Podcasts about RTD

How do you balance two brands that are runaway successes?   Stateside Brands president Matthew Quigley explained on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast how the maker of vodka iced tea brand Surfside is juggling the addition of Super Lyte, a non-carbonated hard sports drink (vodka + ade).   From a marketing perspective, Stateside has created dedicated teams for each brand, he explained. On the sales side, the company has built a national accounts team and stable of state managers who, after two years, finally have the bandwidth to take on another brand.   The result is another brand in Super Lyte that is being dubbed the drink of the summer, while Surfside is on pace to sell 13 million cases this year, Quigley shared.   Meanwhile, Super Lyte is expected to sell four million cases by year's end, making it the largest spirits-based ready-to-drink (RTD) launch of all time, he added.   "It shot the lights out in our core in Pennsylvania, Jersey, New York," he said. "It just went gangbusters and it's still doing incredibly, incredibly well."   Stateside is now pushing Super Lyte into 40-plus states to gain a "first-mover advantage" with a host of new challenger brands entering the hard sports drink segment, Quigley said.   The target now is for both brands to cross the 25-million-case threshold.   "If they both get over 25 million cases, which is like High Noon's highwater mark, I'm a happy guy," Quigley said. "I think I've done my job. Time will tell."   Ahead of the interview, Brewbound's Jessica Infante and Zoe Licata breakdown the the latest headlines, including: Samuel Adams front of house workers' successful unionization effort; Mark Anthony's termination of Coors Distributing in the Denver metro; The end of Stateside's lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch InBev over its Skimmers brand. The duo also tackles the NFL's crackdown on player celebrations pantomiming drinking a beer (or juice).

The AI bubble, 2027 market warning, rising Treasury yields, S&P 500, and Michael Burry are creating a critical market question: did stocks already approach a cycle peak? We examine historical bubble patterns, AI valuations, yields, banks, copper, and what could come next.

Silver prices retreated as PCE inflation cooled, Treasury yields fell and the U.S. dollar pulled back. Core PCE rose 3% year over year, strengthening the case for a Fed pause as markets reassess rates, inflation and silver.

Learn more at: www.craftbeerrebranded.com / http://www.beyondbeerbook.com - Have a topic or question you'd like us to field on the show? Shoot it our way: hello@cododesign.com - Join 9,500+ food and bev industry pros who are subscribed to the Beer Branding Trends Newsletter (and access all past issues) at: www.beerbrandingtrends.com  

Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery as the government pushes to process more of its mineral wealth domestically. The new facility reflects Ibrahim Traoré's effort to increase state control over gold production and reduce reliance on exporting raw materials.

AI stocks now represent 41% of the U.S. stock market, matching the concentration seen at the 2000 dot-com peak. Here's what Bank of America's historical bond-yield comparison reveals about today's AI stock boom.

McDonald's stock is under pressure as rising menu prices, slowing US sales and customer concerns over value challenge the fast-food giant. Now McDonald's is betting on an $8.5 billion plan involving technology, restaurant upgrades, food quality and customer experience.

Rich talks about his guest column for the Richmond Times Dispatch on the Dominion Energy merger.

Polymarket bets involving JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America collapsing are reportedly raising questions as regulators and lawmakers pay attention to prediction markets and trading volume.

In this video I want to share my perspective on what I'm seeing in the bond market, rising Treasury yields, and the growing pressure facing the Federal Reserve. The numbers, charts, and historical patterns are raising important questions about where interest rates, debt markets, and monetary policy could be heading.In this video, I break down why the recent moves in bond yields caught my attention, how today's environment compares with previous periods of market stress, and why I believe the Federal Reserve could face difficult decisions if current trends continue.I'll walk through historical Fed rate cycles, previous moments when bond yields reached critical levels, and the relationship between rising debt costs, interest rates, and financial market stability.

Senate Iran War Powers Resolution vote explained. The Senate rejected a resolution by a 50-49 vote, with four Republicans supporting it and John Fetterman voting against it. See the breakdown of the vote and reactions surrounding the decision.Get the Eagle of Truth t-shirt here: https://www.rethinkingthedollar.com/store/the-eagle-of-truth-t-shirt/

Iran-Israel tensions are escalating as oil prices and Treasury yields climb. The Iran-Israel crisis just sent a warning to global markets. There can be no PEACE. This breakdown connects Iran's latest warning, Middle East tensions, global debt, bond pressure, and what markets may be signaling next.

Send us Fan MailWhen Bryce and Jill Morrison started diluting flavored vodka into an old Dasani bottle so Jill could stop feeling bloated and hungover after a day in the sun, they weren't trying to build a brand; they just wanted her friends to stop asking for the recipe. Neither of them had ever worked in alcohol: Bryce came from hospice sales, Jill from occupational therapy. What started as a homemade fix for their pool days in southern Indiana became Mom Water, the first non-carbonated, unsweetened vodka water on the market, and today one of the top 5 independent RTD brands in the country, still family-owned and funded off a line of credit rather than outside investment, sold in tens of thousands of retail locations nationwide.In this episode, co-founder Bryce Morrison joins the Park Street Insider to talk about building a national alcohol brand with zero industry experience — learning distribution, co-packing, and federal excise tax as he went. He shares why leaning into an unapologetically mom-centric identity, rather than chasing a broader audience, became Mom Water's biggest growth engine; how the brand scaled almost entirely on word-of-mouth and organic social content instead of paid marketing; and what it took to hand the CEO role to his sister, Kara, while staying independent and keeping the family-run culture that built the company intact.Park Street Imports is the back-office and importing solution for alcoholic beverage brands launching and scaling in the U.S. market.Featured Guests:Bryce Morrison, Co-Founder, Mom WaterMentioned in the Episode:Mom WaterWant to stay in the know about new episodes from the podcast? Click the link here.Learn More About Park StreetSign up for our Daily Industry Newsletter.Sign Up for our Monthly Newsletter.Check out Park Street's Guide to Getting Started in the U.S. MarketFollow us for more industry insights onLinkedIn FacebookTwitterInstagram

We're back with Part 2 of our PursuitPalooza 2026 AMA session. We kick off by tackling the business realities of the RTD boom because we keep punting the idea if we should do one ourselves, and exploring why entering the canned cocktail market is a completely different beast than aging bourbon in a barrel. We talk about some the weirdest tasting notes we've ever pulled like peanut butter and jelly, peach rings, and Grandma's candy jar. Finally, we get personal about what it really takes to run an independent spirits company. We talk about managing operational pressure, our core philosophy of "no problems, only solutions," and some of the wild, unfiltered Palooza memories from over the years. Show Notes: RTDs vs. Aged Whiskey: The hidden challenges of canned cocktails, including shelf-life stability, high R&D costs, and retail distribution hurdles. Sourcing Strategy: Why Pursuit Spirits prioritizes proven legacy distillates over volatile craft profiles to establish consumer trust. Wild Tasting Notes: Recalling the most unusual flavor profiles we've encountered, from PB&J and peach rings to farmyard funky pours. Labeling & TTB Regulations: How slight legal nuances define "straight bourbon" versus finished expressions, and what consumers actually notice. Leadership & Problem Solving: Behind the scenes of scaling Pursuit Spirits, empowering employees, and keeping cool under operational stress. Celebrity Brands & Industry Hype: Our unfiltered thoughts on celebrity-backed spirits, hazmat-proof trends, and the ongoing craze for allocated bottles. Palooza War Stories: Reliving hilarious, late-night Palooza memories, EDM club outings, and keeping the annual event fresh for repeat attendees. Historical Dream Pours: Ryan and Kenny name the iconic figures—including George Garvin Brown and President William Howard Taft—they'd love to share a dram with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump addresses higher gas prices tied to the Iran war, calling them “a very inexpensive price to pay” and predicting prices will come “tumbling down.” The remarks triggered sharply divided reactions over war, energy costs, and the economy.

The CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate as ethics concerns over Trump-linked crypto interests collided with the push for U.S. crypto regulation. Now crypto markets face another uncertainty: an expected Fed rate hike.

Meredith Mills-Merritt didn't set out to make just another canned cocktail. Drawing on her background in beauty and brand innovation, she reimagined the RTD category with a family Southside recipe built on cleaner ingredients and transparency. We talk about building an alcohol brand from the ground up, why authenticity matters more than marketing, the future of drinking culture, and how the Clean Alcohol Collective is pushing the industry forward. It's a thoughtful conversation about gin, entrepreneurship, and creating a brand with purpose—not just another product.

Points of discussion: 1. Fingers.email 2. Dave's Vine Pair Column - Learn more at: www.craftbeerrebranded.com / http://www.beyondbeerbook.com - Have a topic or question you'd like us to field on the show? Shoot it our way: hello@cododesign.com - Join 9,500+ food and bev industry pros who are subscribed to the Beer Branding Trends Newsletter (and access all past issues) at: www.beerbrandingtrends.com  

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2Middle East oil supply risks are escalating. Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and Strait of Hormuz could affect nearly 30 million barrels per day of oil flows.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2The CLARITY Act could reshape U.S. crypto regulation by defining SEC and CFTC oversight of digital assets. The transcript examines the Senate vote, DeFi, stablecoins, AML rules, ethics provisions, and the dispute over President Trump's family crypto ventures.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F210-Year Treasury yields are spiking toward 4.84% while 30-year yields reach 5.3%. Gold gave up a $60 gain as rising yields and persistent U.S. debt issuance pressure markets.

Note: This is a hiatus episode from our Wilderness Years coverage—the pivot point between Classic and New Who, and the story where Jim's own Doctor Who journey began. Love the podcast? Consider joining us on Patreon for early access, exclusive episodes, and the option to commission your own Doctor Who story. Three and a half years. That's how long John and Jim have been traveling toward this exact moment. After every televised Classic serial and a long stretch of Wilderness Years curiosities, they finally arrive at the 1996 TV Movie—the strange, beautiful anomaly in the negative zone between old and new Who. It's a big one, and the hosts give it the full two-hour treatment. It Is Doctor Who, and It Isn't The central tension both hosts keep circling: this is unmistakably Doctor Who—TARDIS, regeneration, the Master, a delightfully off-kilter hero—and yet it's filmed, lit, and paced like a mid-'90s American TV movie (one host insists it smacks of the '80s). They dig into what makes it feel simultaneously familiar and foreign, why the darkness (literal and tonal) pushes against the classic feeling, and how, for all its Americanization, Paul McGann almost single-handedly holds the Britishness together. And they push back on the lazy "it's basically American" take—writer, director, and producer were all British-born. The Long, Strange Road to Getting Made A signature Doctor's Beard production deep-dive: Philip Segal's years-long campaign to bring Doctor Who to American screens, Spielberg and Amblin circling the project, the BBC's two warring minds (Enterprises wanting the merchandising to continue, Drama wanting the "tatty old show" gone), the abandoned Ulysses/Borusa "searching for his father" script, and the tangle of three masters Segal had to please. The hosts trace how the pilot came together, why Fox insisted on an American villain, and the wild casting names that circled the Doctor before McGann (Eric Idle, Alan Rickman, Michael Crawford—and, memorably, David Hasselhoff). Paul McGann, and Why He Earns It Both hosts land firmly in the McGann camp. They talk through the moment the Doctor's memory floods back on those "warm Gallifreyan nights," the joyous shoe-recognition beat that instantly signals this is the Doctor, and why—despite reservations about the wig and the look—McGann sells the role completely. There's a spirited defense of the movie's most poignant moments as some of the finest in all of Who, and a discussion of how much of RTD's revival is seeded right here (the hand-holding "run!", the kiss, the summer-blockbuster energy). The Master, from Robotic to... Vamping Eric Roberts divides the hosts less than expected—one arrives braced for scenery-chewing and finds him surprisingly restrained early on, before the notorious third-act shift into full theatrical vamp. They debate whether this Master leans too far toward Ainley and not enough toward Delgado, how the portrayal became the template for the manic New Who Masters to come, and the murkier plot business (the snake essence, the stolen body, the "I always dress for the occasion" of it all). An Ignoble End for the Seventh Doctor Even the McCoy skeptic in the room feels for him here. The hosts wrestle with how little the outgoing Doctor is given—a single peaceful moment with a book and jazz before the whole thing goes wrong, no close-up, no line on stepping out, and a rough operating-table death scored over Puccini. They make the case that the Puccini alone would have played more nobly, and wish the Seventh Doctor had gotten pithier last words. The TARDIS That Changed Everything One host calls it his all-time favorite console room—the cathedral-like cloister space bleeding out into the whole interior—while noting it could never have worked on a weekly TV budget. Either way, it's another piece of DNA the modern show inherited, right down to the handbrake every TARDIS has had since. A Rights Maze, and the Ghost of Grace Holloway The hosts untangle who actually owns this thing (a Batman/Lost in Space-style split across the BBC, Fox, and Universal), why Grace and Chang Lee can't be referenced or revived elsewhere, and the small heartbreak of the later McGann regeneration short pointedly skipping Grace's name. A fascinating detour into the parallel rights headaches of the Godzilla films rounds it out. Odds, Ends, and Things to Put a Pin In The Superman-style credits, the Debney theme as a hint of themes to come, the half-human "on my mother's side" business the hosts happily absolve you of worrying about, the different US and UK cuts (including altered Dalek voices), the dedication to Jon Pertwee, and the genuinely lovely final beat where the Doctor extends a hand to save even the Master. Production Details: Premiere: May 12, 1996 (Canada) | May 14, 1996 (Fox, USA) | May 27, 1996 (BBC One, UK) Official Title: Doctor Who (unofficially subtitled The Enemy Within) Writer: Matthew Jacobs | Director: Geoffrey Sax | Producer: Philip Segal (all British-born) Filmed: January 15 – February 21, 1996, in Vancouver, Canada Budget: ~$5 million (Fox $2.5M; BBC Television £300k; BBC Worldwide and Universal splitting the remainder) Starring: Paul McGann (the Eighth Doctor), Eric Roberts (the Master, the first American to play an established Who villain), Daphne Ashbrook (Dr. Grace Holloway), Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee), Sylvester McCoy (the Seventh Doctor) Music: Original theme arranged by John Debney Same-Day Tie-ins: Novelization (Gary Russell) and a making-of book Dedication: To Jon Pertwee, who died May 20, 1996, days before the UK broadcast Ownership: Split across the BBC, Fox, and Universal—the reason Grace and Chang Lee can't be reused Key Discussion Points: Why the movie feels simultaneously like and unlike Doctor Who The years-long, Spielberg-adjacent journey to getting it made The BBC's civil war between Enterprises and Drama Fox's American-villain stipulation and the McCoy "keep him quiet" compromise Paul McGann as the Doctor, and the reservations about the look How much of RTD-era Who is seeded in this one movie Eric Roberts' Master and the template it set for New Who The Seventh Doctor's ignoble send-off The console room as both gorgeous and impractical The rights maze and the vanishing of Grace Holloway The half-human line, and permission to ignore it Coming Up Next: Saturday (Main Feed): Tom Baker takes on Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles—from the Patreon vault. Monday (Patreon Exclusive 186): A fan-proposed theme for Circuit Breaker (a theme for Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor), the Memory TARDIS, and the comics "Final Genesis," "Time and Time Again," and "Cuckoo." Friday (Patreon): The Wilderness Years resume with Jon Pertwee's final turn as the Doctor in the six-part BBC Radio adventure The Ghosts of N-Space. Did Barry Letts and company learn the lessons of The Paradise of Death—or double down? Hashtags: #DoctorWho #TVMovie #EighthDoctor #PaulMcGann #EricRoberts #TheMaster #SylvesterMcCoy #GraceHolloway #ClassicWho #WildernessYears #DoctorWhoPodcast

