Latest / The Weekly Run / Now You See Me! | #20

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Now You See Me! | #20 · The Weekly Run

• Jeff Perera: Welcome to the weekly run. I'm Jeff. And today we're talking about what's hot at Jeff's Bagel run. We are so back, Aaron. Aaron: I'm here. Ye from the very long hiatus that was one week. Jeff Perera: I we had a one week break, which I know are loyal listeners, they missed us. They missed us. Aaron: The it was hard to respond to all the emails, ⁓ of concern. It's overwhelming. Jeff Perera: It was overwhelming. It really was. Are you okay? A lot of the I missed hearing you in my car on Thursday morning, I understand. I understand where they're coming from. Aaron: But we're here. We're here again. We're here now. ⁓ Jeff Perera: We're here now. We're back. ⁓ so we're recording our twentieth episode, according twentieth, according to seriously, and according to most podcast statistics, I don't think ⁓ most podcasts get past like episode three or or something like that. So we are above average right now, Aaron. That feels good. Feels pretty good. Aaron: Twentieth? When did that happen? See that? You know, if we can't just genuinely have the best podcast, we can at least play the statistics in our favor and just outlast anybody else. We can at least be in that's right, we can be in the top stats simply because we've done it for so long listen, you just gotta pick the right game to win at. ⁓ Jeff Perera: Just show up. Ha ha So this is number twenty and it is also going to be the first one that we post full video on the Jeff Bagel run YouTube channel. Aaron: Which again blows my mind. And incidentally, ⁓ this is the big wow, I wonder well, people know what you look like. You're kinda everywhere. You've got that you kinda get it is Jeff's bagel run after all, so I don't think there's any question what you look like. As you know, signing a you know, a a a face to a voice. But ⁓ this is you know, ooh, I wonder. This is what I look like, everybody. Jeff Perera: Well, I'm sure as you don't listen, you will not watch, so you'll be fine. Aaron: Hey, you know, if it shows up in my feed, what can I do? You know, I can't I can't fight that, so we can't look away. So we'll see. Jeff Perera: Can't look away if I f if can't look away. Can't look away. I'm really excited though. I mean, we're it's almost June, twenty in. This is pretty it's been a fun journey. I've been enjoying learning this process and sharing the stories of Just Bigel Run. So it's been a it's been a pleasure so far. I'm really excited for the rest of this ⁓ this year for sure. I know we committed to this thing for a year. I think we're hooked though. ⁓ Aaron: ⁓ yeah. Same. Same. Jeff Perera: I missed it. I'm ready to to talk about the stuff that's hot at Jeff's Bagel run. Should we go? Alright, so for you know, ice cream summer. Aaron: Yeah. What's hot, Jeff? What's going on right now in your world? Which is summer, if you think about it. Jeff Perera: I mean ⁓ listen, Ice Cream Summer is ⁓ Our ⁓ ⁓ week started and it runs all the way through like the end of August. ⁓ And this a special one because we did a collaboration with ⁓ a what as an Orlando local favorite and is now also a national brand, ⁓ Jeremiah's Italian So we partnered with them ⁓ to create cream cheese flavors that really our signature flavors in their shops, and hopefully become fan favorites as cream cheese is. Because you know I believe if it can be ice cream, it can be cream cheese. Aaron: It's and so far I will say my you know quantitative research on this topic, I was in I was store on Tuesday and I tried both of them and I was like, man, ⁓ these these are good. These are cream cheeses. ⁓ like the the the scoop froggy frog cream you know spread is insane. ⁓ insane. It tastes ⁓ good. And and I just had it as a sample, like just give me a spoon, sort of, like I had a bite. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ⁓ even the bagel is ⁓ needed for this, ⁓ for this sampling. And it was amazing. It tasted so good. It tasted just like it ⁓ expectation as a longtime Jeremiah's fan, and specifically of that particular ice cream that that was my go-to, was delicious. Jeff Perera: You just said give me a spoon. Aaron: Delicious, tasted just like it was supposed to. Jeff Perera: So if you've never had Scoop Froggy Frog before from Jeremiah's, it is essentially a mint chocolate chip ice cream. Except because Jeremiah's does Italian ice and only two flavors of soft serve, vanilla and ⁓ it is what they call a gelati. And it is a creation that is very specific to ⁓ And it is the ice and the ice cream coming together with ⁓ add ons like chocolate chips and cookie crumbles and things like that to Give it that flavor. And so Scoop Froggy Frog is their mint chocolate chip. It is an iconic flavor. It's where the logo for Jeremiah's comes from. It's pretty cool. And it is absolutely perfect as a cream cheese. Aaron: It is perfect. To the point where I still contest that this needs to be packaged up in pints and sold. It is it is that good. Jeff Perera: Ha ha. The second cream LTO is mango. And so we made a mango cream cheese to ⁓ really highlight the one selling ice at Jeremiah's, mango Italian ⁓ And this cream cheese is to die for. ⁓ I really think this might be favorite cream cheese that we've done seasonally. Yeah. Aaron: Really? Jeff Perera: I haven't said that. This is this one might be my favorite. I absolutely love it. I absolutely love it. Aaron: That's bold. 