On today’s episode of the podcast, we continue our Superfoods series with a remarkable story that revolves around Joan Smith, a visionary entrepreneur who not only founded Rancho Meladuco but also revolutionized the world of superfood dates. Her inspiring journey of perseverance, dedication, and innovation led to a groundbreaking product launch with retail giant Walmart. We will hear about the unique entrepreneurial tale of Joan Smith and the delectable world of superfood dates.

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[Lori Taylor]: Hey everybody, it’s Lori Taylor.

Welcome back. This is the Produce Moms podcast.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I am so thrilled to be the host

of this show, the founder of the Produce Moms,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and be back with another week

of incredible programming. We are celebrating

 

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[Lori Taylor]: superfoods. And today’s superfood

story is one that is near and dear to my heart

 

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[Lori Taylor]: because I think it has such an

incredible flight, so to say, in how this product

 

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[Lori Taylor]: has gone from something that

was… maybe not even understood or a product

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that 10, 15 years ago, a lot

of us have never tried to now something that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: is very mainstream. So we’re

talking about dates and it is, it is something

 

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[Lori Taylor]: when I look back on my days at

the sales desk, when I was selling fresh produce

 

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[Lori Taylor]: for like 10 years to grocery

stores throughout the United States, I would

 

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[Lori Taylor]: maybe sell a case of dates like

once a month. Um, and now today you can’t really

 

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[Lori Taylor]: even walk into a produce department

without seeing fresh dates and There’s promotional

 

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[Lori Taylor]: campaigns around these dates.

There’s a heightened consumer awareness around

 

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[Lori Taylor]: dates. When we think about our

content library at theproducemoms.com, our

 

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[Lori Taylor]: content about dates, even content

that we’ve published years ago, consistently

 

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[Lori Taylor]: ranks in our top 10 blogs. So

this is a product that consumers are curious

 

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[Lori Taylor]: about, they’re interested in,

and they’re certainly buying more of. And when

 

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[Lori Taylor]: you really think about dates

from the lens of superfoods, which is what

 

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[Lori Taylor]: this… this little mini series

that we’re celebrating is all about, there’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: a great story to tell. So to

help us tell that story of dates and superfoods,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: we’ve enlisted the help of someone

who I view as just a total champion in the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: ag industry. I think anytime

you’ve got a great female farming story in

 

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[Lori Taylor]: ag, gosh, it’s amazing. And that

is what today’s guests, you know, she has that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to offer as well as an incredible

amount of knowledge on dates. So. thrilled

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to welcome Joan Smith. Joan is

the founder and date farmer at Rancho Melodico.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Joan’s also a mother of three,

so gotta love another produce mom. She’s a

 

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[Lori Taylor]: CPA, an avid cook, self-described

foodie and hobby gardener. Joan began farming

 

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[Lori Taylor]: dates out of a desire to share

the delicious and nutritious fruit from her

 

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[Lori Taylor]: family farm with everyone. So

it’s a thrill to welcome Joan Smith from Rancho

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Melodico. to our broadcast today.

Joan, thanks for being here. Oh, we’re yes.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: We’re so glad you’re here. And

it’s so wonderful because Joan and I have known

 

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[Lori Taylor]: each other. Gosh, for the last

couple of years, it seems like, yeah. And yeah,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: we featured your products and

holiday gift guides. Um, and that was the first

 

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[Lori Taylor]: time we connected and I found

your product, I think probably just through

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Instagram. Um, and the packaging,

if you haven’t seen the Rancho Melodico packaging,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: um, and the story that’s told

on the packaging. It is worth visiting the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: website, ranchomeladuko.com,

just to see this amazing packaging that Joan

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and her team have designed. It

is show-stopping to say the least, and it really

 

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[Lori Taylor]: sucks you in, and it pops from

the shelf. But, and it has a great story on

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the box, but we’re gonna dive

deeper into what the box can tell, and we’re

 

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[Lori Taylor]: gonna talk to Joan today about

her farming story, her founder story. We’re

 

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[Lori Taylor]: gonna talk about dates as a super

food. We’re going to share some testimonials

 

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[Lori Taylor]: from, you know, your, your shoppers,

um, and other, you know, known facts or, or

 

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[Lori Taylor]: claims about how dates can improve

our lives. And we’re going to talk about your

 

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[Lori Taylor]: really cool champion moment with

Walmart and your national launch of product

 

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[Lori Taylor]: at Walmart. So saddle up. It’s

going to be a great show. Joan, let’s kick

 

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[Lori Taylor]: things off with an introduction.

