can see, like, the layer of strawberry in or whatever. It's just, like, mixed together. So it's really subtle, but it's delicious. I really really loved it. It was really good.
Erica [00:43:02]:
See, I didn't get to try it at KeHe. So I'm really glad that you got a chance to try it or at Fancy Food, I saw it. And, oh god. That food is so good. And they have new versions of their cashews too. Oh, I can't wait to try them all. Very excited about that brand. Oh, and then, with the peanut butter trend, you saw another pretzel band brand that was really good that we've talked about before.
Jules [00:43:27]:
Another pretzel brand. Which one was that? Oh.
Erica [00:43:31]:
Oh, I have it. That's a Which one is
Jules [00:43:34]:
oh. Oh. Yeah. That one. This is different. French Squirrel. Yeah. Yeah.
Jules [00:43:39]:
They, I adore that brand, and they iterate, you know, constantly with different different flavors. The new one this year is French toast bijou.
Erica [00:43:51]:
I'm holding it up for those that can't see. French toast bijou? It's it's gluten free cereal. So brown rice, flour, corn flour, cane sugar, and then white chocolate, oat milk powder I should ask her about that oat milk where it's coming from but whatever we can figure that out later
Jules [00:44:11]:
well we'll get to it
Erica [00:44:13]:
she I remember talking to her she has celiac so I don't know. We'll look into it. But this brand was so tasty, and literally every gluten free blogger that stopped by absolutely loved their product, which is great. And
Jules [00:44:23]:
they're vegan too. So like this is French this is peanut butter white chocolate clusters, and it's vegan. Yes. Alright. I'm here with Sydney, the founder of the French Squirrel. Hello? Alright. Can you tell us about your newest offerings?
Sydney at French Squirrel [00:44:39]:
Yes. So we have our chocolate coated cereal clusters, vegan and gluten free. We have a dark chocolate peanut butter as well as a French toast flavor, dusted in cinnamon and date sugar. They are a great healthy snack on the go. They're a healthy spin on Muddy Buddies, my favorite childhood snack, and I'm obsessed with them. I love that. Have our almond butter stuffed dates. They also come in peanut butter.
Sydney at French Squirrel [00:45:03]:
It's a Medjool date stuffed with almond butter coated in dark chocolate, three ingredients, a great pre workout or a great dessert. Dates are my favorite thing ever and have so many brain and heart and hormone benefits. And I eat dates multiple times a day. I'm obsessed with them.
Jules [00:45:24]:
They're really, really good.
Erica [00:45:29]:
And then the last peanut butter one that I want to have, let me add Purely Elizabeth. This we talked about this last time, but honestly, I I can't not mention it. It is their cookie granola, which is it's so much sugar. It is not really a granola. It's cookie.
Jules [00:45:44]:
It's crumbled cookies in a bag. Man. It's called it's called a spade a spade.
Erica [00:45:48]:
It's very good. And it's rolling out in the store soon because I asked about it, but I don't think I'm allowed to buy this because, again, I would have a problem with sodium sizes, because this stuff is so freaking good. So much peanut butter. It's peanut butter and peanut butter chips. I just wanna find dairy free peanut butter chips.
Jules [00:46:05]:
I was just gonna say that their peanut butter chips don't have they're
Erica [00:46:07]:
not dairy free. No. They aren't. They're yeah. Their peanut butter chips are dairy free. So tell me where I find dairy free peanut butter chips. Alright. Purely Elizabeth.
Jules [00:46:17]:
Yeah. Maybe she makes them herself.
Erica [00:46:18]:
Oh my gosh.
Jules [00:46:19]:
One of those brands have because
Erica [00:46:20]:
she just sell those.
Jules [00:46:21]:
So the feel Sunnie brand, which I wanted to mention just in this
Erica [00:46:25]:
It's just Sunnie.
Jules [00:46:26]:
It's just the jams. Right? It's just Sunnie. It's just but they're okay. It's just Sunnie, but their their name on Insta is at (name). So just so you know. It's just Sunnie Jules. It's just Sunnie. It's just Sunnie.
Jules [00:46:43]:
What are you trying to ask me? The the Jam Dippers. Okay. Do you you know about these. Right? Yes. I love them. Okay. Okay. So this is my first introduction to this brand was at the booth when Kristen from Krysten's Kitchen, I ran into her and she's like, come over here.
