Meanwhile, here are a few detailed rants and raves about a handful of products.

I like that protein shakes have evolved from bottled RTDs to powders (bulk and single-serve). It’s a genuinely smart format. It’s convenient, it travels well, and it covers different usage occasions without being annoying about it. You can also decide what you want to add to the powder. And, in theory, you can skip water + plastic bottles altogether, which means fewer spills, easier transport, and a more sustainable-ish footprint.

So why on god’s green (not for long, eh? wink wink) earth would you put the powder in an empty bottle and sell that??!! These things take up so much space. They’re also not reusable. And it feels like a significant cost for the company to manufacture… a bottle whose entire purpose is to be thrown away. Add the liquid and sell an RTD then.

The first time I came across this was at Thaifex. Thai brand Choize was selling meal replacement nutrition powders in bottles. You just had to add water to the bottle, shake, and were good to go. At that time, I found it pretty wasteful but also kind of quirky. I noted it… and then forgot about it.

…Until a couple of months ago, when I bumped into Enduraphin. On the surface, it looks like a bog-standard sports protein brand. Except they also sell the powder in a bottle – and the bottle has “PHINs,” which are basically indentations that allegedly help you shake the powder better. And they say very clearly that it’s single-use. On the website. Like they’re proud of it.

 As if that wasn’t patented, single-use, recyclable enough, the company also has a VERY helpful 3-step video tutorial on HOW TO SHAKE THE BOTTLE. These stills are from their Instagram page, and I genuinely can’t tell if I’m being trolled. Are they being sarcastic? 

I feel like people will figure this out after approximately one attempt. This is unnecessary. Stop infantilizing people who are old enough to exercise their franchise. It’s the same energy as those water flavorer things. Anyway. I’m thrilled we’ve reinvented… shaking.

I think I handled that with tremendous restraint and grace. Let’s move on.

Sometimes, all it takes to delight me is to make something sweet salty.

My favorite product of last year was this thing of joy: a vegan caviar alternative made from chia seeds. I have never had caviar so I went in with no expectations. And Nata’s Chia Caviar (seen at Anuga) turned out to be like a salty, umami, tart chia pudding. Glorious! Is chia the Beluga of the plant world? 

For too long have sweet products dominated the granola aisle. Let’s see some salty products. Crunchy Grain, a concept from Greece (also seen at Anuga), is a savory granola snack made with chickpeas, popped quinoa, and pumpkin seeds, seasoned with a tomato paste marinade and spices. It’s vegan, gluten-free, and high in protein. It is refreshing to see something so different. Couldn’t get a taste though.

I don’t get the appeal of matcha. It’s like drinking liquid chalk blended with grass. Does it get better in other formats, like all those milky green shakes that look cloyingly sweet? I don’t know; the Dubai chocolate matcha Labubu shake/cookie/ice cream/[enter category here] scared me off. 

Which is why I looked at this limited edition launch with deep suspicion. UK condiments company Wild & Fruitful teamed up with Amazon (headscratcher of a coupling) to put out this matcha ketchup for Christmas. That it had matcha, given my preexisting bias, did not do the green goop any favors in my eyes. But matcha makes up only about 4% of the product, so I’m willing to reserve judgement.

What really ticked me off was how all the articles/press releases described the damn product: “The ketchup is a blend of earthy Japanese matcha with the flavours of rich, tangy tomatoes.” 

A quick glance at the ingredients showed that the amount of tomatoes in this was (are you sitting down?) 2%. And that’s tomato paste + salt. The tangy math ain’t mathin’.

So, that’s 4% matcha, 2% tomato paste - earthy and tangy on their own. So, what’s the rest? Onions - 73%. The rest is spinach powder (so other things contribute to the green too) and spices. And the tanginess is more likely from the white wine vinegar, since that features higher up in the ings list than the allegedly main ingredients.

This is not a matcha ketchup, it’s an onion ketchup. Own it! It sounds bloody amazing when you put it like that. And by all accounts on Instagram, people loved it.

This shocking lack of due diligence is why no one trusts the mainstream F&B media anymore. 

I’m going to get banned from so many places…

As a wink to vampire-repellent canon – and in a not-so-subtle nudge toward Hellmann’s Garlic Aioli – the condiment maker teamed up with romantasy author Jennifer L. Armentrout to make a limited “Craven-Proof” edition of The Primal of Blood and Bone that’s printed in garlic ink (yes, they literally added garlic to the ink). 

Do I want my book to smell like garlic 24/7? Not really. Garlic is a moment, not a roommate. But as a campaign, it’s gloriously silly. It’s exactly the kind of collectible chaos the BookTok army will swoon over like they do a dashing vampire bad boy. They printed 1,000 copies of these and sold them in a nice coffin along with a bottle of the aioli for Halloween last year. 

My only gripe: Hellmann’s bias is showing a tad. Shame on you for not being inclusive to the vampires! ;p

What I’m really waiting for is the Kindle edition that lets you customize the smells as you read.

Energy drinks for women are shaping up to be a meaningful next mini-wave. This isn’t because women just discovered energy drinks, but because energy is getting recoded as wellness + lifestyle + benefits.

Celsius’ US$1.8 billion acquisition of Alani Nu was one of the clearest signs that female-forward energy is no longer a niche corner of the category. The deal brought a brand that already had strong wellness positioning into a much bigger platform. Celsius said Alani Nu surpassed US$1 billion in retail sales in the 52 weeks ended April 13, 2025. YoY retail sales grew by 72.4%.

Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper’s Unwell Energy launched in December with a taste and function pitch: 150 mg caffeine (from green coffee extract), electrolytes, and B vitamins including biotin, with low sugar and no artificial sweeteners. This drink is positioned less like extreme performance and more like a daily routine product.

C4 Energy drink maker Nutrabolt increased its investment in Bloom Nutrition, which expanded its wellness offerings and its portfolio with more drinks to appeal to women.

Then Monster’s just launched a women-focused line called FLRT, which is positioned as sugar-free and explicitly framed around wellness benefits (skin/hair support, collagen boost, immunity). The flavor names are also a deliberate pivot away from traditional energy branding. However, even though this is a clear signal that the segment has become too big to ignore, there’s a real made-by-a-dude vibe to Monster’s lady range. I can’t put my finger on it, but it kinda creeps me out.

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