WEBVTT - Carbone Fine Food CEO Eric Skae Talks Boutique Groceries 

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. It's five o'clock somewhere.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh well, it means red wine, right exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>Or a little red sauce.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm thinking, you know the Marinara.

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<v Speaker 2>Sauce aisle at the grocery store these days, Carol. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>not what it was like when I was a kid,

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<v Speaker 2>where it was like all classico and prego. Remember that

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<v Speaker 2>it really was.

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<v Speaker 1>Can I just wait before you go on? I'm just

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<v Speaker 1>gonna say my mom was always made homemade.

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<v Speaker 3>Wow.

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<v Speaker 1>I know I was spoiled, but go ahead, go on, Wow,

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<v Speaker 1>go on, because not everybody.

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<v Speaker 2>Shade to Susan Stewin, there's also.

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<v Speaker 1>A stay at home mom for a while, so okay,

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<v Speaker 1>she could do that. Well.

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<v Speaker 2>The aisle has moved up scale with more botique options,

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<v Speaker 2>including REOs and the sauce from our next guest company.

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<v Speaker 2>Eric Ska is CEO at Carbone Fine Food. It's the

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<v Speaker 2>maker of Marinera spicy vodka, tomato basil arabiata.

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<v Speaker 3>You like that, wow?

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<v Speaker 2>I practiced that one earlier, Alfredo and more.

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<v Speaker 1>Eric. He disappeared for like an hour or so.

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<v Speaker 2>It was just holding a bottle in the Bloomberg Interactive

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<v Speaker 2>Brokers studio. Eric, Good to see you. Okay, Carol and

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<v Speaker 2>I were talking about this Carbone Fine Foods. Carbone the

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<v Speaker 2>restaurant which is owned by Major Food Group. Let's start there.

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<v Speaker 2>What's the relationship. Just settle the score for it.

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<v Speaker 3>Major Food Group is majority owners of Carbone Fine Food.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, and inspired by the restaurant.

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<v Speaker 3>Inspired by inspired by the restaurant.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, what you get in a jar at the grocery

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<v Speaker 2>store from Carbone Marinia, do you get that at the

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<v Speaker 2>restaurant Carbone?

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, I mean as close representation as you can make.

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<v Speaker 3>That's the commercial kitchen. Absolutely, all fresh ingredients. Tomatoes from Italy,

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<v Speaker 3>onions are chopped on site, Garlic's minced on site, basil,

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<v Speaker 3>his hands stripped on site. As we produce a product

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<v Speaker 3>that it cooks for an hour to an hour and

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<v Speaker 3>ten minutes, meeting your homemade taste. What we look for

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<v Speaker 3>restaurant quality, and Mario Carbone is very passionate about that,

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<v Speaker 3>so he tastes everything.

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<v Speaker 1>I kind of love it when I roll over to

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<v Speaker 1>ingredients and what you're seeing is everything I understand. And

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<v Speaker 1>there's no chemicals, there's no nothing like that. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>that to me is super important. How do you though,

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that it is as good as the restaurant.

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<v Speaker 3>So I mean, look, we're very, very involved in the

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<v Speaker 3>manufacturing of this. So the first year I tasted personally

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<v Speaker 3>every single batch before it was allowed to go in

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<v Speaker 3>a jar. Obviously I have a staff now how to

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<v Speaker 3>go one hundred thousand miles on United without leaving the country.

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<v Speaker 3>I live in Las Vegas, so that's my fault.

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<v Speaker 1>How many times did you taste something You're like, nope, nope, nope.

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<v Speaker 1>It sounds like a lot.

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<v Speaker 3>Not that often because I work with people that I

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<v Speaker 3>trust that are very very good at doing this. It's

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<v Speaker 3>a very specialized process. No one wants to cook for

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<v Speaker 3>an hour in a manufacturing facility, so those who do

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<v Speaker 3>it are as passionate as I am about it.

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<v Speaker 2>How do you control that, because I mean, I would

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<v Speaker 2>imagine you have manufacturing facilities in several parts of the country.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not necessarily centralized in one place. Ingredient variabilities based

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<v Speaker 2>on seasons, and those tomatoes that you do get from Italy,

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<v Speaker 2>how do you control for those things?

