#95 - Expo West Preview, Federal Funding Chaos, & I ❤️ REGEN

Episode Recap:

ReGen Brands Recap #95 - Expo West Preview, Federal Funding Chaos, & I ❤️ REGEN - (RECAP LINK)

Episode Transcript:

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated with AI and is not 100% accurate.

Kyle Krull - 00:00:13
Welcome to the ReGen Brands Podcast. This is a place for brands, retailers, investors, and other food system stakeholders to learn about the consumer brands supporting regenerative agriculture and how they're changing the world. This is your host, Kyle, joined by my cohost, AC, who's gonna take us into the

Anthony Corsaro - 00:00:33
episode. In this episode, Kyle and I are flying solo to cover the latest and greatest from the world of regenerative CPG. We kick things off with Kyle sharing some insights from recent conversations he's had with retailers, and we unpack recent changes Whole Foods has made to their regenerative standards. We break down all the things Expo West, including regenerative brands exhibiting, sessions we're looking forward to, NEXTY finalists, where you can find Regen on the agenda, and how ReGen Brands is showing up at the event. Secret sneak peek, we're launching our first awareness campaign for the ReGen Brands Coalition member brands and products. So be sure to check that out and listen to the full episode for more details. We touch on the early effects of the new federal administration change, specifically the current federal funding freeze that is bringing chaos to the food and ag community at large, especially for those with contracts created via Biden Harris programs and legislation like climate smart commodities, the Inflation Reduction Act, and organic market development grants. We close things out with some fun and good news for the regenerative movement, which you'll find at the very end of the episode. Thanks for listening.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:01:32
Hope you enjoy it, and let's dive in. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the regen brand's Podcast. I cannot even get through our normal intro because Kyle's already laughing at me, which is not surprising. That was a

Kyle Krull - 00:01:56
longer, like, pause than usual. Like, ACU he presses record, and then he, like, takes a breath. And then he does the what's up with everybody. And it's like, in my mind, there's a specific cadence. And today's pause was, like, twice as long as usual. So I was, like, really on the edge of my seat here waiting for

Anthony Corsaro - 00:02:12
As our listeners can probably already tell, we do not have a guest today. It's just Kyle and I. And this, this episode's gonna be on the fly in air quotes, I would say. This is, one of the busiest times of the year for all CPG people as we're gearing up for Expo West, which kicks off in less than fourteen days here. Both Kyle and myself have a lot going on individually and also collectively in the regen brand's universe and ecosystem. So there's a lot to talk about, but, we're we're throwing this one together, at the best of our ability on the fly for sure.

Kyle Krull - 00:02:47
No doubt, man. And I'm already getting a second turn. We didn't really prep for this. We planned for it, but I spent the last two weeks, you know, two weeks ago, I was in San Antonio for HEB. This week, I was in Austin for Whole Foods. And a positive note from both is these retailers really care about region.

Kyle Krull - 00:03:05
don't think I've even told you this yet, but, you know, our HEB buyer we we weren't presenting regen to HEB because we didn't think they would be super interested. But it's on a, like, master SKU assortment, you know, slide. And he said, hey. Tell me a little bit more about these region SKUs. And he's considering bringing them in for, like, some of their premium doors. So

Anthony Corsaro - 00:03:22
Hell yeah.

Kyle Krull - 00:03:23
Not even pushing for it. There's there's interest. And from a a retailer like H E B, I think that's really promising. It's a really great sign. So that's exciting to share. And Whole Foods, as we all know, has been one of the champions of Regen for a long time, and their commitment continues. And there's some change ups there I think we might talk about later in the episode, but, it's just encouraging to, like, get get out there, talk to some of these buyers and these these people who have the ability to make change, and they're focused on this movement.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:03:50
Mhmm. Yeah, brother. It's really cool for us that you have that kinda seat at the table through your role at Kettle and Fire so that we can kinda have those very specific, micro examples to inform the macro perspective that we try and bring. So I love to hear that, man. That's awesome.

Kyle Krull - 00:04:06
Yeah. That's great.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:04:09
Let's talk about Whole Foods now. Why why why wait? What else what else do you have to share, about what's going on there?

Kyle Krull - 00:04:15
Yeah. So Kettle and Fire, we've got two different, quote, regen SKUs that we launched in 2021. And when we got these SKUs on shelf at Whole Foods, we had to go through their Whole Foods regenerative assessment program, which basically was like in lieu of certification, if you wanted to make a front of claim sorry, the front of label claim for regenerative agriculture on pack, you had to go through this assessment to ensure that you're not greenwashing. Like, these are legitimate, and it's thorough. I won't say her name out loud, but the gal who runs that program is fantastic. She's got a ton of experience, and she put us through the wringer as she should. And we came out on top. You know, we these are legitimately regenerative bone broths, but Whole Foods has decided to change that policy.

Kyle Krull - 00:04:50
They are now requiring a third party certification if you want to make a front of label claim at Whole Foods. Originally, you had to have either ROC, Regenified, or land to market verification or go through their assessment program, and you could have that front of label claim. Now they're saying you cannot have just the Whole Foods assessment, but they've added a greener world, to their list of recognized certifications, and they're still having conversations with other certifier and verification agencies out there. So long story short, they're really trying to hold a high bar and have some integrity around regenerative, which is fantastic. It does present some unique challenges for brands who are in the position that Kettle and Fire is in, but we're taking it to heart and we're saying, okay. Hey.

Kyle Krull - 00:05:36
Like, let's see how the supply chains have sorry, how these supply chains have changed in the last few years, and if there's enough certified supply out there to to fulfill our needs on these SKUs. So Mhmm. It's a transition time for sure.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:05:59
Yeah. Super interesting. And, you break that down really well. Just one one point of clarity for listeners, that's just for front of pack claims. Right? So you'll see Correct. A lot of brands still talk about regenerative on the side panel or the back, and you can still go through the Whole Foods market assessment for those claims. They're just now requiring certification from one of those four organizations that Kyle just mentioned for just front of pack claims. And, you know, we still think having the the assessment pathway for for a on pack claim that is in front of back is essential and correct and good. So we definitely support what they're doing there. And, you know, they've been really clear that they're gonna continue to evaluate and kind of, you know, mold those standards to whatever they think is best in class for the current kind of given time, which I think they continue to do that. And, you know, they've done it in a transparent and public and kind of leading way more so than any other retailer that we know of, I guess, at this point.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:06:47
So just appreciate their leadership there.