'Cause it has to it has to compete with, you know, like Pimento and other, you know, really heavy hitters in the LTO spreads sort of category there. So you think mango. I it reminded me a lot of our strawberry, where it's just a very fresh taste. The fruit really comes through. Jeff Perera: make it I mean we're making it with real mangoes ⁓ and ⁓ you real product, it tastes better. So ⁓ I mean I don't know what else to say. I mean it's just when you use when you when you use you use real food, it tastes real. ⁓ it's just it's very good. ⁓ I love it it goes with a sweet and a savory bagel. I think it just has so many applications and ⁓ it's just so good. Aaron: This is true. This is true. It's that easy. So what are your pairings? So you you you know, you've if you get these two new spreads, what are the official Jeff's pairings for both spreads and the LTO? Jeff Perera: Okay, yes. Great. Great question. Thanks for asking. I pair the scoop froggy frog with cinnamon sugar. That those that combination of the cinnamon sugar bagel with that like little bit of crystallization and crunchiness, it kind of almost gives you like the idea of the cone. And I know we talked about waffle cone a couple weeks ago, but it that gives that's the closest thing we have right now to a cone, and it's yeah, it's perfect. And I suggested this to all of Jeff's Besties or brand ambassadors when they went out to try. Aaron: See approximation. Good. Jeff Perera: this collab last week before we launched, jalapeno cheddar with the mango cream cheese. It is I the elite pairing. I think it is absolutely delicious. ⁓ I you could come I guess you could you could come for me, I guess, in the comments now. ⁓ but I know. Leave a comment. Let me know. See what you think. But it's I think jalapeno cheddar and mango is ⁓ Aaron: Now I can see why you're so high like you're so big on this. I get it now. Jeff Perera: An elite pairing. We didn't just stop with the cream cheese. We have coffee and beverages as well with this promotion. I am excited two them are comeback favorites from last year two of them brand new. So if you remember ⁓ we had Summer of Sips last year. Aaron: Just a big one. Like that was probably one of the biggest promotions we had ever done at that time. Jeff Perera: It was huge. It was like fourteen drinks over like the twelve weeks of summer or something. I don't know. It was like a technical nightmare for you because it was two different drinks every two weeks. We were changing menu items. It was wild. two flavors came from that that were just head and shoulders above all others as winners. And one of those was the ice cream sundae latte. ⁓ is ⁓ delicious strawberry banana latte that has Aaron: Yeah. Jeff Perera: whipped cream and now a cherry on top because what sundae doesn't deserve a cherry. Aaron: percent. Jeff Perera: the other one is a fan from last is the Melted Snow Cone Dirty Soda. And this is Sprite, Blue Raspberry, and a little bit of lemonade. And this one Aaron: People talked about this one. This one got talked about. Jeff Perera: I this this tastes like the juice at the bottom of like your snow cone. Like I don't even know how else to describe it. It's like, you know that little triangle shaped paper cup, you ⁓ tip it up and it down. Yes, that's what it tastes like. So good. Absolutely delicious. We have two new drinks. One of them ⁓ is really ⁓ one them were a cold foam, really. It's a cold foam drink. And I don't I don't want to call it a drink, but we created a new cold foam. Aaron: yes, ⁓ Jeff Perera: To put on top of your cold brew or on top of your iced coffee or your iced latte as a delivery system and it's cookies and cream. Because what screams ice cream more than cookies and cream? And cookies and cream cold foam on a cold brew is absolutely delicious. You can put it on anything, but we serve it on a cold brew right now. It's so good. Aaron: Sure. And you can it's it travels with you. So if you have a favorite drink, you can apply this to that favorite. Jeff Perera: You can put it on anything. ⁓ if like a vanilla latte, add cookies and cream cold foam. If you like just a