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<v Speaker 3>So the tomatoes you get from Italy are going to

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<v Speaker 3>be fairly consistent. They come in, we open up number

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<v Speaker 3>ten cans just like the back of a restaurant, so

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<v Speaker 3>or not. It's not big drums tomatoes. They're packed just

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<v Speaker 3>in tomato season, and that's tomato we use. So I

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<v Speaker 3>mean to your point, I might be able to take

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<v Speaker 3>us taste a slight variation in fresh basil because it

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<v Speaker 3>was handstripped at a different time. We've never gotten a complaint.

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<v Speaker 2>Is it any different parts of the country where the

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<v Speaker 2>where you do many where you actually do the manufacturing.

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<v Speaker 3>No, most of it's here in the East Coast. We

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<v Speaker 3>have a couple of cop backords set up that that

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<v Speaker 3>we work with, but we have a primary that does

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<v Speaker 3>a good majority of it.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, great bottle carbon name very prominent. Why are

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<v Speaker 1>they doing this? Why do they need to do this?

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<v Speaker 3>You know that would be a that would be a

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<v Speaker 3>question for for Mario. But you know, as I've seen

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<v Speaker 3>him ask that question, he's got X amount of restaurants

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<v Speaker 3>and not everybody can get to his restaurants, and people

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<v Speaker 3>want to get there. Yeah, so you wanted to put

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<v Speaker 3>something in the jar that represented the restaurant and allowed

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<v Speaker 3>people to taste the experience of carbone. And that's why

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<v Speaker 3>we're so passionate about what goes in that jar tasting

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<v Speaker 3>better than anything. Our recipes on our site were developed

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<v Speaker 3>by Carbone chefs, so and we've kind of kept them

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<v Speaker 3>simple so the home cook can make it, but they're

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<v Speaker 3>really good recipes.

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<v Speaker 1>Does it create a significant revenue stream potentially? I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>you understand this industry, we didn't. You know, you're a

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<v Speaker 1>former CEO Raos. You know, someone who's been in the

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<v Speaker 1>food and beverage but you know area for a long time.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it something though, when you have a name that's

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<v Speaker 1>known that you can build a significant revenue line.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Yeah, I mean we just finished our third full year.

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<v Speaker 3>We've done eighteen million jars since we launched. We're in

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<v Speaker 3>twenty four thousand accounts, and we're the number seven brand

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<v Speaker 3>in America, number two in natural foods. So it's went very,

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<v Speaker 3>very fast, and it is in large part because we

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<v Speaker 3>had a name that could leverage from a from an

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<v Speaker 3>awareness standpoint. You know, awareness was not massive in the

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<v Speaker 3>Middlewest Midwest, for example, but it was known certain by

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<v Speaker 3>enough people to start something. Yeah, and then you know,

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<v Speaker 3>then the blocking and tackling happens. So building a brand.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, So this is not your first rodeo. As Carol mentioned,

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<v Speaker 2>your first red sauce Rodeo twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen

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<v Speaker 2>CEO of REOs. That was the period it was acquired

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<v Speaker 2>by Sovos more than four hundred million dollars. Then a

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<v Speaker 2>couple of years later I believe it was what twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty one, twenty twenty four, Yeah, twenty twenty four, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>when when it Sovos closed its acquisition, or when it

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<v Speaker 2>Silvis was bought by Campbell's for two point seven billion dollars.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Obviously some some big growth in the space over the

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<v Speaker 2>last few years. What do you see as driving the

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<v Speaker 2>growth and how much growth is left in sort of

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<v Speaker 2>the premiumization.

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<v Speaker 3>I think it's significant because of the premiumization right the

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<v Speaker 3>you know, Reo started that trend when they put the

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<v Speaker 3>first job on the shelf in nineteen ninety two. So

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<v Speaker 3>if you think about it, it's a long time ago.

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<v Speaker 3>So this has been a long slow build the consumer.

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<v Speaker 3>And you think about other categories like craft beer, right

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<v Speaker 3>that premiumized years ago. So ice cream premiumized with Ben

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<v Speaker 3>and Jerry's years ago. The premiumization in every category is happening.

