Express Checkout

Welcome back! Today we have our very first guest, the one and only rachel mansfield. Rachel is a recipe creator, and influencer with over 1M followers on Instagram, she pens a Substack called more, please by rachel mansfield, and most recently co-founded Cadootz Snacks, a new organic kids' protein snack brand.

In this episode we also go into the wonderful world of gummy supplements, discuss how stadiums are the next launching platform for THC beverages, the rise of Sprouts market, and so much more!

The breakdown:

00:00 Intro00:28 Interview: Rachel Mansfield of Cadootz Snacks11:36 The rise of gummy supplements24:27 THC beverages hit the arena30:00 Allergy care, but make it "clean"34:32 Sprouts expansion37:00 Oats Overnight's success story

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Welcome back! This week, we're sharing our favorite products of the week (and yes, Nate's is packed with protein...), some of the unique challenges of building a celebrity brand, the inside scoop on the new Non-Ultraprocessed Food Verification, the weirdly big business of hand sanitizer, and more!

The breakdown:00:00 Favorite bites of the week04:56 Building the "perfect" celeb CPG brand12:32 The new Non-Ultra Processed Food Certification18:56 Elf's first-ever fragrance23:23 Ulta's new wellness "shop-in-shops"27:18 The big biz of hand sanitizer34:54 P&G acquires the new-age Tums (Wonderbelly)39:44 Outro

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📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

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💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

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Welcome back to The Curious Consumer! This week, we've got another roundup of protein launches (shocking!)—but this time from some unlikely sources. Plus, we're exploring how Target became the new go-to retailer for emerging brands, actually exciting innovation from a food tech company, and the future of THC bevs.

The breakdown:

00:00 Intro02:07 Starbucks and Dunkin take protein04:15 Beyond Meat's new protein beverage?09:45 Prebiotic. protein. soda.12:50 PRIME enters protein15:12 Why Target is the new hub for emerging brands27:40 Innovation that EXCITES.31:05 Spiked Gatorade??34:54 THC/hemp ban legislation update38:32 Consolidating brands

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

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Another week of countless protein launches—this time, positioned for women—plus Target’s wellness expansion, the latest THC retailer launch, how Good Culture won the unsexiest category, and more.

The breakdown:

00:00 Intro

00:20 Food + bev trade show highlights

01:45 The next big flavor of 2026: PB&J

07:24 David protein sent what to who?

13:02 GORGIE launched protein + energy

14:14 The clear protein boom

19:26 Lemme launches creatine gummies

24:03 Target’s wellness expansion

28:17 THC beverages launching in Sprouts

34:34 Good Culture’s cottage cheese revolution

39:17 Some quick thoughts on the new dietary guidelines

41:14 Conclusion

If you’re interested in learning more about the “Flipped Pyramid”, check out Jessica Knurick, PhD, RDN’s Substack here:

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!

Welcome to our first episode of The Curious Consumer in 2026!! We're excited to be back and sharing some of the latest stories in consumer brands, from how the frozen aisle is changing to the next big format in protein (hint: it's weirdly.... juvenile).

The breakdown:

00:00 Intro + snacking resolutions03:25 The future of the frozen aisle13:37 Trader Joe's challenges Olipop and Poppi17:38 Canned protein milk's moment22:42 The nuanced story of plant-based brand shutdowns28:38 Beauty brands enter body care33:10 Domestic olive oil for the win?38:04 Conclusion

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!

Welcome to our final podcast of 2025! We’re walking through some of the biggest themes and headlines from the year, from redefining “function” (with protein, THC, and caffeine) to the new target demographics for skincare + fragrance and the future of retail. Thank you for being a listener this year—we are so grateful, and can’t wait to continue providing more for you in 2026. If there’s anything else you’d like to see from us next year, feel free to reach out at [email protected] 😊

* Want to dig deeper into the protein trend? Check out our two protein podcast episodes: https://expresscheckout.co/p/protein-is-not-a-trend and https://expresscheckout.co/p/proteins-new-era

* Looking for more info on energy drinks? We got a pod on that too: https://expresscheckout.co/p/energy-drinks-are-for-the-girls