black cold brew, add the cookies and cream cold foam. It's so good. And the last drink is a new Jeff's Jolt. Jeff's Jolts are our Red Bull infused beverages. And this time we introduced Red Bull Amber, which is a strawberry apricot flavor with blueberry syrup. And vanilla cold foam. I had I had yeah, I had that today. That's why I'm like, woo, let's go. It's really good. So good. apricot is a unique it gives you that stone fruit flavor. ⁓ But the strawberry pulls through so much, it really we it berry sorbet. And it tastes just like a berry sorbet. Aaron: S why you're ready. Jeff Perera: That mixed berry vibe, ⁓ the foam on top gives it that creaminess that you're looking for. ⁓ It just divine. Aaron: And again the whole idea with all of this is it's summer vibes. Trying to get you all your favorites, ⁓ All wonderfully. ⁓ Jeff Perera: I think I think the summer is a really long period of time. People you know, are going on they're in and out of town. I think having a really big menu over the summer gives us a chance to really explore the of flavor, ⁓ try some new things. I'm ⁓ I'm stoked. I think this one's gonna be It's gonna be a great summer LTO. Aaron: ⁓ What does it take to get this kind of stuff off the ground? what kind of work goes into it? Like we're you guys start months and months ⁓ before this moment to bring these things, ⁓ into the menu and into the experience. So what is that process like? ⁓ Jeff Perera: Yeah. So it started probably about a year ago when I first got introduced to Jeremy, the founder of Jeremiah's Italian Ice. He's a resident here in Orlando, he's a fan of the bagel run. We had a mutual, they connected us, and we sat down, had a bagel and coffee and just talked about our journeys as founders and opening businesses and what it's been like to grow businesses in the Orlando area and then take them outside of Orlando and share, our love for our product with new people. So we you know, we bonded over that and he talked about how we'd get bagels every Saturday morning, bring ⁓ home, him and his girlfriend would enjoy the bagels and hang out. And I was like, you know, I have this like theory that if it can be ice cream, it can be cream cheese. ⁓ did. I told him straight up. I was like, Listen, I know where I want this to go. So I'm gonna see if I can get there. ⁓ he was like, ⁓ I love this, I love this. We should, you know, we should get together and just explore f ideas, flavors, things like that. Come to our Aaron: You shared him, you shared him the theory. All right. Jeff Perera: test kitchen. It's right over here in town. It'd be so great. And so, we just kinda kept in touch through last summer and ⁓ the week of Thanksgiving, I got into test kitchen at Jeremiah's with his executive chef. Her name's Erin ⁓ And ⁓ we just spent some time together exploring the ideas of what these flavors could be. ⁓ And I was like, I have an idea now of what I need to do. And then we just got back into our kitchen and we started figuring out how to make these cream cheeses taste great. And then of course the marketing team came in and said, we can't just do cream cheese. We have to have beverage and what do we do? And so then we started layering in all these other components. But it just really started with ice cream, can be cream cheese. ⁓ Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. So it becomes ten Jeff Perera: I'm really looking forward to ⁓ what this collaboration brings and you know, honestly just having a a with another founder locally is is great. It's been great to get to know and spend time with him and hear about, the things that he's learned over the I don't know, I think he's been doing this for thirty years. I think started in nineteen ninety six. I think they're celebrating their thirtieth year. Aaron: That's crazy. Jeff Perera: this year. Yeah, which is really it's inspiring, you know, to know that you can grow a brand and stay relevant and connected to the community and continue to delight people. So Aaron: So the real question is is when can we expect ⁓ the the you know the the Abby ⁓ When that crossover coming? ⁓ Jeff Perera: ⁓ that's a great question. And Aaron: I don't know, that's really some fringe stuff. That might be I don't know what the savory ⁓ gelati palette really is. Jeff Perera: Okay, because this is probably like I don't know, this probably go viral, but I'll tease for you. right now I'm in final test phases for fall. And I know you in particular are ⁓ a big fan of fall. You exactly where I'm going with this. Pumpkin Abby Aaron: Hm all right, there you go. Yeah. What? I don't even Jeff Perera: Pumpkin bagel, the salt, the salt, the onion, a little bit of cheese on top. Aaron: I'm here I'm here for it regardless. Jeff Perera: I'm thinking it's gonna I'm thinking I'm thinking it's gonna give like savory