In this full interview with Chef Mike Haracz, Corporate Chef and Culinary Development Lead at Foodology by Univar Solutions, Chef Mike unveils his strategies for keeping up with dynamic food trends. From the surge of climate-conscious choices to deciphering consumer desires, Chef Mike shares how he stays ahead in an ever-evolving landscape.
In this full interview with Chef Mike Haracz, Corporate Chef and Culinary Development Lead at Foodology by Univar Solutions, Chef Mike unveils his strategies for keeping up with dynamic food trends. From the surge of climate-conscious choices to deciphering consumer desires, Chef Mike shares how he stays ahead in an ever-evolving landscape.
I'm hot, right? Hey, everybody. Welcome to a very special episode of State of the Play Pod. Because we have a conversation with a genius who we talk to. We're talking to Chef Mike Harris. Eye care is spelled exactly how it sounds. I know that's a that's a doozy. I'm glad he poked fun at his own last name. I feel that, though. And he's with food allergy by one of our solutions. So food scientist, all things technical but super relatable and making food approachable for the common person. Yeah. And we talked to Mike with Mike about everything from how he creates the latest innovations tions to how he follows trends, what consumers are looking for right now, his relevance relevancy as an influencer like everything great conversation so we couldn't pack it all into our usual episode because it it was such a big conversation. It got a little long so we had this special episode for you to listen into and we hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did because we had a great time. Yeah. Tune in, make sure you're liking and subscribing so that you get all of the latest podcasts from the state of the plate. Enjoy. All right. We're back with State of the Plate and we have a special guest today, Brandon. Yes, we do. Very excited about this one. Super excited. I won't make you guess because you know, you're in on the secret. But yeah, today. Yeah. Let's just get into it, man. I'm really excited to talk to this guy and hear what he has to tell us about innovation in food. Yes, he's an R&D chef, brand ambassador, social media fan, and just a super all around cool guy. I met him actually at IFAD with Mercy. We talked about that on our last State of the Plate podcast. So without further ado, Chef Mike Harris is joining us for. So happy to be here with you, Mike. It's great to have you on the podcast. Usually I got to do a bunch of dishes and make the samples and ship the stuff out. So being able to relax and have a nice conversation as always. Hey, there you go. Well, I'm really excited to get into a lot of the what you've been working on and what you're seeing out there in food innovation. But before we do that, why don't you just give us a little bit of your background and sort of where you came from and what you're up to now, sort of that career trajectory? Sure. So again, my name is Chef Mike Harris, and as we learned, it's pronounced just like it's spelled. It's not it's not my family just decided to go with Harris. But I always wanted to be a chef growing up, went to culinary school. I have a degree in culinary nutrition from Johnson and Wales and Providence, Rhode Island. While I was in school, I quickly learned I don't want to be in a chef in a restaurant. I also had a dream of playing guitar in a band. So nights, weekends and holidays that's show nights. R&D life is a little more corporate, 9 to 5 weekends available. So I kind of gravitated towards that R&D chef world, but was very much kind of learned and got introduced to food science and product development in school. Upon graduation, I've been in the industry now since 2006, working for Orville, canned foods, culinary sales, support, Nation, pizza and Foods. I did a couple of years stint as the manager of innovation, manager of culinary innovation for the U.S. menu at McDonald's. So spend a little time in the McDonald's corporate offices. And then I had another gig after that, and then the pandemic hit. So had to deal with that. I quickly became one of those Internet content creators and consultants, which I did relatively well. I certainly preferred a full time role, but I was able to do brand partnerships, you know, start a YouTube channel, do all the things that Internet creators do, try to pitch you 5% off of golf clubs and T-shirts and energy drinks and whatnot. And then about a year and a half ago, I started as the culinary development lead for a food allergy by Universe Solutions, which is a big ingredient distributor, and it's pretty awesome to have hundreds upon hundreds of ingredients at my disposal to do cool, fun R&D work, whether it's develop a prototype of a thing or work with customers to find solutions to any issues they might be having. So, I mean, that leads that's why I'm in this kitchen. Here are our innovation center here in Chicago, where based out of a building called the Hatchery, which is pretty cool, it's actually one of those big buildings that has about 30 or 40 kitchens in it of all different companies from big corporate folk like us to mom and pop caterers to there's a pickle guy. All he does is make pickles for local farmers markets and stuff. And so, like, there's a whole different kind of mess of different people in different companies, which is very exciting. That's amazing. Part of cool. So what what does your average day look like? You know, like when you come in as somebody in your position, like what, general? Like, you know, work day, what are you coming in and doing? So the way that food allergy by, you know, our solutions is set up