Kyle Krull - 00:06:59
No doubt. Yeah. You know, one of the challenges, and this is very specific to Kettle and Fire, is, like, there is regenerative supply out there, but they're different certifications. Right. We have yet to find a single, like, all of our regenerative beef phones is that there's enough supply that has the one cert that we need for us. Right now, we could piece together, like, maybe rock, savory, and, you know, sorry, regenerified and EOV. Mhmm. But you can't have three different certs, you know. So it's still very complex, and I still really appreciate what Hold for just trying to do, but it definitely creates some, what's the right word?

Kyle Krull - 00:07:23
I don't wanna say friction, but some some challenges for the brands who are in this position. Mhmm.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:07:37
Yeah. I mean and challenges for regenerative at large that are being highlighted by that are just this identity preservation issue that we're seeing across building a lot of these supply chains and products, and how that plays into, you know, certification and also, like, product formulation slash manufacturing. Right? So it's a challenge.

Kyle Krull - 00:07:57
Totally. Also, I don't wanna reveal too much, but I just wanna commend Whole Foods again that, like, they're not saying you have to have this done in thirty days. They're giving us some timeline, some legitimate timeline that makes sense and holds us accountable, and all of the brands in this position. So I appreciate the level of, intentionality and force that that went into this transition from from their team. So that's that's really nice.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:08:17
Oh, yeah. Well, thanks for sharing that, brother. I appreciate that. I think that's good good learning for everybody. Should we talk about expo?

Kyle Krull - 00:08:25
A lot to talk about about expo. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. AC's put together a really robust outline for us to to discuss. So, you know, kick us off, man. What's what's most important to you coming into expo twenty twenty five?

Anthony Corsaro - 00:08:37
Yeah. I'll do a really basic, like, intro for those that aren't as in the industry as we are. Expo, natural products, Expo West is the full name. It's the biggest trade show in natural and organic food, every year. It's a huge event. It's at the Anaheim Convention Center every March. So it's, you know, it's the Super Bowl for CPG or at least the type of CPG that we work in. So anyone who's anyone is gonna be there, brands, retailers, press, influencers. And it's a it's a trade, you know, in trade focus event, but it is a very, like, also important kind kind of influential consumer event.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:09:10
There aren't just a lot of general consumers there as well. So like I said earlier, it's a big it's a big deal. It's a lot of work for us and all the brands that we support, and all the brands that are doing, you know, supporting regenerative in some capacity or selling regenerative products. So there's a big trade show where the brands exhibit. There's all these sessions. There's events. There's what else am I missing? Anything else?

Kyle Krull - 00:09:43
I mean, I think you hit the nail on the head. Just in terms of size, it's 86,000 people, I think, were there last year. Some of these halls when they open are quite literally body to body. It is insane. I honestly don't know how it's not a fire hazard, how they allow this amount of people inside of these buildings. So, yeah, for anybody who hasn't gone, it's absolute insanity.

Kyle Krull - 00:10:04
think the hardest thing everybody goes through their first expo is like try not to eat everything because you'll just wreck your stomach. There's so much stuff. Yeah. But it's it's my favorite part about expo is getting to connect with the people that we spend so much time maybe talking to virtually and just seeing people in person and putting, you know, faces to names, shaking hands, giving hugs. It's, %. That's the best part for sure.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:10:26
What do you think about the condensed format? So they've made a change where we used to have climate days kind of like a totally separate thing on Monday, and then the show ran from, what, Tuesday to Saturday. And now there is no Saturday. The show just runs from Tuesday to Friday, and Climate day and fresh ideas are really the same day on Tuesday. I don't love that. I don't care about losing Saturday because I don't think I ever really did anything on Saturday. But I think Tuesday is gonna be Tuesday is gonna be a thick day for our team, especially.

Kyle Krull - 00:10:55
Yeah. Yeah. I think theoretically, I like the shorter format. Part of what concerns me is, like, I mentioned the 86,000 people. And if we're gonna jam that many more people into less days, like, does that mean it's gonna feel more crowded? Because if so, that is not gonna be as much fun, candidly. So, we'll see how like, what the byproduct is there. But theoretically, I think you're right. Saturday is like, man, you gotta work Saturday at expo. It's, like, such a drag. So I I like the condensed format.

Kyle Krull - 00:11:17
And, yeah, we'll we'll we'll see how it goes.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:11:27
I'm kinda interested to see what the vibe's like on Friday night because now no one has to work Saturday and how many people are gonna try and, like, get out late Friday or just eat that extra hotel night and and get lit up Friday night or, like, you know, stay up for late or do something socially. I don't have anything planned yet, but, hopefully, there'll be people hanging around doing something. So I'm kinda interested to see how that goes.

Kyle Krull - 00:11:48
Yeah. And these natural folks, people, they they party hard. They they go hard. And, actually, I just, I just found out about a I won't say the brand, but there's a brand who's putting on an after party, I think, on Wednesday, and Third Eye Blind is gonna be playing. Wow. Which I know. Right? Like, harking back to my childhood, nineties alternative days, but, pretty pretty stoked.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:12:09
Are you going? Are you going?

Kyle Krull - 00:12:10
I'm gonna go. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've seen third eye blind, I think, four or five times already, but they put on such a great show. Love that. I'll be there. Love that.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:12:18
Huge third eye blind guy right here.