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2A massive US jobs report surprise sent gold, silver and crypto sharply lower as traders increased bets on a potential Fed rate hike. Nonfarm payrolls jumped 162,000 while unemployment held at 4.1%.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2Stocks rallied as Treasury yields fell after Fed Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for holding interest rates steady. The Dow jumped 635 points, the S&P 500 gained 1%, and Nasdaq rose 1.3% as Fed rate-hike odds dropped.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2Gold miners vs gold could be approaching a major breakout. After more than a decade of consolidation, miners may vastly outperform gold as gold overtakes Treasuries and gains ground against the US dollar.

Marcus Aurelius Anderson sits down with Adam J. Johnson, a 13 year Army veteran, combat medic, drill sergeant, and discipline coach, for a raw conversation about identity, addiction, and discipline. Adam traces his path from a directionless ex athlete who gained weight up to 275 lbs, to a personal trainer struggling after the 2008 recession, to a 28 year old Army enlistee who became a decorated NCO and senior drill sergeant. He opens up candidly about years of secretly battling alcohol addiction while excelling professionally, the identity crisis that fueled it, and how he built consistent systems to finally break the cycle. The conversation covers his new book, Redefined: The Discipline, and its companion 90 day journal, both built around his five code RTD system for turning self-honesty into lasting discipline. Episode Highlights: 3:29 — Adam recounts gaining 120 lbs after his football career ended, and the wake-up call that pushed him into fitness and nutrition. 15:04 — He shares his biggest life lesson in adversity: failing SFAS (Special Forces selection) after two years of dedicated training. 18:01 — A candid account of secretly battling alcoholism while performing as a squared-away platoon sergeant, living what he calls a double life. 34:57 — Adam explains the RTD system, showing how identity, consistency, and self-trust form the real foundation of discipline. Adam J. Johnson spent over 13 years in the U.S. Army as a combat medic and drill sergeant, training thousands of soldiers to meet standards they didn't believe they could reach. A former college football hopeful and personal trainer, Adam overcame a personal battle with alcohol addiction to become a keynote speaker and discipline coach. He is the author of Redefined: The Discipline and creator of the RTD (Redefined: The Discipline) system, a five code framework built on identity, consistency, and self-trust. Adam offers keynote speaking, coaching, and free resources including a discipline reset guide and diagnostic tool at adamjjohnson.com. Learn more about the gift of Adversity and my mission to help my fellow humans create a better world by heading to www.marcusaureliusanderson.com. There you can take action by joining my ANV inner circle to get exclusive content and information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Points of discussion: 1. Five Star Beverage Group 2. Shane Lohman on LinkedIN - Learn more at: www.craftbeerrebranded.com / http://www.beyondbeerbook.com - Have a topic or question you'd like us to field on the show? Shoot it our way: hello@cododesign.com - Join 9,500+ food and bev industry pros who are subscribed to the Beer Branding Trends Newsletter (and access all past issues) at: www.beerbrandingtrends.com  

Kerry Lutz, Debt, Taxes, Trust, and Technology: From the $40 Trillion Question to Colorado Rail and the AI Future The $40 Trillion Debt and the Dollar's Staying Power The episode opens with economist and Financial Survival Network founder Kerry Lutz discussing the roughly $40 trillion national debt and why a number that large can become psychologically easy to dismiss. Lutz argues that the dollar-based system can continue functioning as long as global markets retain confidence in U.S. currency, liquidity, and the ability to retrieve invested capital. He says the lack of a trusted replacement currency is a major reason the system continues, while increased central-bank gold buying may signal gradual erosion of confidence. He also describes the long-term decline in the dollar's purchasing power and argues that inflation disproportionately burdens middle-class people who own fewer appreciating assets. The hosts press him on when debt and inflation could reach a breaking point, and he offers a rough six-year possibility while emphasizing that such predictions are highly uncertain. Inflation, Government Spending, and Possible Alternatives Lutz rejects political promises of “affordability” as largely superficial and argues that persistent inflation is fundamentally monetary rather than simply the result of temporary shortages. He contrasts short-lived price spikes caused by market disruptions with broad inflation tied to money and government policy. His proposed solution is major reductions in government spending and taxation, while acknowledging that abruptly restructuring debt and public spending could produce a severe economic contraction. The discussion then considers whether China, the European Union, Russia, or another monetary system could eventually replace the U.S. dollar as the dominant reserve currency. Lutz argues that no credible alternative currently exists but says history shows that reserve currencies eventually change, and he cites the end of the gold link and the removal of silver from U.S. coinage as important turning points. Colorado's Proposed Front Range Commuter Rail After Lutz leaves, Chuck and Julie turn to a proposed commuter-rail project running along Colorado's Front Range from Fort Collins toward Pueblo. They strongly oppose the proposed sales tax, criticize the estimated cost and projected ridership, and use RTD as an example of what they see as unsuccessful mass-transit policy. They argue that small tax increases accumulate into a larger burden and connect the rail proposal to Lutz's earlier warning about government spending. The hosts and Jacob also discuss personal experiences using buses between Boulder and Denver, the absence of a sunset provision as they understand it, and their expectation that a large construction project could continue consuming money even if the final transportation service proves unpopular. Their comments are highly opinionated and repeatedly urge listeners to vote against the proposal. Russiagate, Comey, and Institutional Distrust The conversation then shifts to renewed attention on investigations surrounding James Comey and the Russia-related controversies of Donald Trump's first presidency. Julie discusses a federal grand-jury subpoena involving a man the transcript identifies as Daniel Richmond and lays out allegations concerning leaks, Comey memos, The New York Times, congressional testimony, and the origins of a special-counsel investigation. The hosts characterize these events as evidence of a “deep state” effort against Trump and express approval that the Trump administration is continuing to pursue the matter. They also discuss the FBI, Secret Service, Antifa, NGO funding, DOGE, USAID, Open Society, and the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of a broader argument that political and bureaucratic institutions remain deeply politicized. These assertions are presented as the speakers' views and allegations rather than independently established facts. Jury Nullification, COVID, and the Breakdown of Trust Julie raises reports of activists receiving jury-nullification training and explains the concept as jurors refusing to convict even when the legal evidence supports conviction. She expresses mixed feelings, seeing jury independence as a possible check on abusive prosecutors while worrying that partisan nullification could undermine the rule of law. Chuck connects the issue to judges who resist higher-court rulings, and both hosts argue that public confidence in government deteriorated dramatically during COVID. They criticize Dr. Fauci and question the independence of medical recommendations influenced by pharmaceutical companies, describing a culture in which patients increasingly feel compelled to research professional advice themselves. The broader theme is that distrust has moved, in their view, from a general suspicion of large government to specific accusations that institutions, judges, prosecutors, and public-health authorities have acted against citizens' interests. AI, Data Centers, Energy, and the Future of Professional Work The final portion examines AI data centers, their energy and water demands, and their growing political importance. Chuck argues that the United States must develop the energy infrastructure necessary to compete in AI or risk surrendering technological leadership to China, while warning against tax-abatement deals that leave local communities carrying costs. Julie discusses claims that some data-center cooling systems recirculate water and therefore may use less new water than critics suggest. The hosts also discuss how AI is changing law, journalism, and newsroom production, with Chuck planning additional training to apply AI to legal and publishing work. A final legal exchange with Jacob covers federal judicial structure and why a higher court cannot simply remove a lower-court judge, before the show closes with speculation about space-based computing, nuclear energy, and a joking reference to Skynet from The Terminator. SEO Keywords / Key Phrases national debt crisis, U.S. dollar reserve currency, inflation and purchasing power, Colorado commuter rail tax, Front Range transportation, government spending and taxes, federal grand jury investigation, jury nullification, AI data centers, artificial intelligence energy demand