again, we are a supplier of a huge portfolio of ingredients. We have strategic partnerships with some big suppliers like a Cargill and some smaller ones, like a Nova Zim or a jelly maker, basically, we would sell ingredients on behalf of them, whether it's specialty ingredients, whether it's those smaller companies that don't have a full R&D team. So some of my job is to figure out how to use these ingredients in applications, whether it's an enzyme, whether it's a flavor, cocoa powder, a sigil lens, whatever it might be, and kind of showcase how to use it. The other half of the job is working directly with customers to figure out solutions to issues they may be having. So is the sauce splitting? Is the flavor dying off in shelf life? Is the texture not getting to where you need it for manufacturing? So we will work directly with customers utilizing our portfolio of ingredients to find those solutions. And then hopefully they they buy those ingredients from us and we continue that partnership by helping them with any R&D activity that they may have. And that and every occasionally we get to do some fun stuff like make the corporate videos to showcase national cook chocolate chip cookie day, or do the, you know, trade shows circuits. We were just at IFC first here in Chicago, running the booth for about three days, making samples, feeding people, making sure everybody is happy and interested. I know that's where we met, so those are pretty hectic, busy days, but those are kind of the all encompassing things that we do and we are very self sustaining. So I am still to this day sweeping the floor, mopping, doing dishes, those kinds of things as well. So it is a lot of fun every once in a while to get in the dish pit and clean up and just that's what I got to do. So been loving it for the last year and a half. So that's like the ultimate pantry. Got access to all the all of the things, right? Mm hmm. Absolutely. The access to all of these different ingredients in all different categories. So really understanding who our customer is, what they are looking for, what the public is looking for. We try to be in-tune and up to date on food trends, what's happening, things around the world. So how to deal with our food supply system in a positive and fun manner. So yeah, it keeps us busy. There you go. You know, you talked about understanding what the end consumer wants. How do you get that information? Are you polling or are you just out there, you know, learning in the field or how do you get that that input? I think it's kind of all encompassing. So obviously at food allergy, buy, Unify Solutions, we have a whole marketing team. We have a, you know, industry experts, food scientists, category experts that are always kind of surveying the landscape, understanding what customers want, what issues this, you know, ingredient availability. Is there a trendy ingredient or is something that maybe the opposite maybe people no longer want that ingredient in their food item? Well, we have to be very reactive to those kinds of things. So we keep up to date their will utilize any kind of resources like mental chain store guide, Technomic, trade publications. You know, we want to do our research. That's part of the job, is understanding the landscape, understanding what customers and consumers might want. And then when we go to a trade show and walk around and see what other people are doing or understanding that egg prices were going up, up, up for quite a while. So how can we offset those costs in a, you know, in a manner to be net neutral in their formulations or whatever it might be? So there are a couple different things we can do to kind of gather that information. But we are very data and customer driven, so we may have all our own personal opinions on ingredients, on products, but it is not our job always to impose what we think. What does the customer wants? Do you want it cleaner label? We're here for that. Are you looking for a more affordable item? Will develop in that capacity. So it's we're kind of neutral territory here in those regards. That's got to be kind of hard to do. Like I think our you know, because everyone's like taste is such a personal thing, you know, So it's like, you know, how do you get outside of that? And, you know, just strictly provide what they're looking for. That's I'm sure that's like a learned skill in itself. It takes a little while, especially one of the hard things for, let's say, a regular restaurant chef to convert into an R&D chef is that mentality of nobody's come into Chef Mike's restaurant. It's not my name on the door. It's not my family's interpretation of this recipe. I need to understand your customer, their buying intention is are they purchasing it purely based on its flavor and how it looks? Or are there other reasons they might be buying it? Affordability, convenience, whatever that might be? I and again, I certainly have my own personal opinions on choosing what I feed my family. But again, I'm not here to dictate what anyone else should want. I'm here to provide those solutions based on what you're looking for. So again, data driven, what the customer wants, what dollars and what what people are buying, all of those things really factor into factor into our decision making as opposed to just what's just Mike says it should taste like or what it should be. So it is something that that takes a little getting used to and I think that comes through in your influencer work as well. Yeah, so I long ago and I think I am a very appropriate age. I'm almost 40 where I grew up getting AOL discs in the mail that says you've got 500 free minutes, use your dial up phone to log in. So