If you haven’t read it yet, check out our chat with Man Cereal’s co-founder Emily Straus on the snackification of creatine, this space is about to get even weirder than protein, you heard it here first.
More Protein Scoops?
Yes, frozen yogurt is having a comeback but I’m more interested in this protein soft serve by Happier Grocery, it opens the doors for others to replicate this across the US and internationally and it was about time. Like I’ve reported before, we are witnessing the Halo Top-fication of ice cream, a decade ago it was about packing the most ice cream for less calories, and now we’re caring about how much protein is packed in a pint. This isn’t something just happening in US, from Natty (which also comes in single serve format) to Protein Pints (which has landed in Target) and Sweet Gains (yassified) I’ve also spotted brands in Australia following suit so we might see this popping up in other markets as well.
I’ve been seeing a lot of wellness influencers post their own cottage cheese ice cream hacks that reminds me of that wave when everyone was using bananas as an alt-ice cream…Joe Rotondo may have just been unto something when he launched Smearcase, the first cottage cheese ice cream brand in the US, they have debuted at Whole Foods in some regional spots in the Northeast, and have a hunch they could do really well if they ever land in Texas.
If I was a major ice cream brand, I’d be paying attention to these players to potentially scoop up as a way to hedge against GLP-1. Regardless of how many more people are on Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound, people still want dessert, as long as its with protein.
On the topic of ice cream, Sweetgreen released a collaboration with Morgenstern’s, a roasted corn flavored, corn shaped ice cream, and people loved it so much they are asking them to bring it to other cities. I like this new era of Sweetgreen where they partner with hyper niche, seemingly luxe spots to make it more mainstream and shape it for their audience, their recent collaboration with COTE featured three different KBBQ inspired bowls that were available in all SG locations around the US. I’m curious who will be the next restaurant or local spot collab, like if they came to Texas would it be a BBQ place or mexican restaurant? I would love to know what the criteria for choosing the next one is like, and curious who you think they would make a great collab with?
David Wants You Cod Maxxing
This one most definitely gagged the ingredient purists, in an iconic plot twist, David is now selling cod, or what can be considered a frozen protein bar. Cod has 92% calories from protein while David’s actual bar only has 75%—that is still 20% more than most of the protein bars out in the market. You may be thinking this is a spoof, considering just how much backlash David has gotten for using EPG and “non-clean” ingredients—I see this as a triumph on their part, a way to silence the haters but also contributes to what looks to be their goal of “protein-as-a-platform.”
The fish is sourced by Kyle Lee, a commercial fisherman with Alaskan Salmon Company, the price for 4 filets is $55 including expedited shipping, which comes out to be around $13/cod filet which is in line with what ASC sells theirs for, so although its a lot more pricier than what you’d get for the private label brand at Whole Foods, ASC uses personal fishermen to catch your fish, so I’m assuming it's worth the premium.
I actually placed an order today, all for the sake of journalism, and will be letting you all decide how I should cook them, should I marinate them in Baja Blast? Protein and fishtalk go hand in hand, check out this Reddit thread on the superiority of fish when it comes to protein, Fishwife did a protein giveaway earlier this year and is constantly showing recipes that leverage the protein contents of its tinned seafood—if you’re the type to prefer fish over meat when it comes to protein, would love to hear from you!
Farm-to-Runway
Doublet collaborated with Sky High Farm on a runway collection that was a feast for the eyes, inspired by “itadakimasu” a japanese phrase that is said before eating to express gratitude, it’s a blend of sustainability meets whimsical, from ripe banana hoodies to fish net sweaters and egg hats. I’ll be writing more about the farm-neissance happening around the US that gives me a lot more hope thinking about newer generations actually getting inspired to take on the arduos labor it entails, more on that soon.
In other news…
Is Starbuck’s retreating from China? It was only 3 years ago that Starbuck’s had the ambitious plan of opening almost 10,000 in China by 2025, that meant they would be opening one every 9 hours… fast forward to now, they are allegedly looking for ways to offload that, even as Chinese consumers embrace coffee over tea, they are entertaining bids as high as $10B. They might have not been able to conquer China, but Luckin took Starbuck’s encroaching on their territory quiet personally and instead recently opened in NYC (funny enough Luckin was the brand that Blank Street based itself off) —watch this space.
Tomatoes are about to get pricier—tomato summer is canceled after Trump has imposed 17% tariffs on fresh Mexican tomatoes, which makes no sense considering the U.S. gets around 70% of its tomatoes from Mexico, that’s around $3B worth of tomatoes every year.