Abianne Falla used to see the native holly shrub as a pesky invasive on her family’s Texas land, until the 2011 drought highlighted its resilience: it was the sole green survivor. Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) is North America’s only caffeinated plant, though its roots as a ceremonial brew in Gulf Coast indigenous societies have been suppressed by colonial forces and lost to commercialization. As a member of the Chickasaw Nation, Abianne became interested in yaupon and crafted a variety of flavor profiles in her home roasting experiments, which she grew into her company, CatSpring Yaupon.
Abianne harnesses yaupon for regeneration, harvesting on 500 acres while restoring degraded grasslands, boosting biodiversity by 70% and soil carbon by 7%, and fostering balanced ecosystems through grazing. Abianne’s organic, wild-harvested model turns a 20-million-acre nuisance into sustainable income and regenerative opportunities.
In this episode, John and Abianne discuss:
Yaupon’s drought resilience and its takeover of Texas savannas.
Its balanced caffeine mix for crash-free, joyful energy, plus anti-inflammatory benefits.
Reviving indigenous traditions with cultural care in branding.
Turning «weeds» like yaupon or kudzu into crops via history, AI, and observation.
Building a new category from markets to multi-channel sales.
The market potential for local, climate-resilient caffeine amid global shifts.
Additional Resources
To learn more about Cat Spring Yaupon, please visit: https://catspringtea.com/
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it.
Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.
Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.
AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA’s science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most.
AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA’s regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Transcript
0:00 – 0:01
Speaker 2: Hi, friends, this is John.
0:01 – 0:02
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Regenerative
0:02 – 0:03
Speaker 2: Agriculture podcast.
0:04 – 0:06
Speaker 2: In the current economic
0:06 – 0:07
Speaker 2: conditions, one of the things
0:07 – 0:09
Speaker 2: that I believe is so important
0:09 – 0:10
Speaker 2: for us to think about, if we
0:10 – 0:11
Speaker 2: want to have a regenerative
0:11 – 0:13
Speaker 2: agriculture, we first need to
0:13 – 0:16
Speaker 2: have something that can be
0:16 – 0:18
Speaker 2: regenerative and sustain us from
0:18 – 0:20
Speaker 2: an economic perspective, because
0:20 – 0:22
Speaker 2: without healthy foundational
0:22 – 0:24
Speaker 2: economics, then all of the rest
0:24 – 0:26
Speaker 2: is just a wishful daydream.
0:27 – 0:28
Speaker 2: So
0:27 – 0:31
Speaker 2: in this pursuit of
0:32 – 0:33
Speaker 2: of thinking about how do we
0:33 – 0:37
Speaker 2: realign macroeconomics to truly
0:37 – 0:39
Speaker 2: have a sustainable food system
0:39 – 0:40
Speaker 2: that sustains its sustainers.
0:40 – 0:42
Speaker 2: One of the recurring themes and
0:42 – 0:43
Speaker 2: topics is how do we
0:43 – 0:44
Speaker 2: decommoditize ourselves?
0:44 – 0:46
Speaker 2: How do we decommoditize the
0:46 – 0:47
Speaker 2: crops that we're producing?
0:48 – 0:49
Speaker 2: And today I'm having a
0:49 – 0:51
Speaker 2: conversation with Abby Anfala,
0:51 – 0:53
Speaker 2: who's gone all the way to the
0:53 – 0:54
Speaker 2: extreme ends of that spectrum
0:54 – 0:56
Speaker 2: and producing a very unusual
0:56 – 0:56
Speaker 2: crop.
0:57 – 1:00
Speaker 2: I really enjoy the
1:01 – 1:02
Speaker 2: the originality and the
1:02 – 1:04
Speaker 2: innovation and the inspiration
1:04 – 1:05
Speaker 2: that we can have for developing
1:05 – 1:06
Speaker 2: similar opportunities.
1:07 – 1:08
Speaker 2: So, Aviana, thank you for being
1:08 – 1:09
Speaker 2: here.
1:09 – 1:10
Speaker 2: I'm really inspired by the work
1:10 – 1:11
Speaker 2: that you're doing.
1:11 – 1:12
Speaker 2: Please tell us about, tell us
1:12 – 1:13
Speaker 2: the story.
1:14 – 1:15
Speaker 1: Sure. Well, John, thank you so
1:15 – 1:16
Speaker 1: much for having me.
1:16 – 1:18
Speaker 1: And it is an honor to be here.
1:18 – 1:20
Speaker 1: And I'm so grateful for for all
1:20 – 1:22
Speaker 1: that you do in highlighting kind
1:22 – 1:24
Speaker 1: of alternative and restorative
1:24 – 1:26
Speaker 1: modalities and in the way that
1:26 – 1:29
Speaker 1: we relate to the soil, but also
1:29 – 1:31
Speaker 1: in the way that it it fits into
1:31 – 1:33
Speaker 1: the bigger community and
1:33 – 1:34
Speaker 1: economic impact.
1:34 – 1:36
Speaker 1: And so I think thank you for all
1:36 – 1:37
Speaker 1: you do for that.
1:38 – 1:38
Speaker 13: Yeah.
1:38 – 1:41
Speaker 1: So I am Abby Anne and I am the
1:41 – 1:43
Speaker 1: founder of Cat Spring Yopon.
1:44 – 1:46
Speaker 1: What is Yopon? Is often the
1:46 – 1:47
Speaker 1: follow -up question.
1:49 – 1:51
Speaker 2: Is Yopon a thing?
1:51 – 1:52
Speaker 3: That's almost the first
1:52 – 1:52
Speaker 3: question.
1:53 – 1:54
Speaker 12: Yes.
1:54 – 1:57
Speaker 1: You know, we're getting the
1:57 – 1:58
Speaker 1: question less and less, which is
1:58 – 1:59
Speaker 1: always exciting.
1:59 – 2:00
Speaker 1: It feels like that's it.
2:00 – 2:01
Speaker 1: We're doing our job.
2:02 – 2:05
Speaker 1: But so Yopon is our only source
2:05 – 2:07
Speaker 1: of caffeine in North America.
2:07 – 2:11
Speaker 1: It is this incredibly hardy
2:11 – 2:14
Speaker 1: plant that is native to the Gulf
2:14 – 2:17
Speaker 1: Coast region and has a really
2:17 – 2:18
Speaker 1: rich history.
2:19 – 2:22
Speaker 1: you know, where we are in Texas.
2:22 – 2:25
Speaker 1: I grew up with family land in
2:25 – 2:26
Speaker 1: Cat Spring, Texas, which is kind
2:26 – 2:28
Speaker 1: of west of Houston, between
2:28 – 2:29
Speaker 1: Houston and Austin.
2:30 – 2:31
Speaker 1: And
2:31 – 2:33
Speaker 1: where we are, we've eradicated
2:33 – 2:35
Speaker 1: 95 to 99 % of the native grasses
2:35 – 2:37
Speaker 1: in our post oak savanna.
2:37 – 2:40
Speaker 1: And so Yopon is native, but she
2:40 – 2:43
Speaker 1: has taken over and grows totally
2:43 – 2:44
Speaker 1: unchecked.
2:45 – 2:47
Speaker 1: often classified as an invasive
2:47 – 2:48
Speaker 1: species. I prefer the term
2:48 – 2:49
Speaker 1: pervasive,
2:50 – 2:53
Speaker 1: but everyone in our region knows
2:53 – 2:54
Speaker 1: her.
2:54 – 2:55
Speaker 1: She takes over fence lines,
2:55 – 2:56
Speaker 1: grows through pastures,
2:57 – 2:58
Speaker 1: and I grew up,
3:00 – 3:00
Speaker 1: you know, that was our
3:00 – 3:02
Speaker 1: punishment was here take this
3:02 – 3:03
Speaker 1: machete and keep the yaupon off
3:03 – 3:06
Speaker 1: the fence. And so everyone is
3:06 – 3:07
Speaker 1: bulldozing it and burning it.
3:07 – 3:10
Speaker 1: And in the drought of 2011,
3:10 – 3:12
Speaker 1: which is the driest recorded
3:12 – 3:14
Speaker 1: year in Texas history,
3:16 – 3:17
Speaker 1: We lost, I think they're saying
3:17 – 3:20
Speaker 1: something like 300M trees, um,
3:20 – 3:21
Speaker 1: over the course of that drought
3:21 – 3:24
Speaker 1: statewide and where we were, you
3:24 – 3:25
Speaker 1: know, everyone had sold off
3:25 – 3:26
Speaker 1: cattle a
3:26 – 3:28
Speaker 1: long time ago. No, there's
3:28 – 3:29
Speaker 1: everything was dying.
3:29 – 3:30
Speaker 1: We were losing our.
3:31 – 3:32
Speaker 1: Beautiful 100 year old oak
3:32 – 3:34
Speaker 1: trees. Uh, everything looked
3:34 – 3:37
Speaker 1: like wilted spinach and scorched
3:37 – 3:38
Speaker 1: earth and.
3:46 – 3:48
Speaker 1: And at the time, we're like,
3:48 – 3:50
Speaker 1: what is it about this plant?
3:50 – 3:51
Speaker 1: Why is it?
3:51 – 3:53
Speaker 1: Why is it going to outlast us
3:53 – 3:54
Speaker 1: all? You know,
3:54 – 3:55
Speaker 1: I wish I could be the only one
3:55 – 3:56
Speaker 1: to say it, but it's like, it's
3:55 – 3:56
Speaker 1: like, it's like, it's like, it's
3:55 – 3:56
Speaker 1: like, it's like, it's like, it's
3:55 – 3:56
Speaker 1: like.
3:56 – 3:57
Speaker 1: and it was going to have all
3:56 – 3:58
Speaker 1: these benefits, but really it
3:58 – 4:00
Speaker 1: was the same vein of like, I
4:00 – 4:01
Speaker 1: wonder if there's something good
4:01 – 4:01
Speaker 1: about fire ants.
4:02 – 4:03
Speaker 1: Cause they're going to be the
4:03 – 4:03
Speaker 1: only thing that survive
4:03 – 4:04
Speaker 1: Armageddon. Right.
4:04 – 4:06
Speaker 1: Like that was our, our, our
4:06 – 4:09
Speaker 1: curiosity and started to just do
4:09 – 4:10
Speaker 1: some research and was like,
4:11 – 4:13
Speaker 1: realized this is our only source
4:13 – 4:15
Speaker 1: of caffeine that is native to
4:15 – 4:16
Speaker 1: all of North America.
4:17 – 4:20
Speaker 1: There are some studies coming
4:20 – 4:21
Speaker 1: out of Texas A &M and the
4:21 – 4:23
Speaker 1: University of Florida that were
4:23 – 4:24
Speaker 1: demonstrating some of these
4:24 – 4:26
Speaker 1: incredible health benefits like
4:26 – 4:27
Speaker 1: antioxidants,
4:27 – 4:29
Speaker 1: anti -inflammatory,
4:30 – 4:31
Speaker 1: polyphenols comparable to tea,
4:33 – 4:35
Speaker 1: has lymphatic
4:35 – 4:36
Speaker 1: drainage support, all of these
4:36 – 4:37
Speaker 1: incredible things.
4:37 – 4:38
Speaker 1: And then
4:39 – 4:40
Speaker 1: also realizing
4:41 – 4:43
Speaker 1: Wait, there's a rich legacy of
4:43 – 4:44
Speaker 1: tradition with this to write
4:44 – 4:47
Speaker 1: virtually every indigenous tribe
4:47 – 4:49
Speaker 1: along the Gulf Coast, and it's
4:49 – 4:50
Speaker 1: growing region had a tradition
4:50 – 4:52
Speaker 1: as well. And.
4:53 – 4:54
Speaker 1: At that time I was, it was not
4:54 – 4:55
Speaker 1: commercially available anywhere
4:55 – 4:58
Speaker 1: and hadn't been for 50, 60
4:58 – 5:00
Speaker 1: years. And so I just was like, I
5:00 – 5:01
Speaker 1: guess it tastes terrible.
5:02 – 5:03
Speaker 1: That's the only reason I could
5:03 – 5:05
Speaker 1: think that this isn't
5:05 – 5:05
Speaker 1: everywhere.
5:05 – 5:06
Speaker 6: Right.