I have always used the Internet. I do have that relationship where like I still think Internet isn't real. Real life is real. So I do understand that relationship. If random person on the Internet says mean things to me like I don't know this person, they don't know me, but also because of being in a band, being a brand ambassador for McDonald's, knowing that social influence has a value in this day and age. I've always tried to build an audience on whatever social media platforms are available as sort of not necessarily I'm going to be Internet famous, but there are synergies between, you know, why would a podcast want to talk to me while I have a social media presence? So does that mean everything I've done is actually working and this is engaging people to reach out to me? Yes, it's actually so there's business opportunities behind it. There's, you know, marketing opportunities. So really just something that I have enjoyed doing along with my actual real career, which again is the R&D chef kind of role for sure. So in the world of food trends right now, like what are you seeing that's really hot right now, whether it be a flavor or a style or, you know, what are people gravitating toward? So because of our business and what we do, you know, a lot of the cool hip happening trends usually start in fine dining or whatever it might be. We're a little farther along in the process of how trends appear. So we're still very much in plant based world, whether it's plant based protein, plant based dairy alternatives, how to provide those solutions to our customers. Still in a very clean label, customers wanting to know what's in their food items. But one of the things we're seeing now is that to be a little less apologetic about indulgence, some people need ice cream on a Friday after work. We should not be making people feel bad about wanting a little treat, a little indulgence every now and then. So there are ways to keep it indulgent while maybe making it a little better for you, whether it's protein fortified, slight reduction in caloric intake or sugar cleaning those labels a little bit. So I think we're seeing a lot of consumers are okay in buying what some may consider a high caloric food item. Like, listen, there's a lot of things going on on this earth right now, a lot of things everybody's dealing with, whether your parents single, your family, all of the other things that are involved with life. It's okay to relax, have a little treat. We're not going to get mad at you for it. You deserve it. So we're seeing a little more of those kinds of food items where, yes, there are healthy alternatives available but not afraid to buy a smaller container of ice cream and maybe crush the whole pint because that would make us feel great. And mental health is incredibly important to all of us. So that's so true. That's a trend I can get down on. Like, I'm so glad we're entering that phase of a society of like, okay, we're allowing ourselves indulgences now that's go all right, eat what you eating? What you want is a trend. Sign me and I don't have to eat ice cream in the closet anymore. That's awesome. Oh, that's very cool. So when you talk about, like, plant based stuff, still really hot. Like what? What kind of ingredients are you working with in that space? Is it, you know, a lot of soy? Or they're like, what are you guys doing over there? Sure. So when you work for a cool company like myself, you have all the options, whether it's soy pea fava, whether it's actual dairy protein ingredients. We just are now selling la primo proteins, which are all dairy based proteins. So like at IFC, we showed a protein shake powder that we developed here in this kitchen to showcase the ingredients that we have to offer. At the same time, we then showed very Chicago Midwestern, a bratwurst slider, a plant based bratwurst slider with some Chardonnay there, which is, again, a midwest kind of Chicago thing, little cream sauce on a little slider bun. So there is still interest not only in plant based world and plant based things, but again, maybe I just want a delicious chocolate milk that's a little bit better for me. And that's one of the things that we showed as a protein fortified, reduced sugar we use. Again, some of our ingredients are hydrocolloid systems to suspend cocoa powder and things in it. I want regular dairy. Okay. We have that option. I want plant based, we have that option as well. So trying to hit on all all of the things for everybody. And again, having access and a supply of all the ingredients, you could not all of them but a good portion of ingredients that you could think of lets us make cool prototypes, think outside the box as far as flavor profiles and things of that nature. So trying to do all the things should eat breakfast before this interview because I brought sliders, just have my stomach growling. Oh man, that's so tough. I'll get some. I'll put it in a box. It'll be there. Are there any trends? They call them trends for reason because they don't and a lot of them don't stick around for a very long time. So is there anything out there right now that you think is it's hot right now, but like has a chance to fizzle out a little bit in in not too distant future? I wouldn't say anything in particular food trend wise, but as far as Internet food in fluence things, we are seeing, you know, kind of an uptick in food experts on the Internet as well as real food experts calling out the Internet. Food experts. Oh, no, I think there's yeah, there is. We're at a period now where, you know, Internet influence is a thing. You know, that is not a trend. That's something that's here to stay. We see a lot of people