soup, like butternut squash kind of like vibe. Like like a like a squash soup or like a just like a hearty soup. That's what I'm hoping for. We'll see. I don't know. Or it could be trash and it never makes it to the menu. Aaron: I I'll get to try it though, at the very least. I will be your your ⁓ your default pumpkin tester if that's Jeff Perera: Absolutely. ⁓ yeah. If I'm making pumpkin bagels in June, you're definitely eating them. I know. I know you are. You Aaron: ⁓ my goodness. I just have to chase you around whenever you do pumpkin or pizza. That's really oop yeah. Jeff Perera: That's it. That's it. So Ice Cream Summer officially launched, two new spreads, four drinks. It's it's here. Get to a store, get it right now. It's so good. ⁓ I wanna talk a little bit more about flavor I spent time in Chicago last week at the National Restaurant Association ⁓ show, which is their restaurant show. It's the biggest think it's the biggest restaurant show in America. It might be one of the biggest in the world. It fills up the entire McCormick Center. We tease this a little bit. I walk something like thirty thousand steps last year. I did that again this year. We walked the whole thing. This time I got to drag around Catriona Glen ⁓ we were on not only flavor missions but supply chain stuff. We were this was a big show for us to get out there, meet partners, talk flavor and it fun. Aaron: And it's a rare show for us where we genuinely just show up as a as an attendee. We a lot of the times when we go to these shows or we do these things, we're pulling double duty or it's a very mixed sort of engagement model. But this one you guys just get to go and take it in, see what see what the you know, what the industry has to offer, which I which I imagine must be really refreshing from all the ones you end up having to work. Jeff Perera: It's great I say this year felt a little bit more like work than just walking the show floor. Last year we walked the show floor, we were just taking it all in. It's the first time I'd ever been ⁓ and we were relative unknown. ⁓ This year, walking show floor in the Jeff's Bagel Run t-shirt and it was like, Hey Jeff, hey Jeff, how you doing, Jeff? And so there was a bit of ⁓ ⁓ relationship management, some partner I did a podcast on the show floor while we were there. ⁓ So ⁓ there a bit of media, there was a little bit of, partnership building. ⁓ It was more work but, know, I still got to play pickleball in the McCormick Center. That was fun. Aaron: In the I saw that photo. But this is the this is now like a trend for you. I it's like you're you're now what, two out of the last three shows. ⁓ you've played pickleball as part of the show. I something's changing in the restaurant industry. We need to be Jeff Perera: I think I'm only gonna start going to restaurant shows if it has pickleball. That's it. That's just yeah. If it doesn't support pickleball, I don't wanna go. Aaron: If it supports pickleball. This one was impressive. I don't know what was more impressive, the fact that they had that set up in the middle of the show, clearly in the show floor. Or the fact that Glen was killing it in a pair of jeans, which is not the pickleball attire I think I could pull off. So he was get it done. Jeff Perera: No, and it was it was un it was unusually hot as well for May. ⁓ it was so hot. I feel like it was in the eighties, which everybody was complaining about how hot it was in Chicago. I was like, come to Florida ⁓ Like This easy. but yeah. We we played pickleball in the McCormick Center. That was fun. It was a cool activation. It was actually a really neat way to introduce Aaron: It's even worse. gonna say eighties. It's eighties at APM down here. temperature. ⁓ Jeff Perera: I think it was the Chicago Pickleball Club and they have you know, they have a restaurant, they have a social club, they have a whole thing around the sport, which I think is really great. I think it's a great way for them to to be a part of that community. you know, the restaurant industry is super neat. the hospitality within the restaurant industry towards one another is really high. There's just this level of ⁓ service and serving that takes place in a different way ⁓ than imagine ⁓ it feels a tech show at an automotive parts show. ⁓ I think that everyone's really looking for one another. There's a ton of camaraderie kind of in the idea that. Aaron: Yeah. Jeff Perera: We all sort of know there is like a there's like a level of understanding of how hard it is to do it and do it successfully, and all the people there that are showing up at a show like that have done it successfully, so ⁓ it's pretty neat. Aaron: Yeah. That's an interesting ⁓ observation because I thought somewhat similar with just the few shows that I've been to, which is new for me in this