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<v Speaker 3>Pasta saus finally got its turn, you know, around twenty fifteen,

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<v Speaker 3>twenty sixteen where it started to really really drive from

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<v Speaker 3>a premiumization standpoint, and people are just looking for healthier,

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<v Speaker 3>better ingredients.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen, I can't tell you. I've got a twenty one

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<v Speaker 1>year old and the same thing. We turn everything around

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<v Speaker 1>and we want to know what's in it and we

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<v Speaker 1>want to make sure we understand the ingredients. I am

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<v Speaker 1>curious how big you think it can be, how big

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<v Speaker 1>you want this brand to be, and is it a

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<v Speaker 1>case of you're going to follow the model of selling

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<v Speaker 1>it off at some point?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, there's no decisions made. My partners are young, Jeff,

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<v Speaker 3>Mario and Rich are in their forties. Right, I'm the

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<v Speaker 3>old guy in the room and I love what I do,

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<v Speaker 3>so I'm in no rush and I actually I would

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<v Speaker 3>have never envisioned doing a startup. I went from raos

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<v Speaker 3>to another run where I took a company through an

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<v Speaker 3>exit and I didn't want to do that, so that's

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<v Speaker 3>why I went to startup. So we don't have a timeline.

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<v Speaker 3>We believe there's a tremendous amount of growth, not only

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<v Speaker 3>in Sauce but in Italian Like we have a platform

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<v Speaker 3>brand that I could if we wanted to go beyond

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<v Speaker 3>we see a significant amount of growth in sauce in

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<v Speaker 3>the next two to three years. So I'm not doing anything.

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<v Speaker 3>I believe in maniacal focus when something's working, So it's working.

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<v Speaker 2>Eight to ten bucks roughly give or take you for

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<v Speaker 2>a jar. Are you seeing any pushback from consumers on

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<v Speaker 2>on higher price stuff as we speak?

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<v Speaker 3>Not, I mean not that I'm seeing. I mean, of

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<v Speaker 3>course people will make comments, you know, friends, friends in general,

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<v Speaker 3>or my brother who wait still it's on sale to

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<v Speaker 3>buy it, but we all But for the most part,

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<v Speaker 3>I think I think Raos has you know, I give

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<v Speaker 3>I give Rayos a lot of credit. And the people

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<v Speaker 3>before me who built Rayos slowly and painted right, they

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<v Speaker 3>really did a good job, and they built a model,

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<v Speaker 3>and they built they built a category. So that eight

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<v Speaker 3>to ten is not sticker shock for everybody anymore. It

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<v Speaker 3>is for certain people. And I get it. But once

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<v Speaker 3>you try that product, the amount of care we put

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<v Speaker 3>it into what goes in that jar, it's worth it.

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<v Speaker 3>Here's a problem, Carol.

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<v Speaker 2>What feeding your kid the pasta sauce that you buy

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<v Speaker 2>as adults, because then they get hooked on it, and

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<v Speaker 2>then you find yourself in situations like us ordering huge

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<v Speaker 2>jars and then they're like, I want you.

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<v Speaker 3>Know, that's a problem.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, that's the expensive pasta sauce.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's the thing. I mean, not every pasta sauce

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<v Speaker 1>is the same, no doubt about it. How do you

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<v Speaker 1>manage the growth or the expansion of the brand in

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<v Speaker 1>a careful, thoughtful way? And do you need to?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, of course I do. I think brand is everything,

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<v Speaker 3>so you have to make sure it's working before you know.

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<v Speaker 3>If you've got initiatives and something's not working, fixed that

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<v Speaker 3>before you moved it the next thing. Right, We grew

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<v Speaker 3>fast because it was working. But had I saw, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>some resistance, I would have worked on figuring out that

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<v Speaker 3>resistance before I expanded. I started. I started in the Northeast,

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<v Speaker 3>and my intention was to stay there for eighteen months.

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<v Speaker 3>But within eighteen months I was national, right, and I

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<v Speaker 3>didn't expect that the intention was to go slow. I

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<v Speaker 3>didn't expect it to go as fast.

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<v Speaker 1>As its stories we're asking for you guys, or.

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<v Speaker 3>What we had stores asking for us we had, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>I mean all everything, you know. The customer that I

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<v Speaker 3>thought would adopt it immediately took a year and a half,

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<v Speaker 3>which was whole foods. But you know, we started in

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<v Speaker 3>twenty one. Yeah, pandemic luck going on, buyer changes, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>so on and so forth. So it took a little

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<v Speaker 3>longer with that particular chain. But now if you go

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<v Speaker 3>into whole foods were very well represented.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, one thing I noticed about your career is you've

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<v Speaker 2>been in this industry for decades at this point, and

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<v Speaker 2>you started off. You've really rode the wave of different

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<v Speaker 2>trends at different points in your career, like the juices

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<v Speaker 2>in the early part of your career, like Fresh Samantha's

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<v Speaker 2>Naked Wallas and those sorts of things, and then popcorn

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<v Speaker 2>rayos a little later in your career. What's what's the

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<v Speaker 2>trend that you're seeing play out right now? Sort of

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<v Speaker 2>the next trend.