who make food content in different styles, whether that be a Internet video of a food item that anyone watching it would kind of be disgusted, like, why would you make it like that? Yeah, you know, in shock and awe on purpose, you can specifically make the content that way to get impressions and views and all that. But what is interesting to me is we are seeing more actual experts who will cite data, who will review claims and things of that nature and talk in a real respectable manner about data that you know, is supporting or not supporting other people's claims. So we're seeing that consumers are still now more than ever, very interested in what is in their food so they can at least make an educated choice about what they want to feed themselves or their family, which I fully support learning more about a thing. So if that is a growing trend that also is here to stay, you could sign me up for that as well. And yeah, let me tell you what food algorithm I'm caught in right now, and it's the one we're like, they're like, they're just like, like home cooks. They're just dumping everything into like, a, like, looks like a cake pan. It just looks like they're just throwing like, a whole pound of, like, shredded cheese and then like, a whole can of this. And it just, like, somehow comes out of the oven looking amazing, but probably, you know, not great for caloric content. But I like it. That's what that's what I see in a lot of those videos lately. I don't know if it's a wider trend or it's just they found out that that's what I watch a lot of mean. And there certainly is a difference from the content which is developed to teach you how to make an affordable food item to feed your family, like let's feed a family of four for $5. To me, that's very insightful. That's a great thing to learn. I think what you're referencing is like, first thing we're going to do is boil chicken breast in plain water. Then we're going to punch it in the face and shred it with our bare hands and add what? Yeah, or stunt food content, which is entertaining. I also grew up in epic meal time era where we're going to make a lasagna with 80 fast food burgers and £50 of bacon. Like, okay, that's fun and entertaining, but also having different kinds of content where you can actually learn things, learn recipes, get facts on food. I think we're seeing a lot of all the things. So but that algorithm hits you so we know what you like. That says a lot about you now. I know, but I'm going to you know, I just know that now that you know, now that I've been down the rabbit hole on your content, like I'm going to start seeing a lot more stuff like yours, which is that, you know, educational thing that you know, Plus you're also trying new things. Like I watched one video where you and your chef Mike does stuff or is it does things. I'm sorry, what was it, chef? Make that stuff. That stuff. Like, okay, but yeah, like you just tried out like, hey, I heard you can airfryer steaks, so I'm going to try to air fry steak, you know, like that. Just like that whole I like, I like your stuff because you're. You're not afraid to experiment, like, live on camera and then be honest about the results, you know? Yeah. So I know that I had the full time gig. Haven't done a whole lot of YouTube, but my shtick was very much, I'm going to make one thing live. Yes, it's slightly edited to cut down the time, but there's one of the early episodes where I did ribs. All right, time to eat it. And I tried to take a bite of it and it was like a doorstop. I could not even so I talk was, I guess what? This did not turn out. Let's talk about things that maybe I needed to cook it longer. Maybe I could have changed the micronation, you know, maybe I could have done a 3 to 1 method or whatever it might be. And because especially during the pandemic, food costs money. So making I if I mess up, I don't want to spend more money to buy another thing, you're going to see me burn the thing on camera. I'm going to show you it. So that way we could kind of learn together. And the other approach too, was looking at cooking show landscape. Usually these are already at a level that you need to have some know how you know, whether it's a Food Network show, whether it's whatever it might be. You kind of want to be comfortable in the kitchen where the kind of content I was making would be for. Do you not know how to cook like my wife? Do you are you intimidated as scared? Do you have you never even made mashed potatoes before? Well, let's walk through that to understand how you could get in the kitchen and make a mess and maybe learn a thing and have some fun. And then once you get to a level of cooking ability, there's millions of other people on the Internet making that kind of content already. So I tried to keep it very basic introductory, easy to do, easy to explain. And that was kind of the the gist of what I was doing there were approachable and I think for people like me who dabbles, you know what, I'm just trying to learn like it helps me to not get discouraged when I mess something up, you know, to see the open and honest transparency of like, do this professional chef tried something and it didn't work out exactly how you want it. That's okay. You know, what did you learn from it? Try something different next time. And, you know, that's that's encouraging to the people who are just getting started and maybe get down on themselves when it doesn't come out as perfect as the YouTube video. So, you know, so that's really nice. But that brings me to the to the next question I have sort of is about that open transparency and not just in the content you create, but in in the flavors you