Sustainable Event Catering: How to Balance Food Waste, Flavor & Bottom Line

Tracy Stuckrath [00:00:06]:
Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of Eating at a Meeting. I am in San Diego this week doing a site visit for a client for a program next April, but I'm excited to bring to you my guest today. And this is Chef Nettie Frank. She is a Utah-based chef who has done just about every job a kitchen can hand you. She trained at the Culinary Institute of America. She built her chops at Log Haven, the Grand America, and Snow Basin. Then she launched Silver Whisk Catering back in 2006. She opened Beyond Glaze, a bakery that made donuts people drove across the valley for, and wrote a cookbook to go with it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:00:46]:
You've seen her compete on Cake Wars and Chopped, and now she's the founder and CEO of Citrive. I said that right. A chef-oriented freeze drying company that grew out of a very simple, very stubborn question. What if we could keep the flavor we're throwing away? Nettie, welcome to the show, my friend.

Nettie Frank [00:01:07]:
Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:10]:
Yeah, I'm so excited to have you. And, and well, before we get in, well, I want to say, so we met at ICA, the Ascend conference, and we met in person, I should say. In real life. Was that last month or 2 months ago?

Nettie Frank [00:01:23]:
2 months ago. Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:24]:
And so you were showcasing your product here to all the caterers that were there. And these are the blood orange slices that I got in my goodie bag. And, and I really didn't know that you were doing this. So I'm so excited to introduce everyone else to this as well.

Nettie Frank [00:01:43]:
Same, same. I'm really excited because as we were talking, there's a little bit of an educational piece behind this. So I'm excited. kind of dive in and let people aware of what we're— what we are doing.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:55]:
Yeah. So you've, you've cooked in resorts, hotels, catering, a bakery, on television, and now you've built this product from scratch. When you look back, what did each of those settings teach you about feeding people well at scale?

Nettie Frank [00:02:11]:
Great question. We, in those resorts, hotels, and big productions, you need, and even small productions, you need to be organized. You need to be organized with your menu, you need to be organized with your team, with your staff. Everyone needs to have the communication tools in order to meet the expectations of every single one of these guests. So whether you're at an event for a wedding, I mean, now that everything's on Pinterest, Instagram, social media, like the expectation level is very high. So maintaining those expectations, you've gotta be organized in those kind of settings.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:48]:
Well, yeah, I mean, whether it's the planner or the caterer, I mean, you have to be in sync with those and whether it's off-premise or on-premise and like in a hotel. And so, and I think this, just speaking of that organization, this allows your product to allow— I'm going to open this now up. And while we're here, yeah, it allows you to be a little bit more organized because you've got that fresh product that you can utilize. And before I jump into that, before I forget, oh my gosh. I can totally smell the orange in this. I wish everybody could smell.

Nettie Frank [00:03:19]:
You know, isn't that beautiful? Those blood oranges are from New Zealand that we got because they were in their perfect ripeness that we, um, because they only have a season between January and May. So I'm learning a lot about produce along the way because I'm wanting, not wanting, we are freeze drying it right at its peak freshness so that it's preserving it. At its peak.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:03:45]:
Wow. So you're getting these from you, from New Zealand and shipping them to Utah and freeze drying them in Utah?

Nettie Frank [00:03:51]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:03:52]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:03:53]:
Yes. Okay. So we've gotten some from all over the US and a lot out of California, a lot out of the southern regions, but those ones we got out of New Zealand because they just— did you see the color of those blood oranges?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:04:05]:
They're beautiful. So they are.

Nettie Frank [00:04:07]:
Everything too. With a chef's eye, right? Like, not only is it gonna be consistent, but beautiful presentation and the flavor is all there in one slice.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:04:18]:
Oh, and it's different. It looks pretty on both sides of it. Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:04:21]:
It's almost like a stained glass window, huh?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:04:23]:
Yeah. And then just bringing back Ascend in this. So we just dropped this into my drink at the opening reception, and then it brings that flavor out.

Nettie Frank [00:04:32]:
Yes. And it reconstitutes it. So the freeze drying process reconstitutes, whereas the drying or any kind of dehydration, it, you're zapping all the nutrients, flavor, the look. It just, it's not the original thing.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:04:47]:
Oh, okay.

Nettie Frank [00:04:47]:
Whereas freeze drying, it preserves it in its original state, form, color, flavor, everything. So when you add it to any liquid, it reconstitutes as if it was fresh, like, and you can squeeze it. And even though the part of it that was out of your glass, that's still kind of crispy. So then now it's a play on the senses of that crispy crunch, and you weren't expecting that, but then you've got the juicy side that's like reconstituted in your drink. So now you're getting all all the flavors and its experience for your mouth.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:05:17]:
That's so cool. All right, I'm gonna do that later.