Just tell people more about yourself and Rancho

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Melodico.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I’m sorry.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, I love that. And you know,

you’ve mentioned the Coachella Valley, and

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I think we have to call it the

elephant in the room. Anytime you say Coachella,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: 99.9% of people in America just

immediately think of the music festival and

 

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[Lori Taylor]: don’t necessarily realize that

this is a world famous agricultural region.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: So talk a little bit more about

the Coachella Valley, and you know, you mentioned

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that you planted, you know, you

expanded the home ranch. What’s your footprint

 

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[Lori Taylor]: today?

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Hahaha

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Wow.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Got it.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I love it. And we’re gonna, and

we’ll talk more about your, the expansion of

 

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[Lori Taylor]: your home ranch too, and how

your recent Walmart distinction and national

 

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[Lori Taylor]: launch is undoubtedly a catalyst

for expanding the home ranch. So we’ll talk

 

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[Lori Taylor]: more about that as the show progresses,

but let’s shift gears right now and talk about

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the theme of this mini series

that you’re part of. So at the Produce Moms

 

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[Lori Taylor]: podcast right now, the theme

of all these concurrent episodes is superfoods.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: And so how do you define a superfood,

Joan?

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, but they all, those all

kind of would be described from a flavor profile

 

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[Lori Taylor]: as like very earthy or, you know,

like you feel like you’re eating grass.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. So let’s talk more for

people who are unfamiliar with dates because,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: you know, especially from my

point of view, growing up in the Midwest, you

 

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[Lori Taylor]: know, I knew dates really only

as an ingredient in a Christmas cookie that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: my grandma made, you know? So

I did not bite into my very first fresh date

 

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[Lori Taylor]: until I was selling fresh produce

to grocery stores. So, you know, what was it

 

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[Lori Taylor]: like 2005, when I finally took

my first bite of a fresh module dates. So let’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: start with the very basics of

dates. Are they dried fruit or fresh fruit?

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Wow.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right. The only other product

I know like that is honey. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Sure. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So we’ve

talked about a little bit, obviously we know

 

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[Lori Taylor]: they grow very well in the Coachella

Valley. Like that’s a super famous region for

 

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[Lori Taylor]: dates. You also mentioned some

of the varieties. I kind of view the, I don’t

 

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[Lori Taylor]: know, like if we were talking

cars, like the Cadillac variety would be the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: medjool date from my point of

view. What, but tell us a little bit more about

 

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[Lori Taylor]: anything that you’d like to share

with the consumption trends. Of course, I shared

 

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[Lori Taylor]: some of my perspective, you know,

from my days at the sales desk. I definitely

 

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[Lori Taylor]: feel like this is a product that’s

on an upward trend in consumer demand and awareness,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: but share more about that.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Wow.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Wow.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Wow.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, you introduced me to those.

I had never even heard of them. Yeah. And,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and I bought a, a case from your

e-commerce when they became available and a

 

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[Lori Taylor]: totally different eating experience.

Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Oh, gorgeous palm trees. They.

Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Oh, I did not know that.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I love that. So let’s, let’s

talk a little bit now into some of these superfood

 

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[Lori Taylor]: claims that people have. Cause

it’s one thing for, you know, you’re a farmer,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I’m a food marketer and formerly

sold produce. And so the term superfood gets

 

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[Lori Taylor]: thrown around a lot to the point

where some of the foods that we might be claiming

 

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[Lori Taylor]: are superfoods are actually lacking

some of, you know, how you described it, which

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I thought was a beautiful definition

at the top of the show. Um, you know, these,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: we’re looking, when we say the

term superfood in my opinion, as well as, you

 

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[Lori Taylor]: know, the definition that you

shared, we’re really looking for foods that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: have unique properties that are

helping us lean into that food as medicine

 

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[Lori Taylor]: concept and our previous content

theme here on the podcast was food as medicine

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and was certainly inspirational

for what we’re discussing today. So when we,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: when we comb through your website,

which is a great resource, folks, ranchomeladuko.com.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: There’s some really cool testimonials

from your customers. One that really stuck

 

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[Lori Taylor]: out to me was pregnancy and dates.