create in your job, like having that transparency and how it all comes together. How important is that and how do you make sure that those elements are are present and what you do, again, talking about that trend of people wanting to know what's in their food and transparency of what we do, how we do it, the data supporting decisions that we make. If the Internet and public decides they don't want an ingredient in their food item, yes, I can somewhat educate and understand where the data is coming from, why it's interpreted in that manner. But my role, and because you are food allergy by Universe Solutions has a huge portfolio of ingredients. When that thing gets vilified or negative press, we have the alternatives to use. In that capacity. We probably sell that ingredient as well as the alternatives to it. So if I get on my soapbox and tell people they're wrong first, they're not going to listen to me. They've made up their mind. Random Internet person they don't know is not going to change their mind. A lot of times it's a manufacturer or a customer saying our sales are dropping because of this. What can you do? So then I could provide those solutions and I don't go on the offense. I'm trying to convince people of a thing. If somebody asked me questions about what I do, what I feed my family and my opinion, that opens the door for me to explain how a lot of these things work. I just don't have the time and bandwidth to be finding everyone else's stuff. You know what? You're wrong. That is not a good way to influence anybody, which is, again, another strategy of why I'm kind of neutral in a lot of these conversations, because when anyone from any side comes to me, I'm going to talk fat, I'm going to talk fact based, I'm going to talk with data, I'm going to explain that there are certain things that I'm not going to convince. If you've made up your mind, this is this might not be the thing for you. You might want to find a different ingredient, and that's okay. So when there is time that influence, I would be a credible source to anyone looking for information as opposed to one side or the other type influence folk which are certainly out there. I know. I think we were name dropping on our last time we talked about this Internet personality is awesome because now they're talking about about this Internet personality and I do like all of that content and watch it, but I stay pretty neutral, try to avoid it. Exactly. So let's take a moment, Chef. Mike, can you give some of your handles for some of our listeners to find you? And then second of all, I'd love for you to give any shout outs to other creators that you think are, you know, bringing truth forward about food. If you just search my last name and it goes out because unfortunately, every time a new social media platform comes out, it's Mike Harris or Mike Dot Harris or Mike underscore Harris. So if you just spell my name, which again is just like it sounds H, A, r, a, C, z, Harris You'll see a picture of my goofy bald head as the as the thing there. I've been doing a lot of tik tok lately, but I'm on all of the social media as you could think of for the most part, Instagram, Facebook, the ones we don't know what to call them anymore. The new hip and trendy ones that you need to code to get into. I'm on all of those as well. And don't sleep on LinkedIn, which is another great professional social media platform. That's where you could find me as far as Internet people that I enjoy a guilty pleasure of mine is this gentleman named Chef Reactions Little Bell, which you got to watch out for. It is a little more adult humor, but this is the person that when they see the stunt food where look at this recipe is not real. You should not be making this. He's very comedically vocal and inappropriate about what he is watching so that would be one. And I believe they're coming to Chicago soon. So I got a message from them. If I could take them to some local restaurants and eat all that. I also like there's a content creator called Andy Lutnick, who's a little smaller. He just came out with a gamer related cookbook. He authored his first cookbook. I'm a big old nerd as well. I play all the video games and Dungeons and Dragons and all the things. So he's a good one. And then Chef Josh from Mythical Mornings are Rhett and Link. He's a goofball as well. He has so many muscles and is also a very nice, great chef that those are some of the content that I that I like. Oh well, shout out to those friends in the industry will help them out for some of their content. Maybe we'll have another guest coming down the pike. Oh yeah. We'll keep up the. Sure. I have a question about, you know, when you create new flavors or whatever, whatever new innovation that you've come up with, say, one isn't successful. What leads to that? Like, why does something get out there? Is it like you maybe got bad intel or the trend just changed too fast and you're behind it a little bit? What do you what do you think leads to some of the things that don't stick around? It's like, I think there's a variety of things. So some trends can be one and done where people just want to try it once and then they go back to their regularly scheduled food item. So a lot of altos in restaurants, you know, pumpkin spice stuff is a great example. There is a good majority of pumpkin spice, anything sales that is a average consumer buying it once or twice in the season and that's it. That makes up a good bulk of the sales. So capitalizing on LTOs things of that nature, those come and go because sales eventually drop as people go back to their originally scheduled item. Costs fluctuation may be introductory. It was