5:06 – 5:06
Speaker 1: Um,
5:07 – 5:08
Speaker 1: and so spent a couple of years
5:08 – 5:09
Speaker 1: just playing with preparation
5:09 – 5:10
Speaker 1: methods in our kitchen.
5:10 – 5:11
Speaker 1: And,
5:11 – 5:14
Speaker 1: um, we put up a landing page to
5:14 – 5:16
Speaker 1: say, Hey, does, does anybody
5:16 – 5:17
Speaker 1: want to give us feedback on how
5:17 – 5:18
Speaker 1: we're making this?
5:18 – 5:19
Speaker 1: And, um,
5:20 – 5:21
Speaker 1: after a couple of years
5:21 – 5:22
Speaker 1: realized,
5:23 – 5:26
Speaker 1: Wait, this tastes great.
5:26 – 5:28
Speaker 1: It tastes like a familiar tea.
5:29 – 5:31
Speaker 1: And it also was,
5:32 – 5:35
Speaker 1: we were getting inbound from
5:35 – 5:35
Speaker 1: this,
5:35 – 5:37
Speaker 1: you know, little website we had
5:37 – 5:39
Speaker 1: put up from all over the world
5:39 – 5:40
Speaker 1: of people who were like
5:40 – 5:42
Speaker 1: interested in the plant or just
5:42 – 5:43
Speaker 1: wanted to try it.
5:43 – 5:44
Speaker 1: And so we thought, well, maybe
5:44 – 5:45
Speaker 1: here's something.
5:45 – 5:46
Speaker 1: And so we did a commercial
5:46 – 5:48
Speaker 1: harvest in 2013,
5:48 – 5:50
Speaker 1: you know, moved to a, catering
5:50 – 5:52
Speaker 1: kitchen and not just the
5:52 – 5:55
Speaker 1: farmhouse and started
5:56 – 5:58
Speaker 1: taking it to farmers markets.
5:58 – 6:02
Speaker 1: And I'm based here in Austin and
6:03 – 6:06
Speaker 1: Pretty early days had a couple,
6:06 – 6:07
Speaker 1: um,
6:07 – 6:08
Speaker 1: you know, James Beard chefs that
6:08 – 6:10
Speaker 1: were like, you know, everything,
6:10 – 6:11
Speaker 1: if you're familiar with like
6:11 – 6:13
Speaker 1: Jesse Griffiths at died way, you
6:13 – 6:15
Speaker 1: know, he was opening up his, his
6:15 – 6:17
Speaker 1: brick and mortar at the time and
6:17 – 6:18
Speaker 1: just committed to anything on
6:18 – 6:19
Speaker 1: the menu comes from within a
6:19 – 6:21
Speaker 1: hundred miles. And he was like.
6:21 – 6:22
Speaker 1: I can't not have a nice tea.
6:23 – 6:24
Speaker 1: And so what's my option?
6:25 – 6:27
Speaker 1: And so he found us and put it on
6:27 – 6:28
Speaker 1: the menu.
6:27 – 6:31
Speaker 1: And and then same with a duck
6:31 – 6:32
Speaker 1: here in town who's committed to
6:32 – 6:33
Speaker 1: local sourcing.
6:33 – 6:35
Speaker 1: And I was like, man, if these
6:35 – 6:38
Speaker 1: James Beard chefs are willing to
6:38 – 6:41
Speaker 1: serve this, then then maybe we
6:41 – 6:41
Speaker 1: have something.
6:42 – 6:43
Speaker 1: And that's really how I got
6:43 – 6:44
Speaker 1: started.
6:45 – 6:47
Speaker 2: Tell us a little bit about this
6:47 – 6:48
Speaker 2: plant.
6:48 – 6:49
Speaker 2: What does she look like?
6:50 – 6:51
Speaker 2: What is your energy?
6:51 – 6:52
Speaker 2: What's the stature?
6:52 – 6:53
Speaker 2: Are we talking a bush, a tree?
6:54 – 6:55
Speaker 2: What are the parts of the plant
6:55 – 6:56
Speaker 2: that you're harvesting?
6:57 – 6:58
Speaker 2: And what is the degree of
6:58 – 6:59
Speaker 2: preparation required?
7:00 – 7:02
Speaker 1: So she is a shrub.
7:02 – 7:03
Speaker 1: She's an Ilex.
7:04 – 7:07
Speaker 1: So a cousin of Yerba Mate or
7:07 – 7:08
Speaker 1: Yusa are the more
7:09 – 7:11
Speaker 1: commonly known caffeinated
7:11 – 7:13
Speaker 1: cousin plants, but she's a
7:13 – 7:14
Speaker 1: Holly.
7:14 – 7:16
Speaker 1: And so is an evergreen.
7:17 – 7:19
Speaker 1: She grows unchecked where we
7:19 – 7:20
Speaker 1: are.
7:20 – 7:21
Speaker 1: So she's an understory tree,
7:22 – 7:24
Speaker 1: but she will, and is a rhizome.
7:25 – 7:27
Speaker 1: So she just spreads and takes
7:27 – 7:30
Speaker 1: over and grows so
7:30 – 7:33
Speaker 1: dense that not even deer can
7:33 – 7:34
Speaker 1: walk through it.
7:34 – 7:37
Speaker 1: So the reason she's viewed as a
7:37 – 7:38
Speaker 1: nuisance right now is because
7:38 – 7:40
Speaker 1: she just shades everything else
7:40 – 7:41
Speaker 1: out, right? So,
7:42 – 7:45
Speaker 1: and grows 20, 30 feet away.
7:45 – 7:49
Speaker 1: under our post oaks and our
7:49 – 7:51
Speaker 1: established oak canopy mixed in
7:51 – 7:52
Speaker 1: with a little bit of cedar and
7:52 – 7:53
Speaker 1: sometimes pine.
7:54 – 7:56
Speaker 1: We're kind of a sandy loam mix
7:56 – 7:58
Speaker 1: with some fingers of clay,
7:59 – 7:59
Speaker 1: right? We're a little bit
7:59 – 8:00
Speaker 1: coastal where we are.
8:01 – 8:02
Speaker 1: And so she'll
8:03 – 8:05
Speaker 1: grow under all of it and grow
8:05 – 8:05
Speaker 1: kind of thicket,
8:06 – 8:08
Speaker 1: a very, very dense thicket.
8:11 – 8:11
Speaker 1: She's hardy.
8:12 – 8:13
Speaker 1: And there's a lot we don't know
8:13 – 8:14
Speaker 1: about her.
8:15 – 8:17
Speaker 1: It's interesting just in the
8:17 – 8:18
Speaker 1: sense of like,
8:18 – 8:20
Speaker 1: it's almost like you're looking
8:20 – 8:22
Speaker 1: at a grove and we don't know if
8:22 – 8:23
Speaker 1: that's
8:23 – 8:25
Speaker 1: 50 organisms or three, right?
8:26 – 8:28
Speaker 1: But we know that she'll take
8:28 – 8:29
Speaker 1: over.
8:29 – 8:31
Speaker 1: And we
8:32 – 8:33
Speaker 1: use the leaves.
8:33 – 8:36
Speaker 1: So we are making it like tea.
8:38 – 8:39
Speaker 1: We're just using the leaves.
8:40 – 8:41
Speaker 1: And so
8:41 – 8:42
Speaker 1: There's,
8:42 – 8:43
Speaker 1: again, like tea, there's a
8:43 – 8:44
Speaker 1: million different ways we could
8:44 – 8:46
Speaker 1: be processing it, because all of
8:46 – 8:47
Speaker 1: the different flavor profiles
8:47 – 8:48
Speaker 1: come from oxidation,
8:49 – 8:50
Speaker 1: fermentation,
8:50 – 8:53
Speaker 1: and you can use mechanical
8:53 – 8:54
Speaker 1: means, you can use heat.
8:56 – 8:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, just look at all
8:57 – 8:58
Speaker 1: the different types of tea.
8:58 – 9:00
Speaker 1: It all comes from one plant,
9:00 – 9:00
Speaker 1: right?
9:01 – 9:03
Speaker 1: And we have three that we
9:03 – 9:04
Speaker 1: commercially do right now.
9:05 – 9:06
Speaker 1: Our green,
9:06 – 9:08
Speaker 1: which is going to be like a it's
9:08 – 9:10
Speaker 1: a dried leaf. It's a like a
9:10 – 9:11
Speaker 1: Japanese green.
9:12 – 9:13
Speaker 1: We have a medium roast, which
9:13 – 9:15
Speaker 1: will be closest to like an
9:15 – 9:16
Speaker 1: oolong.
9:16 – 9:18
Speaker 1: And then we have our dark roast,
9:18 – 9:20
Speaker 1: which is kind of our premium,
9:20 – 9:22
Speaker 1: most labor intensive.
9:23 – 9:25
Speaker 1: But it is a really rich,
9:25 – 9:28
Speaker 1: dark roast. And so.
9:28 – 9:30
Speaker 1: But it tastes like a familiar
9:30 – 9:32
Speaker 1: black imported tea.
9:32 – 9:35
Speaker 1: And so predominantly what we
9:35 – 9:36
Speaker 1: sell is our iced tea is actually
9:36 – 9:38
Speaker 1: a mix of our medium and our dark
9:38 – 9:40
Speaker 1: roast. We found that to be.
9:40 – 9:42
Speaker 1: most approachable when it comes
9:42 – 9:43
Speaker 1: to a replacement of a
9:43 – 9:45
Speaker 1: traditional black iced tea,
9:45 – 9:47
Speaker 1: which we're in Texas, so if we
9:47 – 9:48
Speaker 1: want to sell anything, it needs
9:48 – 9:49
Speaker 1: to be iced tea.
9:50 – 9:53
Speaker 1: But they're all really good hot
9:53 – 9:54
Speaker 1: as well.
9:54 – 9:56
Speaker 2: What, how would you describe the
9:56 – 9:58
Speaker 2: flavor profile to someone who's
9:58 – 9:59
Speaker 2: never experienced it before?
9:59 – 10:01
Speaker 2: Because you mentioned initially
10:01 – 10:02
Speaker 2: you didn't think it might be
10:02 – 10:04
Speaker 2: commercially viable because of
10:04 – 10:05
Speaker 2: the taste and you expressed
10:05 – 10:07
Speaker 2: surprise that James Beard chefs
10:07 – 10:08
Speaker 2: would serve it.
10:08 – 10:09
Speaker 3: So
10:08 – 10:10
Speaker 3: what was it like exactly?
10:10 – 10:11
Speaker 1: Yeah. You know,
10:11 – 10:14
Speaker 1: I was wary of the taste before
10:14 – 10:14
Speaker 1: we
10:14 – 10:15
Speaker 1: found a way to produce it.
10:15 – 10:16
Speaker 1: Right.
10:17 – 10:19
Speaker 1: But now that we have, it's
10:19 – 10:19
Speaker 1: delicious.
10:19 – 10:21
Speaker 11: You know, it is what's
10:21 – 10:22
Speaker 11: fascinating is Yopan doesn't
10:22 – 10:22
Speaker 11: have tannins.
10:23 – 10:25
Speaker 1: And tannins are it gives that's
10:25 – 10:25
Speaker 1: a big deal.
10:26 – 10:26
Speaker 1: Yeah.
10:26 – 10:28
Speaker 1: tannins are what give imported
10:28 – 10:30
Speaker 1: tea that like astringency or
10:30 – 10:30
Speaker 1: bite.
10:30 – 10:33
Speaker 1: And so you're not having to cut
10:33 – 10:34
Speaker 1: it
10:34 – 10:35
Speaker 1: with a sweetener or
10:35 – 10:36
Speaker 1: if you're British with milk.
10:37 – 10:39
Speaker 1: And that's often what you're
10:39 – 10:41
Speaker 1: trying to cut in those in the
10:41 – 10:41
Speaker 1: flavor profile.
10:42 – 10:43
Speaker 1: It also means you can't over
10:43 – 10:45
Speaker 1: steep it, which is really nice
10:45 – 10:48
Speaker 1: because we'll steep ours for a
10:48 – 10:50
Speaker 1: long time or over and over.
10:51 – 10:54
Speaker 1: It also so the green is going to
10:54 – 10:57
Speaker 1: be very crisp and vegetal, like
10:57 – 10:59
Speaker 1: a very clean grassy.