Nettie Frank [00:05:19]:
You can even use it as a vessel. Put an appetizer on that and now it's an appetizer.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:05:23]:
Oh, that's a cool idea. Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:05:25]:
Yes. So like if you had like a tempura shrimp or a dumpling or even a California roll, right? EarPods.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:05:33]:
Yeah, my EarPods.

Nettie Frank [00:05:34]:
There you go. See, I love it. And now it's a little vessel. Now you can eat the plate. So again, we're helping with the sustainability side of things and whatever juices from the item that you're putting on top, will absorb into the citrus. So now it's releasing that, right? So now it's releasing the flavor as well as being a vessel, and you can eat it, eat the rind and all, eat the whole thing.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:05:53]:
I was just gonna say, some people might gonna say, you're gonna make me eat the rind, but that's totally edible 'cause it's all been cleaned.

Nettie Frank [00:06:00]:
Yes. And we, when the product comes in, we completely wash, soak everything so that it is completely free of anything. And then we slice it, we freeze it for about 72 hours. I mean, we're handling these on the trays. We, these are our delicate little baby. It's a process and we take really, I, I have an amazing team. We take pride in what we do for sure. It freezes for about 48 to 72 hours and then it goes into the freeze drying machines.

Nettie Frank [00:06:28]:
And there is, so there's the, the trays kind of heat up and warm up a little bit, just enough.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:06:34]:
Okay.

Nettie Frank [00:06:35]:
To thaw the product and it's freezing it below 30 degrees in this machine, but then this vacuum is literally Removing every single bit of moisture out of there. And so that's how you get the freeze-dried product in its original state, form, color, all of that. So that's about a 24-hour process. And then we have a half an hour to get these packaged, jarred, sealed, and ready for you guys to have shelf-stable citrus for 5+ years on your shelf. So that's the other thing. Wow.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:07:06]:
Okay. So you have to do that in 2 things in that you have to do that in 30 minutes.

Nettie Frank [00:07:10]:
Packaging. Yes. So it's all hands on deck when it's time to package.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:07:17]:
But then I can keep this even open on my shelf for 5 years.

Nettie Frank [00:07:22]:
Open for like 9 months is usually— our citrus is a little bit sensitive to the air. So if you live in a more humid area, right, you're probably— it might feel soft a little bit. But it's still totally edible, safe, everything. But yeah, I mean, if you keep it sealed and in your cabinet, like, 5+ years, you've got citrus. I mean, wow. Right? And even our tomatoes. So, we have our cherry tomatoes, which I am— that's our oxygen packet. I'm trying to get the angle of this camera.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:07:59]:
There it is. There you go.

Nettie Frank [00:08:00]:
Okay. So, this is the new crouton. All of those gluten-free, there's not an option for a nice healthy crunch. The cherry is your new crouton.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:08:10]:
Ah.

Nettie Frank [00:08:10]:
And we're patented, we're trademarked, we're copyrighted. So I can toss whatever herb seasoning, anything you want, and I can make items for companies, for a catering event or whatever it is. So then everything is right on that and it gives that crunch. Plus the flavor, because some people are kind of funny about tomato texture. I didn't know this was a thing. People are funny. Like, they want the tomato flavor, but they like, I can't bite into that. The texture throws me off.

Nettie Frank [00:08:40]:
They are obsessed with the cherry tomato. It's the new crouton.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:08:43]:
I'm gonna have to get some of those because I eat them off the counter.

Nettie Frank [00:08:46]:
Oh, I'll send you some. Yeah, no, it's fantastic.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:08:49]:
Wow. And I love that as the crouton.

Nettie Frank [00:08:53]:
Yes. Because I mean, family members who are gluten-free, celiac, dairy-free, nightshades, nuts, eggs— like, I have so many allergies in my family, as do most families, which you know about so much. So anyways, this is an option that even throw that on a charcuterie board, right? Like, now you've got the crunch with the sausage and the cheese and whatever. It just, it opens up options. Use, use the orange slices on your charcuterie board. Again, you're getting that crisp crunch that you want out of a cracker or bread, but it's still giving flavor that will complement all the other items on the board.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:09:29]:
And when you bite into that one, is it— it's crunchy in the middle, so the juice is not going to pop out on you when I'm talking to you?

Nettie Frank [00:09:35]:
There's no juice at all. It is just all crunch and flavor. Oh, wow.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:09:41]:
That's amazing. Yeah, I'm going to have to try those.