Jules [00:47:02]:
You have to see this booth. And, like, she had her little her little baby there. She's so cute. And Oh, my gosh Rolly. Yeah. And and so we went over to the booth and and she was like, I just I think these are the most amazing things. And so I sort of worked my way down the booth, but
Erica [00:47:17]:
It's a I'm I'm trying a picture. It's their, sunflower butter and jam snack. There we go. And it's made with Smash who makes like a chia butter. So that's the collab. It's actually behind the thing there. I'm showing the jar of chia butter.
Jules [00:47:32]:
And you're getting text.
Erica [00:47:35]:
And they have amazing stuff. They also have this, which I wanted to talk about later. Oh my god. Oh my god. It is so good. So it's like these little grain free something like crackers. Yeah. They're grain free.
Erica [00:47:48]:
They do have to be refrigerated, which is the one thing that I dislike about this brand. Yeah.
Jules [00:47:53]:
But And then they also have, like, pizza.
Erica [00:47:55]:
Oh, yeah. It's like a pizza lunchable. But
Jules [00:47:58]:
they but they're they have cheese in them. Like, real cheese.
Erica [00:48:01]:
Yes. Very expensive. Very expensive. It's so good. Okay. So we have reached the point where I will open this and consume the entire thing in one minute or less, and then we'll see how long it takes for me to go night night. We
Jules [00:48:19]:
have reached the point First, you're gonna jump off a bridge, and then you're gonna go night night.
Erica [00:48:23]:
The point in the show where we are talking about our favorite products. And some of them may be the ones that we've mentioned already. Some of them may be super new to you. And we're not giving ourselves, like, a top three, but just, like, top. What are your favorites? What are you definitely gonna buy? I think that's the biggest thing to say. Like, what are you gonna buy with your own hard earned money, Jules?
Jules [00:48:41]:
With your own hard earned money. Okay. So, I'll go first. I am definitely gonna buy the French squirrel. I love this brand. I love the the woman owned story behind it. I'm also with my hard earned money going to buy lentiful lentil meal cups. Oh, you have one.
Erica [00:49:03]:
I bought this with my hard earned money after the show. I didn't take one from the show. Just so you know, I too I am supporting lentiful.
Jules [00:49:10]:
Awesome. Where did you find it?
Erica [00:49:11]:
Actually, I found it, I found it at Marshall's. Oh, seriously? Yeah. Awesome.
Jules [00:49:17]:
Random. Super random. Was it like Lentiful? See, if I had had a Lentiful, then I could have had, like, a meal
Erica [00:49:23]:
A meal. Yeah.
Jules [00:49:25]:
At expo. So and that's the kind of thing I look for when I travel. Like I travel with, you know, instant gluten free oats so that I can have that for breakfast. I would travel with a lentil full and I can just put, you know, boiling water into it. So that's the kind of thing that I would travel with. So I would definitely buy that. Something else that I loved at the show was the Cocojune organic Greek style protein yogurt. It was phenomenal.
Jules [00:49:49]:
I mean, I've always loved their yogurts. Their yogurts just
Erica [00:49:52]:
so good.
Jules [00:49:53]:
Good. I know. But there's that Greek style yogurt was.
Erica [00:49:56]:
They have an elderflower and they have a passion fruit and those two are my favorite. They're super good.
Jules [00:50:01]:
So good.
Erica [00:50:02]:
Yeah. I am a I am a convert for sure.
Jules [00:50:05]:
It's it is pricey yogurt, but it's really really good. And oh, one that I did not mention earlier was, you know, the brand Sanjay that I I really love. San-J. I love their, gluten free tomatoes. I'm on
Erica [00:50:23]:
my shelves right now.
Jules [00:50:24]:
Yeah. They have a new sauce and it's called umami sauce. It's so good. It's so good. And I met the woman who brought it over from Japan. Yeah. I met her too. Lovely.
Jules [00:50:37]:
And, yeah. So this actually, the whole table full of those folks at San-J, is who ate my Quinn pretzels. So that's it's rude, but I do like their sauce. And, and it the sauce is expensive, but it's concentrated. So if you buy one jar of it, don't start pouring it in like you would soy sauce. Just pour a little bit in. It's a lot
Erica [00:51:01]:
of sodium if you do.