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2Japan bond yields are surging as JGB demand weakens and Bank of Japan rate-hike expectations climb. With Japan's 10-year JGB yield hitting 2.95%, rising borrowing costs could intensify fiscal pressure and create spillover risks for US Treasuries and the yen carry trade.

Nonfat rallied nearly 30 cents in about 15 days. Can that rally can hold? WPC80 is showing its first real signs of softness in a while. Is it a seasonal slowdown or a sign? And milk proteins are still finding support. Will demand stay strong as new products come online, or will the economy finally put a lid on protein? In episode 105 of The Milk Check, host Ted Jacoby III and the T.C. Jacoby & Co. team focus on two of the busiest corners of the dairy market right now: nonfat and protein. In this episode, we cover: Why low inventories could keep powder markets volatile How exports, Mexico and production interruptions contributed to the move How the price gap between whey and milk proteins is encouraging reformulation What consumer spending, GLP-1 use and alternative proteins, and the economy could mean for dairy protein demand But this is still a market with plenty of unanswered questions. Listen as the team at T.C. Jacoby & Co. shares their view and outlook on what's coming and why. Listen to The Milk Check episode 105: Powder pops. WPC 80 slips. Dairy proteins defy gravity. Also available on: Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check Transcript: Ted Jacoby III: [00:00:00] Coming up on the Milk Check. Diego Carvallo: We’ve had a 28 or 30 cent nonfat rally in a matter of about 15 days that caught a lot of people by surprise. Ted Jacoby III: Welcome to the Milk Check from T.C. Jacoby & Co., your complete guide to dairy markets, from the milking parlor to the supermarket shelf. I’m Ted Jacoby. Let’s dive in. Ted Jacoby III: We are going to have a very focused market discussion. We’re recording this on August 24th, and the reality is, so far in the milk side of the business, things have been relatively underwhelming. We’re expecting milk to tighten up. It has, but only in a very normal way, so nothing huge to talk about. Cheese has been a non-event. The cheese market is very quiet right now. We’re expecting it to stay quiet. But there’s been a lot going on in nonfat and a lot going on in protein. So we’re gonna focus on nonfat and protein today. Diego, let’s go ahead and get started on nonfat. What’s been going on in the nonfat market, and what do you think is gonna happen next? Diego Carvallo: It’s been a very interesting market, Ted. We’ve had a 28 or 30 cent nonfat rally in a matter of about 15 days that caught a lot of people by surprise. We went from about $1.45 per pound to $1.75. And now we’re slightly below that. We’re close to the 1.70, but the CME spot market has remained at a premium. I think what led to this rally were a couple of things. One is when we got to 1.45, we became very competitive for skim milk powder. And we know for a fact that a few of the large producers in the U.S. made very interesting sales for exports after having exported very little for this year so far. That helped manufacturers and the whole market, find some sort of psychological support to prices. And then, at the same time, we noticed how several of the manufacturers were in a relatively good spot when it comes to sales for August and September. They were not having burdensom inventories, and they were pretty proud with their offers. So I think the whole market realized that Mexico still had a few shorts that they needed to cover. We made some international exports after not exporting for a while, so I think the whole market found some support and it rallied quite a bit. I was also surprised to see that rally. I think we got to the $1.75 and we started seeing pushback from Mexico. We started not being competitive in international markets again. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a correction in the coming days. At the same time, there are some rumors and also facts of production interruptions by some manufacturers. That also got people nervous, and I think that also contributed to the market rally. Ted Jacoby III: What do you mean by production interruptions? Diego Carvallo: There’s news that have gone around about some plants having recalls and some also production issues that have delayed [00:03:00] their releases. That added to a market that was nervous already. Ted Jacoby III: So, basically, a supply chain that has been relatively low on inventory to begin with, any kind of potential supply disruption such as another FDA recall or something that at least holds that product for a little while, the market’s just pretty sensitive to that, and that’s causing this extra volatility. Diego Carvallo: Exactly. Yep. Ted Jacoby III: Jake, what has this volatility been doing to the hedgability of our nonfat market? Jacob Menge: We’ve seen pretty poor CME NDPSR correlation compared to history. I don’t know if poor correlation is the word, but if you’re in short-term hedges you have a coin flip here of how well that hedge is gonna work for you. But in general the market’s actually been pricing in lower volatility than what we have actually realized. That’s over a multi-month period. So there might be a week where you are along for the ride of a really sharp move one way or the other. But in general I would say it’s been fairly functional, the market has. Weird low volume in some of this volatility. I think that’s probably the one note is you’ll have really volatile markets like this. I would have expected better volume like we saw with our crazy run-up in February, March, whenever that was. Ted Jacoby III: What do you read into the low volume? Jacob Menge: Yeah, I don’t know. They’re numb to it now, after what everybody experienced in March, a quick little, 15, 20 cent pop doesn’t scratch the itch anymore. The market probably was a little bit better covered than they were back in February, March. So, even though the pop happened, more participants could sit on the sideline without panicking yet. Now, if we continue at these prices for another month or something like that, there’s gonna have to be more buyers, and I would imagine that leads to some more participation. Ted Jacoby III: Diego, how do you see this market playing out over the next three to six months? Do you think the volatility comes out of the market, or do you think we’re on this rollercoaster and we still gotta stay buckled up? Diego Carvallo: I think we’re gonna still have volatility, Ted. And the main reason is Europe, which is a significant player for the SMP market has gone through very bad weather. It’s gotten very hot. Solids in the milk are going down, and for that reason the cheese plants are having to use more milk. So, there’s fewer volumes of liquid milk hitting the dryer at a period where we have little inventories in Europe, so I think that’s gonna contribute to high volatility. And the same scenario can be said of the U.S. We don’t have much inventory. The manufacturers are sitting in a good spot in terms of availability. They do not have too much pressure to sell. So, any type of disruption to supply chains, production, or any pickup in demand, it’s gonna result in big swings, both ways, not only up. Josh White: I think that our seasonality has shifted. We’re already hearing rumblings that there’s some Ramadan buying beginning [00:06:00] to happen. That’s business not too many years ago didn’t happen until the first quarter. That helped create a outlet to clean your inventories before the heavy seasonal production for Europe and the U.S. Now, that business is trying to get in front of Christmas business and Chinese New Year business, and it’s coming at the worst time, when the U.S. is in a short squeeze, Europe is going through a heat wave, New Zealand’s not yet completely online, and it’s keeping things tight. My personal opinion is that we’re drowning in nonfat within the first quarter. We don’t have anywhere to go with it. This whole phenomenon’s been set up that we’ve been selling nonfat domestically somewhere that used to take skim solids. Somewhere in the margins, people are buying powder that usually interchange between powder or cheap skim, that it may have been buying skim more recently. Right now is the tightest time ever to be selling UF products, yet everyone’s responding with incremental UF production at the same time that everyone’s launching more UF competitive products. That’s gonna be saturated at the exact same time we don’t have anywhere to go with powder. Q1 looks ugly to me from a skim solid standpoint. Ramadan is like the second week of February or slightly before, which means that Chinese New Year, they’re within a few weeks of each other. Last year they were already bumping into each other, but there was plenty of inventory. Don Street: You get through October, typically we would say U.S. Christmas demand, certainly for nonfat, is filled at that point because you’re manufacturing things, cookies, crackers, whatever, and that would also be your lead time to ship. So, you could even see, if you’re right, this convergence to the downside in November, December, even before Q1. Josh White: I think markets have been really smart, too. Whenever we find the points at which we think it happens, it seems like the market’s anticipating, and we’ve been trading anticipatory markets, and it’s moving a little bit in advance of that. This sounds really smart until you realize you’re already in it. I think we are already in it, and that’s created a little bit of the bump that we’ve seen right now as everyone’s trying to get in front of short covering. Every sell-off I think is gonna be met With buying for the next month or so. Ted Jacoby III: Everybody, we will be right back after these messages. Diego Carvallo: I’m Diego Carballo with T.C. Jacoby & Co. T.C. Jacoby & Co. specializes in international dairy markets. For new customers that haven’t done business with Jacoby, I would tell them that we can provide them with many of the powders, dairy products that they consume, not only with the physical product, but we can also help them mitigate their risk. We know dairy. We know the main players. We know the main providers for the whole value chain. We are one of the strongest players in the U.S. market because we have contact all the way from the farmer moving the liquid milk all the way to the end users that buy the end products. I am [00:09:00] Diego Carballo with T.C. Jacoby & Co., and we bring dairy to the world. Ted Jacoby III: We’re gonna come back to nonfat in a second, but I’m gonna switch over to protein and ask Josh what he’s seeing in the protein market, and then we’re gonna talk about if there’s any relationship between the two. Josh, what’s going on in protein, whey proteins, milk proteins? Has this market changed at all, or are we still on the bullish ride? Josh White: I’m not really ready to call a change in the long-term trend, but the market has softened, particularly for WPC80 over the past few weeks. What’s difficult to read, is this the product of the summer holiday season and just a little bit of a Q3 slowdown in B2B buyer activity and are things fine on