* And if you’re trying to check out all of the major headlines and themes from 202, snoop through our archive of newsletters at https://expresscheckout.co/archive

The Rundown

00:00 Intro

01:58 Biggest theme of 2025: Redefining “function”

02:52 Proteinification

06:21 Energy drinks (are for the girls)

08:55 THC category boom

10:26 Magnesium/sleep

13:04 The next gen of retail

20:37 Teens and men: The new targets of beauty/skincare

27:00 How the big guys streamlined

29:08 The crazy headlines you probably forgot

36:37 Winners of 2025

44:12 2026 predictions

49:08 Bye 2025!!!

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!

This week, we’re chatting about the sneaky strategy behind lip balms, the future of female-focused energy drinks, Rao’s rise to success, why Oreo and Instacart are getting heat, and so much more.

Our latest newsletter gets into more details on all of the above. Read it here:

https://expresscheckout.co/p/how-brands-are-winning-with-lip-balm

The Rundown

00:00 Intro

00:45 The “lipification” of beauty

11:07 Unwell’s new energy drink

19:08 Oreo Zero Sugar (and its response…)

24:21 The two camps of supplement launches

30:16 Instacart’s pricing controversy

33:32 Going all-in on pasta sauce

39:42 Conclusion

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!

This week, we’re ogling over crazy-fast shipping, wondering how “delicious” and "visceral fat reduction” have managed to enter the same product copy (@ Lemme), unpacking Live Nation’s latest bev partnership, and, obviously, learning how Nate dodged laced brownies in high school.

Our latest newsletter gets into more details on all of the above. Read it here: https://expresscheckout.co/p/the-drones-are-coming

The Rundown

00:00 Intro

00:20 Full Black Friday and Cyber Monday recap

03:39 Ultra-fast shipping innovations (Walmart, Target, Uber Eats + more)

14:10 “Gummifying” every supplement

20:14 Legit weed brownies 👀

23:58 Hiyo x Live Nation partnership

27:45 Anheuser Busch acquires BeatBox

33:30 Conclusion and wrap-up

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox at expresscheckout.co.

Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode! If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!

We’re coming in hot off of Black Friday/Cyber Monday! In this episode, we’re sharing some results from this sale weekend, thoughts on Quince’s foray into food + wine, Aldi’s massive US expansion (and what that says about consumer behavior), and more.

If you’re fascinated by “dupe culture”, check out our recent deep dive on Quince!

Gift guides can all be found here!

As always, if you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions, feel free to email us at [email protected] :)

The rundown:

00:00 Intro + chit-chat

02:07 Gift guides recap!

04:27 Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 insights

11:54 Quince’s foray into food + wine

19:24 Aldi opening 16 stores in one day?!

26:36 Monogram Capital’s fund + the future of emerging brands

31:11 Wrapping up

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox. Sign up at expresscheckout.co.

📱 Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more:

* Instagram: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode!

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!

Welcome back to another episode of The Curious Consumer! This week, we’ve got a great lineup of consumer goods stories—from the beverage brand that’s secretly winning through foodservice, to the new era of medical-grade skincare platforms.

The breakdown:

00:00 Intro

00:48 Tractor Beverage: From foodservice to retail

05:18 The new era of non-alc beverages

10:18 Silk’s high-protein soy milk

15:45 The new frontier of skincare

22:11 How Credo Beauty is setting standards in clean beauty

29:47 Bath & Body Works takes Amazon

37:59 Target’s integration with ChatGPT

43:50 Outro

🎧 Love the show? Subscribe to The Curious Consumer wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop weekly.

📧 Get the inside scoop Subscribe to Express Checkout, our newsletter packed with consumer insights, trends, and exclusive content straight to your inbox. Sign up at expresscheckout.co.

📱 Let’s connect! Follow us for behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and more:

* Instagram: @expresscheckout

💬 Join the conversation Have a product you’re curious about? DM us your questions or drop them in the comments—your topic could be featured in our next episode!

⭐ Help us grow If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps other curious consumers find us!