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<v Speaker 3>It's really hard to say. In today's world. It's gotten,

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<v Speaker 3>it's gotten muddy. But any anything that's going to be

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<v Speaker 3>higher protein is on point. You know, you did a

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<v Speaker 3>segment on g LP once. That's going to drive I

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<v Speaker 3>think new innovation, that's right, and healthy innovation. I everything

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<v Speaker 3>points to at least the doubling in usage in a

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<v Speaker 3>last in the next call it five years, and the

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<v Speaker 3>households that are on it they're actually showing a decline

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<v Speaker 3>and how much they purchase a grocery stores. So it's

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<v Speaker 3>interesting much bigger decline in convenience stores because if you

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<v Speaker 3>think about snacking, right, that's that's what's going to get hurt. Right.

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<v Speaker 3>I think good food is always going to do well.

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<v Speaker 3>That's that's the way I look at and healthy food

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<v Speaker 3>because those people, I you know, just having interviewed a couple,

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<v Speaker 3>they tend to get healthy. Some of them tend to

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<v Speaker 3>get help healthier. At the same time, how if necessarily

0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.000
<v Speaker 3>are looking for better ingredients, is it like the.

0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.440
<v Speaker 2>Visceral reminder that you're stabbing yourself with, don't know, a.

0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.320
<v Speaker 1>Pen I think, you know, I know initially from folks

0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.400
<v Speaker 1>who've done it too. I mean, they don't like the

0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.920
<v Speaker 1>taste of food, right, and so they kind of, I

0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:16.560
<v Speaker 1>don't know, they almost kind of go through a little

0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:20.360
<v Speaker 1>bit of a cleansing to some extent and think, I

0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:21.960
<v Speaker 1>don't know, it's just interesting to watch.

0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.920
<v Speaker 3>That could be. I do have a daughter that is

0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.199
<v Speaker 3>using it, and that when I say I am to

0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.600
<v Speaker 3>read someone, it's close close to yeah, but you know,

0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.880
<v Speaker 3>she's like at Barry's boot camp in the morning now

0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:37.960
<v Speaker 3>and like you know, really healthy, which is great cool.

0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:39.920
<v Speaker 1>You do wonder if it's a case of and not

0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.560
<v Speaker 1>necessary for your daughter, but others who tried to lose

0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.439
<v Speaker 1>weight couldn't lose weight, or whether it's because you know,

0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:48.839
<v Speaker 1>they're diabetic or whatever. And finally, Ken and I think

0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.600
<v Speaker 1>it feels really good. They feel so much healthier, and

0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:53.920
<v Speaker 1>I think want to kind of stay in that place

0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.360
<v Speaker 1>would be would be my gut. But so I'm curious

0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.520
<v Speaker 1>if gop one is really ultimately the dry having forced

0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.559
<v Speaker 1>in a lot of the food companies. Is it upstarts

0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:05.640
<v Speaker 1>that all of a sudden become the giants or do

0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.920
<v Speaker 1>the giants have to buy the upstarts because they've got

0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.280
<v Speaker 1>to catch up and they evolve, they're disrupted, Like, how

0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:13.440
<v Speaker 1>do you see that playing out?

0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.440
<v Speaker 3>I think it's all the above. I think you have

0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.160
<v Speaker 3>new product development going on in big food already, would

0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.439
<v Speaker 3>be my bet. I mean I don't know that certainly,

0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:22.520
<v Speaker 3>but that would be my bet. And they're going to

0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:25.400
<v Speaker 3>look at upstarts because sometimes buying growth is easier than

0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:26.040
<v Speaker 3>creating it.

0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:28.839
<v Speaker 1>So what about the beverage space. We've been talking a

0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:32.160
<v Speaker 1>lot about non alcoholics kind of a tease for some

0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:36.280
<v Speaker 1>of our conversations on our weekend broadcast, but we are

0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.880
<v Speaker 1>increasingly we often, do you know, no joke, a wine

0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:43.640
<v Speaker 1>segment on Friday or a liquor segment, and we've already

0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:45.360
<v Speaker 1>had a couple of non alcoholic guests.