the consumer end? Ted, it’s a tough-to-read market at the moment, but I would say over the last several weeks to a month, we’ve definitely seen more availability for products like WPC80 in the market, and the market’s really trying to digest that. After many quarters of higher pricing than the prior quarter, we’re now in a spot where if you’re out there looking for an extra load or two, you might be able to achieve it at a price better than you did in the prior quarter or where your quarterly contracts are. It’s the first time we’ve experienced that in a while. I don’t know that I’m ready to call that the end of the long-term uptrend in dairy protein, in particular whey protein, but it certainly feels like we could retrace a bit. Let’s take a peek at one or two variables that could be contributing to this. One is just the seasonality of it. We’re coming out of the summer holiday season. A lot of buyers, particularly in the B2B transactions, have been away from their desks on their summer holidays and are now starting to return to the desk and take an assessment of how their supply chain and inventory situation looks. I don’t think that’s limited just to protein. We’re seeing that across all of our dairy commodities. And over the last seven to 10 days, some of the activity with customers has picked up a bit. Secondly, we’ve priced ourselves out of the international market, or at least the European pricing and the U.S. pricing has achieved levels that have slowed down the international appetite. And as a result, we’ve seen that reflected in our export numbers. Does that create enough incremental and additional volume for the U.S. consumer that puts us in a spot where there’s extra product available? And maybe we will see a little bit more of an aggressive offer to try to clear some incremental volume that was leaving for an international buyer previously. Or have we actually tested a point where the consumer products have to increase their prices and the consumers are going to push back or are starting to push back? Anecdotally, talking to the people that are more more retail end-user-facing, it feels like their demand’s fine. It feels like they are expecting promotion activity for the fourth quarter. They’re not indicating any type of slowdown. We’ll see after a month or two where this thing settles out, but it feels like a few more incremental offers than it does customers pushing back. But I don’t know that every manufacturer out there would [00:12:00] describe that the same. The market’s a bit confused right now. Ted Jacoby III: Do you think that there’s been any changes on the supply side? Josh White: No, not substantial changes on the supply side. I don’t. Ted Jacoby III: So we might just be in that point where everybody’s looking at their inventories, right-sizing their inventories. If they have a few extra loads, they slow down their buying a little bit, but they’re gonna wait for the fall orders, which tend to be heavier than the rest of the year, to come through to see whether they need to do any more adjustments or if they’re good to go forward. Josh White: There’s like a poker hand of possibilities right now. You know, on the one hand, we’ve seen more product launches and new product introductions outside of the traditional health and wellness or sports nutrition space than we’ve ever seen before. Has that created a vacuum effect, and has that overstated demand a bit? Some of those products might win, some of those products might lose, but ultimately, to launch them, you have to produce them, and that creates a pipeline fill and a vacuum effect. Has that overstated demand? Am I right that we were just in a summer slowdown and people may have depleted their working inventories a bit, and we’ll see reorders happen over the next month or two? Did we kill enough international demand to saturate the U.S. consumer and the U.S. market? Did we see enough incremental production that outperformed against forecasts? We just had the July milk production report released. In June, numbers were revised higher. We’ve got plenty of milk. I think most of us would’ve argued that July should’ve been a bit slow given all the heat we experienced in Middle America, yet we reported year-over-year milk production growth against very, very strong comparables. Did we outperform our production expectations? Or has the consumer finally started to push back? And I really don’t know the answer to that, and I imagine it’s a combination of all of them. We’ll just see as we go into the fourth quarter what that means. The price responsiveness to some of these signals is going to change. A larger percentage of this dairy protein, and whey protein in particular, is being used in applications that are relatively new to our demand profile. We’re seeing it added as an ingredient in snack foods and as an ingredient in food manufacturing-type products. That’s something that trades much differently than the quarterly priced sports nutrition market. To digest exactly how shifts on the CPG level might reflect in what the current S&D situation feels like, that’s uncharted territory for us in a lot of ways. Ted Jacoby III: You mentioned WPC 80. Has whey protein isolate been weakening in the same way? Josh White: No, WPI has been well-reported to be pretty stable. I don’t believe that’s going to change in the short run. I really think the higher you go in terms of the value of the product at the moment, the more specialized and ingredient-based it is. And it feels like the majority of the WPI is graduating into an area that has much less price elasticity than the traditional WPC80 products. So, at the moment, it’s held fairly strong. We haven’t experienced any major production shifts in WPI for over a quarter. And as [00:15:00] long as we don’t test the consumer’s price tolerance anytime soon, it sure feels like they’re gonna hang in there and continue to buy the product and prices will remain firm. Ted Jacoby III: What about milk proteins? Have we seen any slowdown on the milk protein side or has that demand stayed strong as well? Diego Carvallo: It stayed strong, Ted. We’re actually seeing growing demand of companies and projects switching from WPC80 to MPC80, 85, and 90. There’s a greater amount of new projects asking us for samples on MPCs than WPCs. What we have seen is that whenever nonfat moved from let’s say $2 to $1.45, the price of MPC also moved lower by a smaller degree, but it still moved a little bit lower because the manufacturers had the wiggle room to make their offers a little bit more competitive. Ted Jacoby III: So, in the whey protein markets, one of the things we’re anticipating and we’re already starting to see is that for those annual contracts, the multipliers are probably gonna go up relative to the whey market, probably quite significantly. Are we seeing the same thing in the MPC market as well? Diego Carvallo: Yes. The multiple has strengthened. MPC 85, as a reference, it usually traded for many years at, let’s say, two and a half plus a premium of 70 cents, 60 cents, and I think it’s now closer to three times nonfat plus maybe another 75, maybe 80 cents. It’s definitely strengthening. Ted Jacoby III: Further production of whey protein is restricted by additional cheese capacity. So, unless we’re gonna build another big cheese plant, we may not be able to create much more whey protein production, at least here in the U.S. Whereas with milk proteins, it’s easier and cheaper to switch over, let’s say, a nonfat plant and make it a milk protein plant. So, increasing that capacity is gonna be a lot easier. How’s that gonna play out? Do you think that MPC multiples will stay strong even as we see added MPC production? Diego Carvallo: I agree that there’s gonna be more supply, but I think demand is gonna be higher than the additional supply that we’re seeing, at least for the coming two to three years. I think multiples are gonna be long-term stronger than they are right now. Josh White: I take the other side in this particular instance. The UF side has a different demand profile than the dry product side with the RTD movement and so many launches and so much interest in ultra-filtrated liquid products. That creates opportunity for the market to find some imbalances, and for the milk protein side to feel more commoditized seasonally. You’ve got a tremendous buyer in the cheese side that can step in and take solids and well support the multiple when it makes economical sense. But the profile for making UF or MPCs, relative to traditional nonfat and skim, could result [00:18:00] in more drying seasonally of MPCs that could make that basis a bit more volatile than what we’ve experienced in the past. Ted Jacoby III: I’m anticipating that protein demand stays strong and maybe even continues to grow internationally. The demand for milk proteins will continue to go up because it’ll be slower to see whey protein production go up than these demand increases. So, I’m splitting the difference between the two of you guys. I do think that we will switch over nonfat production to MPC production in various plants throughout the country, but I also agree with Diego. The demand is gonna be there. There’s going to be a lot of new products that wanna be able to say, “Hey, we have 30 grams of protein in our product, too.” But they can’t really make it cost-effective on the whey side, so they’re gonna do it on the milk protein side. That’ll keep things strong. But the pressure’s gonna be there. Jake, do you have any thoughts? Jacob Menge: None. Outside my Area of expertise. Ted Jacoby III: Thanks. You’re a big help. Jacob Menge: I’m just being honest. Ted Jacoby III: Tristan, do you have any thoughts? Tristan Suellentrop: Yes. At what point does MPC get expensive enough that you lose the substitution advantage over WP80? Ted Jacoby III: Josh, I think you’re the one who needs to answer it. Tristan Suellentrop: It’s a hard question. Josh White: The simple math is the per unit protein value. We would start there. They’re relatively similar from a total protein value. WPC80 market is trading between $12 and $13 a pound, and you’re about half that for your MPC 85. They are not the same product. They have different functionality characteristics and different nutritional profiles. Similar in many applications, but different in many ways, which means when you rank the highest valued application for your whey proteins to the most competitive value for the whey proteins, the MPCs would need to compete in the final tranche of your traditional WPC consumer tier. It means that MPCs do not need to achieve WPC pricing to start to get pushback. The pushback begins long before it achieves parity. The MPC market has the opportunity to balance itself much differently. The MPC can toggle between a dry product and a liquid product, depending on where that demand pull is. And right now the real growth in the dairy category and the superstar as of late has been the ultrafiltrated products. I think that most households have some version of this in their refrigerator now. It’s a growing category, but it’s also becoming a highly competitive market. You’re gonna see some volatility. I think to Diego’s point, we are seeing some CPG applications and some sports nutrition applications reformulating where they can, but not on a one-for-one basis. They’re adding it as an additional ingredient or increasing the inclusion rate of the milk proteins relative to the whey proteins, but they’re not one-for-one interchangeable.  