10:59 – 11:01
Speaker 1: It's personally my favorite, but
11:01 – 11:01
Speaker 1: I like green teas.
11:02 – 11:04
Speaker 1: But because, again, there's no
11:05 – 11:06
Speaker 1: tannins,
11:06 – 11:07
Speaker 1: a lot of times people don't love
11:07 – 11:08
Speaker 1: green because of that, like
11:08 – 11:10
Speaker 1: astringency mouthfeel,
11:10 – 11:11
Speaker 1: right?
11:11 – 11:12
Speaker 2: Where it's almost the bite on
11:12 – 11:12
Speaker 2: your tongue.
11:13 – 11:16
Speaker 1: And so the green is flavorful,
11:16 – 11:19
Speaker 1: but without more subtle.
11:20 – 11:21
Speaker 1: What is,
11:21 – 11:22
Speaker 1: what's the degree of caffeine
11:22 – 11:24
Speaker 1: concentration relative to coffee
11:24 – 11:25
Speaker 1: or green tea or the beverages
11:25 – 11:26
Speaker 1: that people are familiar with?
11:27 – 11:28
Speaker 1: It's comparable to a green tea.
11:29 – 11:30
Speaker 1: It's about 25 to 30 milligrams
11:30 – 11:32
Speaker 1: per serving. But what's
11:32 – 11:33
Speaker 1: fascinating is it's a more
11:33 – 11:34
Speaker 1: complex caffeine.
11:35 – 11:36
Speaker 1: So it's caffeine, theobromine,
11:36 – 11:37
Speaker 1: and theocrine together.
11:38 – 11:41
Speaker 1: And so because of that, one of
11:41 – 11:42
Speaker 1: my advisors,
11:43 – 11:44
Speaker 1: food science at A &M, his
11:44 – 11:47
Speaker 1: hypothesis is that it means it's
11:47 – 11:49
Speaker 1: broken down later in your
11:49 – 11:50
Speaker 1: intestines.
11:50 – 11:51
Speaker 1: And so because of that, you
11:51 – 11:53
Speaker 1: don't get like a spike and then
11:53 – 11:53
Speaker 1: a crash.
11:53 – 11:56
Speaker 1: It's much more of an even more
11:56 – 11:57
Speaker 1: of a mental boost.
11:57 – 11:59
Speaker 1: And then because of it's really
11:59 – 12:00
Speaker 1: high in rutin,
12:00 – 12:02
Speaker 1: which is an amazing like anti
12:02 – 12:03
Speaker 1: -inflammatory. And so there's
12:03 – 12:04
Speaker 1: this like opening.
12:05 – 12:08
Speaker 1: And anecdotally, we get a lot
12:08 – 12:10
Speaker 1: that it's a joyful energy, like
12:10 – 12:11
Speaker 1: a focused energy.
12:11 – 12:12
Speaker 1: And so it's more of like a
12:12 – 12:13
Speaker 1: mental impact.
12:13 – 12:16
Speaker 2: and makes you a little bit more
12:16 – 12:19
Speaker 2: happy than the high octane
12:19 – 12:20
Speaker 2: coffee does, right?
12:21 – 12:22
Speaker 6: So.
12:23 – 12:24
Speaker 2: One of the pieces that I'm so
12:24 – 12:27
Speaker 2: intrigued about your story, and
12:27 – 12:28
Speaker 2: I've heard versions or
12:28 – 12:29
Speaker 2: iterations of this now several
12:29 – 12:30
Speaker 2: times, is that you are, in
12:30 – 12:31
Speaker 2: essence,
12:32 – 12:33
Speaker 2: you
12:33 – 12:34
Speaker 2: are
12:34 – 12:36
Speaker 2: finding value in and creating
12:36 – 12:37
Speaker 2: value from
12:37 – 12:39
Speaker 2: plants that people otherwise
12:39 – 12:41
Speaker 2: would designate as weeds or even
12:41 – 12:42
Speaker 2: as invasives.
12:43 – 12:44
Speaker 2: Yeah.
12:43 – 12:44
Speaker 2: And there are
12:46 – 12:47
Speaker 2: There are so many stories of
12:47 – 12:48
Speaker 2: this.
12:47 – 12:48
Speaker 2: My,
12:48 – 12:49
Speaker 2: um,
12:49 – 12:50
Speaker 2: years ago, my brothers on the
12:50 – 12:51
Speaker 2: home farm used to produce
12:52 – 12:54
Speaker 2: winter greens and their most,
12:55 – 12:57
Speaker 2: their greatest demand, the salad
12:57 – 12:58
Speaker 2: mix
12:57 – 13:00
Speaker 2: was heavy in lamb's quarter and
13:00 – 13:01
Speaker 2: gallon soga and purslane.
13:02 – 13:02
Speaker 2: They had the greatest
13:02 – 13:03
Speaker 2: competition for that.
13:04 – 13:06
Speaker 2: They couldn't produce enough of
13:06 – 13:08
Speaker 2: this quote unquote weed mix.
13:08 – 13:09
Speaker 2: That's what everybody wanted.
13:09 – 13:10
Speaker 2: They didn't want the spinach and
13:10 – 13:11
Speaker 2: the lettuce and everything else.
13:11 – 13:13
Speaker 2: They wanted the weed combination
13:13 – 13:14
Speaker 2: because it was the most
13:14 – 13:14
Speaker 2: flavorful.
13:15 – 13:16
Speaker 2: And,
13:16 – 13:18
Speaker 2: um, the,
13:18 – 13:20
Speaker 2: Stories like that abound,
13:21 – 13:24
Speaker 2: but many of those stories
13:24 – 13:25
Speaker 2: came
13:26 – 13:28
Speaker 2: about as a result of
13:28 – 13:29
Speaker 2: happenstance.
13:30 – 13:31
Speaker 2: serendipity where we kind of
13:31 – 13:32
Speaker 2: stumbled across them.
13:33 – 13:34
Speaker 1: Your story is a little bit
13:34 – 13:34
Speaker 1: different in that you
13:34 – 13:36
Speaker 1: deliberately set out to explore
13:36 – 13:38
Speaker 1: and to define, try to understand
13:38 – 13:39
Speaker 1: what it is that you can create
13:39 – 13:41
Speaker 1: or what it is that, what this
13:41 – 13:41
Speaker 1: plant can bring.
13:43 – 13:44
Speaker 1: So from
13:45 – 13:46
Speaker 1: what you've observed and
13:46 – 13:47
Speaker 1: experienced,
13:47 – 13:49
Speaker 1: what advice or perspectives
13:49 – 13:51
Speaker 1: would you share for other people
13:52 – 13:53
Speaker 1: to explore similar
13:53 – 13:54
Speaker 1: opportunities?
13:57 – 13:58
Speaker 1: That's a good question.
13:58 – 14:00
Speaker 1: You know, and I think we we see
14:00 – 14:01
Speaker 1: a lot of these things that have
14:01 – 14:02
Speaker 1: been classified as quote unquote
14:02 – 14:05
Speaker 1: weeds because they're hardy,
14:05 – 14:06
Speaker 1: right?
14:06 – 14:07
Speaker 1: They're they're what should be
14:07 – 14:10
Speaker 1: here. And I think Yopon is an
14:10 – 14:11
Speaker 1: interesting snapshot of that.
14:12 – 14:12
Speaker 1: Right.
14:13 – 14:15
Speaker 1: You know, some historians
14:15 – 14:17
Speaker 1: believe it was more widely
14:17 – 14:18
Speaker 1: consumed than than tea and
14:18 – 14:20
Speaker 1: coffee globally at any at one
14:20 – 14:21
Speaker 1: point.
14:21 – 14:24
Speaker 1: But with the
14:25 – 14:26
Speaker 1: eradication of a lot of the
14:26 – 14:27
Speaker 1: Native drinkers,
14:27 – 14:28
Speaker 1: right?
14:28 – 14:29
Speaker 1: And
14:29 – 14:31
Speaker 1: the elimination of all of these
14:31 – 14:34
Speaker 1: people that had a deep tradition
14:34 – 14:34
Speaker 1: with it.
14:35 – 14:37
Speaker 1: And then the forced relocation.
14:37 – 14:38
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a citizen of the
14:38 – 14:40
Speaker 1: Chickasaw Nation, and we had a
14:40 – 14:42
Speaker 1: tradition with it back in
14:42 – 14:42
Speaker 1: Mississippi.
14:43 – 14:44
Speaker 1: It doesn't grow on the res in
14:44 – 14:45
Speaker 1: Oklahoma,
14:45 – 14:46
Speaker 1: and certainly not in the state
14:46 – 14:47
Speaker 1: that it did in Mississippi.
14:47 – 14:48
Speaker 1: And so,
14:49 – 14:51
Speaker 1: we've lost the legacy and a lot
14:51 – 14:52
Speaker 1: of the Trail of Tears is the
14:52 – 14:54
Speaker 1: growing region of Yopon.
14:55 – 14:56
Speaker 4: Right.
14:56 – 14:56
Speaker 10: And so I think
14:58 – 15:00
Speaker 10: it's not just that's just one
15:00 – 15:01
Speaker 10: plant that we've lost our
15:01 – 15:02
Speaker 10: tradition with.
15:02 – 15:04
Speaker 1: And then at the same.
15:04 – 15:05
Speaker 1: That's my point.
15:05 – 15:06
Speaker 1: Yeah.
15:05 – 15:07
Speaker 9: And then at the same time, you
15:07 – 15:08
Speaker 9: know, the Spanish loved it.
15:08 – 15:09
Speaker 2: They exported it.
15:09 – 15:11
Speaker 1: They there's accounts of all of
15:11 – 15:12
Speaker 1: these, you know, Spanish sailors
15:12 – 15:14
Speaker 1: drinking it to get amped up
15:14 – 15:15
Speaker 1: before a storm.
15:15 – 15:16
Speaker 1: Wait a minute. This sounds like
15:16 – 15:18
Speaker 1: a reversal of the of the tea
15:18 – 15:18
Speaker 1: party.
15:19 – 15:20
Speaker 1: Ironically,
15:21 – 15:24
Speaker 1: some historians
15:24 – 15:25
Speaker 1: believe that they were drinking
15:25 – 15:27
Speaker 1: Yopan before they went in to
15:27 – 15:30
Speaker 1: throw all of the tea into the
15:30 – 15:30
Speaker 1: harbor.
15:31 – 15:33
Speaker 8: And Yopaner was a derogatory
15:33 – 15:34
Speaker 8: term, which meant you're too
15:34 – 15:36
Speaker 8: poor to afford imported tea.
15:37 – 15:39
Speaker 7: And the scientific name of Yopan
15:39 – 15:40
Speaker 7: is Ilex vomitoria.
15:41 – 15:43
Speaker 1: And what historians believe now
15:43 – 15:44
Speaker 1: is that the Scottish botanist
15:44 – 15:46
Speaker 1: who named it, who, by the way,
15:46 – 15:47
Speaker 1: never stepped foot in North
15:47 – 15:48
Speaker 1: America,
15:48 – 15:50
Speaker 1: was employed by the East India
15:50 – 15:52
Speaker 1: Tea Company at the time he gave
15:52 – 15:52
Speaker 1: it away.
15:55 – 15:56
Speaker 1: That's hilarious.
15:56 – 15:57
Speaker 1: Yeah.
15:57 – 15:58
Speaker 1: And so it's like, oh, they're
15:58 – 15:59
Speaker 1: like, oh, we don't want anything
15:59 – 16:01
Speaker 1: local to disrupt this demand.
16:01 – 16:02
Speaker 1: So we're going to give it a
16:02 – 16:03
Speaker 1: nasty name.
16:03 – 16:04
Speaker 1: We're going to make it a drink
16:04 – 16:05
Speaker 1: of the poor.
16:06 – 16:09
Speaker 1: And and then with that, with the
16:09 – 16:10
Speaker 1: eradication and relocation,
16:11 – 16:12
Speaker 1: we lost a tradition.