0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:45.640
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.640
<v Speaker 2>Our pursuit section in our Bloomberg Business Week the year

0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:51.480
<v Speaker 2>is it the yearhead issue or is it it's just

0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:52.440
<v Speaker 2>like kind of preview.

0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:53.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm not sure which is well.

0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:57.400
<v Speaker 2>Anyway, there's a huge section on non alcoholic drinks, and

0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:59.559
<v Speaker 2>the innovation that's happening there is pretty incredible. Are you

0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.000
<v Speaker 2>seeing that among the folks you are, you know, you're

0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.120
<v Speaker 2>kind of in the part of a group where you've

0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.439
<v Speaker 2>been innovators in the food industry for the past twenty

0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:08.120
<v Speaker 2>twenty five years.

0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.800
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean massive trend. The whole move to non

0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.320
<v Speaker 3>alcoholic is really being pushed by gen Z who's just

0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:16.720
<v Speaker 3>not drinking as much and you know, having kept in touch,

0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.440
<v Speaker 3>which a lot of folks I know in the beer industry,

0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.200
<v Speaker 3>I sold a lot of beer distributors and have a

0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.880
<v Speaker 3>lot of friends that sell beer distributors. They're struggling. I

0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.560
<v Speaker 3>mean when I say struggling, they're struggling for growth. Yeah,

0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.000
<v Speaker 3>you know, I can't say their businesses is struggling. It's

0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:31.800
<v Speaker 3>just they're not selling as much as they used to

0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.840
<v Speaker 3>and they're having to make the necessary changes to that.

0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:36.520
<v Speaker 3>But a lot of them are getting into non elk

0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:37.240
<v Speaker 3>in a big way.

0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.600
<v Speaker 2>I mean, Consolation Brands lost almost a fifth of its

0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.640
<v Speaker 2>value recently when they miss quarterly sales estements citing lackluster

0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:44.400
<v Speaker 2>consumer demand.

0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:45.199
<v Speaker 3>I mean that's a big deal.

0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.320
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this gentleman next to me, my co host, I

0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:49.800
<v Speaker 1>mean you're a non alcoholic. Yeah, folks, yeah, it's the

0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:50.679
<v Speaker 1>part of that group.

0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.439
<v Speaker 2>And I noticed it among friends too, where everybody's drinking

0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.120
<v Speaker 2>less at this point. So back to Carbone and the

0:13:57.679 --> 0:13:59.600
<v Speaker 2>innovation here. I was pretty shocked when I was preparing

0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:01.000
<v Speaker 2>for this, and I went to the website to see

0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 2>just how many varieties you have of this? Is there

0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:08.760
<v Speaker 2>a plan to push beyond red sauce or is it

0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:10.800
<v Speaker 2>just vary variations on the red stone.

0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.240
<v Speaker 3>So we're in red already, we're in white already. So

0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:17.920
<v Speaker 3>we've got Alfredo's on the shelf and five of them

0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.720
<v Speaker 3>in Whole Foods. They all haven't been announced red. I

0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.280
<v Speaker 3>think I still I still have ideas. So there's going

0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:28.320
<v Speaker 3>to be new reds, Like we just launched one. Putinesque

0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.280
<v Speaker 3>is a famous Italian sauce, but it just doesn't sell

0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.880
<v Speaker 3>in the United States. People don't understand the word, and

0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:37.880
<v Speaker 3>anchovies are pro polarizing. So I created Mediterranean Marinara, which

0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.560
<v Speaker 3>is what alos and capers, and I took the anchovies

0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.360
<v Speaker 3>out and we took the name off and we're going

0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.400
<v Speaker 3>to see how it does. It's on the shelves in

0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.680
<v Speaker 3>one retailer right now. An initial initial poll looks very strong,

0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.000
<v Speaker 3>so you know, we'll see where that goes. So white

0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.600
<v Speaker 3>will be a definitely a drive Pesto will be in

0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:58.400
<v Speaker 3>the future. I have some I have something in that

0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.880
<v Speaker 3>I'll announced at some point. Give us a little bit

0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:03.120
<v Speaker 3>that is going to going to be interesting in the

0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.920
<v Speaker 3>red space. But you're still in sauces, not for the

0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.120
<v Speaker 3>foreseeable future, because if something's working, why would I dilute

0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.080
<v Speaker 3>the focus of my team, myself, my chef, you know,

0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:16.600
<v Speaker 3>we have a full time chef. That but you do

0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:18.280
<v Speaker 3>develop things for while.