Jules [00:51:02]:
It's a lot of sodium. Yeah. But anyway, I'm definitely gonna be using that in some stir fries. And then the last thing and this is Superman, I'm not sure I'm gonna spend my money on this but I think people should know about it, is this Barbie brand. I totally blew by it. I know it's this Healthy Crunch and they they have this Barbie like,
Erica [00:51:25]:
They co-branded with Mattel for a new line of products is the best way to describe it.
Jules [00:51:29]:
Yes. There we go. What she said. But the whole the whole booth just said Barbie everywhere. You had to struggle to find the words healthy crunch on it And it's something that never would call to me at all. But if you have kids who are into Barbie. Right? And these are basically like rice krispies, but they're so much healthier than a regular Rice Krispie. They have other things in them,
Erica [00:51:54]:
like, chicory cake flavor.
Jules [00:51:56]:
They have birthday cake flavor. They have sprinkles, and the sprinkles don't have, like, horrible things in them. They have beet, like, powder in them, and they have natural They're doing it right. Colorings. So they're it's it is a way healthier way of giving your kid a treat that they would feel like they were getting treated with.
Erica [00:52:15]:
Yeah. For sure. For sure. And that's what a lot of moms were saying is, like, my if my kid has allergies, like, this is they can also have Barbie stuff too. Yeah. Are you done with your favorites? Because I also have a Barbie favorite.
Jules [00:52:27]:
Okay.
Erica [00:52:27]:
I mean, I can't say no to the Sweet Lauren's Barbie flavored cookies. Tastes like real Barbie.
Jules [00:52:35]:
I was gonna say, what does a Barbie taste like? I don't see it. Of Barbies.
Erica [00:52:39]:
It's just a pink sugar cookie in the heart, in shape of the heart, and it is Mhmm. My favorite. It's it's so lovely to, like, have cut and bake cookies. And it's not cut and bake, but it's just, like, already cut and bake and you bake it. So it's perfect. I love it so much. I spent so much time at their booth eating so many of their flavored cookies, and they just launched a monster cookie. So I know for sure I will be buying a ton of Sweet Loren's stuff as I always do.
Erica [00:53:06]:
They're spoken verified. They're gluten free, the people who run it, cool. One of the old Rudi's people. Doug. Rudi's. He's now Sweet Loren's I love them.
Erica [00:53:19]:
And they've been innovating so much. They their puff pastry mix is new. They've got a lot of new products that I think you're really gonna enjoy, or at least feel like you can go to the grocery store and buy a pre prepared puff pastry. Like, that's wild to me. It's Yeah.
Jules [00:53:33]:
In the freezer section.
Erica [00:53:34]:
Best time ever. So that's great. Another one of my favorites, again, these are all sweet. Go figure. Is Wholesome Bakery. They're a bakery out of San Francisco and they have this amazing almond tea cake and I love almond tea cake and I I tasted it and I'm like, this is perfect. And it's prepackaged and it's just like one cake. So freaking good.
Erica [00:53:56]:
I'll show a picture of it in here. And then the last one for me is I am a huge fan of Enchanted Tiki Room. Big fan of Disney, obviously. I went to Disney
Jules [00:54:08]:
I I I have not heard about this. Three times when I was there. And,
Erica [00:54:14]:
I went to the Enchanted Tiki Room, and it's all sponsored by Dole. But it's sponsored by Dole from, like, the 1950s. And because of that, it's I know we you still have all the old signs that are, like, sponsored by Dole. They introduced it sponsored by Dole. So I'm, like, obsessed with the Dole Whip that you can get. It's the best. And Dole actually launched Dole Whip last year, two years ago.
Jules [00:54:42]:
Last year. Talking about it for a while. So
Erica [00:54:45]:
It was okay. And you're like, okay. I can kind of see where this is. And so when I walked by the booth, I'm like, I've had it. And he goes, oh, are you fan of Dole? I'm like, yeah. I'm super fan of, like, tiki room. I'm obsessed. My whole office is tiki room.