16:12 – 16:15
Speaker 1: And so I think and then at the
16:15 – 16:16
Speaker 1: same time,
16:16 – 16:17
Speaker 1: you know,
16:17 – 16:18
Speaker 1: nature's got a glass draw,
16:18 – 16:20
Speaker 1: right? Like we come in and we do
16:20 – 16:22
Speaker 1: our interventions and the things
16:22 – 16:23
Speaker 1: that should be here are going to
16:23 – 16:24
Speaker 1: take over.
16:24 – 16:26
Speaker 2: And and Yopon is an example of
16:26 – 16:26
Speaker 2: that.
16:26 – 16:27
Speaker 1: And the reason that she grows
16:27 – 16:29
Speaker 1: unchecked is because we we got
16:29 – 16:30
Speaker 1: rid of what that what kept her
16:30 – 16:32
Speaker 1: in balance with the native
16:32 – 16:33
Speaker 1: grasses, with their super
16:33 – 16:34
Speaker 1: robust,
16:34 – 16:36
Speaker 1: deep root systems of 30 to 50
16:36 – 16:37
Speaker 1: feet.
16:37 – 16:39
Speaker 1: You know, that's what was what
16:39 – 16:41
Speaker 1: kept balance. And I think the
16:41 – 16:42
Speaker 1: signal grazing pressure from
16:42 – 16:44
Speaker 1: ruminant animals, et cetera, et
16:44 – 16:44
Speaker 1: cetera. Exactly.
16:46 – 16:46
Speaker 1: monocropping,
16:47 – 16:48
Speaker 1: then allowing it to go fallow
16:48 – 16:50
Speaker 1: when economics don't make sense
16:50 – 16:52
Speaker 1: to grow cotton in our region in
16:52 – 16:53
Speaker 1: Texas,
16:53 – 16:55
Speaker 1: and overgrazing and replacing
16:55 – 16:57
Speaker 1: with coastal for hay, which is a
16:58 – 16:59
Speaker 1: 10 -inch root system.
17:00 – 17:02
Speaker 1: And Yopon's like, cute, I'll
17:02 – 17:03
Speaker 1: take over now, thanks.
17:03 – 17:06
Speaker 1: And so I think with that as the
17:06 – 17:07
Speaker 1: background,
17:08 – 17:09
Speaker 1: Yopon's not unique, right?
17:09 – 17:11
Speaker 1: It's like what
17:11 – 17:12
Speaker 1: What is hardy here?
17:13 – 17:14
Speaker 1: What should be here?
17:15 – 17:16
Speaker 1: And, you know, I believe
17:16 – 17:17
Speaker 1: strongly, like,
17:18 – 17:19
Speaker 1: I'm a steward of this plant.
17:20 – 17:22
Speaker 1: And she's a catalyst for
17:22 – 17:23
Speaker 1: restoration.
17:23 – 17:24
Speaker 1: She's a catalyst for restoration
17:24 – 17:26
Speaker 1: in our land, in our community,
17:26 – 17:28
Speaker 1: in our bodies, and I think,
17:28 – 17:30
Speaker 1: therefore, in our industry.
17:30 – 17:33
Speaker 1: And so I don't think this is the
17:33 – 17:34
Speaker 1: only instance of this.
17:35 – 17:36
Speaker 1: But I think if we're framing
17:36 – 17:37
Speaker 1: what we're looking at,
17:38 – 17:40
Speaker 1: what's out of balance in our
17:40 – 17:41
Speaker 1: ecosystems?
17:42 – 17:43
Speaker 1: I think there's there is a
17:43 – 17:44
Speaker 1: tradition of kudzu,
17:45 – 17:46
Speaker 1: right? And that grows unchecked.
17:46 – 17:48
Speaker 1: There's a I see this with sodal,
17:49 – 17:49
Speaker 1: right?
17:50 – 17:52
Speaker 1: Sodal is a Chihuahuan desert,
17:52 – 17:56
Speaker 1: southern Texas cactus that had,
17:57 – 17:58
Speaker 1: you know,
17:58 – 18:00
Speaker 1: is can be fermented like a
18:00 – 18:00
Speaker 1: tequila.
18:00 – 18:02
Speaker 1: And if you look back in a lot of
18:02 – 18:03
Speaker 1: these indigenous cultures, they
18:03 – 18:04
Speaker 1: had a deep tradition with it.
18:04 – 18:07
Speaker 1: But then, you know, the Mexican
18:07 – 18:08
Speaker 1: government didn't want anything
18:08 – 18:09
Speaker 1: to
18:10 – 18:12
Speaker 1: Um, to compete with tequila,
18:12 – 18:15
Speaker 1: um, so they made it illegal and
18:15 – 18:17
Speaker 1: it was mainly a drink of the,
18:17 – 18:18
Speaker 1: the marginalized and the trial
18:18 – 18:19
Speaker 1: and desert and they couldn't
18:19 – 18:20
Speaker 1: afford lobbying.
18:20 – 18:21
Speaker 1: And so.
18:21 – 18:23
Speaker 1: Now, sodal grows on checked and
18:23 – 18:24
Speaker 1: it's taken over.
18:24 – 18:25
Speaker 1: Um,
18:25 – 18:26
Speaker 1: and so I think.
18:27 – 18:28
Speaker 1: And the same with prickly pear,
18:28 – 18:29
Speaker 1: right? It wasn't as
18:29 – 18:30
Speaker 1: aggressively,
18:30 – 18:32
Speaker 1: um, a government intervention,
18:32 – 18:33
Speaker 1: but
18:33 – 18:34
Speaker 1: it's a, it's a side effect,
18:34 – 18:36
Speaker 1: right? And there's a.
18:36 – 18:38
Speaker 1: A lot you can be doing with
18:38 – 18:39
Speaker 1: prickly pear, anything from a
18:39 – 18:41
Speaker 1: beverage to, you know, there's
18:41 – 18:44
Speaker 1: opportunity for fermenting it as
18:44 – 18:45
Speaker 1: a biodiesel, right?
18:46 – 18:48
Speaker 1: And so I think that is,
18:50 – 18:51
Speaker 1: you
18:52 – 18:55
Speaker 1: know, I think there's an element
18:55 – 18:56
Speaker 1: of
18:56 – 18:58
Speaker 1: what's been on the grocery shelf
18:58 – 18:59
Speaker 1: is what is food.
19:00 – 19:01
Speaker 2: And
19:01 – 19:02
Speaker 2: That's how we what we know how
19:02 – 19:03
Speaker 2: to make and how to cook.
19:04 – 19:05
Speaker 2: And so therefore, that's what
19:05 – 19:06
Speaker 2: we've farmed.
19:06 – 19:08
Speaker 2: But that isn't what is best for
19:08 – 19:10
Speaker 2: the land and isn't what is best
19:10 – 19:11
Speaker 2: for our bodies.
19:13 – 19:14
Speaker 2: There are
19:14 – 19:15
Speaker 2: all of these. different
19:15 – 19:16
Speaker 2: opportunities. Another
19:16 – 19:19
Speaker 2: historical example that comes to
19:19 – 19:21
Speaker 2: mind is some of the highest
19:21 – 19:22
Speaker 2: quality
19:22 – 19:24
Speaker 2: corn silage that I ever observed
19:24 – 19:25
Speaker 2: from an animal performance and
19:25 – 19:27
Speaker 2: from a testing perspective was a
19:27 – 19:28
Speaker 2: very weedy field
19:29 – 19:32
Speaker 2: of corn where
19:32 – 19:34
Speaker 2: the plant population of lamb's
19:34 – 19:35
Speaker 2: quarter exceeded the plant
19:35 – 19:36
Speaker 2: population of corn.
19:36 – 19:38
Speaker 2: But this lamb's quarter has a 23
19:38 – 19:39
Speaker 2: % protein content.
19:39 – 19:41
Speaker 2: So we had corn silage that was
19:41 – 19:42
Speaker 2: extremely high in protein.
19:43 – 19:44
Speaker 1: So there's these many examples
19:44 – 19:46
Speaker 1: of things that we perceive to be
19:46 – 19:47
Speaker 1: bad that can actually be very,
19:47 – 19:49
Speaker 1: very beneficial in the right
19:49 – 19:50
Speaker 1: context, in the right framework.
19:51 – 19:52
Speaker 6: But the question that I would
19:52 – 19:53
Speaker 6: have for you is
19:54 – 19:55
Speaker 6: when
19:55 – 19:56
Speaker 6: growers
19:57 – 19:59
Speaker 6: see a plant or they have a plant
19:59 – 20:00
Speaker 6: that they are
20:00 – 20:02
Speaker 6: struggling with,
20:02 – 20:04
Speaker 6: trying to compete with,
20:06 – 20:07
Speaker 6: what are the pathways for
20:07 – 20:08
Speaker 6: learning
20:08 – 20:09
Speaker 6: about what
20:10 – 20:11
Speaker 6: these plants can
20:12 – 20:12
Speaker 6: bring?
20:12 – 20:14
Speaker 1: If there isn't a strong
20:14 – 20:15
Speaker 1: historical connection as you
20:15 – 20:17
Speaker 1: have with indigenous knowledge,
20:17 – 20:19
Speaker 1: What are the pathways for
20:19 – 20:22
Speaker 1: learning how to develop
20:23 – 20:26
Speaker 1: so -called weeds into potential
20:26 – 20:28
Speaker 1: economically viable
20:28 – 20:29
Speaker 1: opportunities?
20:30 – 20:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.
20:32 – 20:33
Speaker 1: You know, I think there's a lot
20:33 – 20:35
Speaker 1: of ways to the
20:37 – 20:39
Speaker 1: picture I have right now in my
20:39 – 20:40
Speaker 1: head is like, OK, what are the
20:40 – 20:42
Speaker 1: questions we can ask to narrow
20:42 – 20:43
Speaker 1: that region of darkness?
20:43 – 20:45
Speaker 1: Right. Because there are a lot
20:45 – 20:48
Speaker 1: of things we don't know when it
20:48 – 20:50
Speaker 1: comes to what the steady state
20:50 – 20:51
Speaker 1: ecosystems
20:51 – 20:54
Speaker 1: that we are trying to manipulate
20:54 – 20:56
Speaker 1: in a way. I mean, in essence,
20:56 – 20:57
Speaker 1: that is a little bit of what ag
20:57 – 20:58
Speaker 1: is, right?
20:59 – 21:00
Speaker 1: We are trying to
21:01 – 21:02
Speaker 1: manipulate an ecosystem.
21:03 – 21:06
Speaker 1: And we've, in some ways, we've
21:06 – 21:09
Speaker 1: swung so far to one extreme.
21:10 – 21:11
Speaker 1: years and years of intervention.
21:12 – 21:16
Speaker 1: And so what will help us
21:16 – 21:17
Speaker 1: swing back to
21:17 – 21:19
Speaker 1: a healthy place?
21:20 – 21:21
Speaker 1: And I think there's a lot of
21:21 – 21:22
Speaker 1: ways to do it. I think there's
21:22 – 21:24
Speaker 1: one is like the historical
21:24 – 21:25
Speaker 1: records, right?
21:26 – 21:29
Speaker 1: What did
21:29 – 21:30
Speaker 1: it look like a hundred years
21:30 – 21:32
Speaker 1: ago? What did it look like 200
21:32 – 21:32
Speaker 1: years ago?
21:33 – 21:35
Speaker 1: And I also think
21:37 – 21:38
Speaker 1: But at the same time, we're
21:38 – 21:39
Speaker 1: living in a really fascinating
21:39 – 21:40
Speaker 1: time where
21:41 – 21:44
Speaker 1: there's such a democratization
21:44 – 21:45
Speaker 1: of information,
21:45 – 21:47
Speaker 1: where we
21:47 – 21:49
Speaker 1: can be going through
21:49 – 21:53
Speaker 1: thousands of pages of content
21:53 – 21:55
Speaker 1: with the support of GPTs
21:55 – 21:57
Speaker 1: that
21:57 – 21:59
Speaker 1: can help parse that information.
22:00 – 22:01
Speaker 1: But like anything,
22:01 – 22:03
Speaker 1: it's finding the best sources of
22:03 – 22:05
Speaker 1: information and asking the best
22:05 – 22:06
Speaker 1: questions.