0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:19.640
<v Speaker 1>I mean you look at the website right too, and

0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:21.320
<v Speaker 1>you do have you know, some little gift sets that

0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:22.760
<v Speaker 1>you do that you can buy with some pasta.

0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:24.480
<v Speaker 3>Is that apparel selection too.

0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.480
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, I mean, can do you expand this out

0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:29.280
<v Speaker 1>to potentially?

0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.600
<v Speaker 3>So I got to tell you, Mario Carbone designed that

0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.360
<v Speaker 3>apparel and it's amazing and and like the celebrities that

0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.440
<v Speaker 3>have been seen wearing that apparel so far, it's it's

0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:40.880
<v Speaker 3>a great marketing tool. You know, Mario himself is a

0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.480
<v Speaker 3>fashion designer, so it's a it's just really been helpful

0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:47.400
<v Speaker 3>to us. So I see us doing a little there.

0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.760
<v Speaker 3>I don't think if it will never become a primary business.

0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.120
<v Speaker 3>The gift sets will never become a primary business, but

0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.240
<v Speaker 3>they're a reminder when you when you get a gift

0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.000
<v Speaker 3>and this Carbone and it reinforces the brand.

0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.200
<v Speaker 2>Hey, you know, I think a lot of people see

0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.720
<v Speaker 2>Carbone in the grocery store and they equate it with

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:07.720
<v Speaker 2>Raos and sort of that same level of premium. Contextualize

0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.440
<v Speaker 2>for us their scale versus your scale right now, and

0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:12.880
<v Speaker 2>to what extent you're sort of nipping at their heels.

0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.000
<v Speaker 3>You know, I mean, they're likely at this point I

0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.200
<v Speaker 3>have to I have to do some math. But you know,

0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:20.840
<v Speaker 3>eight times bigger than us in sauce, nine times bigger

0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.920
<v Speaker 3>than us in sauce. We it's interesting because initially I

0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.040
<v Speaker 3>thought we would be pulling a lot from Raos. But

0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.000
<v Speaker 3>we have a gen Z millennial millennial consumer. If you

0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.280
<v Speaker 3>think about my if you think about the owners of

0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.160
<v Speaker 3>the company, they're in that age group. If you think

0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:38.440
<v Speaker 3>about how they hit pop culture, right, everybody wants to

0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.040
<v Speaker 3>go to Carbone and then they talk about it when

0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.560
<v Speaker 3>they go to Carbone. So we get all of that

0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:48.120
<v Speaker 3>that awareness from the restaurants, and it is to a

0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.560
<v Speaker 3>younger consumer. So I don't think we've boughted Rares at all.

0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:52.360
<v Speaker 3>I mean, as a matter of fact, their growth given

0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:56.680
<v Speaker 3>their size, is still very strong. Wow. So and you know,

0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.080
<v Speaker 3>I mean, look, we're the fastest growing in America, but

0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.360
<v Speaker 3>we're spots behind them in the list right. So yeah, uh,

0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:05.480
<v Speaker 3>you know my goal is my goal is to get

0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:06.000
<v Speaker 3>there one day.

0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:07.200
<v Speaker 1>What are you having for dinner tonight?

0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:08.960
<v Speaker 3>What am I having for dinner? I will be on

0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:09.359
<v Speaker 3>a plane.

0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.600
<v Speaker 2>I knew I was going to say, we have to

0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:12.000
<v Speaker 2>let him go.

0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:15.080
<v Speaker 3>He's got a probably probably a cliff park.

0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:16.080
<v Speaker 1>Are you.

0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:19.159
<v Speaker 2>I'm so sorry all that flying from Vegas. It's not

0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.280
<v Speaker 2>even a hub, So you're you're just doing a lot

0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.520
<v Speaker 2>of connecting flag United Work's not.

0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.439
<v Speaker 1>That it's correct, keep it, keep us up to date.

0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.480
<v Speaker 1>When you're ready to talk about the next thing.

0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.080
<v Speaker 3>Well I will, I will for sure. I mean, we

0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.280
<v Speaker 3>always have development going on and it would be great

0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:34.639
<v Speaker 3>to let you know about it.

0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.640
<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much, CEO of Carbone Fine Food, joining

0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.840
<v Speaker 1>us right here in our Bloomberg Interactive Broker Studio. Thank you.