So let’s talk about that and some of the superfood

 

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[Lori Taylor]: claims that people have as it

relates to dates, eating dates while pregnant.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yep.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Well, in any time we can get

a natural source of a nutrient property such

 

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[Lori Taylor]: as magnesium, that’s always superior

over a supplement source. Um, but yeah, so

 

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[Lori Taylor]: awesome story. I wish I would

have known that when I was pregnant. I had,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: instead I was leaning into the

old wives tales, like, you know, drink castor

 

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[Lori Taylor]: oil mixed with orange crush,

like not super healthy for you by any means.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: But um, yeah. So

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Totally.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yes.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right? Blend it up. I mean, it’s

one of my favorite things to add into any smoothie.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: It’s a great way to, it’s a great

binder also if you wanna do something like

 

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[Lori Taylor]: make a homemade granola bar.

We’ve got some really great content on our

 

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[Lori Taylor]: TikTok and Instagram reels that

uses dates as like a primary ingredient for

 

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[Lori Taylor]: making things like homemade granolas

and fresh made granola bars. Yes, the energy

 

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[Lori Taylor]: bites. Dates are like, that’s

the number one secret ingredient in all of

 

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[Lori Taylor]: those foods. So yeah, wonderful.

Okay, so another one, and you kind of alluded

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to this when you were talking

about potassium. Bananas have always been associated

 

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[Lori Taylor]: as a potassium leader. It’s the

fruit that’s passed out when you finish a marathon.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Um, and something that I’ve learned

and it certainly comes alive again on some

 

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[Lori Taylor]: of the testimonials on your website,

as well as other online research we did in

 

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[Lori Taylor]: preparation for this segment,

but performance nutrition and dates. I mean,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it is amazing how many sports

dieticians and how many, uh, performance athletes

 

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[Lori Taylor]: are choosing dates as a, you

know, consuming, putting dates in their runner

 

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[Lori Taylor]: pouch, as opposed to. the highly

processed gels that runners can often consume.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: And we’ve also obviously read

stories about just the performance nutrition

 

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[Lori Taylor]: dates as a recovery food, not

just something that you eat in advance or during

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the extraneous exercise, but

afterwards. So let’s talk a little bit more

 

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[Lori Taylor]: about that.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Totally, yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: there was probably a big learning

curve. Like you’ve gotten to the point where

 

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[Lori Taylor]: you don’t necessarily have to

introduce the fruit anymore. And that is just

 

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[Lori Taylor]: an anecdotal way to validate,

hey, we have made some real progress here.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I think that there’s a knot of

the hat to influencer marketing as it relates

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to the younger generations, you

know, consumer awareness of a product such

 

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[Lori Taylor]: as dates. So because it’s all

over. I mean, obviously, my algorithms skew

 

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[Lori Taylor]: very heavily towards food content,

but it is it is a product that is all over

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the social media feeds. So very

interesting. And I will say too, like, I don’t

 

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[Lori Taylor]: want people to think that you

have to be. an Ironman competitor, or even

 

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[Lori Taylor]: a marathon runner to need performance

nutrition foods. You know, I mean, this is

 

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[Lori Taylor]: a potassium, and if you find

yourself getting something like just Charlie

 

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[Lori Taylor]: horses at night, chances are,

despite whatever your physical exertion is

 

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[Lori Taylor]: during the day, that this is

a food that can help you overcome those types

 

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[Lori Taylor]: of cramps. And… It is an item

as I, as I help my sons, you know, I’ve got

 

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[Lori Taylor]: two teenage sons, one’s a high

school athlete, one’s a middle school athlete.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: They both have, you know, goals

to be bigger, stronger, you know, more fierce

 

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[Lori Taylor]: athletes and nutrition is like

the one thing that separates these young athletes

 

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[Lori Taylor]: apart when they’re trying to

really grow into, you know, being varsity athletes

 

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[Lori Taylor]: or college bound athletes, wherever

your, your children’s goals are with sports.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: just a proper nutrition base

and leaning into natural foods such as dates,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that can be a competitive advantage

for a young athlete in a big way.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, I agree.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Joan, are you looking at my notes?