industry. And I've been in a lot of different industries and varied industries, and I would agree with that statement. I think it's it it it probably is hand in hand with the fact that our business is hospitality. And so if we can't put on a good show, who can? Right? But But it is neat to see. And one thing that always sort of struck me too is that You'd have to be in direct competition with somebody. Like, I'm a burger joint, you're a burger joint, we operate in the same markets to even have the hint of competitiveness. Everybody else is like, hey, I'm just happy to help. I'm happy to work together. And it's very collaborative, and there's just not a lot of ⁓ you know what you might expect in an industry dense event where it's like, ⁓ maybe I'll maybe I'll keep my inside track, maybe I'll have my secrets, I'll have my whatever. I know in tech, in my experience, that can happen, right? Especially if this is highly competitive spaces, but I've never felt Jeff Perera: Yeah. Aaron: that at a restaurant show. Everybody's just just cool to to hang and share, you know, share stories and share insights and you know, everybody can win. I think it's really kind of the attitude in the restaurant industry is everybody can win, all ships can rise. Jeff Perera: Yeah, I think that's a really great way to put it. The the competitiveness is definitely there. I mean, we all are competing for wallet share. I mean, if you're in the breakfast category, ⁓ you not run a bagel shop, but you know, if you're doing donuts, you're competing for the same customers that I am. And so ⁓ the that I find ⁓ most is that even though there is like this inherent competitiveness amongst day parts, amongst wallet share. there's still a willingness to help somebody out. Which I think is unique to this industry Aaron: Yeah. So I think I ask you this for every single show you attend, but I will continue the tradition. what what was the was the shocker? surprised you or you thought was cool or what the ⁓ the big one or two things? ⁓ Jeff Perera: The thing that most The thing that blows my mind about the restaurant show in particular is the scale at which the brands and the businesses come out. Like, I mean, it is like it's an all-out I'm talking like 20 by 20 foot booths, multi-level experiences, three or four different activations happening at a booth. it's always mind blowing just think about the size and the scale of which these businesses show up. Like we spent time ⁓ with Kraft Heinz, a person walking around with Oscar Meyer hot dogs just in of like ballpark like shoulder, like, you know, ⁓ ballpark like a ballpark vendor. ⁓ Aaron: ⁓ like a full on ballpark ⁓ wow. That's amazing. Jeff Perera: Yeah, yeah. They're passing out hot dogs, they've got all their condiments you could dress with, you know, pickle ketchup if you want, regular ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, whatever, decorate. W all while they have another activation happening where you can customize your own Heinz ketchup bottles. ⁓ and by the way, yeah, no, it's not done, because in the same booth they have a chef cooking custom dishes every three hours, delivering new product. The adjacent Aaron: That's crazy. Jeff Perera: Like inside the booth, the adjacent, like, I don't know, ten foot space is a lecture happening on XYZ topic. It's amazing. And that's just like and that's a s and this is Craft Times, one of largest companies probably in the world. And they have a small booth. I mean, you should see the side like there's full there's full blown commercial kitchens built inside of this by like the the make the equipment manufacturers have Aaron: By comparison. Jeff Perera: Got full blown kitchens running and they're baking whatever, they're cooking, they're doing whatever. Full demos. Aaron: That's wild. Jeff Perera: So the scale of this thing is what I think blows me away. Blows me away. Aaron: What was the the most interesting vendor that you saw? Like what was a vendor that you're like, I didn't even know that was a thing? Jeff Perera: ⁓ my gosh, this is hilarious. Okay, so I know it's a thing, but I didn't necessarily expect to be captured and sucked into the booth by because of this. So as you're walking through the show floor, you know, as there's some areas of the show you may not need to be looking at, right? I don't know, maybe it's ⁓ packaged goods or I don't know, like ⁓ maybe you're like Aaron: Yeah, knives, pots and pans. Jeff Perera: Knives, yeah. We don't need knives, right? We don't we don't really use any knives in the shop. So whatever, you're walking through. And we're going I'm going down this aisle and ⁓ a vendor's like, ⁓ that's a cool hat. And I'm wearing a hat like yours with the bagel logo on it. And he's like, I think that's a bagel. Like he says to like his colleague in the booth, and