Erica [00:54:56]:
And he's like, have you tried the new version? I'm like, new version? Riddle me. What has changed? He goes, oh, it's totally different. It tastes so much better. I tasted it, and I'm like, this is exactly it. This is it. Like, this is what you can find at the parks. And everyone always has these, like, it's just like the Dole Whip at the parks and everyone's like, it's kind of off. This is right.
Erica [00:55:19]:
Which I'm like, okay. You're Dole Whip. You of all people should have it. But they that is a different version. It's like one of those frozen yogurt machines. So to be able to package it in a cup, like a single serve cup, like they haven't perfected it and now they did. And now I'm like, this is perfect. He was come by at the end of the show.
Erica [00:55:37]:
I'll give you some. I'm like, I have to drive home, so no. Yeah. Thank
Jules [00:55:41]:
you. How about free product coupons? Oh my god.
Erica [00:55:44]:
I just like I could eat these every day. They're so good, and it's just perfect. And so if you are like a Disney fan, you've been searching for Dole Whip and you've tried it before and you're like, this is not it, I will be with you. But now it is it, so you'll have to And it's dairy free. It's dairy free. Dole Whip on the truck is also dairy free as well. That's great. Yeah.
Erica [00:56:05]:
Perfect. So I had to do the Dole Whip this weekend.
Jules [00:56:08]:
Yeah. Well, that's a great find then. Yeah. For sure.
Erica [00:56:11]:
So, any closing words? How how are you feeling about this recap of Expo West now that we've ended on a positive note?
Jules [00:56:20]:
I'm feeling I'm feeling very proud of us for recapping it in, such a short period of time. Oh, so proud
Erica [00:56:26]:
of us.
Jules [00:56:26]:
In previous years, we've been able to only do it in segments of
Erica [00:56:32]:
Pat on the back.
Jules [00:56:34]:
We're getting much better at whittling these things down. But I also think there weren't that many like super impressive new products that were out that we just absolutely had to talk about. So from that perspective, it wasn't, you know, the best expo ever.
Erica [00:56:53]:
I I mean to be fair we're still waiting for your housewares recap so I'm sure we could go on for hours about all the newfangled things that you saw at housewares.
Jules [00:57:00]:
Yeah. Oh, we're gonna do a housewares recap. Okay. We are gonna do the housewares recap. No. That was never gonna be fit into this episode.
Erica [00:57:06]:
No, God. No. No. No. No. I can't I still have a suitcase that's like full of little things that I'm like, oh, I feel like I should have talked about that. So I'm glad that we are finally done with the recap so I can move on and actually put groceries away.
Jules [00:57:19]:
Yes. Yes. Definitely. But, if you want more, I mean, I definitely have a list of all kinds of things that I liked, that maybe I've talked about before or they just have different flavors or it's a brand you should check out. And I have two of those reels that I put up on Instagram, and Facebook. And I think I threw them up on TikTok too. So, if you wanna go check those out and I know you did some as well, Erica. So there's further,
Erica [00:57:49]:
you
Jules [00:57:49]:
know, information out there that we have if you wanna look for more brands and information. But these are just, you know, these are the ones we really felt like we wanted to talk about.
Erica [00:57:57]:
Awesome. I think you did a great job. Good job, Alex. We did. We did such a good job.
Jules [00:58:02]:
Yay. Yay. Us. And we'll drop, the specific information in the liner notes below and, grab that there and follow these brands and go shopping.
Erica [00:58:12]:
And if you have, a brand that you're like, oh my god. I work for a brand and I would love you to review our product. You totally missed us on the show floor. Let us know. We're always happy to receive press boxes that are not full of gluten and are not full of hot dogs in the summer, which has happened to me.
Jules [00:58:32]:
Well, there were 3,000 booths. So We missed a lot. But if I can't see it from Housewares. So I was only there for two days. So I didn't get I
Erica [00:58:41]:
was barely even there. Experience. Just imagine what our recap would have been if we would have been that night. Right. Well, thanks for listening to another episode of You Had Me At Eat. We hope you have a wonderful day. And remember to put these all on your grocery list for the next time you're at the supermarket. Think of You Had Me At Eat.
Jules [00:58:58]:
That's right. Happy eating, everybody. Thanks for tuning in to You Have Me At Eat, the number one voted gluten free podcast in the country. Remember to like and subscribe, tell all your friends, and we'll talk to you next
Erica [00:59:37]:
time.
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