super cheap because there was a lot available and now unfortunately it is so hard to find the real deal saurashtra on the store shelves because of X, y, z reasons. Now people are looking for alternatives to that because they can't find it on their store shelves. Now you're learning about different kinds of hot. Maybe instead of saroja you buy Sambal or Gochujang or all of these and now you're learning more about other things that are available. Yeah. Yeah. It could be as simple as, you know, maybe the flavor profile or whatever was hip and trendy a while ago. Now there's the new thing in place of it. There's a variety of reasons why things may come and go. I wouldn't say it's ever because it was a misstep. There's probably other things purchase, intent, ingredient, availability. I think now more than ever, two people are very concerned about the company that makes the food item. What do they stand for? Are they making sure that they are practicing safe and sustainability in their growing of their products or ingredients or whatever it might be? So there's a variety, all the things you could think of, of why you like a person or a brand are the same things you can overlay on why that flavor or whatever it might be comes and goes is popular or falls off the shelf. That's an interesting correlation since you brought up Saroja like is this was like a big trend for a while. Like people are trying to find ways to add heat to everything. Is that still something you're seeing? Oh, absolutely. We got when you think of shows like Hot Ones where we're going to film celebrities eating the spiciest things and, you know, see if they can actually answer questions. In QSR specifically when things are menu as spicy now more than ever, it needs to actually hit on that. You know, when I was first in R&D world and 2006, you come out with something spicy, a national launched item, it was mild, it was medium to mild, not really. Now back to being, you know, unapologetic about the thing you're making, just like an indulgent ice cream. You want you want spicy. Well, we're going to make you spicy and melt your face like it's it's on the package. There's 17 chili peppers, triple X fire explosion on it. It's going to be spicy. So I think now again, spices obviously here to stay. But people are more accepting of heat levels because that's what they're looking for as world. And, you know, U.S. population grows. Now, every little subsegment subsegment has a bigger amount of people who like the thing. So maybe early on there weren't enough spicy lovers out there to support a real spicy launch. Now with more population the trend people liking spicy more there are now a lot a bigger group of consumers that would be into the thing. So now more than ever you can make the cool interesting flavor that again will take your paint off your walls. It's that spicy when you open the jar. Like, that's cool. That's what it is. We told you what it is. That's what you want. We're going to deliver it to you. Yeah. A culture probably has a lot to do with that as we continue to be more global and, you know, accepting of these new flavors from these different groups that we've been introduced to, you know, kimchi, I feel like is having a real moment. Yeah, but like you said, Mike, the Serratia situation and and finding alternatives. Right like there are there's a spice and a blend or, you know, a sauce for every culture, I'm sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Every, I mean, hot sauces in the US, whether it's Aleppo chili flake there's different varietals of chilies that all have different flavor profiles, heat levels, different kinds of even like subregional sauces. We're more familiar with the U.S., but every country has these cultural differences where the recipe is a little different. Italian cuisine from the northwest, Italian cuisine from the South, drastically different, drastically different ingredients available, you know, that are available, different set of consumers, different wants and needs. So there's all these things to explore and all these different options that I think the U.S. is hopefully doing a better job trying all of the things to learn and explore. We're here for it. Absolutely. I know there's probably a certain amount of proprietary secrecy to what you're doing in the lab over there. But is there anything you can share with us that you're working on right now that has you particularly excited or it's gone? So I think we were talking we recently got LA Primo Proteins into our portfolio. So and again, those are all dairy based proteins, A pretty exciting item that we developed and was at IFC was it's a pre acidified whey protein that dissolves in water and very clear. So we developed a Powerade Gatorade type beverage that had almost just as much protein as your traditional protein shake. No kidding. They'll be 20 grams of protein per serving, but it is more of a juice watery beverage type item as opposed to a protein shake. So that was pretty cool to be able to work on and be able to help develop utilizing this new ingredient that we just added to our portfolio. There's quite a few folks that didn't know this ingredient existed, and it's understanding we have I can't name names, but the two like big beverage brands came by our booth and was like, This is incredible. We'd love to learn more about it. So, you know, we ourselves at food allergy are actually influencing the next generation of products out in the marketplace. So knowing that I'm in that role, in that position where that's quite a bit of influence, you know, when I was a corporate chef for McDonald's biggest restaurant chain the world, when I would launch