he's like and then kind of under his breath, just still talking about it, like, ⁓ that's a cool hat. Like he was obviously trying to capture my attention. But then he kept going and I and he so he hooked me and I turn around Aaron: Yeah. Jeff Perera: And I was like, It is a bagel. He's like, That's cool. He's like, Where well I don't understand. What is it? I was like, It's our brand. It's Jeff's bagel run. And he's like, ⁓ it's amazing. And he reaches ⁓ like a plastic container out to me, hands it to me. He goes, I sell urinal cakes. Aaron: That's the op that's the opener? What's he hand you? What could he possibly hand? Jeff Perera: And he hand he a urinal cake, a urinal cake in a plastic bag, Aaron. And he's like, every restaurant's got bathrooms, every bathroom needs to smell good and be clean. That's my business. I was like, this is the best pitch I've ever had. Aaron: What? He just gives you a urinal cake on the f on the floor. Jeff Perera: On the floor, just hands it to me. Gives me his business card and he's like, Call me if you want your bathrooms to smell great. Aaron: We I I think we have to call him, but I mean ⁓ we need the the bagel scented ⁓ you know ⁓ urinal Where's the n he needs to soliciting us for for for cross promotion. How how lovely that'd be nice ⁓ you know? Jeff Perera: Pingle shape urinal cakes. Aaron: Yes I don't know if we wanna associate her or f I didn't think this through, if I'm being honest. But Jeff Perera: ⁓ Yeah. I see where you were going and I think that's a no. Aaron: I I caught that halfway through. It's like, you know, the shape and the no, it's no. Jeff Perera: I just was so impressed with his pure ambition. I don't know. It was great. He's a super nice guy too. It was like, yeah, we got like 35 locations. We're all over the country. He's like, ⁓ that's so cool. Congratulations. And Yeah, I did. I got it. It's it's upstairs. It's in my house. I got it. We gotta bring it to the shop. It did, it worked. No, a hundred percent. It was perfect. It was well executed. I was very impressed. ⁓ Aaron: Ha It's amazing. Did you take it home? Did it make it into the luggage? See he worked. This is a good activation. Jeff Perera: ⁓ the restaurant show was great though, Aaron. It was a lot of fun I'll leave you with this the big trends at the restaurant show were AI and ⁓ pro and protein. Aaron: Not surprisingly. Jeff Perera: AI and protein. That's what everybody was talking about. We can automate this and we can beef up your protein here. Pun intended. Aaron: That that's interesting that protein continues to be a sort of an industry wide topic, just because that stuff tends to cycle and protein's been in the you know, in the conversation for a bit now, about a year or more, as far as like being in a peak conversation. So it's interesting that it has staying power so far. Jeff Perera: Yeah, protein is sticking around. I think fiber is also something coming in. It's always these little kind of like what's good for you now, dietary, nutritional components, it's interesting. The other thing I heard a lot about was dirty sodas. Aaron: Dietary. Yeah. ⁓ really? Interesting. Jeff Perera: So much dirty soda. And really not even in the traditional sense of a dirty soda anymore, which I think I don't even know where it originated from. I don't want to pretend like I know, I don't know the answer to this question, but the original dirty soda was basically like a a Coke or Dr. Pepper with some vanilla syrup and a little half and half added to it. And you know, you're taking a product that already exists and then just like creating some kind of mixed beverage out of it. So the landscape of beverage has changed a ton. over the course of the last seven to eight years, I would say. And I mean, Seven Brew is growing like crazy. You've got Dutch Brothers, you've got Swig, Scooters. I there're so many drive thru coffee places happening right now. And they don't just sell coffee. They sell beverages. And that was Aaron: It's crafted drinks is like a category. Jeff Perera: Yeah, a hundred percent. And it was everywhere. It was probably as prolific as protein. So Aaron: I mean it's it's a good thing really if you think about it though, because it is sort of category expanding. I I've always sort of thought of a dirty soda as just being a an alternative to a coffee. It's like, hey, I wanna treat this crafted beverage. Like, why do coffee people get to have all the fun? With the syrups and the cold foams and the you know, everything is sort of coffee centered. It's like, hey, just give me a different base to start from. Jeff Perera: Yeah. Aaron: And I kinda always thought dirty sodas is that sort of thing, which again, as a crafted beverage you know, s menu instead of options, it you can kinda go a whole new direction. Jeff Perera: ⁓ for sure. it's