Because I must say you just waltzed us right

 

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[Lori Taylor]: into the next superfood property

that I had outlined. And that is the low glycemic

 

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[Lori Taylor]: property of dates. So let’s talk

a little bit more deeply about that topic because

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it is extremely important right

now. In a culture where the majority of us

 

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[Lori Taylor]: in America are living with diabetes,

are facing a pre-diabetic, yeah, exactly. being

 

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[Lori Taylor]: cognizant of what are low glycemic

foods, that is really critical and important.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: So let’s talk about low glycemic

and why dates lead in that category.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Totally.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. And that’s, that’s actually

one of the key, um, that’s one of the key recommendations

 

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[Lori Taylor]: with the dietary guidelines.

What Jonah’s describing folks is the concept

 

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[Lori Taylor]: of shifting. And we’re not saying

you need to shift. You know, you like desserts,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: you like something sweet. We’re

not saying you need to shift away and never

 

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[Lori Taylor]: eat something sweet again. We’re

saying how, how can you find something that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: still satisfies that craving?

but you’re just shifting your choice so that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it’s providing your body with

more nutrition, or in the case of something

 

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[Lori Taylor]: sweet, the lower glycemic foods.

So, yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Don’t you love that? Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Stay connected. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Well, that’s also one of the

beautiful things about a small family farm

 

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[Lori Taylor]: too. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. It is legit a very clean

and easy to adopt dessert swap. I will confirm

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that. All right, so another nutrient

property is fiber indates. So important, and

 

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[Lori Taylor]: fiber is one of those food items,

like I think we’re all probably struggling

 

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[Lori Taylor]: with fiber deficiencies. Again,

it probably comes back to… our consumption

 

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[Lori Taylor]: trends surrounding leafy greens

and other foods that lead in fiber. But let’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: talk about how dates can help

us with natural fiber, non-supplemented, this

 

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[Lori Taylor]: is naturally occurring, plant-based

fiber. Talk more about why that’s important

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and one of the reasons why we

consider dates a superfood.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. Well, we had Dr. Robert

Graham on as part of the Food as Medicine series.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: And paraphrasing a quote in a

powerful moment from his episode, he essentially

 

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[Lori Taylor]: said, all chronic disease begins

in the gut. And so gut health, his perspective

 

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[Lori Taylor]: within his own private practice

and his and his projection for mainstream medicine

 

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[Lori Taylor]: as we look ahead is that gut

health will become one of the, something that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: we will eventually have is baseline

statistics, the same way we get blood pressure

 

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[Lori Taylor]: screenings, you know? Yeah, so,

and fiber’s one of those key nutrient properties

 

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[Lori Taylor]: as it relates to maintaining

a healthy gut. Yeah. All right, and then another

 

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[Lori Taylor]: one, and I think this is really

one of my, favorite things to talk about on

 

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[Lori Taylor]: this podcast is like the cultural

side of food and we did talk about this extensively

 

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[Lori Taylor]: in our previous Series food is

medicine and I think it needs to be you know,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: people need to be reminded of

it It’s so important that food not only nourishes

 

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[Lori Taylor]: our body but makes us feel good

You know, there’s a reason why you know when

 

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[Lori Taylor]: you’re celebrating your birthday

You want you want the experience of the cake

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and the candles and you know,

the scoop of ice cream on the side. That’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: That’s food is culture. All right.