Kyle Krull - 00:12:20
Huge third eye blind guy. Yeah.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:12:23
That's hilarious. Well, let's start with Tuesday. Let's just kinda take folks through the days and and talk about what we're looking at. I mean, this conversation and some subsequent, like, blog posts and other information we're gonna put out is basically just if you care about return of CBG and you wanna know what's going on at expo and what you should be looking out for, what we're looking out for, what we're attending, we wanna just give you some color to that, you know, via this information. So, like I said, Fresh Ideas and Climateare the same day on Tuesday. That's a lot. I'm moderating a panel at Climate Day. The ReGen Brands Coalition, our trade association is is exhibiting and has a booth at Climate Day during lunch and the resource fair. And then how many regenerative brands do we have exhibiting at Fresh Ideas? Let me pull that list up.

Kyle Krull - 00:13:15
While you're pulling that up, I think there's 59 total brands supporting Regen at the show, excuse me, at the show Correct. In total. But, yeah, don't know about Fresh Ideas. I'm really just stalling for time here while you pull that up.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:13:27
Yeah. So we have we we are tracking 59 brands supporting Regen Ag exhibiting at the show as Kyle just said, and I believe we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Nine brands of those 59 are presenting it in the fresh ideas tent. Six of those nine are Coalition members, so love that. So we'll definitely be over in that tent checking out what they got going on. I know we have one brand that has totally rebranded. I will let people see which one that is when they show up in the tent and not spoil that for them. But should be fun. It's a fun group.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:13:52
And, you know, I think Fresh Ideas has been really cool the last few years to see especially all the rock brands kind of in there together. There's been a lot of good rock density. So it's efficient for us when we wanna see that that crew. But I also kinda love how maybe if I'm a retailer, I'm getting a lot of those brands kinda together in one little pocket. So excited for that.

Kyle Krull - 00:14:21
Totally agree. And there's, like, there's power in numbers. Right? So as a retailer, when you're walking through fresh ideas and you see, I don't know, maybe twenty, thirty ish percent being rock or supporting Regen in some other capacity, it's like, wow. This is really a thing. This is actually happening. There's a lot of momentum here. So totally agree, and I love that there's the Fresh Ideas option, lower cost to entry, great way for people to get in, and kind of exhibit and experience XBook for the first time without breaking the bank. So love love that concept.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:14:47
Mhmm. For sure. Fresh ideas is going on. We'll obviously be through there on on Tuesday. We wish all those brands good luck and a lot of success in there. Let's talk climate day. I mean, interested to get your perspective in how you would describe it, you know, as a as a someone that's been with a brand and maybe didn't used to go and now goes every year. Like, what what do you think about climate day just overall?

Kyle Krull - 00:15:08
Yeah. You know, when I first started going to expo, I think it was 02/2012, and I did not wanna spend any time in a seminar room. I didn't wanna hear people who are, like, the industry leaders trying to talk to me and teach me something. I was ignorant and naive and young. And I started going to these for the first time really when I started doing this regenerative work with you. And I I got way more out of these talks, conversations, panels than I ever thought I could, and it's really fun, engaging, interesting to be in the room where you hear these leaders not just talking about their opinions, but conversing with others who might have a different opinion. And it's almost like I don't wanna say problem solving out loud because a lot of it's theoretical, and I don't wanna say you never see any action take place, but it's they're interesting conversations is what I'll say. And I love that there's opportunity for the audience to ask questions, and there's some real, like, back and forth.

Kyle Krull - 00:15:51
AC is laughing because I I may or may not ask challenging questions from

Anthony Corsaro - 00:16:01
time to time. We both Kyle and I's, Climate Day evolution is when we first started doing this work together, we basically went to a couple of Climate days in a row and asked, like, very hard gotcha questions to a couple of the panelists in some of the sessions. And not to be assholes, but, like, they were legit topics that this is the entire reason why we created this platform and we've created a trade association. We've done all these things. It's just because we have constituents and we have an agenda that we don't feel like has the proper representation in the industry. So it's just fun to see that we've gone from that to, like, now me moderating a session and us having a booth and that that evolution. So sorry to cut you off.

Kyle Krull - 00:16:40
No. I mean, you're right. And and I don't really intend for the questions to be gotcha. And, really, like, they're they're opportunities to to to build bridges. Sometimes they will be taken as a gotcha, which is unfortunate, but, you know, it's it's you know, can plant based and regenerative work together was, like, one of the key questions I asked, and the plant based people were were up in arms. They they were not stoked on that. Mhmm. Long story short, Climate Day is great. And if you've never been to Climate Day and you're planning to attend Expo West, like, I really do think it's worth getting there earlier. I mean, if you listen to this podcast clearly, you care about this movement in some capacity. You can learn a lot.

Kyle Krull - 00:17:07
You can you can meet people who can benefit your cause in some capacity. Like, it's a it's a really good experience. So I would highly encourage anybody who's, quote, Climate Day curious to to go check it out.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:17:23
Yeah. And just huge shout out to Courtney and Caitlin, at the Climate Collaborative. I think their full team is, like, just the two of them. They're just, awesome human beings. I know they work really, really hard, especially seeing, you know, what has gone into the session that I'm moderating. So those two humans do a lot for our industry. Probably that goes without the proper thanks and recognition, and they deserve our support. And I know how hard it is to organize events like this. So just shout out to them. Appreciate their efforts.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:17:44
And, yeah, please please join us there if if you're able to.

Kyle Krull - 00:17:53
No doubt. AC, you you alluded to your panel, which is taking place on Tuesday on climate day. It's the strengthening the case for regenerative agriculture, emerging opportunities in nutrient density, consumer engagement, and biodiversity panel. That's a lot just to say in one sentence. So give us, like, a you know, without revealing all the cards, what are you planning to moderate, discuss, you know, what sort of conversations are you expecting to have happen? What do you wanna get out of that panel?

Anthony Corsaro - 00:18:21
Yeah. No. It's good timing because we did the prep call this week, and then I just kinda finished the the briefing document, the scoping document for what we'll talk about yesterday. So myself, I'm the moderator. We have Sherry Fry from Nielsen IQ. So I like to call Sherry the data queen. She's always got all the latest consumer trends and data. We have Carolyn Gan from Applegate slash Justin slash Hormel.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:18:35
And I forget Carolyn's exact title, but it's like the head of mission or something like that. And she's in charge of their regenerative agriculture programs, and they made that giant commitment to regen. What was it? I can't remember off the top of my head. We can look it up. It's like a million it's a million pounds or something of beef of certified beef source.