22:07 – 22:08
Speaker 1: And so I think that's where it's
22:08 – 22:09
Speaker 1: how do we
22:10 – 22:10
Speaker 1: how do we find,
22:12 – 22:13
Speaker 1: how do we ask the right
22:12 – 22:14
Speaker 1: questions is really what I think
22:14 – 22:14
Speaker 1: it comes down to.
22:15 – 22:16
Speaker 1: And I don't know enough about
22:16 – 22:18
Speaker 1: everybody's different instances
22:18 – 22:19
Speaker 1: of,
22:19 – 22:21
Speaker 1: you know, with your corn, for
22:21 – 22:22
Speaker 1: example, right?
22:22 – 22:23
Speaker 1: Like your corn field is gonna
22:23 – 22:25
Speaker 1: look very different than where
22:25 – 22:25
Speaker 1: we are.
22:26 – 22:27
Speaker 1: But
22:27 – 22:28
Speaker 1: I think a lot of the questions
22:28 – 22:30
Speaker 1: are the same is, you know,
22:30 – 22:31
Speaker 1: what would be
22:32 – 22:34
Speaker 1: the best for the land,
22:34 – 22:35
Speaker 1: right?
22:35 – 22:37
Speaker 1: And what is it that we're
22:37 – 22:38
Speaker 1: working with?
22:39 – 22:40
Speaker 1: And I also think there's an
22:40 – 22:41
Speaker 1: element too of,
22:43 – 22:44
Speaker 1: What can we process?
22:45 – 22:47
Speaker 1: Right? Because I think from an
22:47 – 22:48
Speaker 1: economical perspective,
22:49 – 22:50
Speaker 1: like, yeah,
22:51 – 22:54
Speaker 1: maybe this value added product
22:54 – 22:56
Speaker 1: would be the most impactful, but
22:56 – 22:58
Speaker 1: is that even is the cost of that
22:58 – 22:59
Speaker 1: going to be more harder
23:00 – 23:02
Speaker 1: to implement than even growing
23:02 – 23:03
Speaker 1: the raw material?
23:04 – 23:04
Speaker 1: Right?
23:05 – 23:06
Speaker 1: And so I think there's a lot of
23:06 – 23:07
Speaker 1: these different
23:07 – 23:09
Speaker 1: kind of intersections of, like,
23:09 – 23:10
Speaker 1: where's where's the Venn diagram
23:10 – 23:12
Speaker 1: in in
23:12 – 23:14
Speaker 1: what is best for the land, the
23:14 – 23:16
Speaker 1: best economical option and the
23:16 – 23:18
Speaker 1: most viable. But I also think
23:18 – 23:20
Speaker 1: because we have access to
23:20 – 23:22
Speaker 1: computing
23:23 – 23:24
Speaker 1: power in a way that we've never
23:24 – 23:25
Speaker 1: had before.
23:25 – 23:27
Speaker 1: I think it's it's about asking
23:27 – 23:28
Speaker 1: better questions and getting
23:28 – 23:30
Speaker 1: more information into those
23:30 – 23:33
Speaker 1: right? I think there's a whole
23:33 – 23:34
Speaker 1: loss of and I'm
23:35 – 23:36
Speaker 1: blanking on the name of it, but
23:36 – 23:38
Speaker 1: I think it's in the university.
23:38 – 23:41
Speaker 1: It's in Cincinnati has the, the
23:41 – 23:43
Speaker 1: library of a
23:43 – 23:45
Speaker 1: lot of the last.
23:46 – 23:48
Speaker 1: traditions of a lot of the
23:48 – 23:49
Speaker 1: different medicinal and
23:49 – 23:52
Speaker 1: botanical uses here in the U S
23:52 – 23:53
Speaker 1: from all of these different
23:53 – 23:55
Speaker 1: tribes. And I think 5 % of it's
23:55 – 23:55
Speaker 1: online.
23:55 – 23:58
Speaker 1: Right. And I think that's where
23:58 – 23:58
Speaker 1: it's like,
23:59 – 24:00
Speaker 1: Oh, let's get that as much as
24:00 – 24:03
Speaker 1: that into a usable state so that
24:03 – 24:05
Speaker 1: then we can be looking into the
24:05 – 24:08
Speaker 1: Southeast and saying, Hey, these
24:08 – 24:08
Speaker 1: are the herbs that have the
24:08 – 24:09
Speaker 1: traditions. These are the
24:09 – 24:10
Speaker 1: values.
24:10 – 24:11
Speaker 2: These are the benefits.
24:12 – 24:13
Speaker 2: This is how it was used
24:13 – 24:14
Speaker 2: historically.
24:14 – 24:16
Speaker 2: And then here's where we are
24:16 – 24:16
Speaker 2: now.
24:16 – 24:17
Speaker 2: And sometimes those are the
24:17 – 24:19
Speaker 2: weeds, right? Sometimes those
24:19 – 24:21
Speaker 2: are the things that we're seeing
24:21 – 24:22
Speaker 2: as a nuisance, but we've lost...
24:22 – 24:23
Speaker 2: No, not sometimes,
24:23 – 24:24
Speaker 2: not sometimes.
24:26 – 24:28
Speaker 2: It's interesting when you
24:28 – 24:29
Speaker 2: describe the
24:29 – 24:32
Speaker 2: resilience that Yaupon has from
24:32 – 24:33
Speaker 2: this extreme drought stress
24:33 – 24:35
Speaker 2: environment is that degree of
24:35 – 24:36
Speaker 2: resilience,
24:36 – 24:37
Speaker 2: that degree of,
24:39 – 24:41
Speaker 2: another word for that,
24:42 – 24:43
Speaker 2: derogatory word for that is
24:43 – 24:44
Speaker 2: invasiveness or persistence,
24:45 – 24:45
Speaker 2: that degree
24:46 – 24:48
Speaker 2: of persistence and vigor is
24:48 – 24:51
Speaker 2: almost invariably associated
24:51 – 24:54
Speaker 2: with something that we value,
24:54 – 24:55
Speaker 2: other characteristics that we
24:55 – 24:56
Speaker 2: value,
24:56 – 24:58
Speaker 2: polyphenolic content and
24:58 – 24:59
Speaker 2: antioxidant content and on an
24:59 – 25:00
Speaker 2: ominous scale. and that's
25:00 – 25:02
Speaker 2: universal across almost all the
25:02 – 25:03
Speaker 2: plant species that I can readily
25:03 – 25:04
Speaker 2: think of.
25:08 – 25:11
Speaker 2: And to echo the other point, one
25:11 – 25:12
Speaker 2: additional point that you were
25:12 – 25:13
Speaker 2: making,
25:14 – 25:15
Speaker 2: we've developed a field arc and
25:15 – 25:16
Speaker 2: put field arc out into the
25:16 – 25:17
Speaker 2: world. And one of the things
25:17 – 25:18
Speaker 2: that,
25:18 – 25:20
Speaker 2: like you, I'm so inspired by,
25:20 – 25:21
Speaker 2: the potential value, the
25:21 – 25:23
Speaker 2: possibility, the promise
25:24 – 25:25
Speaker 2: of
25:26 – 25:27
Speaker 2: these large language models is
25:27 – 25:30
Speaker 2: the ability to democratize
25:30 – 25:30
Speaker 2: information.
25:31 – 25:32
Speaker 3: and make it readily accessible,
25:33 – 25:33
Speaker 3: where previously,
25:34 – 25:35
Speaker 3: if you wanted to research
25:35 – 25:37
Speaker 3: something, you might have to
25:37 – 25:38
Speaker 3: visit a dozen libraries and read
25:38 – 25:40
Speaker 3: 100 books to get the answer to
25:40 – 25:41
Speaker 3: the question we're looking for.
25:41 – 25:42
Speaker 1: And as that increasingly becomes
25:42 – 25:44
Speaker 1: digitized and becomes readily
25:44 – 25:44
Speaker 1: accessible,
25:45 – 25:46
Speaker 1: it streamlines accessing that
25:46 – 25:48
Speaker 1: information to such a remarkable
25:48 – 25:49
Speaker 1: degree.
25:51 – 25:54
Speaker 1: Let's come back to Yopon
25:54 – 25:55
Speaker 1: specifically. Give us some
25:55 – 25:57
Speaker 1: context for what is the,
25:58 – 26:00
Speaker 1: what's the economic scale of the
26:00 – 26:00
Speaker 1: crop?
26:00 – 26:02
Speaker 1: currently and what is the
26:02 – 26:03
Speaker 1: opportunity? I mean, my
26:03 – 26:04
Speaker 1: goodness,
26:04 – 26:05
Speaker 1: to drink such ridiculous
26:05 – 26:06
Speaker 1: amounts, if we consume such
26:06 – 26:08
Speaker 1: ridiculous amounts of caffeine,
26:08 – 26:09
Speaker 1: by the way, I'm not a caffeine
26:09 – 26:10
Speaker 1: addict, so I'm free to use that
26:10 – 26:11
Speaker 1: adjective.
26:13 – 26:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we do.
26:15 – 26:17
Speaker 1: And at this point, all other
26:17 – 26:19
Speaker 1: alternatives are on a ship and
26:19 – 26:21
Speaker 1: recently now are tariffed,
26:21 – 26:24
Speaker 1: right? So there's that aspect of
26:24 – 26:24
Speaker 1: it.
26:25 – 26:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean,
26:27 – 26:28
Speaker 1: I think
26:29 – 26:32
Speaker 1: The potential is huge to be, you
26:32 – 26:34
Speaker 1: know, to just to not to give
26:34 – 26:35
Speaker 1: specific numbers, but at the
26:35 – 26:37
Speaker 1: same time, knowing like, okay,
26:37 – 26:40
Speaker 1: it grows. It grows well, it
26:40 – 26:41
Speaker 1: grows well in the Southeast.
26:41 – 26:42
Speaker 1: It grows really well where we
26:42 – 26:43
Speaker 1: are in Texas.
26:44 – 26:46
Speaker 1: We can come back and harvest
26:46 – 26:48
Speaker 1: within a year of where we're
26:48 – 26:49
Speaker 1: coming back and initially
26:49 – 26:52
Speaker 1: harvesting because it, once it's
26:52 – 26:53
Speaker 1: stressed, it grows more.
26:54 – 26:57
Speaker 1: And what we're actually piloting
26:57 – 26:59
Speaker 1: with the support of a USDA
26:59 – 27:01
Speaker 1: Conservation Innovation Grant is
27:01 – 27:03
Speaker 1: what does it look like if we're
27:03 – 27:04
Speaker 1: doing rewilding alongside our
27:04 – 27:05
Speaker 1: harvesting? So what if we're
27:05 – 27:08
Speaker 1: doing a heavier intervention on
27:08 – 27:10
Speaker 1: the harvest and restoring these
27:10 – 27:13
Speaker 1: native grasses to kind of
27:13 – 27:16
Speaker 1: aggressively help get back to a
27:16 – 27:18
Speaker 1: healthy ecosystem?
27:18 – 27:19
Speaker 1: And
27:20 – 27:21
Speaker 1: so, you know,
27:21 – 27:24
Speaker 1: We've done a ton of research on
27:24 – 27:25
Speaker 1: what is the scale of this
27:25 – 27:26
Speaker 1: challenge.
27:26 – 27:29
Speaker 1: And right now, you're familiar
27:29 – 27:30
Speaker 1: with EQIP,
27:30 – 27:33
Speaker 1: right? The EQIP standards for
27:33 – 27:34
Speaker 1: the conservation currently right
27:34 – 27:37
Speaker 1: now for managing EOPON
27:37 – 27:41
Speaker 1: are for an IPT of remedy and
27:41 – 27:41
Speaker 1: diesel.
27:41 – 27:44
Speaker 1: So introducing a pesticide to
27:44 – 27:45
Speaker 1: land that's literally never seen
27:45 – 27:47
Speaker 1: it or to bulldoze it
27:47 – 27:49
Speaker 1: with like
27:49 – 27:51
Speaker 1: you know, a D4 or more,
27:51 – 27:53
Speaker 1: which is just incredibly
27:53 – 27:55
Speaker 1: disturbing and to the land.
27:55 – 27:56
Speaker 1: And you don't only kill the
27:56 – 27:57
Speaker 1: yaupon when you do that.
27:57 – 28:00
Speaker 1: It often is stressing the
28:00 – 28:01
Speaker 1: established trees that you want
28:01 – 28:02
Speaker 1: there.