We can afford to see MPCs go up several dollars a pound or WPCs come down several dollars a pound without eliminating the advantage to explore reformulation in MPCs for those that can use it. Ted Jacoby III: Mike, do you have any thoughts? Mike Brown: I just came back from Interstate [00:21:00] Milk Processors meeting. Lots of talk between the whey guys and the MPC guys on demands and expectation for further substitution of WPCs with MPCs where it can happen. There’s places that really works. There’s places it doesn’t work quite so well, particularly in some beverages. As long as there’s a cost advantage, we’ll see it. It’s already happening in some of the protein ice creams, for example. Ted Jacoby III: So, what’s the prognosis when it comes to proteins? Demand stays strong, but we continue to produce more concentrated proteins, at least on the milk side? How is it all gonna play out from a price perspective, let’s say in the next six months? Josh, it sounds like your thoughts are: we’re steady as she goes. We’ve maybe reached a point where we’re range-bound rather than just ratcheting higher? Josh White: I think you just walked me into a trap that is absolutely gonna blow up in about six or nine months when this podcast is still being played. But right now, the story is over the next six months, I believe we will see lower whey protein pricing. Over the next six months, I’m not 100% convinced, but I would still call the milk proteins as bullish. What we need to decide then, was that a retracement? Was that a pullback in price? And with enough time, the consumer’s going to respond? Or are we in an unhealthier macroeconomic environment than any of us expected, and will that influence the dairy proteins or not? We seem to have come out of the summer holiday, and people were spending. Now, I get anecdotal reports that the spending is slowing. People are running out of money, the disposable income is not readily there, and at the same time, we’ve achieved unbelievable price increases in dairy proteins overall, and particular whey proteins. Does that at some moment come to a head? Ted Jacoby III: I’ll go ahead and stick my neck out a little bit on this one. So, one of the reasons that I think proteins, and whey proteins in particular, have stayed strong even as our macroeconomy has weakened but not fallen apart, is the way I’d call it, is because the way that most of the population seems to be dealing with this inflationary environment that is causing their spending to be restricted is to cut back on their restaurant visits. They’re just spending less when they go out. And the majority of increasing whey protein demand that I’ve seen seems to be happening more on the retail side. Meaning, it’s happening in their stay-at-home consumption rather than their restaurant-going consumption, and that has helped keep that market strong. If we start to see retail demand weaken because the economy gets even weaker, then I think we’ll start to see whey protein demand weaken with it. Jacob Menge: The implication is actually equally as interesting that if the economy gets better, you would argue that also impacts whey protein demand. You don’t go to a restaurant and order a protein shake. Ted Jacoby III: So, the possibility exists that if the economy strengthens, we’ll also see a weakening in dairy protein demand because the meat protein demand would go up, but dairy protein demand could drop. Assuming [00:24:00] that the increase is a per capita increase rather than a total increase. Mike Brown: I think the elasticity for the proteins is very low. Consumer demand’s gonna remain relatively consistent. It’s purchased for a different reason. Again, back from the conference I just came from, there was a marketing person who said in GLP households, calorie count of purchases are down 30%, cost is down only 1%. So, people are definitely moving up the quality of food that they’re buying, and proteins play a role. I think rather than say the prices are going up or going down, I think where I see is that the spread between MPC and WPC is just gonna lessen, to some degree, as uses develop to replace when possible. We’re at such high levels, what’s down? We go down to $9 on WPC 80. two years ago that was unheard of ever. So, part of this, I think, is a function of a changing consumer shift. Will that stay? It’s hard to say. If people are feeling better about how they feel and how they live, I would say that demand’s gonna remain strong. What I found interesting is that lactose still sells. It seems like the whole dry complex is relatively healthy. As we talk in our industry, we’ve always talked for years about three, four spreads, and I think the thing we’re seeing is the demand for the protein side on Class IV milk, dry powder milk, is gonna keep those prices tight and often inverse compared to what history has shown us, just because that demand for protein is so strong. Ted Jacoby III: One of the things that history has shown us is that people tend to take major market trends, like in this case protein consumption, and underestimate the significant macro shifts in those patterns. It’s been strong, it’s gonna stay strong. How could we be wrong? Is there anything out there that nobody’s paying attention to that we think could cause a fundamental shift in protein demand relative to what we’re seeing right now? Josh White: If we find out GLP-1s are dangerous, things will change fast. And I’m not crediting GLP-1s to this entire movement. I think that too many people actually give all of the credit to the protein movement, to the American adoption of the GLP-1 drugs. I actually think this is a broad movement that was overwhelming dairy’s ability to provide enough of the high-quality protein that the market demanded, particularly when it was on the cheaper end of its historical price curve several years ago. Now, we’re in a spot where the market is moving in this direction, the health and wellness trend is a global trend, the science is behind dairy as a highly functional and digestible protein And then you have this catalyst of many Americans watching their diet better than ever before and wanting to enhance their total digestible protein intake and create an efficient use of the calories that they’re bringing in. It’s the perfect storm. That being said, it’s the perfect storm that may have driven prices slightly above where we would’ve seen them without the intervention or addition of the GLP-1 user community. If that were to shift, it could take the entire final tier out of this price, and I don’t even wanna try to [00:27:00] define what that tier looks like at the moment. Mike Brown: I think the bigger threat is through food science, no matter what it might be, is alternative proteins to milk. I think we can’t underestimate what may happen with plant proteins, for example, with time, with genetics. It gets down to a cost, and we all know the functionality can be very different, and to Josh’s point, nutrition can be very different. Does the price spread get wide enough? For example, if you go into the protein bars in your local Costco, the ones that are the lowest cost are the pea protein. They’re plant protein-based bars. The whey and milk protein are higher. I don’t think we wanna assume that it’s dairy’s business forever, ’cause there’ll be people looking at ways to get the taste, flavor, and to some degree the digestibility with alternative sources. Just because if there’s a savings in the long run, they’ll try to do it. So far, I think the success has been kinda limited, but I wouldn’t wanna count it out not happening. There’s enough dollars at stake to make it worthwhile to look into that. Ted Jacoby III: You know what, Mike? I’ll piggyback on what you’re saying, and I would say this. If we step back five years and remember the time when all we were talking about was cellular agriculture and how you could create all this protein in a vat, and then that kinda just died off, and I think it died off because people found that it was more expensive than they thought to run that process. However, innovative technology such as cellular protein tends to have, come in waves, where the first wave often will fail, but then people in the background will continue to work on ways to improve the process, make the process more efficient. And if another innovation comes along that makes it less expensive, all of a sudden you can see a big rise in, let’s say, whey protein-like proteins being created in a vat, a la cellular agriculture. Mike Brown: It hasn’t popped like we all thought it was going to, or at least a lot of the industry did. I’m a former insulin user. I know what it costs to make insulin. It’s the same process. It’s kinda hard to make a digestible protein with that process and make it competitive cost-wise. For example, take lactoferrin. That’s a different story. And- Mm-hmm … … as they get more efficient, will we move down the chain to more common ingredients or even supplements, too. I’ve learned, with food science, just never say never, ’cause you’ll be surprised. Someone’ll come up with something that can make a difference. Meanwhile I think the demand for high-quality protein isn’t going away. I think we need to make sure that dairy remains the key source of that, ’cause right now it certainly is. The high-protein products that are the most popular are milk protein based or whey protein based. Ted Jacoby III: Cool. Thanks, Mike. All right, guys, before we wrap up, what conferences are we going to in the next couple of months? Let’s tell our listeners where they might be able to find us. Diego, how about you? Diego Carvallo: So, we’ll have a stand at the next show in Mexico City at the end of September. It’s called Banamex Mexico City Show. Would love to see you guys there. Ted Jacoby III: Is that the one everybody refers to as FOOD TECH®? Diego Carvallo: Yes, exactly. Ted Jacoby III: Perfect. Yeah. Awesome. How about you, Josh? Josh White: The International Whey Conference in Chicago is in September, and we’ll have some people at that along with the ADPI board of directors meeting. And then shortly after as we get into October, SupplySide Global [00:30:00] is in Las Vegas, and we will be exhibiting in the ADPI section. Ted Jacoby III: Excellent. Awesome. And I will probably be joining Diego at FOOD TECH®, and then Joe and I will be heading over to Food Ingredients Europe in November. So look forward to seeing everybody there. Hey, thanks everybody for tuning in. I hope this was a educational market discussion for everybody, and look forward to seeing you guys soon. End commercial. Mike Brown: For one part of the supply chain to be successful, everyone has to be. My superpower is practical application of data and analysis. I believe firmly that Jacoby’s success is because we help our suppliers and our buyers be successful. I’m Mike Brown, and I love working for T.C. Jacoby & Co. because I get to help people make their businesses more successful.