Now, when we think about dates, dates are one

 

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[Lori Taylor]: of those amazing, you know, nutrient

dense foods that can help us kind of satisfy

 

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[Lori Taylor]: some of that cultural side of

wanting to have the sweet indulgent dessert

 

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[Lori Taylor]: after our dinner. And so I’ve

I titled this in my notes, just the happiness

 

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[Lori Taylor]: side of a superfood. You know,

this is this is a food that can help you. still

 

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[Lori Taylor]: have still satisfy your sweet

tooth.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. Reesy cups, yeah, all of

it.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: It’s so good. I mean, I had my

first date shake in the Bard Valley, which

 

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[Lori Taylor]: is, you know, one of your neighboring

growing regions in Arizona. But oh my gosh,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: when I took my first sip of a

date shake, I was like, this is unbelievable.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Like maybe the best shake I’ve

ever had.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Oh, I, that’s how I make them

for the holidays every year. A really good

 

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[Lori Taylor]: cheese, whether it’s a goat cheese,

a blue cheese, then I usually put like a smoked

 

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[Lori Taylor]: almond in it and then I close

the day around it. And then sometimes I’ll

 

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[Lori Taylor]: even wrap them in a bacon and

then I’ll oven roast them. Oh my gosh. I have,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that is the one thing that I

make. I bring amazing dishes to every party

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I go to. But I, that is the one

thing that year after year my answer like don’t

 

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[Lori Taylor]: show up at Christmas unless you

have the dates. Thanks for watching!

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, caramelized bananas are

another one of my favorite like stuffers.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Peach cobbler, yeah. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. It keeps you, it keeps

you out of the, the candy cookie, uh, chocolate

 

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[Lori Taylor]: aisle. Um,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Completely agree.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: It’s also one of my favorite

things to just take a, take one or two module

 

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[Lori Taylor]: dates. Like you’re making a really

big savory, like arugula based salad and you

 

272

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[Lori Taylor]: can slice them thinly almost

the same way that you would like a pepper ring

 

273

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[Lori Taylor]: and sprinkle those into the salad.

Add again, blue cheese, some toasted pecans.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: It is so good. Yeah. Okay. So

now we’ve talked about a lot of our favorite

 

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[Lori Taylor]: ways to use and you know, experiment

and explore the many ways you can use dates

 

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[Lori Taylor]: in your kitchen. Let’s talk now

Joan, because one of the coolest things that’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: happened to you, probably in

this entire journey, was your recent distinction

 

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[Lori Taylor]: with Walmart and the national

launch of your product on shelf at every single

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Walmart store in the United States.

So that is huge. And unbelievably huge. So,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and, and I also think it’s worth

calling out here. We’ve got the, you know,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: one of the largest businesses

in the world and your farm, you mentioned earlier,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: family owned five acres, Coachella

Valley, California. And you are one of their

 

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[Lori Taylor]: vendors. They are one of your

customers. How cool is that? You know, so let’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: talk about that whole, that whole

journey, because it’s a, it’s a really neat

 

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[Lori Taylor]: distinction. And it leans in,

it enriches your founder story as well.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Like the gold standard and, and

that, and yep.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: totally naturally occurring.

Yeah.

 

288

00:44:04,402 –> 00:44:09,205

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, they’re like little pints.

They look just like an ice cream pint. Yeah.

 

289

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[Lori Taylor]: So it’s a food rescue or food

waste mitigation success story as well.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: when you’re able to introduce

this incredible superfood at a value price

 

291

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[Lori Taylor]: as well. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: hand harvested.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yep. As the grower, you’re getting

a little bit more profit on what was waste

 

294

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[Lori Taylor]: or something that you were just,

you were giving it away after spending the

 

295

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[Lori Taylor]: money on the labor associated

with harvesting it. Yeah. Sure.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: So what’s the name of the competition

or program again?

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Walmart’s open call. Okay. So

you were a 2022 winner. Okay.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, we gotta try to get that

merchandise a little better, because it is…

 

301

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

302

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[Lori Taylor]: or just find a way to cross-merchandise

them in a more compelling way. Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Sure.

 

305

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Totally.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. Well, it’s amazing and

really, really proud of all you’ve accomplished,

 

308

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[Lori Taylor]: Joan, since we very first connected.

I think this Walmart open call victory and

 

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00:48:22,904 –> 00:48:28,288

[Lori Taylor]: distinction. So you said there

was 5,000 small businesses, all undoubtedly

 

310

00:48:28,308 –> 00:48:33,673

[Lori Taylor]: with great products to offer.