28:02 – 28:03
Speaker 1: And so those are the
28:03 – 28:04
Speaker 1: conservation standards.
28:06 – 28:07
Speaker 1: And so,
28:07 – 28:10
Speaker 1: so what we've proposed
28:10 – 28:12
Speaker 1: is, you
28:12 – 28:14
Speaker 1: know, what if we do a mechanical
28:14 – 28:15
Speaker 1: harvest?
28:17 – 28:19
Speaker 1: that is more machine driven.
28:19 – 28:20
Speaker 1: And as we're harvesting,
28:21 – 28:23
Speaker 1: we're doing some clearing and
28:23 – 28:25
Speaker 1: reseeding to accelerate the
28:25 – 28:26
Speaker 1: grassland regrowth,
28:27 – 28:30
Speaker 1: managing with multi -stage
28:30 – 28:33
Speaker 1: mulching and or prescribed
28:33 – 28:34
Speaker 1: burning.
28:35 – 28:36
Speaker 2: And then
28:37 – 28:39
Speaker 2: we'll see what happens, which is
28:39 – 28:41
Speaker 2: nice because the USDA has
28:41 – 28:42
Speaker 2: historically not always been
28:42 – 28:43
Speaker 2: open to a multi -step
28:43 – 28:44
Speaker 2: intervention,
28:45 – 28:46
Speaker 2: kind of like a one and done,
28:46 – 28:47
Speaker 2: which
28:47 – 28:49
Speaker 2: And like demo your lawn once.
28:49 – 28:52
Speaker 1: Um, how does that work?
28:52 – 28:55
Speaker 1: And so they're now get, they're
28:55 – 28:56
Speaker 1: becoming more open to
28:56 – 28:58
Speaker 1: conservation standards that are
28:58 – 28:59
Speaker 1: multi step like this, which is
28:59 – 29:00
Speaker 1: really exciting.
29:00 – 29:02
Speaker 1: And so we're piloting this on
29:02 – 29:05
Speaker 1: 500 acres over the course of the
29:05 – 29:05
Speaker 1: next couple of years.
29:06 – 29:07
Speaker 1: And, um.
29:08 – 29:09
Speaker 1: And so within that, we've
29:09 – 29:11
Speaker 1: learned that this is about a 20
29:11 – 29:13
Speaker 1: million acre problem in our
29:13 – 29:15
Speaker 1: region of overgrowth.
29:16 – 29:18
Speaker 1: And it sounds to me like a 20
29:18 – 29:19
Speaker 1: million acre opportunity.
29:20 – 29:20
Speaker 5: Yes,
29:20 – 29:21
Speaker 5: exactly.
29:21 – 29:23
Speaker 2: And some of our preliminary data
29:23 – 29:24
Speaker 2: that we've just gotten is
29:24 – 29:26
Speaker 2: showing that our harvesting
29:26 – 29:28
Speaker 2: interventions like this and
29:28 – 29:29
Speaker 2: restoration is actually
29:29 – 29:30
Speaker 2: improving
29:31 – 29:33
Speaker 2: carbon storage in the soil by 7
29:33 – 29:35
Speaker 2: % and improving species
29:35 – 29:38
Speaker 2: biodiversity by 70 %
29:38 – 29:40
Speaker 2: following our restoration.
29:41 – 29:42
Speaker 2: So that's super exciting.
29:43 – 29:44
Speaker 2: And so we kind of have two paths
29:44 – 29:46
Speaker 2: forward as far as how we relate
29:46 – 29:49
Speaker 2: to the land. And we can either
29:49 – 29:50
Speaker 2: be doing these coming in,
29:50 – 29:52
Speaker 2: harvesting grassland restoration
29:52 – 29:55
Speaker 2: and letting it rewild, or we can
29:55 – 29:57
Speaker 2: be coming in and doing thinning
29:57 – 29:58
Speaker 2: and
30:00 – 30:01
Speaker 2: coming back and doing maintained
30:01 – 30:02
Speaker 2: harvests.
30:02 – 30:04
Speaker 1: The exciting thing is both are
30:04 – 30:05
Speaker 1: Qualifier Certified Regenerative
30:05 – 30:08
Speaker 1: Organic and it's all organic.
30:09 – 30:10
Speaker 1: But yeah.
30:11 – 30:12
Speaker 1: One of the reservations I have
30:12 – 30:14
Speaker 1: when I hear you use the term
30:14 – 30:15
Speaker 1: rewilding,
30:16 – 30:19
Speaker 1: in my mind rewilding is often
30:19 – 30:21
Speaker 1: associated with this idealistic
30:21 – 30:23
Speaker 1: perspective of removing people,
30:24 – 30:26
Speaker 1: livestock from the landscape
30:26 – 30:26
Speaker 1: after.
30:27 – 30:28
Speaker 1: So if
30:29 – 30:29
Speaker 1: you are,
30:30 – 30:32
Speaker 1: it would seem to me that
30:32 – 30:34
Speaker 1: As you are reestablishing
30:34 – 30:34
Speaker 1: grasslands,
30:35 – 30:36
Speaker 1: in order to establish those
30:36 – 30:38
Speaker 1: successfully and maintain them
30:38 – 30:39
Speaker 1: well, you will need to also
30:39 – 30:39
Speaker 1: incorporate
30:40 – 30:42
Speaker 1: ruminant grazing pressure.
30:43 – 30:44
Speaker 1: How is the, how is, what's the
30:44 – 30:46
Speaker 1: standard? of your
30:46 – 30:47
Speaker 1: grass establishment and
30:47 – 30:48
Speaker 1: rewilding efforts look like?
30:50 – 30:52
Speaker 1: To be honest, it's, you know, a
30:52 – 30:54
Speaker 1: success is an eight year,
30:54 – 30:55
Speaker 1: 10 year timeline.
30:55 – 30:57
Speaker 2: So I hesitate to give you any
30:57 – 30:58
Speaker 2: numbers just yet because we're
30:58 – 30:59
Speaker 2: only a couple of years in.
31:01 – 31:02
Speaker 5: And I think, you know, what's
31:02 – 31:03
Speaker 5: interesting where
31:04 – 31:06
Speaker 5: we are is there's,
31:08 – 31:10
Speaker 5: I totally agree with the
31:10 – 31:12
Speaker 5: rewilding aspect of it, but
31:13 – 31:14
Speaker 5: Yopon,
31:14 – 31:16
Speaker 5: because Yopon has made the land
31:16 – 31:17
Speaker 5: inaccessible,
31:18 – 31:20
Speaker 5: our rewilding efforts are
31:20 – 31:22
Speaker 5: actually increasing access to
31:22 – 31:23
Speaker 5: the land,
31:23 – 31:23
Speaker 5: right?
31:23 – 31:24
Speaker 1: Because
31:24 – 31:27
Speaker 1: Yopon currently shadows
31:27 – 31:28
Speaker 1: everything else out.
31:28 – 31:30
Speaker 2: So there's no grass, which means
31:30 – 31:31
Speaker 2: there's no invertebrates, which
31:31 – 31:31
Speaker 2: means there's no birds, which
31:31 – 31:33
Speaker 2: means there's no, it's all the
31:33 – 31:34
Speaker 2: way up the ecosystem.
31:34 – 31:35
Speaker 1: And
31:35 – 31:37
Speaker 1: caffeine is a natural deterrent,
31:37 – 31:38
Speaker 1: right? And so
31:39 – 31:40
Speaker 1: cows don't eat it,
31:41 – 31:41
Speaker 1: deer don't eat it.
31:42 – 31:43
Speaker 1: I understand all those pieces,
31:43 – 31:45
Speaker 1: but my point is that if you just
31:45 – 31:48
Speaker 1: take it back to a grassland and
31:48 – 31:50
Speaker 1: then say, all right, this has
31:50 – 31:52
Speaker 1: been successfully rewilded and
31:52 – 31:53
Speaker 1: conserved, and now we're going
31:53 – 31:55
Speaker 1: to walk away
31:55 – 31:58
Speaker 1: in another decade, you'll be
31:58 – 31:59
Speaker 1: right back to square one, no?
32:02 – 32:03
Speaker 1: No.
32:03 – 32:04
Speaker 1: I mean, I think
32:05 – 32:08
Speaker 1: in what ways that the yaupon
32:08 – 32:09
Speaker 1: would have taken over again?
32:09 – 32:11
Speaker 1: The yaupon will, it'll begin
32:11 – 32:11
Speaker 1: regrowing, yes.
32:12 – 32:14
Speaker 1: But I think that's it.
32:14 – 32:15
Speaker 1: It's not an invasive.
32:15 – 32:16
Speaker 1: It should be there.
32:17 – 32:20
Speaker 1: But if we are successful with
32:20 – 32:22
Speaker 1: the rewilding of the grasses,
32:22 – 32:24
Speaker 1: it's their 30 and 50 foot root
32:24 – 32:27
Speaker 1: systems are what keeps the
32:27 – 32:28
Speaker 1: yaupon growth in check.
32:29 – 32:31
Speaker 1: And so once they're established,
32:31 – 32:33
Speaker 1: the yaupon is there.
32:33 – 32:36
Speaker 1: It's just in balance.
32:36 – 32:37
Speaker 1: And so
32:37 – 32:39
Speaker 1: that's it. We're not trying to
32:39 – 32:40
Speaker 1: eradicate. No, we're not.
32:40 – 32:40
Speaker 1: we want you upon there.
32:41 – 32:42
Speaker 2: And she should be there.
32:42 – 32:43
Speaker 2: She just should not be a
32:43 – 32:44
Speaker 2: monocrop.
32:47 – 32:49
Speaker 2: So, yeah, and, and,
32:49 – 32:51
Speaker 2: and we're, yes, and grazing as a
32:51 – 32:51
Speaker 2: part of that.
32:53 – 32:55
Speaker 1: So, no, I understand the
32:55 – 32:56
Speaker 1: concern. And I think that's
32:56 – 32:57
Speaker 1: something that we see, too, with
32:57 – 32:57
Speaker 1: conservation,
32:58 – 33:00
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes is it's
33:00 – 33:01
Speaker 1: this.
33:01 – 33:03
Speaker 1: Well, in order for this to be
33:03 – 33:04
Speaker 1: effective, it needs to go into
33:04 – 33:07
Speaker 1: an easement in perpetuity where
33:07 – 33:09
Speaker 1: there's no ability to do
33:09 – 33:10
Speaker 1: anything on the land, including
33:10 – 33:11
Speaker 1: access for grazing.
33:12 – 33:13
Speaker 1: And but that's that's not
33:14 – 33:16
Speaker 1: that's not what we're shooting
33:16 – 33:17
Speaker 1: for.
33:17 – 33:18
Speaker 1: So let's
33:20 – 33:21
Speaker 1: change gears. I'd like to talk a
33:21 – 33:22
Speaker 1: little bit about the
33:22 – 33:24
Speaker 1: entrepreneurial and the
33:24 – 33:24
Speaker 1: marketing
33:25 – 33:26
Speaker 1: work that needed to go in.
33:27 – 33:28
Speaker 1: What what what
33:28 – 33:30
Speaker 1: needed to happen for you to
33:30 – 33:31
Speaker 1: develop this and to to get it
33:31 – 33:32
Speaker 1: out there in a significant way?
33:33 – 33:36
Speaker 1: Oh man, I was so naive and
33:36 – 33:38
Speaker 1: probably gratefully so when I
33:38 – 33:40
Speaker 1: started, but I, I think I.
33:40 – 33:41
Speaker 1: There's this old saying that if
33:41 – 33:43
Speaker 1: most people had any idea of what
33:43 – 33:44
Speaker 1: it took to start a company,
33:44 – 33:45
Speaker 1: nobody would ever do it.
33:46 – 33:46
Speaker 1: So true.
33:47 – 33:48
Speaker 1: Um,
33:49 – 33:50
Speaker 1: you know, I think we're, we've
33:50 – 33:52
Speaker 1: been in the enviable and
33:52 – 33:54
Speaker 1: unenviable position of building
33:54 – 33:55
Speaker 1: a brand and a product category
33:55 – 33:56
Speaker 1: at the same time.
33:57 – 33:58
Speaker 1: And I say.