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Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2The US could be eyeing Venezuela's massive oil reserves as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve sits near a 40-year low. Here's how Venezuelan oil, crude prices, the US dollar, and America's energy strategy could connect.

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Jason and Bri explore the history and evolution of ready-to-drink cocktails, from wine coolers and Zima to today's booming RTD market, followed by a cosmopolitan taste test. They also recap recent adventures, including hiking to the Eternal Flame, meeting celebrities at Comic-Con, discovering a long-awaited beer, celebrating the Fourth of July, and navigating Canadian wildfire smoke. Visit our website at BuffaloBrewsPodcast.comEmail: buffalobrewsPR@gmail.comFollow us on social media.Instagram: @BuffaloBrewsPodcast Facebook: @BuffaloBrewsPodcastTikTok: @BuffaloBrewsYouTube: @BuffaloBrewsPodcastX/Twitter: @BuffaloBrewsPod

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverStanley Druckenmiller warns Scott Bessent against trying to suppress US Treasury bond yields as America's national debt hits $40 trillion. Why he says fixing the deficit is the durable answer.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThe RTD De-Dollarization Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDsMedoTIaBwRbXB-QAZAo4WRkQFx6F2China's gold-yuan network, de-dollarization, offshore gold vaults, and yuan-denominated gold contracts are expanding as the West builds tokenized financial infrastructure. This breakdown explores the transcript's physical gold vs. digital finance thesis.

Did a few M&A deals change the energy drinks market forever? Between the start of Q1 2025 and the end of Q3 2025, three massive M&A transactions completely rocked the beverage industry. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) bought a majority stake in GHOST, Celsius Holdings acquired Alani Nu for $1.8 billion, and Nutrabolt secured a majority stake in Bloom Nutrition. On the surface, these look like standard beverage cooler land grabs, but if you look deeper, you'll find three entirely different corporate philosophies playing out.In this video, I'm breaking down...Why Alani Nu is a "breathtaking" retail juggernaut, generating $2.5 billion in annual sales.How Celsius is stripping away Alani Nu's legacy supplement lines to focus purely on RTD beverages, and why that might cap their long-term growth.How Bloom Sparkling energy drinks became an absolute rocket ship for Nutrabolt, paving the way for an upcoming IPO.Why Keurig Dr Pepper leaving GHOST completely autonomous to launch lifestyle products like protein cereal giving them the highest long-term strategic ceiling.Which of these three recent M&A transactions do you think was the most valuable, and who wins the long game over the next five years?

