The Fourth Wall Food Lab: featuring brands from Naturally LA's Summer Bash...

Our team at The Fourth Wall are excited to attend the upcoming Naturally LA Summer Bash event in Santa Monica with those developing and connected to an array of CPG brands. In anticipation of meeting the people behind those brands, we thought it best to get our hands on and try some of their creations. After all, there's no better way to join the conversation than to have tried the products for ourselves before meeting those who have had a hand in creating them.

For a FULL guided tour with photos check out the entire article here: FOOD LAB RECAP

Our goal was to reenact a day of eating (beverages, snacks, meal, & dessert) using products from brands participating in the event and share insights we uncovered around the categories they participate in. There was no shortage of great options across multiple categories and unfortunately our stomachs aren't large enough to try everything so we featured a selection of goodies we tackled in our day of feasting.

Disclaimer: We purchased all the goods tested from the brands and did not contact them beforehand. All opinions and research are independent and our own.

IN ORDER OF CONSUMPTION:

ONLY HYDRATION

• CATEGORY/INDUSTRY: Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS; sub-category Oral Rehydration Salts)
• SIZE OF THE PRIZE: Est. $11.5B USD (globally); Est. $1.5B for Salts
• PRICE: $4.76/oz
• AVG. SHELF COMP: $3.60/oz at Amazon
• CATEGORY SHELF SPACE: 4 feet x 2.5 shelves (Whole Foods Silver Lake)
• NOTABLE BRANDS: Liquid IV, Hydromate, Primal Hydration, Ultima, Nectar

OUR THOUGHTS: Neither of us use ORS products regularly but on those mornings after a rare night out you can usually find evidence of hydration assistance scattered throughout the house. The most memorable part of this product is the amazing fragrance your nose is hit with when you peel open a packet, causing you to salivate immediately. Our starter kit came with a shaker and useful powder breaker… just in time to relieve me of my massive headache (Lee).

Visit onlyhydration.com for more information.

THE ONLY BEAN

• CATEGORY/INDUSTRY: Snacks (Sub-Category Nuts)
• SIZE OF THE PRIZE: Est. $150 billion USD (US); $10.5 billion for Nuts specifically
• PRICE: $1.16/oz
• AVG. SHELF COMP: $0.81/oz (Amazon, edamame products only)
• CATEGORY SHELF SPACE: 10 feet x 8 shelves (Whole Foods Silver Lake, all nuts)
• NOTABLE BRANDS: Seapoint Farms, Far Field, Medley Hills Farm, Fred’s Farm (edamame only)

OUR THOUGHTS: Who doesn’t love a great a snack? According to the stats out there on the size of the prize, most everyone else agrees. Both our pantries are filled with snacks, mostly salty and savory. Edamame as a snack is new to us and with simple digging seems to be a niche product in a diverse crowd of grabbable snacks. We found The Only Bean to be delightful. In fact, we gravitated towards the Sea Salt often, grabbing a handful at a time throughout the day until the bag was gone. The other flavors seem to amplify the “niche-ness” of the product even further, offering more specialized profiles for a further unique experience. They pegged the sriracha and buffalo varietals in an unexpectedly light and natural way with none of that synthetic aftertaste you may expect elsewhere (Hesam).

Visit theonlybean.com for more information.

MOKU FOODS

• CATEGORY/INDUSTRY: Snacks (sub-category Jerky)
• SIZE OF THE PRIZE: Est. $4.5 billion USD (globally); Plant-based est. $650 million
• PRICE: $6.83
• AVG. SHELF COMP: $6.12 at Whole Foods Silver Lake
• CATEGORY SHELF SPACE: 4 feet x 7 rows pegged (Whole Foods Silver Lake, all jerky)
• NOTABLE BRANDS: Pan’s, Louisville Vegan Jerky Co., Primal Spirit Foods

OUR THOUGHTS: I’m a huge fan of jerky (Lee). It is a top three must have when at the convenience store prepping for any long road trip right alongside a bag of sunflower seeds and Sour Patch Kids… all the things a body needs to stay fueled on the highway. A part of getting jerky plays in the nostalgic arena for me as I remember every gas station from Minneapolis to Chicago offering local and national fare alike. Moku Foods hits on this well. If you just reached into a bag not knowing it was plant based, you wouldn’t even blink an eye. The hickory notes ease the journey like a good Zach Bryan playlist. Being mushroom based, it felt really light and clean to snack on without the “I’m too full for my next meal” guilt (Hesam).