33:58 – 34:00
Speaker 1: that's been awesome and hugely
34:00 – 34:02
Speaker 1: challenging for both aspects.
34:02 – 34:03
Speaker 1: One,
34:03 – 34:05
Speaker 1: we get to really be in the
34:05 – 34:07
Speaker 1: driver's seat for a lot of the
34:07 – 34:08
Speaker 1: standards,
34:08 – 34:09
Speaker 1: the messaging,
34:09 – 34:11
Speaker 1: the way that it's positioned,
34:12 – 34:14
Speaker 1: right? And the way that it's
34:15 – 34:17
Speaker 1: framed, right? We've been able
34:17 – 34:19
Speaker 1: to really kind of make sure that
34:19 – 34:21
Speaker 1: Yopon kind of coexists with a
34:21 – 34:22
Speaker 1: non -extractive
34:23 – 34:24
Speaker 1: storyline, right?
34:25 – 34:28
Speaker 2: That it inherently becomes a
34:28 – 34:28
Speaker 2: sustainable
34:30 – 34:31
Speaker 2: laying the groundwork for
34:31 – 34:33
Speaker 2: everything from the messaging to
34:33 – 34:34
Speaker 2: the way that it's sourced and
34:34 – 34:35
Speaker 2: the execution.
34:35 – 34:36
Speaker 1: associated with that.
34:36 – 34:37
Speaker 1: So that's been really cool.
34:38 – 34:39
Speaker 1: I
34:40 – 34:41
Speaker 1: think it's also been really neat
34:41 – 34:42
Speaker 1: to be.
34:43 – 34:45
Speaker 1: bringing back a plant that has
34:45 – 34:46
Speaker 1: been,
34:46 – 34:49
Speaker 1: has such deep ties, right?
34:49 – 34:52
Speaker 1: And I think both with different
34:52 – 34:54
Speaker 1: tribes and then also with the
34:54 – 34:55
Speaker 1: history of the, in the
34:55 – 34:57
Speaker 1: Southeast, it's, you know,
34:57 – 34:58
Speaker 1: yopan's been a drink of the
34:58 – 34:59
Speaker 1: marginalized,
34:59 – 35:01
Speaker 1: right? And so historically the
35:01 – 35:02
Speaker 1: slaves drank it a lot, right?
35:02 – 35:03
Speaker 1: All the way, all the way from
35:03 – 35:05
Speaker 1: the tea party, the way it
35:05 – 35:06
Speaker 1: sounds, my goodness.
35:06 – 35:07
Speaker 1: Yeah.
35:07 – 35:09
Speaker 1: And so, and I think,
35:10 – 35:11
Speaker 1: because there's there's a lot of
35:11 – 35:14
Speaker 1: complexity within that is like,
35:14 – 35:15
Speaker 1: how do we how
35:15 – 35:18
Speaker 1: do we talk about a
35:18 – 35:20
Speaker 1: plant without there being
35:20 – 35:22
Speaker 1: cultural appropriation and also
35:22 – 35:23
Speaker 1: an element of restoration with
35:23 – 35:24
Speaker 1: these traditions?
35:24 – 35:27
Speaker 1: And so I think being in the
35:27 – 35:29
Speaker 1: being in the driver's seat again
35:29 – 35:31
Speaker 1: has been a gift to be able to
35:31 – 35:33
Speaker 1: have the time and the
35:33 – 35:36
Speaker 1: intentionality and how and how
35:36 – 35:36
Speaker 1: we talk about it.
35:38 – 35:40
Speaker 1: And how we and how we learn and
35:40 – 35:41
Speaker 1: like, how am I talking to the
35:41 – 35:43
Speaker 1: different tribes and who are we
35:43 – 35:46
Speaker 1: working with? And so that's been
35:46 – 35:47
Speaker 1: really cool.
35:47 – 35:50
Speaker 1: The downsides are no
35:50 – 35:51
Speaker 1: one knows what the plan is when
35:51 – 35:52
Speaker 1: we get started.
35:52 – 35:55
Speaker 1: And so
35:55 – 35:57
Speaker 1: we've been.
35:57 – 35:59
Speaker 1: We've been very multi -channel,
35:59 – 36:01
Speaker 1: right? We are bulk and
36:01 – 36:02
Speaker 1: ingredient sales.
36:02 – 36:03
Speaker 1: We are food service.
36:03 – 36:05
Speaker 1: We are our own branded product
36:05 – 36:08
Speaker 1: on the shelf and on e -commerce.
36:08 – 36:11
Speaker 1: And so because,
36:11 – 36:12
Speaker 1: you know, what do they say?
36:13 – 36:14
Speaker 1: A consumer needs to see
36:14 – 36:15
Speaker 1: something 13 times before they
36:15 – 36:18
Speaker 1: remember it. And we're not in a
36:18 – 36:20
Speaker 1: position to afford 13 brand
36:20 – 36:21
Speaker 1: exposures all ourself.
36:21 – 36:24
Speaker 1: And so by being able to
36:24 – 36:27
Speaker 1: Shoulder that with other brands
36:27 – 36:28
Speaker 1: that are wanting to incorporate
36:28 – 36:29
Speaker 1: the upon.
36:30 – 36:33
Speaker 1: their product is awesome and on
36:33 – 36:34
Speaker 1: their menus,
36:34 – 36:35
Speaker 1: right?
36:35 – 36:35
Speaker 2: And I think,
36:36 – 36:38
Speaker 2: but the flip side of that is
36:38 – 36:41
Speaker 2: this brand building and
36:41 – 36:43
Speaker 2: venture has been able to be
36:43 – 36:44
Speaker 2: incredibly collaborative,
36:45 – 36:46
Speaker 2: right? Because I
36:46 – 36:48
Speaker 2: don't really have any
36:48 – 36:50
Speaker 2: competitors in the sense that
36:51 – 36:52
Speaker 2: everyone is somebody we can
36:52 – 36:54
Speaker 2: potentially work with, including
36:54 – 36:55
Speaker 2: other Yopan brands,
36:55 – 36:56
Speaker 2: right?
36:57 – 37:00
Speaker 2: And so we get to supply to
37:00 – 37:01
Speaker 2: other tea companies,
37:01 – 37:02
Speaker 2: kombucha brewers,
37:03 – 37:05
Speaker 2: energy drinks, energy bars,
37:05 – 37:06
Speaker 2: cosmetics,
37:06 – 37:07
Speaker 2: kind
37:08 – 37:09
Speaker 2: of this whole gamut of
37:09 – 37:10
Speaker 2: opportunity.
37:12 – 37:13
Speaker 2: And so
37:14 – 37:14
Speaker 2: I think
37:15 – 37:16
Speaker 2: that's actually made this really
37:16 – 37:17
Speaker 2: fun.
37:17 – 37:19
Speaker 2: Because you can be best in the
37:19 – 37:20
Speaker 2: world at one,
37:20 – 37:21
Speaker 2: maybe two things, right?
37:21 – 37:23
Speaker 2: And we're going to be best in
37:23 – 37:25
Speaker 2: the world at harvesting yopan
37:25 – 37:26
Speaker 2: and producing an amazing
37:26 – 37:27
Speaker 2: product.
37:27 – 37:29
Speaker 2: And then we can work with other
37:29 – 37:31
Speaker 2: brands who want to create
37:32 – 37:34
Speaker 2: a great bottled tea, a great
37:34 – 37:37
Speaker 2: energy drink, a great you name
37:37 – 37:38
Speaker 2: it.
37:38 – 37:40
Speaker 2: Well, when you consider the
37:42 – 37:43
Speaker 2: opportunity, the market
37:43 – 37:44
Speaker 2: opportunity that you have from a
37:44 – 37:45
Speaker 2: macro perspective, your
37:45 – 37:47
Speaker 2: competition essentially being
37:47 – 37:49
Speaker 2: coffee, green tea, yerba mate,
37:49 – 37:50
Speaker 2: what else?
37:49 – 37:50
Speaker 1: I think there's one other
37:50 – 37:51
Speaker 1: source.
37:52 – 37:53
Speaker 1: I mean, my goodness,
37:54 – 37:55
Speaker 1: coffee, there's this persistent
37:55 – 37:56
Speaker 1: myth that coffee is the second
37:56 – 37:58
Speaker 1: most traded commodity in the
37:58 – 37:59
Speaker 1: world after oil.
37:59 – 38:00
Speaker 1: That's not actually true,
38:00 – 38:01
Speaker 1: if anyone is curious,
38:01 – 38:03
Speaker 1: but still the sheer volume of
38:03 – 38:05
Speaker 1: coffee that gets consumed around
38:05 – 38:06
Speaker 1: the world and you having a
38:06 – 38:08
Speaker 1: viable alternative to that, that
38:08 – 38:09
Speaker 1: is cleaner, healthier, better
38:09 – 38:10
Speaker 1: for you.
38:10 – 38:12
Speaker 1: I mean, look, the reality is
38:13 – 38:15
Speaker 1: coffee production is being
38:15 – 38:17
Speaker 1: challenged by changing climates
38:17 – 38:18
Speaker 1: in many parts of the world.
38:18 – 38:21
Speaker 1: And there is a need to develop
38:21 – 38:23
Speaker 1: alternatives that are healthier,
38:23 – 38:25
Speaker 1: better for you and also
38:26 – 38:26
Speaker 1: when you look at coffee
38:26 – 38:28
Speaker 1: production and the intensive use
38:28 – 38:30
Speaker 1: of pesticides,
38:30 – 38:31
Speaker 1: fertilizers, et cetera, that is
38:31 – 38:32
Speaker 1: so common, it doesn't need to
38:32 – 38:34
Speaker 1: be, it wasn't historically, but
38:34 – 38:34
Speaker 1: it is today.
38:37 – 38:39
Speaker 4: Having an alternative that
38:39 – 38:40
Speaker 4: doesn't have all those exposures
38:40 – 38:42
Speaker 4: and all those hidden
38:42 – 38:43
Speaker 4: externalities is quite
38:43 – 38:44
Speaker 4: appealing.
38:44 – 38:45
Speaker 3: Completely.
38:45 – 38:46
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things
38:46 – 38:46
Speaker 1: that makes Yopon pretty
38:46 – 38:48
Speaker 1: interesting is,
38:48 – 38:49
Speaker 1: you know, what
38:49 – 38:50
Speaker 1: studies have shown that
38:51 – 38:52
Speaker 1: For a cup of coffee,
38:53 – 38:55
Speaker 1: like, 38 gallons of water have
38:55 – 38:58
Speaker 1: gone into the cultivation of it.
38:59 – 39:01
Speaker 3: And whereas,
39:02 – 39:04
Speaker 3: because we're wild harvesting
39:04 – 39:05
Speaker 3: and we don't use water anywhere
39:05 – 39:06
Speaker 3: in our processing,
39:06 – 39:07
Speaker 3: it's.
39:07 – 39:09
Speaker 3: A cup of water is what's used to
39:09 – 39:11
Speaker 3: make a cup of your plan, right?
39:11 – 39:12
Speaker 4: Because we're not having to
39:12 – 39:13
Speaker 4: irrigate.
39:13 – 39:15
Speaker 1: We're not having to use it in
39:15 – 39:16
Speaker 1: our processing.
39:16 – 39:18
Speaker 1: And so, while there is water
39:18 – 39:19
Speaker 1: that's being used, it's
39:19 – 39:21
Speaker 1: incredibly drought resistant and
39:21 – 39:22
Speaker 1: we're not
39:23 – 39:24
Speaker 1: it's rainwater.
39:25 – 39:26
Speaker 1: Yeah,
39:26 – 39:27
Speaker 1: yeah. I wonder if
39:28 – 39:29
Speaker 1: I was about to ask that question
39:29 – 39:31
Speaker 1: is how much of the water that's
39:31 – 39:32
Speaker 1: used for coffee production is
39:32 – 39:33
Speaker 1: blue water.
39:34 – 39:35
Speaker 1: I
39:35 – 39:36
Speaker 1: think it depends on where it is.
39:36 – 39:37
Speaker 1: Yeah,
39:39 – 39:40
Speaker 1: this has been a fascinating
39:40 – 39:41
Speaker 1: conversation. What have we
39:41 – 39:41
Speaker 1: missed talking about?