Kyle Krull - 00:19:00
Something along those lines. Yeah.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:19:01
Yeah. She's great. They're doing some really cool stuff. Excited to share that with folks. And then we have Eric Smith from Adacious. And Adacious is basically the most notable, hottest, well funded company trying to tackle this nutrient density testing data, issue in our industry, and they just raised $8,000,000 to do so. So excited to hear from Eric about what's going on with them. But really, really like this cool opportunity, I think, to talk about where the future of regenerative goes. And my opening comments are gonna be centered around proof. Like, what I'm what I'm thinking of using to tee up the session right now is regenerative agriculture is at a pivotal moment. We've seen it move from an idealistic concept to something that's now discussed in corporate boardrooms and showing up on thousands of products. But we're at a crossroads.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:19:44
Will regenerative agriculture become a true market force with clear consumer demand, or will it be another feel good sustainability trend that gets diluted into marketing copy? That's the question we're here to answer. To truly scale return of agriculture, we need proof. Proof that consumers want it, proof that it delivers real environmental and nutritional benefits, and proof that brands can justify the investment. So that's really the framing that I have so far for the session. Hopefully, that's something, compelling and engaging that people wanna chat about.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:20:12
Not to give too much away, but I'll just share a little bit about what I think each panelist is gonna bring to the to the conversation. Carolyn's gonna talk about Applegate strategy and really how it's shifted from individual product strategy when they launched the do good dog to now, like, sourcing certified return beef across their entire product portfolio and why they've made that determination and how they're activating that. They're doing some really cool stuff, and they're making some investments, in studies and other research that I'll leave for the session itself that I think are really cool pieces to hear about and learn from, from, you know, from a retailer or another brand. Sherry's gonna share some data about what we think, like, the current state of both product claims are and consumer awareness and demand. As we've talked about ad nauseam on this show, like, that is still somewhat of a black box, and that dataset is very limited and or not available and or very expensive. So excited for Sherry to pull some stuff out that she can share there.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:21:13
And, really, my question for Sherry that I want her to dive into in the panel is gonna be, if we've agreed that we can't attach Regen to these altruistic benefits, and that's not a leading consumer driver, what are the other trends that Regen is aligned with that we could, like, latch onto? Like, this high protein thing, the clean label thing, like, the granola mama moms that now want food dyes and additives removed. Like, what are the trends that are very aligned or overlapping with Regen that we should have our eyes on and be kind of attaching ourselves to? And then with Eric, it's really about what what does their data say so far? Like, what have they found in the distributions that they're that they're tracking? He's gonna share some interesting, things about the fact that they're coupling the data with certifications because that's an easy way to track it.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:21:59
So, like, it's like organic versus regenerative or, like, versus conventional or non GMO. I don't remember exactly all the different certs he named off, but he'll he'll kinda break that down in the session. And then really asking him, like, when is this thing gonna be cheap and applicable enough for every return of supply chain to have a new a nutrient density set of data and have, like, a claim with a consumer. Because, like, that's that's the end goal that I think we're still really far away from, and that's the mechanism that we all believe is, like, actually gonna transform this thing. So cool perspectives from the nutrition angle, the consumer angle, and then the brand angle. And hopefully, this dumb guy talking right now isn't, isn't gonna screw it up.

Kyle Krull - 00:22:49
I think you do a great job. I mean, even the way you just laid that out, it makes a lot of sense. It sounds to me like a a highly stimulating conversation that will take place. And just to kinda go down the rabbit hole a little bit on, like, the importance of nutrient density and the the tremendous scope of work to do what needs to be done. Now if you think about food in general, right, let's say you wanna have nutrient density testing for, like, regenerative versus organic versus non GMO versus conventional in every single sector, you not only have to have that for, like, fresh. You know? Think about, like, producing apples. Right? Then you need to do it also for apple sauce that have been processed.

Kyle Krull - 00:23:16
And, like, every single, like, way you can produce food might have a different outcome. So it's an extraordinary scope of work. And to your point, one that has to be done if we are going to link regenerative agriculture to nutrient density. So kudos to the Audacious team for raising some money and and working to solve that problem, because it's it's critically important. And I I'm really excited to to hear more about what they have to say, and excited to see how more of these features you know, what pops out, what we learn.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:23:51
Mhmm. Hell, yeah. That's that's my session. There's other cool sessions going on at Climate Day. I'll flag a couple, and we can chat about them real quick. Let me pull up other doc up here. There's a disrupting carbon intensive commodity models session supporting farmer well-being and nature positive outcomes through direct sourcing, transparency, and multiyear commitments. Simple Mills is talking at that. Luke Peterson from A Frame Farm that you guys have heard about on the show that a few brands source from is on that. And then Jane Coon from Once Upon a Farm, who I don't know is on that. Super interested to hear from the brands and from Luke about kinda how they've built some of these partnerships and supply chains.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:24:25
And I think Luke's been talked about a lot, but if they can get into the nuts and bolts of how they've worked with him, I think that would be really informative for other brands to try and create similar things like that. So excited for that one. There's also a policy opportunity session at the same time. That's a shit show right now with the new administration. So

Kyle Krull - 00:24:52
Well, I've got a bummed. The panel or the talk is not gonna be a shit show.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:24:56
Yeah. Correct.

Kyle Krull - 00:24:57
The current landscape is is a shit show.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:25:00
Yes. And I'm hopeful that, it's Matthew Dillon from the OTA, Brit Lundgren from Stonyfield, Aria from Landcorps who I know well, TA Hawks from Monument Advocacy. I don't know, but those people are all very knowledgeable on what's going on from a policy perspective. And, you know, I think we need to all continue to just be aware of what are risks, of what's happening right now that we need to manage or mitigate, and then what are opportunities that we all should be working on individually or collectively. Real quick.