something, you know, commodity prices for those ingredients would change because of the purchasing power and how much it would sell. Now, with food allergy by Universal Solutions, we could be the first to show off this new ingredient. And if the right people see it or hear about it, it can add new products to the marketplace, which then competition would want to knock off. Because we know in the food business when someone when someone's successful chicken sandwich is just going gangbusters, everyone else is going to come up with their chicken sandwich too. So being able to see how that whole circle of life happens in this kind of role, that's really what's exciting for me. So it's not necessarily an individual item or product, but when we launch a new thing that gets a buzz and we see the reaction from the industry, that to me is very cool and a lot of fun to be a part of and more products to come. I know that protein beverage man that has me excited. I like I like to hear that cool stuff like that's coming down the pike. Yeah. So many functional beverages, as you were saying, Mike. The additional protein fiber was another one. Prebiotics Probiotics. Probiotics were others that we saw it. I left. So yeah, you guys are leading. And certainly part of that conversation happening right now in this moment, we help support our nutraceutical business as well. So some of those ingredients that are more for nutritional function, whether it's you know, your fibers, we sell a fruit fibers that can be used in a variety of different applications. Citra Fiber is one of the ingredients that we have that we don't know all of the applications it could be used in. We still are playing around with it to learn like a this can help reduce eggs by 30% or this can be a cleaner label emulsifier and you get a fiber increased fiber call out in your products. So there are some cool ingredients that we're using that are like, we don't know all the things that could be used for yet, which again is very exciting to be a part of at in our R&D centers. So that kind of stuff is pretty fun for sure. Speaking of label call outs, we've talked a lot about labeling on the podcast so far. How do you feel about labels and how they're represented out in the marketplace? There are so many phrases, symbols, stamps. We joked around that, you know, some of these labels are going to start to look like NASCAR cars or, you know, the drivers themselves with all of these icons. I very much hope that consumers in their journeys to understand what they're eating, what ingredients are in their food, what ingredients they don't want. Also, learn a little more about general marketing. Marketing spin on a lot of products, food items, claims, things of that nature. There are strategies of why you would want to make these claims. There's data supporting that. If you call healthy ingredients out on average, 20% of consumers are less likely to buy it. So if you're making the claim you are doing that for a specific group of consumers, I just hope that more consumers become a little more savvy in understanding what might be a little bit of marketing flourish, what's true, what's supported by data, and what's something a tag on a food item that somebody just pays money and now they have a cool tag, a symbol that means something to somebody, even though there's not GMO water. Yes. Even now. Yes. Even though yes, my juice is, you know, vegan. I have a vegan orange juice. Exactly. 100% vegan. Yes. Oranges are plants. There should not be any animal product in it. Yes. I like cholesterol free on carrots or whatever. Yeah. We had we had that with gluten free for a while. Were litigators putting gluten free on things that obviously wouldn't contain gluten? Yeah, right, Right. Absolutely. So, okay, you're adding that as a marketing thing. We understand that this ingredient is gluten free already. You're just trying to fill up space on your package. Yeah, that's fine. And that works for some people. Again, there are still those consumers who are not as knowledgeable. We assume everybody knows everything that they're eating and that is not the case. So maybe for some that could add some value and entice somebody to buy the product because they're not aware that that's that's a thing. Well, Chef Mike, we've already taken up a lot of your time. We really appreciate you talking to us about, you know, food innovation and what it takes and what you put into coming up with some of the stuff. Before we let you go, is there anything else you want to talk about, like things you're doing at Universal or on your own social stuff? Anything else you want to plug or get out there? Sure. Oh, I got I could plug all the things first because I'm assuming that your audience is very, let's say, food manufacturing, food ingredient world. Anyone out there looking for a variety of ingredients, please reach out to food allergy by Universal Solutions and give me a reason to come visit so I can cook for you and I can take you to lunch. We can have a wonderful time. But any issues with your products from plant based to beverage to bakery to brewing and distillery, to our distillation, to whatever you could think of, you know, we a variety of ingredients that can help support your business. And we have teams across the globe to support that. My personal stuff, feel free to bother me on the Internet, on any social media platform at any time. I do have a and this is SAG-AFTRA approved, so we have approval to promote it. I am hosting a Dungeons and Dragons cooking show that will be coming out, I believe, in September on a bunch of streaming channels, whether it's like Roku, Pluto Tube, I think they're still