39:41 – 39:42
Speaker 1: That's important.
39:42 – 39:43
Speaker 1: Oh man,
39:45 – 39:47
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'll get off the call
39:47 – 39:49
Speaker 1: and remember all of the things I
39:49 – 39:50
Speaker 1: was supposed to say.
39:52 – 39:54
Speaker 1: No, I mean, I think hopefully
39:55 – 39:56
Speaker 1: we're just getting started.
39:57 – 40:00
Speaker 1: I think it's been incredible to
40:00 – 40:03
Speaker 1: be a part of this and to be a
40:03 – 40:05
Speaker 1: steward of this amazing plant.
40:05 – 40:06
Speaker 1: I think
40:06 – 40:08
Speaker 1: What gets me super excited is
40:08 – 40:10
Speaker 1: this is this is just one
40:10 – 40:11
Speaker 1: example,
40:11 – 40:12
Speaker 1: right? Exactly.
40:12 – 40:14
Speaker 1: We've touched on so many and I
40:14 – 40:16
Speaker 1: think the time is right.
40:16 – 40:17
Speaker 1: I think.
40:18 – 40:19
Speaker 1: because
40:20 – 40:22
Speaker 1: of COVID and now terrorists,
40:23 – 40:26
Speaker 1: people are inherently aware of
40:26 – 40:28
Speaker 1: their sourcing in a way that
40:28 – 40:29
Speaker 1: even if they aren't motivated
40:29 – 40:30
Speaker 1: from a healthy,
40:30 – 40:32
Speaker 1: like from a health lens,
40:33 – 40:35
Speaker 1: you know, they're like, oh, so
40:35 – 40:36
Speaker 1: much of my food
40:36 – 40:38
Speaker 1: It's stuck in customs or pricing
40:38 – 40:40
Speaker 1: or all of those things.
40:40 – 40:43
Speaker 1: And so I think we are in a time
40:43 – 40:44
Speaker 1: where people are aware of
40:44 – 40:46
Speaker 1: sourcing in a way that we
40:46 – 40:47
Speaker 1: haven't been historically,
40:48 – 40:50
Speaker 1: not since we've gone so globally
40:50 – 40:51
Speaker 1: versus local.
40:53 – 40:55
Speaker 1: And then at the same time, so
40:55 – 40:57
Speaker 1: many of the challenges that were
40:57 – 40:59
Speaker 1: associated with
40:59 – 41:01
Speaker 1: Bringing a single or like a
41:01 – 41:02
Speaker 1: single ingredient,
41:02 – 41:05
Speaker 1: um, or a diversified, um,
41:05 – 41:07
Speaker 1: ingredient to market away from
41:07 – 41:09
Speaker 1: moving from like commodity ag
41:09 – 41:11
Speaker 1: is, is getting easier, right?
41:11 – 41:12
Speaker 1: Because of access to
41:12 – 41:14
Speaker 1: information, um, because of
41:14 – 41:16
Speaker 1: access to research, right?
41:16 – 41:17
Speaker 1: Like there's,
41:18 – 41:19
Speaker 1: there's,
41:19 – 41:20
Speaker 1: it's getting.
41:21 – 41:23
Speaker 1: It's an exciting time, where I
41:23 – 41:24
Speaker 1: think bringing these newer
41:24 – 41:26
Speaker 1: products to market, the
41:26 – 41:26
Speaker 1: education,
41:26 – 41:28
Speaker 1: the access to consumers,
41:28 – 41:29
Speaker 1: while it's loud,
41:30 – 41:31
Speaker 1: it's available.
41:31 – 41:33
Speaker 1: And I think consumers
41:34 – 41:35
Speaker 1: are looking for authenticity.
41:35 – 41:38
Speaker 1: And the more we can go back to,
41:39 – 41:40
Speaker 1: hey, this is where this has
41:40 – 41:41
Speaker 1: grown, and this is how it's
41:41 – 41:42
Speaker 1: made, even if it's a word you've
41:42 – 41:43
Speaker 1: never heard before,
41:44 – 41:45
Speaker 1: is interesting.
41:46 – 41:47
Speaker 1: And people are looking for that.
41:48 – 41:49
Speaker 1: I think there's
41:50 – 41:51
Speaker 1: a lot of people And even in
41:51 – 41:53
Speaker 1: consumer packaged goods, right?
41:53 – 41:56
Speaker 2: They're looking for innovation
41:56 – 41:57
Speaker 2: is in the source and in the
41:57 – 41:58
Speaker 2: ingredient.
41:58 – 41:59
Speaker 2: And I
42:00 – 42:01
Speaker 2: think it's in the rise of
42:01 – 42:02
Speaker 2: regenerative organic,
42:02 – 42:04
Speaker 2: right? That inherently means
42:04 – 42:05
Speaker 2: people care more about the
42:05 – 42:06
Speaker 2: source, right? Whereas
42:06 – 42:08
Speaker 2: innovation for the last decade
42:08 – 42:11
Speaker 2: and CPG previously has been in
42:11 – 42:13
Speaker 2: packaging and in
42:13 – 42:14
Speaker 2: branding.
42:15 – 42:16
Speaker 2: Right.
42:15 – 42:17
Speaker 1: And that's not where we are
42:17 – 42:18
Speaker 1: right now.
42:18 – 42:19
Speaker 1: And so I think there's a lot
42:19 – 42:21
Speaker 1: that is
42:21 – 42:23
Speaker 1: becoming tailwinds for
42:23 – 42:24
Speaker 1: producers.
42:24 – 42:26
Speaker 1: And yeah,
42:26 – 42:27
Speaker 1: I'm excited.
42:28 – 42:29
Speaker 1: It's an exciting time.
42:29 – 42:31
Speaker 1: And, you know, every time we are
42:31 – 42:32
Speaker 1: we're
42:32 – 42:35
Speaker 1: approaching what has been
42:35 – 42:36
Speaker 1: described as the fourth turning,
42:36 – 42:38
Speaker 1: we're approaching a massive
42:40 – 42:42
Speaker 1: socioeconomic shifts from many
42:42 – 42:44
Speaker 1: different perspectives and
42:44 – 42:44
Speaker 1: dimensions.
42:45 – 42:46
Speaker 1: And it's in every time in every
42:46 – 42:48
Speaker 1: moment in history when we have
42:48 – 42:50
Speaker 1: significant turbulence,
42:51 – 42:53
Speaker 1: macroeconomic turbulence or the
42:53 – 42:55
Speaker 1: turbulent political turbulence.
42:57 – 42:58
Speaker 1: Turbulence creates many
42:58 – 43:00
Speaker 1: challenges and it also is a time
43:00 – 43:02
Speaker 1: of unprecedented opportunity.
43:02 – 43:04
Speaker 1: It's just are we are we mentally
43:04 – 43:06
Speaker 1: prepared to take advantage of
43:06 – 43:07
Speaker 1: those opportunities and to lean
43:07 – 43:07
Speaker 1: into those?
43:07 – 43:08
Speaker 3: And
43:08 – 43:09
Speaker 3: I think
43:10 – 43:12
Speaker 3: you know my charge would be to
43:12 – 43:13
Speaker 3: for anybody that's that's
43:13 – 43:16
Speaker 3: looking is take a walk like look
43:16 – 43:18
Speaker 3: around you um see what is
43:18 – 43:20
Speaker 3: fighting to be there and and
43:20 – 43:21
Speaker 3: start there i think that's
43:21 – 43:23
Speaker 3: something that we can often and
43:23 – 43:25
Speaker 3: i know this is speaking out of
43:25 – 43:26
Speaker 3: this other side of my mouth i
43:26 – 43:26
Speaker 3: would just
43:26 – 43:27
Speaker 3: This is touting the opportunity
43:27 – 43:30
Speaker 3: with these and the access to
43:30 – 43:31
Speaker 3: technology, but I think there's
43:31 – 43:33
Speaker 3: an importance of returning to to
43:33 – 43:34
Speaker 3: where you are in your land.
43:34 – 43:36
Speaker 3: Right? The only reason we got
43:36 – 43:37
Speaker 3: started is because we were
43:37 – 43:39
Speaker 3: curious about why is this the
43:39 – 43:40
Speaker 3: only thing on our land that's
43:40 – 43:42
Speaker 3: not dying and and listening to
43:42 – 43:43
Speaker 3: what was
43:44 – 43:45
Speaker 3: looking out.
43:45 – 43:46
Speaker 3: looking out our window, walking
43:46 – 43:47
Speaker 3: our trails,
43:47 – 43:49
Speaker 3: like really questioning what was
43:49 – 43:50
Speaker 3: around us.
43:50 – 43:52
Speaker 2: And I think it's those two
43:52 – 43:53
Speaker 2: things that are hand in hand.
43:53 – 43:55
Speaker 1: I mean, like anything,
43:55 – 43:57
Speaker 1: you can swing to the extreme,
43:57 – 43:59
Speaker 1: but I think it's the balance and
43:59 – 44:02
Speaker 1: the incorporation of being quiet
44:02 – 44:04
Speaker 1: and listening and being
44:05 – 44:06
Speaker 1: aware of your surroundings.
44:08 – 44:09
Speaker 1: And also,
44:10 – 44:12
Speaker 1: the questions and being
44:12 – 44:13
Speaker 1: a little bit of a dog with a
44:13 – 44:15
Speaker 1: bone and finding out how to how
44:15 – 44:16
Speaker 1: to make it where it goes.
44:16 – 44:17
Speaker 2: What does it fit?
44:17 – 44:18
Speaker 2: So well,
44:18 – 44:19
Speaker 2: Abby, and thank you.
44:19 – 44:20
Speaker 2: Thank you for being here.
44:20 – 44:22
Speaker 2: And thank you for sharing your
44:22 – 44:22
Speaker 2: work,
44:23 – 44:23
Speaker 2: all the work you're doing.
44:23 – 44:24
Speaker 2: And I wish you the best of
44:24 – 44:26
Speaker 2: success. And at some point soon,
44:26 – 44:28
Speaker 2: I would love for you upon to
44:28 – 44:29
Speaker 2: replace coffee as the primary
44:29 – 44:30
Speaker 2: source of caffeine in North
44:30 – 44:31
Speaker 2: America.
44:31 – 44:32
Speaker 2: It would be amazing.
44:32 – 44:33
Speaker 2: We'll be we'll be here when that
44:33 – 44:35
Speaker 2: happens. Thank you.
44:35 – 44:37
Speaker 2: The team at AEA and I are
44:37 – 44:38
Speaker 2: dedicated to bringing this show
44:38 – 44:40
Speaker 2: to you because we believe that
44:40 – 44:42
Speaker 2: knowledge and information is the
44:42 – 44:43
Speaker 2: foundation of successful
44:43 – 44:45
Speaker 2: regenerative systems.
44:45 – 44:47
Speaker 2: At AEA, we believe that growing
44:47 – 44:49
Speaker 2: better quality food and making
44:49 – 44:51
Speaker 2: more money from your crops is
44:51 – 44:51
Speaker 2: possible.
44:52 – 44:53
Speaker 2: And since 2006,
44:53 – 44:54
Speaker 2: we've worked with leading
44:54 – 44:55
Speaker 2: professional growers to help
44:55 – 44:56
Speaker 2: them do just that.
44:57 – 44:59
At AEA, we don't guess.
44:59 – 45:00
We test. We analyze.
45:01 – 45:02
And we provide recommendations
45:02 – 45:04
based on scientific data,
45:04 – 45:05
knowledge, and experience.
45:06 – 45:07
We've developed products that
45:07 – 45:08
are uniquely positioned to help
45:08 – 45:10
growers make more money with
45:10 – 45:11
regenerative agriculture.
45:12 – 45:13
If you are a professional grower
45:13 – 45:15
who believes in testing instead
45:15 – 45:15
of guessing,
45:16 – 45:17
someone who believes in a
45:17 – 45:19
better, more regenerative way to
45:19 – 45:19
grow,
45:20 – 45:22
visit advancingecoag .com and
45:22 – 45:24
contact us to see if AEA is
45:24 – 45:24
right for you.
45:25 – 45:26
Thank you for listening and we
45:26 – 45:27
look forward to working with
45:27 – 45:28
you.