Kyle Krull - 00:25:30
Casey, I think it's worth mentioning. You're closer to this than I am. You've you've done a better job keeping track of what's happening here. But, like, very high level, like, why is this so important right now? Like, what has the administration done that has affected some of the policy opportunities or potential levers to to move regenerative forward? Like, what what's what's what's the problem right now?

Anthony Corsaro - 00:25:51
If I had to synthesize it as concisely as possible with my limited knowledge and understanding as a disclaimer, I would, you know, I would try and bifurcate it into what are people worried about or having problems with, and then what are people hopeful or optimistic about. So on the worried about having problems with, the federal funding freeze is really been a big issue for a lot of people. The Biden Harris administration did climate smart commodities, which was a $3,000,000,000 kind of grant program. There was over a hundred million dollars of organic market development grants handed out to a lot of the brands that we support and have featured. There was, like, $20,000,000,000 of conservation program funding in the Inflation Reduction Act. All that has been, like, stopped and then restarted and then stopped. And there's executive orders, and there's challenges to it in court, and there's all these things where there's a lot of uncertainty.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:26:37
But those were signed contracts between the federal government and brands, nonprofits, certifiers, like, people that, you know, are doing this work. And people have been sharing about it on LinkedIn. It sounds like an absolute nightmare. But, you know, in certain cases, it's, like, $10,000,000 grant where they've hired eight people, and now they literally have to just lay them off tomorrow because the funding has stopped. And, you know, there's there's lots of examples like that. And I don't what I can't gather from the news is what and when the, like, the clarity and the resolution looks like.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:27:07
So, yeah, that's that's the biggest current issue. And then I think people are still hopeful and optimistic about RFK Junior and Maha. He has been approved and appointed as the, HHS secretary. I think proponents, or, excuse me, opponents or kind of people more on the negative side believe that he's gonna be in a box when it comes to food and ag, that the Trump track record and agenda are not gonna really let him create the kind of change that we're all hoping for. And other people think he's gonna have a lot of influence and drive a lot of cool change at USDA and FDA. So who knows? I don't really know.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:27:49
I don't have an opinion because I'm just gonna wait and see what happens, because, you know, I can't predict the future. But I think, currently, that's the biggest source of frustration slash issues and also the biggest source of optimism slash potential hope. We'll see.

Kyle Krull - 00:28:13
I super appreciate the recap. Worth, you know, just additional source of information, you know, via friend of a friend who I won't name names, but people who happen to be close to RFK Jr. Like, there's increasing movements from a number of red states, Texas, Arkansas, I can't remember the others off the top of my head, who are looking to, like, kinda do what California had done before and ban, like, Red Eye forty in their state. So that Maha movement is real, and there are some actual policy things taking place right now more at the state level because, the the term I heard was, like, now that RFK is in position, there's, quote, air cover for states to do some of these things that can drive some real change because if I don't know. General Mills I'm not trying to throw General Mills under the bus. Let me let me try to call somebody else else. Like, Nestle or Big Food x Company has RedDye 40 in product b, and they Texas says you can't do this. Like, they're obviously just gonna remove that from Right.

Kyle Krull - 00:29:01
All state supply. Right? Because you can't really delineate between, like, okay. We're only gonna sell this to Texas and

Anthony Corsaro - 00:29:16
everybody else gets this.

Kyle Krull - 00:29:16
So long story short, these policy changes could actually have positive benefits for, like, the entire food supply chain, which is really, really cool and interesting to hear about. So, just another anecdote there on, like, what some of these policy changes have have done and how some of those repercussions are manifesting themselves in the industry.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:29:34
Yeah. One there was a really interesting conversation during the prep call for the panel, where Sherry was talking about what they're seeing from, like, the Maha influence. And the group talked about basically, like, overlapping the Maha agenda with the Maslow hierarchy of needs Mhmm. And trying to set proper expectations around where regenerative agriculture falls on that. And it's at the very tippy top. Right? Like, at the bottom is removing food dyes, removing actually, like, toxic things from food. At the very tippy top is, like, let's change the way we farm.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:29:56
Like, the the bottom is easier things to to get done. It's more reformation than revolution. And so I am very hopeful, but I think it's important to kinda context set. Regen's not where they're gonna start, and Regen's not gonna be the most accessible and easy to accomplish thing. There's a lot of other things on the agenda that would be great, and I think big wins and very related, but not necessarily directly, like, about region.

Kyle Krull - 00:30:31
Totally makes sense. And to to use red dye 40 as another example, is that awesome for the food system? Hell, yeah. Does that do anything for regenerative agriculture? Absolutely not. You know? So I think that's a that's a great distinction.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:30:40
Yeah. Word. A lot of policy stuff going on. I think we'd like to be able to be more informed about it if we had more time, and I'd love to be able to speak from a more educated capacity. I mean, I feel like we're doing enough to serve in the roles that we serve, but, there's certainly a lot going on. And, you know, I I've never been in a position in my life where there's been more stuff happening and more contradictory reporting about said stuff. So it's hard to it's hard to reconcile. And, you know, I just the the the funding freeze is a perfect example. Like, these are direct contracts with people that we know, love, and support that deserve the support, and it's a great way that previous administration has subsidized some of the people doing good.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:31:14
And it's like we are running to a fiscal cliff as a com as a country, and we need to, like, stop spending. So how do you reconcile, like, as an individual citizen? Like, well, shit. I would love to achieve both of those things. So, like, let's cut other things. But, like, is that fair? So yeah, it's just it's it's tough, man. I don't know.