finalizing where it's going to air. But the show is called Heroes Feast, and it is based off the Dungeons and Dragons cookbook of the same name where me and a co-host Sujata Day, have celebrity guests and whatnot, 20 episodes that will air, like I said, in the middle of September. So hopefully everyone should have that. Sure. Yeah, we had to check that out. I guess the one guest, one is Matthew Lillard, who from Scream was Shaggy, Scooby Doo was a big Dungeons and Dragons nerd and it is fun to watch because again, it was a full SAG production, but it was made after the writers strike so we could not use a prompter. Nobody could feed us lines. And so I'm looking in a cookbook with recipes I've never made. Let's, let's cook the recipe together. And Matthew Lillard, a ball of energy for a first cooking show I've ever hosted. It was like, How do we hold this all together and make a cool show out of it? So it's like it is quite entertaining and by that time I love Matthew Lillard. I'm looking forward to that really cool, awesome show. Is there any other questions you have for Chef Mike before we let him get back to his dishes? I do have one more because Chef Mike and I were talking earlier, you told us about being in a no name metal band. Can you give us the rundown of how what you learned in being in a no name metal band has driven some of your principles or, you know, like the way you approach your social media presence? Absolutely. So any brand, any individual who wants social influence, it's all about how do you get somebody to into what you're doing. So what I learned of being in a unsuccessful original metal band, well, two of them mainly, but are the things that I have kind of taken with me for my professional career as well. How do you get somebody to spend$5 to come see your band play when they've never heard about you before it being a part of the community? Are you reaching out to fellow community members going to see their show, engaging in their content, trying their food items? Are you the kind of band member that when an audience comes to see you, you're so cool that you got to stay in the back room and you're a rock star, so then you appear later, or do you stay out in the front? And thank everybody for coming to see your show who spent money to see you going to other people's shows. Do you assume people are just going to come find you if you make content? Because if you are just blatantly putting content or performing a show at a place and you don't tell anybody, nobody is going to find you. You need to protect tively, promote a thing, engage in your audience, be part of the community, so engage with other people who are part of the industry, just like you know, ingredient suppliers. And when an ingredient may be having some bad press, I'm assuming a lot of the suppliers who sell those items may get together to discuss what's our plan, How do we deal with this? You know what what that might look like. So I do tell people a lot of what I learned being in a metal band. I've taken with me for even my big old corporate career job and kind of laid that over of how do you be a good part of the community, want people to engage with you, want people to partner with you. You can be a band that writes inappropriate lyrics, very opinionated, whatever You're only going to get a certain audience if you are broad in general and try to make something that's a little more user friendly. Your audience might be bigger, not right or wrong. It's you as the individual to choose how you want to be. So there are still certain brands out there that are very edgy and whatnot. And, you know, that's the kind of people that use them or try them or follow them. But then there are some of us that are just the Mister Rogers approach of everybody is valid. Be your unique self. Here is information. Come join in. We want you to be our neighbor. That kind of mentality. So that that's kind of the one I stick to. But yeah, being in a metal band taught me quite a bit about, even in a corporate structure, how to just be visible, how to gain an audience and how to gain influence. I love it. I thought that was a great analogy and, you know, lessons that I know that our audience will continue to chew on and think through and figure out how they're going to apply it in their day to day or, you know, maybe they're an influencer themselves. So think about who they're reaching and how they're going to go about doing it. So thank you for that. Of course. My pleasure. Yeah. Such a unique perspective and everything you shared with us today is so insightful. So thank you so much for joining us. I hope we get to talk again. Yeah, because I get the feeling you have a lot more knowledge to share with us. We look forward to that. It's awesome. Yeah, let me know. I'm more than happy to jump on any time again, any questions, anything I could help with. You just find me on the internet and I will find you back. Thank you so much, Chef. Mike. Of course. My pleasure. All right, friends, thanks for joining us for our latest State of the Plant podcast. Be sure to follow. Subscribe like send us your wishes if you've got a great guest you'd like us to interview or topics you'd like us to cover, be sure to reach out and of course, follow our Connect social media platforms to see when some of those next episodes drop. So you're in the loop and can challenge that content. Yeah. And if this is your first time finding us because of this special podcast, make sure to go back and listen to past episodes. There's some really great food system, food biz, food, everything. Content. Yeah, all the things that Michelle said come back and see us. Until then, stay hungry.