Visit mokufoods.com for more information.

4TH & HEART

• CATEGORY/INDUSTRY: Cooking Oils (sub-category Solids)
• SIZE OF THE PRIZE: Est. $200 billion USD (globally)
• PRICE: $15.49
• AVG. SHELF COMP: $13.04 at Whole Foods Silver Lake (only other ghee related products)
• CATEGORY SHELF SPACE: 8 feet x 6.5 shelves (4 feet and shelves for Solids only)
• NOTABLE BRANDS: Ancient Organics, Organic Valley

OUR THOUGHTS: I had never used ghee before and was really excited to try it (Lee). Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I loved the fact that it has a much higher smoke point than olive oil and even that of regular butter which makes sense due to the browning process of the milk solids. We pan roasted some Mary’s Organic chicken breasts in the ghee and to our delight the skin came out nice and crisp with a light buttery taste. Ghee in general is not an inexpensive product but what you get is a luxurious product with many applications.

Visit fourthandheart.com for more information.

A DOZEN COUSINS

• CATEGORY/INDUSTRY: Boxed Meals and Side Dishes (or Ready To Eat Meals)
• SIZE OF THE PRIZE: Est. $47 billion USD (US)
• PRICE: $3.29 (rice product)
• AVG. SHELF COMP: $3.33 at Whole Foods Silver Lake
• CATEGORY SHELF SPACE: 8 feet x 9 shelves (Whole Foods Silver Lake)
• NOTABLE BRANDS: Ben’s Original, Seeds of Change, Good & Gather (Target)

OUR THOUGHTS: In our households, every five minutes counts, especially during the week. Our schedules are packed and on occasion we skip meals, not because we want to but because we forget to. Enter A Dozen Cousins, a family of shelf stable products that can conveniently be devoured in less time than it takes to answer an email from (insert name here). We paired their Spanish Yellow Rice cooked in bone broth with their Cuban Black Beans with the chicken we made (with 4th & Heart ghee) and found a rewarding meal that helped power through the day. Additional note, our toddler LOVED the beans… he gave two thumbs up (Lee).

Visit adozencousins.com for more information.

MISS JONES BAKING CO.

• CATEGORY/INDUSTRY: Pantry (Sub-Category Baking Kits and Mixes)
• SIZE OF THE PRIZE: Est. $1.5 billion USD (US)
• PRICE: $6.89
• AVG. SHELF COMP: $4.59 at Whole Foods Silver Lake
• CATEGORY SHELF SPACE: 8 feet x 3 shelves (Whole Foods Silver Lake, baking kits and mixes)
• NOTABLE BRANDS: Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Simple Mills, Ghirardelli, King Arthur

OUR THOUGHTS: Sorry for the foul language but this is the best f#ck!ng brownie mix we’ve ever had. The only annoying thing about it was that it was gone before the end of the night and there were only four of us eating it – including our toddler as a part of the four people (Lee). It was incredibly easy to mix and bake. The house was filled with the overwhelming aroma of chocolate and the feeling of nostalgia you get when you see a Norman Rockwell painting.

Visit missjones.co for more information.

Thank you to Naturally LA for putting these brands on our radar and bringing us all together! We're looking forward to meeting the people behind these brands and more as we explore what it takes to best position natural CPG brands for growth.

References:

Matthew Foung of ONLY Hydration, Brian Lai of The Only Bean, Matt Feldman of Moku Foods, Max Dichter of 4th & Heart, Ibraheem Basir of A Dozen Cousins, and Leslie Mohr of Miss Jones Baking Co.

Visit the The Fourth Wall and at https://www.thew4ll.com/

or contact our GUIDES:

Lee Paul Nguyen

Hesam Rasoulzadeh