Kyle Krull - 00:31:43
Yeah. I mean, I don't wanna get too far down the political rabbit hole, but agree. Like, some something has to change. And, unfortunately, it feels like right now, maybe it was more faster change than we had anticipated that is having some unintended consequences, at least from our perspective, maybe intended from others' perspective. I don't know. But, hopefully, you know, fingers crossed. I mean, there's nothing else we can really do except for hope that things get back on track and they turn back on the funding for the programs that help, in particular for for this audience in conversation, like the regen programs and the the the farmers and brands who are focusing on it transitioning, and improving our deindustrialized, decommoditized food system.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:32:23
Mhmm. Amen. Yeah. And it's interesting segue into spotlighting a couple more sessions because I had a really cool conversation with Ryan from Smoketown who's been on before, if if people have listened to that episode. He's speaking during the lightning round, on climate day, which is lightning round industry innovations and critical updates driving climate action. I think Lauren Tucker is also speaking about the Almond project, and I wanna say Tina Owens is speaking about her work at TIFs. So I wanna I think three of the four folks are kinda region focused. And maybe maybe the fourth with the land banking institute or group. I forget their name, but I don't remember exactly what they do. Anyway, Ryan and I were talking about, you know, what he might speak about.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:32:55
And right now, with all this chaos in the world, like, that's the op that that is the opportunity. And I don't I don't wanna sell it as a good thing to minimize or, support whatever harm is coming from what is currently happening in the world. I I think we wanna acknowledge that. There probably is a lot of that. We have deep empathy for for those affected in whatever way. However, I think for us in in our movement, like, we have to recognize that when there's a bunch of energy, there's opportunity there. Right?

Anthony Corsaro - 00:33:26
And I think, like, the message he and I were were, like, talking about trying to convey is, like, this is game seven. Right? Like, this this next three and a half years is gonna be really just formative, I think, for what happens in our country. No matter what opinions you have, like, it's just it's it's go time. Like, now is not wait and see time. Now is not, like, inaction time.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:33:51
I don't know if I said that all very well, but, you know.

Kyle Krull - 00:34:02
I mean, for for those who are not super sports fans, game seven is the last game. So there you know, you you gotta win best out of seven, and if he goes to 70, there is no other chance. There is no other opportunities. That's what AC is trying to convey here is, like, this is tumultuous. But to your point, like, there's there's things are being shaken up. And if we can get our shit together, for lack of a better term, like, there's an headway in a positive direction.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:34:30
Mhmm. Amen. And there's just, like, strange bedfellows. There's, like, weird new alliances. The the the the political landscape is just being really shook up, and that's gonna create new issues and also new opportunities. So we'll see we'll see what happens.

Kyle Krull - 00:34:46
And let's let's just say, like, this is important to call out. Like, health should not be politicized. Yes. This this is not like Yes. Whether it's Maha or whatever you wanna call it, like, climate smart ag, regenerative ag, human health, nutrient density, those should not be political. I don't know. What's there's a term I'm looking for that's totally escaping me. But this it should not be a right or a left issue. This is a human health issue. This is an every American issue. This is a citizen of the world issue.

Kyle Krull - 00:35:11
And to your point, if things are being shaken up this crazily, I really can't think of a more uniting, topic or initiative to focus on than, like, let's restore human health and get people healthy again and stop destroying our planet, which unfortunately, like, that term alone has already become politicized.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:35:34
Mhmm. Right. And

Kyle Krull - 00:35:35
we've talked about it before how it's it's harder and harder to deny that, like, climate change is happening. But, yeah, if if we can I don't need to talk about it anymore? It's just this is a huge opportunity. So hopefully, we can take advantage of it. Mhmm.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:35:49
Yeah. Well said, man. That was a good that was a good way to end that. To wrap up climate and then we'll move on, the only session that I think we have flagged that we haven't talked about is tariffs, trade wars, and funding freezes, navigating climate action in this new era. We obviously just talked about a lot of the macroeconomic circumstance around that. I believe, Kyle at Wildway is speaking during that session, and I wanna say he's the lone kind of regen representative there. But shout out to him. Excited to see what he brings to that panel, and excited for that. That's kinda like their closing panel where they have CEOs chat, so that's always a a good one for Climate Day.

Kyle Krull - 00:36:25
Yeah. I'm I'm always excited to hear what Kyle has to say. I think of the two quote regen Kyle's, he's the more eloquent of, of he and I. No doubt. He's also, like, he's got fantastic financial analysis. I I think he went to school for something finance related.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:36:39
I'm calling you. I think I think he has an accounting degree.

Kyle Krull - 00:36:42
Yeah. And he just said, I really value, like, what he shares on LinkedIn, what he has to say, so I'm looking forward to that one. Mhmm.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:36:48
Yeah. Let me make sure there's no one else we should shout out. I'm pulling that up right now. Andrew Burke from Lotus Foods, who's the new CEO. We have not talked to Andrew before, but he's great, I'm sure, and excited to to hear from him. And then Rhianna Lynn at Journey Foods, I'm not familiar with with them and who that is or or that brand. So I don't think there's a region connection there. Tuesday's gonna be a busy day very clearly. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, we have all the halls open versus kind of the staggered approach of the previous years where it was just North Hall and then and then the main halls. So we'll see how that goes. That'll be interesting.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:37:20
Like we said earlier, 59 total brands that we track that are supporting regen ag, nineteen ReGen Brands Coalition members, six of them just presenting at fresh ideas. So we'll have plenty of booths to visit ourselves. And it was cool that I think in the 50 in the '59, there's, like, around 20 that still haven't been on the pod. So excited to connect with those folks and get them lined up for some episodes. So we'll be we'll be frantically walking the show floor, but to wrap the conversation around sessions and content, any other sessions standing out to you Wednesday, Thursday, Friday that you're excited about, brother? Yeah.

Kyle Krull - 00:37:56
There's a couple on Thursday that I think are gonna be interesting. The first one is the future of retail. You did a really good job laying out, like, the regen focus sessions, and I think it's interesting to go to a non regen focus session and see if regen can creep its way in. You know, I I don't wanna say that we're an echo chamber or a silo here because I think we're very tuned into the larger community, but it will also be interesting to see, like, does the future of retail include regenerative agriculture in some capacity? Right? So that's gonna be an interesting session to me. A lot of folks from Nielsen IQ and UNFI will be there. Obviously, two key components of, like, this industry and how how it functions and operates, so that'll be very interesting.