on every menu. And so I think it's one of those ⁓ items that if you're not it now, ⁓ you're probably missing a segment your business. So Aaron: Did you s did you sample any when you were there? Jeff Perera: So many So many. Aaron: So many. That's so so much soda. Didn't sleep at all. Just wired for three straight days. Jeff Perera: I Aaron, th this is probably the wildest part about the show is you show up, it's nine thirty, you visit the Kraft Heinz booth and you get a hot dog for breakfast. You walk over to your friends at Dr. Pepper and you have a Doctor Pepper milkshake and then you chase it with ⁓ Doctor Pepper dirty soda. And then the next thing you know you're in in You're in like Meatville and there's like all there's like every vendor that serves like red meat is just like slicing and dicing like beef of different varieties and preparing it and you're just eating meat and then you're on a cheese. It's just it's your stomach really doesn't know what to do. Aaron: I would imagine it's very jarring. Jeff Perera: They got brownies, you g I it's it's it's a lot. It's so much. Aaron: So, really, that's how you have to plan your walking. You need to look at the floor map and say, Do it, can I build a menu out of this? Jeff Perera: You can do that, but then you end up over in like they have a whole section on the floor that's ⁓ dedicated to the fifty states and so the states then represent like that local department of agriculture or tourism or whatever then represents kind of the state. So you're like walking through the state and you're trying all sorts of things because like you know, s you're in Idaho and they've got potatoes. You're in Florida, they're like you're getting seafood, you're it's it's so much. It's so much. Aaron: Sure. Jeff Perera: It's really a lot. But it's so fun. Aaron: And then s and then somebody hands you a somebody hands you a urinal kick on your way out and you're done. Capped off the whole show. Jeff Perera: That's it, and then you're headed home to Florida. That's it. It's a wrap. ⁓ Aaron: That's probably the craziest activation I've ever heard. I've seen some weird ones, but Jeff Perera: I was so impressed with that guy. He's like, I sell urinal cakes. I was like, ⁓ man, this is great. I was like, I'm so glad I stopped. I really am. I thought it was just so good. It was so good. He did it. He won the day. I'm still talking about it. Aaron: I mean but if that's the measure for marketing, you did it. Jeff Perera: He won. He won. A hundred percent. So but the restaurant show was great. ⁓ it was a lot of fun. I definitely look forward to it. we've got tour starting in two weeks. Danielle and I are gonna get out and ⁓ visit a bunch of stores. around the country, so that'll be fun. So we might pop into your neighborhood. And then yeah, I mean it's just it's already June. So next week we got a big show, big podcast next week. Are you ready? Aaron: Here. I I'm about as ready as I'm gonna be. It's I think it's gonna be awesome. ⁓ you you've you have worked this space before over at our friends in UCF. Jeff Perera: Yeah, so we're gonna be going yeah, we're gonna be at UCF College of Business at The Exchange. And the Exchange is a program where students can come in for credit and sit on various numbers of lectures, fireside chats by business professionals essentially their ⁓ back and They get, three or four credits for that. And so ⁓ it is kind of a opportunity to learn from ⁓ people are doing it. We get tons of questions about entrepreneurship, about starting a business. ⁓ And we're gonna podcast from there, which think is gonna be a new ⁓ Aaron: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I that it's it's a great audience for sort of topic ⁓ and I'm looking forward to seeing what they bring. Jeff Perera: They always do. And right now I think they've got about a hundred students registered, so it's gonna be a pretty full pretty full room. Aaron: Blows my mind. That's eighty more students than I thought. So it's I'm already it's already blown my mind. Jeff Perera: It's I think ⁓ yeah, you're gonna really enjoy it. It's fun. The students are always inquisitive, they just have a great approach to to life. It's kind of hard for us old to remember what it's like to be like nineteen or twenty. So it's fun to it's fun to relive it a little bit. ⁓ Aaron: I mean we've got you've got a you've got kids in or through college. Mine's about to start, so like we're on the we're on the distant side of this. We're already s we're already seeding the next generation in the college, that's how far we are from it. But it'll be good, it'll be good to go back. Jeff Perera: Yeah. No doubt. But it's fun. It's it's still fun to go back. So But that's all I got this week, Aaron. Bake fresh, bring joy, build community. We'll see you next week.