How many actually won the open call and got

 

311

00:48:33,713 –> 00:48:34,713

[Lori Taylor]: their product on shelf?

 

312

00:48:42,047 –> 00:48:49,345

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah. Yeah, amazing, amazing.

And so a tip I’d like to share with folks,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I’m addicted to my Walmart curbside

and it’s been very convenient just when something

 

314

00:48:55,549 –> 00:48:58,771

[Lori Taylor]: runs out in the house, I just

add it to my order. And then when I’m at a

 

315

00:48:58,831 –> 00:49:03,134

[Lori Taylor]: point where I’m like, okay, it’s

time to go pick up a big haul from Walmart,

 

316

00:49:03,675 –> 00:49:09,739

[Lori Taylor]: that’s when I submit my order.

And once you add the grinders, the Rancho Melodico

 

317

00:49:10,019 –> 00:49:15,207

[Lori Taylor]: dates to your online cart, it

will… come up as a suggested item or part

 

318

00:49:15,247 –> 00:49:20,390

[Lori Taylor]: of your purchase history. And

that’s how I never forget to add them to my

 

319

00:49:20,430 –> 00:49:28,655

[Lori Taylor]: grocery order. And that has helped

me overcome the search and discovery of finding

 

320

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[Lori Taylor]: them in the massive grocery store

at Walmart and trying to find them on the bottom

 

321

00:49:32,657 –> 00:49:33,137

[Lori Taylor]: shelf. So.

 

322

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

324

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[Lori Taylor]: You sure?

 

325

00:50:42,306 –> 00:50:47,019

[Lori Taylor]: That’s a great tip. We’ll have

to do a blog on how to reconstitute your dates

 

326

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[Lori Taylor]: because…

 

327

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

328

00:51:01,323 –> 00:51:01,507

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

329

00:51:07,779 –> 00:51:07,989

[Lori Taylor]: Sure.

 

330

00:51:12,746 –> 00:51:16,708

[Lori Taylor]: That’s a great tip. We’ll have

to do some experimentation and don’t be surprised,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: uh, podcast listeners, when you

see this topic come up on our blog, we’re doing

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it, Joan. We’ll do it with your

product too. So, all right. Well, we’ve talked

 

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00:51:27,615 –> 00:51:31,578

[Lori Taylor]: about everything from all the,

you know, pregnancy and dates, performance,

 

334

00:51:31,618 –> 00:51:37,970

[Lori Taylor]: nutrition dates, the low glycemic

property of dates, fiber happiness and candy

 

335

00:51:37,990 –> 00:51:44,733

[Lori Taylor]: bar swaps. We’ve talked about

Joan’s amazing family farming story and of

 

336

00:51:44,773 –> 00:51:50,737

[Lori Taylor]: course her recent Walmart national

launch. So what a great episode this has been.

 

337

00:51:50,937 –> 00:51:56,760

[Lori Taylor]: Joan, so thankful that you could

join us as our guests today and I’d like to

 

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00:51:56,800 –> 00:52:00,042

[Lori Taylor]: before you know I pass the mic

back to you for closing remarks I want to thank

 

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00:52:00,082 –> 00:52:03,864

[Lori Taylor]: our audience. You know none of

this would be possible without your without

 

340

00:52:03,884 –> 00:52:07,882

[Lori Taylor]: your participation in what we’re

doing at the Produce Moms podcast so Thank

 

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00:52:07,922 –> 00:52:11,323

[Lori Taylor]: you to everyone who’s taken the

time for rating and review. It really helps

 

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00:52:11,383 –> 00:52:16,304

[Lori Taylor]: us a ton here at the show. So

I’m asking for your rating and review at the

 

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00:52:16,344 –> 00:52:21,066

[Lori Taylor]: Produce Moms, whatever podcast

platform you’re using to listen to us week

 

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[Lori Taylor]: after week, we really appreciate

1. So with that, Joan, I’m gonna pass the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: mic back to you. Thank you so

much for being our guest. Please sign us off

 

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[Lori Taylor]: from today’s show and share any

closing remarks.