Kyle Krull - 00:38:25
And then lastly, like, the next year awards ceremony and celebration. You know, these these next year awards, for those who have not been to ex expo before, really struggling, consider these like the Oscars

Anthony Corsaro - 00:38:44
of

Kyle Krull - 00:38:44
Expo West. You know? Who's getting the awards for innovation or I don't know what the other categories are. Clearly, I'm not a great expo attendee or a NEXTY attendee, but it's really cool to see, in particular last year, like, a ton of ReGen Brands won awards. And it's a it's a really good indicator of the momentum behind the movement, so it'll be interesting to see how, quote, ReGen Brands are recognized at this year's NextEase.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:39:10
Hundred percent. I'm pulling it up right now just to give folks some point of reference. But, basically, their their individual product awards, I wanna say, there's around 30 categories. We just had it in the newsletter this week, so I just need to pull it up so I can read it off. Over 1,000 submissions were received this year resulting in a 61 total finalists across 34 categories. And we have 21 brands supporting regenerative agriculture that were, nominated for an award and then 13 products with an actual on pack regenerative claim. Some of those products are new products, so we can't confirm that they for sure have an on pack regenerative claim. So that there might actually be more than 13 that we would find out at the show or after as as those products start getting released because some people nominate one of the products they have before it's, like, publicly available. So slight drop off in the numbers there from from previous year, previous year. So this year's '21 and '13. Previous year was, '22 and '17.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:39:59
So so not huge, but I'd like to see that 13 products with on pack regen claims a little bit higher because I think five of those are just for their certified regenerative category. So five of those are in one category. But continuing to see Regen well represented there is a big deal. And shout out to the brands that, you know, are nominated with a chance to win, especially those that are Coalition members. I think Alex Ice Cream is the lone Coalition member that has a finalist designation this year for their new culture cup mint chocolate chip cookie, product, which is a really cool new innovation from them. Smaller portion size. It's, like, got probiotics in it. I think less sugar.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:40:45
But we got some stalwart, ReGen Brands or brand supporting regen, and they're like Gaia Herbs, Lundberg, Lotus, Groundwork Coffee, Distal, and some new ones and some cool ones that I think we're less familiar with or excited to see, like Stoked Oats, El Nacho. I keep trying to find the right person at Milkadamia to talk about their regen stuff because they have some romance copy on the back of most of their products. So next season huge. We'll see who wins. Good luck to Alex and and others that are friends of the program, and always a big deal, I think, in our industry to see what happens with that.

Kyle Krull - 00:41:25
No doubt. Should be fun.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:41:29
Other sessions and or, like, other things to flag, we have the pitch slam on Tuesday night. So back to Tuesday for just one quick second. We got two two regenerative brands presenting at pitch Slam, Susan at Recoup and then Michael Ham from, Wild Orchard regenerative teas. So excited to be there and cheer both of them on. I hope they both, crush it. I think only one of them can win first place, but I hope we get a a first and second place finish out of one or the other. And then I think Susan's also presenting at the NCN, like, pitch session, which is different. But good luck to both of them.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:41:58
Good luck to Susan with her both of your opportunities, and looking forward to see how those go for those folks.

Kyle Krull - 00:42:11
Thank you.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:42:13
Last session, and then we can kinda move on from sessions. One thing that I am super interested I don't know if you remember this, bro, but, Brianna from Yogi Tea talked about that sustainable herbs initiative, which sounds like that's a really cool, like, pre com pre competitive collaboration that a bunch of brands are engaging in, and they've actually accomplished, like, some really cool stuff. I've been looking for more information on that. There's actually a session about it on Friday. It looks like it's Jeff from FOMENT slash the Climate Collaborative Community of Practice. Jeff Jeffrey is the man, Jeffrey Boss, and then Anne from the Sustainable Herbs Initiative who I I'm not familiar with or don't know, but I'm super excited to learn more about that. I think that could be super informative to some of the stuff we're thinking about doing or doing in the Coalition.

Kyle Krull - 00:42:59
Yeah. I totally agree. And, you know, tea is one of those, like to me, it's almost an honor to the radar category, like, the potential impact that can have. And Yogi seems to be, I don't wanna say, leading the way, but huge contributors in in helping spread, regenerative herbs and not just for themselves, but developing those supply chains for other companies. So just commend them in their efforts there. It's really, really cool to

Anthony Corsaro - 00:43:17
see. Mhmm. And if you guys want if if you're a listener and you want, like, a full download of all the sessions that we're interested in or have some sort of regenerative flavor or inclusion, we'll have that in. I don't know if we're gonna do, like, a separate blog or the recap blog of this episode, but we'll have it somewhere in a blog along with that list of exhibitors and all that stuff as you walk into the show that that can be a resource.

Kyle Krull - 00:43:37
AC, we've done a great job talking about the sessions, talking about climate day, talking about some of our brands. But there's something we haven't yet brought up, which is kind of a big deal. You've been working really hard putting this together. So so tell us about something else that's happening at Expo West this year.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:43:51
Yeah. I feel like I gained a newfound respect for all of our brand members and the brands that we talk about for how crazy it is to prepare to actually, like, do something, some sort of activation at Expo West. We've been working on something for the regen brands Coalition for a few months now, and really excited to unveil it to the world. I'm trying to I'm trying to decide what I wanna unveil and what I don't. We are launching what we're calling the iHeart Regen campaign. So think of, like, a play on iHeart NYC or something like that, but cooler and better graphics and and about regenerative brands and products. So we're gonna have buttons and stickers and swag, and all of it will will culminate in kind of a landing page, about iHeart Regen and about regenerative products being full of love and really taking a different kind of approach, for the consumer messaging or just the messaging overall and, like, moving away from that whole, we're here to define regenerative to, like, we're here to market and create support for regenerative.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:44:28
First, you know, real, like, collaborative campaign for our membership and for the trade association. So just excited to see what happens. There'll be little stand up heart shaped table, like cards or signs at every booth. So if you do visit any of the brand booths, hit the QR code on those signs, sign up to kinda be an ally of ours via the form on the web page, the landing page. You know, we're we're just trying this to gauge what kind of interest there might be in event like this, what kind of traffic a landing page like that would get, how we can grow our network of allies and partners and brand members. So really excited. I'm really excited. The the graphics are super cool.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:45:29
The actual kind of activation details of how things are gonna come to life in X bar are really cool. It's a super fun, scrappy grassroots kind of activation and and campaign that I think can be effective and and raise some good awareness. So long story short, an expo, look out for everything iHeart Region and engage with us. We we'd really appreciate it.