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverDiesel prices, rising tariffs, job losses, bankruptcies, and declining consumer confidence are creating new economic concerns in 2026. This video examines the warning signs behind America's growing cost of living crisis and pressure on the middle class.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverUS national debt has hit $40 trillion, far beyond the $24 trillion level Trump once called the “point of no return.” Treasury yields climbed, stocks fell, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued America can “grow our way out” of the debt.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverThis week the Treasury's ‘New Toolkit' was put in place. Little do they realize that they have just changed the game for silver. Now the US debt market stress could become a major catalyst for silver. Treasury is expanding bond buybacks as long-term yields remain under pressure, while silver faces its sixth consecutive market deficit in 2026.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverBitcoin, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, stablecoins, gold and the future of the U.S. dollar collide. This breakdown examines the argument that America's crypto push could reshape the monetary system and accelerate a digital-dollar future.

Did the brewery scene in Denver age well? What about the whole scooter situation? Molly Smith, host of the “Did That Age Well?” podcast, joins producer Olivia Jewell Love to decide once and for all … has Denver aged well? Then, RTD created a new ambassadors program with opportunities for local riders with “strong connections to their communities” who want to make some cash. But can it help bridge the budget shortfall RTD is facing? Plus, Phoebe Bridgers is headed to Denver for a big Ball Arena show this fall, and her fans are divided. Is a stadium tour a good thing for folky faves, or does it open the door for bigger drama?  Olivia mentioned the dog poop-vestigation City Cast Denver conducted last year. And, here's the link to sign up to be an RTD Connect Ambassador. Molly and Olivia discussed “White Chicks” on Molly's podcast earlier this summer.  For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter at denver.citycast.fm. Follow us on Instagram: @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on Reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member! Who would be a good RTD Ambassador? Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418 Learn more about the sponsors of this August 19th episode: Arvada Center Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverTreasury buybacks, 30-year yields, gold and QE Lite take center stage after the US Treasury announced it will at least double longer-dated buyback operations. Yields tumbled, stock futures surged and gold broke higher following the announcement.

Protect your purchasing power with silver. Visit Silver Team store here: https://bit.ly/Shop4SilverSouth Korea's KOSPI crashes 6%, triggering a circuit breaker as Samsung falls 7%, SK Hynix sinks 8.6%, and SK Group plunges 11%. Japan's Nikkei drops 3% as $225 billion is wiped from Japanese stocks.

Points of discussion: CODO Design's 2026 Beer Branding Trends Report   —   Questions: 1. How do you see mid-strength shaking out in the market long term? Seems like it's in a no-man's land between non-alc and full strength beer and I'm not sure consumers are willing to pay the same for it they would for an NA? 2. On the hidden risk of launching an non-alc brand. I see your point, but no hangover IS the biggest value prop for an NA brand, or at least it is when reaching for beer-like equivalent. So how do you balance this messaging? Ignoring it seems to miss an important point. 3. If a small brewery wanted to dip its toes into the Function 2.0 / beyond beer world, do you have a general recommendation for where to even begin? Our team has some ideas but we always start discussing which products we could make. That seems like we're jumping the gun. 4. The coffee programming section is interesting, do you think that should fly under a brewery's parent brand or its own thing? Also, do you see this as an off- or on-premise play? 5. Re: The Nostalgia branding trend — do you ever see this waning. 6. The hyper provenance newsletter was interesting. And I agree — we don't see anyone doing this in our market. Not sure we have the scale to do it right though. Do you think this is solely a move for larger breweries or can a smaller brand like ours (around 900 barrels for reference) pull this off as well? - Learn more at: www.craftbeerrebranded.com / http://www.beyondbeerbook.com - Have a topic or question you'd like us to field on the show? Shoot it our way: hello@cododesign.com - Join 9,500+ food and bev industry pros who are subscribed to the Beer Branding Trends Newsletter (and access all past issues) at: www.beerbrandingtrends.com  

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross-talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss the NBA bubble during COVID, no sports to talk about, and all the restrictions we lived through, like not being able to play basketball at the park. Zach and Phil preview the Broncos' first preseason game this Friday. Phil recalls what was going through his head leading into his first preseason game as an undrafted rookie. Phil walks us through his time on special teams and the moment he knew he was making the 53-man roster. We go down a rabbit hole of Phil's high school days and riding an RTD bus to school every day. We react to Dan Orlovsky's various quarterback rankings when it comes to arm strength and ball placement. Should Bo Nix be considered top 10 in either of those categories? 

Whey protein isolate keeps getting more expensive, and the reasons go deeper than most people realize. In Episode #230 of the PricePlow Podcast, Mike and Ben sit down with Kyle Failla, Head of Commercial at Perfect Day, to unpack why whey protein prices have climbed so far, and what the company’s new precision fermentation plant means for the supply side of the equation. Perfect Day’s ingredient, ProFermâ„¢, is a fermented version of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), the dominant and most anabolic fraction of whey protein. Instead of pulling BLG from cow’s milk, Perfect Day grows it in a fermentation tank using a genetically engineered fungus, sidestepping the cheese production bottleneck that’s been squeezing whey supply for years — especially with cheese consumption dropping in the GLP-1 drug era. Kyle walks through the science, the regulatory approvals across five countries, why Perfect Day went quiet for two years, and how the company’s new manufacturing plant changes its ability to serve the sports nutrition, GLP-1, and RTD markets at scale. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform and sign up for Perfect Day alerts before diving in. https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/perfect-day-protein-kyle-failla-230 Video: Kyle Failla on Perfect Day’s ProFerm and the Whey Protein Crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD5fQzZaw5w Detailed Show Notes: Kyle Failla on ProFerm, Precision Fermentation, and the Whey Protein Crisis (0:00) – Introductions (1:15) – What Is ProFerm? Beta-Lactoglobulin Explained (4:15) – The Whey Protein Supply Crisis (9:15) – Tariffs, Glucose, and Precision Fermentation’s Edge (11:30) – Why Perfect Day Skips Cheese Entirely (14:15) – Inside the Fermentation Tank (18:30) – Safety Data and Global Regulatory Approvals (22:30) – A Second FDA GRAS Filing (24:30) – Why Perfect Day Went Quiet for Two Years (32:00) – Building Perfect Day’s Own Plant (37:15) – Finding the Right Brand Partners (39:15) – K-Tropix, Set Protein, and the Shot Boom (44:45) – Can Perfect Day Move the Market? (49:45) – Scaling Faster Than Dairy Plants (54:00) – A Kids’ Shot and Protein-Plus Ideas (55:00) – Pure Genius, Chromium Picolinate, and Avoiding Copycats Where to Follow and Learn More Connect with Kyle Failla and Perfect Day LinkedIn: Kyle Failla Instagram: @perfectdayfoods LinkedIn: Perfect Day Perfect Day on PricePlow – Sign up for news alerts Resources Mentioned ProFermâ„¢ by Perfect Day: Precision-Fermented BLG and the New Plant That Changes the Protein Supply Math Myprotein “Whey Forward”: Animal-Free Protein Made with Fermented BLG by Perfect Day (PricePlow’s first coverage of Perfect Day’s ingredient, 2022) Chromax Chromium Picolinate: 25+ Years of Insulin Sensitivity Improvement …… Read more on the PricePlow Blog