Kyle Krull - 00:45:56
Yeah. I number one, amazing work on all that thus far, you and the team. And I just wanna double down on, like, the engage with us QR code ask. Like, we are looking to get a tiny bit of information, basically, like name, organization, email address, and then define who you are, whether you're a consumer, you're a retailer, and I think there's another bucket or two. But we are not planning to spam anybody with anything. We're looking to build regenerative allies and those who really wanna be a part of this movement and potentially come up with some really cool collaborative ideas. So don't be afraid to, like, share an email address because we're not gonna, like, throw you on a list, which at Expo West, that is, like, everybody's fear. Don't get my email address. So Yeah. Just wanna preface that. We're not looking to spam or get money out of anybody.

Kyle Krull - 00:46:29
It's just really trying to build this movement from the ground up.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:46:39
Amen. Yeah. I think it's like brand retailer, press slash media, consumer slash influencers, one category, and then CPG service provider as well. I think it's like those those four or five, which are all critical. They're all critical to the success of our brand members. They're all critical to the success of our organization, and they're all critical to the success of regenerative products in the marketplace. So we feel like it's our responsibility to start making more of those connections, getting collaborative efforts built between all those constituents. And Kyle laid it out really well. Like, don't give us your business card. Don't send us an email. Go to go to the landing page. Fill out the form. It's really quick.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:47:14
That that really helps us, and that brings it all in in kind of a uniform way and excited to follow-up with people that are interested.

Kyle Krull - 00:47:27
Yeah. Super excited.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:47:29
And if if you know, we we're gonna we're gonna have an expo recap episode and share kind of what happened and some some of the findings and, you know, the results. So stay tuned for that. In a couple weeks, we'll share that as well. I think that's it on expo, brother. Anything else we're missing on the expo front?

Kyle Krull - 00:47:46
I think it covers expo. We do wanna talk about a cool Earth Day activation. Is now the time to unveil that, or do we wanna wait till later?

Anthony Corsaro - 00:47:54
Yeah. No. Let's talk about that. Just a general, like, fun fun thing for the regenerative movement that we wanted to highlight and we're aware of. I don't know. I I'm guessing most of our listeners and or all of our listeners have seen at least one of the documentaries, kiss the ground and common ground or maybe both. But they are both, gonna be streaming on Amazon Prime starting on Earth Day. And, we'll drop a link in the show notes, but Big Picture Ranch, the producer of the films, actually is gonna do, like, a a a watch party and a live q and a with some of the celebrities and actors that were involved in the making of the docs. So anyone that's into regen, I think, understand a couple things about that. Like, sharing that, boosting the numbers that those get performance wise on Amazon Prime are critical to the movement success. Those have been really good tools for, I think, enlightening people, sharing the message, getting people to work in the space, getting people to buy more regenerative products, etcetera.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:48:41
So watch it at your house, send it around other people. Yeah. And just make people aware of that. We just wanted to spotlight that.

Kyle Krull - 00:48:57
Yeah. And kudos to Big Picture Ranch in that whole team for, I mean, number one, putting together two amazing, compelling, beautiful documentaries. And number two, sharing it for free with the world on Earth Day. Like, that's that's really, really cool. So big shout out to that team.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:49:12
Yeah. And I believe it's for sure, like, publicly confirmed at this point that there is a third coming, and I believe they're already working on it. And I think the title is Groundswell. So excited for the third of the trifecta of the trilogy. That'll be kind of, the last one I think that they do about regenerative agriculture. I don't know when that will release, but, hopefully, these first two can kinda build some hype for that and make it just as successful as as those two were and even more so.

Kyle Krull - 00:49:39
When you frame it as a trilogy, I immediately think of, like, Return of the Jedi. Like, what is the Return of the Jedi story for Regen and documentary Return

Anthony Corsaro - 00:49:45
of the soil, brother. Return of the soil. Nailed it. Nailed it. Alright. Well, I think that's all we got today, folks. Appreciate y'all tuning in. We are closing on episode 100, which is insane. I think this is episode 95.

Kyle Krull - 00:50:00
Insane.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:50:01
So just appreciate the support for all of you that we will see at expo. Looking forward to, a lot of hugs and a lot of hellos. And, yeah, look out for the I Heart Regen campaign. Stay tuned for our post show recap, and keep buying regenerative products.

Kyle Krull - 00:50:17
This is typically where I redirect people to a website. There's no there's no guest on today. So check out regen-brands.com, if you wanna learn more. There you go. But but, yeah, like Casey said, appreciate all listeners, everybody tuning in. Last year at expo, it was really, really cool and fun to engage with people we don't know who, like, hey, man. We listened to the podcast, love this episode, and so on and so forth. So if you have any hesitation in doing that, do not. It is so cool and fun for us to get to engage with listeners in person. Yeah. Looking forward to seeing everybody at expo.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:50:47
Yeah. Thanks, brother.

Kyle Krull - 00:50:49
Thank you, bro.

Anthony Corsaro - 00:50:53
For transcripts, show notes, and more information on this episode, check out our website regen-brands.com. That is regen-brands.com. You can also check out our YouTube channel, ReGen Brands, for all of our episodes with both video and audio. The best way to support our work is to give us a five star rating on your favorite podcast platform and subscribe to future episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. You can also subscribe to our newsletter, the ReGen Brands Weekly, and follow our ReGen Brands LinkedIn page to stay in the know on all the latest news, insights, and perspectives from the world of regenerative CPG. Thanks so much for tuning in to the RegenBrands podcast. We hope you learned something new in this episode, and it empowers you to use your voice, your time, your talent, and your dollars to help us build a better and more regenerative food system. Love you guys.