Nettie Frank [00:09:45]:
I'll send you some.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:09:46]:
Okay. The— now this, you and I chat about this when we were in Savannah, but you didn't, you didn't start this out as a business plan. You actually were giving a presentation, I think, at CaterSource, wasn't it?

Nettie Frank [00:09:59]:
I was. It was a couple of years now. It's, I think, maybe 3 years ago. Kathleen was like, Nettie, you know, what can you offer? And I was like, well, we're always looking for ways to be more sustainable in the kitchen. And as caterers, that's even a bigger problem because we can't turn it over the next night, right? Because we do that one-and-done event. That menu is different from the next night's menu, probably, you know, like we try and like make sure our menu is cohesive so we don't have as much waste, but it's all up to the customer, right? So, right. So with that, I had my own little freeze dryer that I had in 2021 that I wanted this rainbow of powders from my garden, right? And so I thought, oh, this would be so great if everyone could just have their own freeze dryer, then they could you know, put it in their kitchen, and if they had leftover dressing, if they had leftover salsa, if they had leftover sauce, Uh-huh. whatever it is, then they could just freeze dry it.

Nettie Frank [00:10:56]:
Sauces and dressings, you can repurpose and reuse easy. Or let's say you had too much of one of the meals, you could still freeze dry it and now put it out as a family meal, right? So like nothing is really being thrown away. You can utilize 'Cause you can freeze dry meats, you can freeze dry every, pretty much everything. Not everything, which I learned the hard way.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:11:17]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:11:17]:
But pretty close. 'Cause I tested everything. But you can do that and be more sustainable. 'Cause I was telling him, look, you know, we can do mirepoix, we can do all these different things to help save fridge and freezer space.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:11:29]:
And— Right.

Nettie Frank [00:11:31]:
And now it's shelf stable that it just has to be reconstituted with any form of liquid. They were all like, oh my gosh, tell me more, tell me more. And everybody was excited. And then I said, okay. And at the end they're like, where do we buy the products? And I was like, no, I think you missed the whole entire conversation. Like, I'm not even representing this freeze drying machine, but like you could get something like this. I'm just bringing the idea to you. And they all went, mm-hmm, never mind.

Nettie Frank [00:11:55]:
And I was left going, what just happened? But on the flight home, I was like, oh.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:12:01]:
Mm-hmm.

Nettie Frank [00:12:02]:
There is a massive need. There's major pain points that we're dealing with every single day. And how can I resolve it? So I was doing my research and everything that's out there freeze-dried is for a rainy day. So like 6 months or 20 years of food storage in case of an emergency or for—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:12:22]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:12:22]:
For government or for space or for outdoor. And those meals are not flavorful. that a chef likes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:12:29]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:12:29]:
100%. It's filling a need, an emergency. And I thought, oh my gosh, hold up, it's not being done. So again, did more research and I thought, well, then I'm gonna do it. If there's anybody that can pave the road to bring more awareness, to help an industry I love so much, to remove those pain points of labor costs going up, inflation of food pricing going up, how can we How can I, and I say we, because my team at CitriVe is amazing. How can we help the industry reduce all of that and reduce, just bring more of that sustainability? So here we are, CitriVe.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:13:10]:
And I love that now, but I want to go back to them like, okay, so, but there's still, then they still have waste. They still, if they're not, yeah, they still have waste. So we, that's a whole nother thing that we need to tackle.

Nettie Frank [00:13:20]:
That's a whole nother thing. Yes. I mean, they all could get on board and get their own freeze dryer and really it would help. their companies immensely. Yeah. Instead of, because we can't donate food that it's already been out on a buffet, which is horrible because we used to be able to years and years ago, but people came back with like, tried to sue the catering companies and stuff like that. So there's just a lot of other things in there, but yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:13:46]:
Yeah. So what, you know, let's, for, let's get practical. So for a small caterer and because at CaterSource. And at Ascend, there's a variety of different caterer sizes, right? Smalls and large. But with nobody that has an R&D team, right? What are the first 2 or 3 real uses of this freeze drying? Well, I mean, we kind of talked about this already and like they could use it as an appetizer, the leftover sauce. So explain that. What would they do with leftover sauce or herbs?

Nettie Frank [00:14:17]:
Oh, herbs are incredible. Are incredible. I still have herbs from my garden 4 years ago that I use.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:14:24]:
Uh-huh. Beautiful.

Nettie Frank [00:14:25]:
And I just have them in like the little deli cups, right? They are beautiful, perfect. Crunch them, put them in whatever, and when they reconstitute, the vibrancy of the green that comes back is incredible. Absolutely incredible. So yes to all the herbs because they go bad fast, right? You don't have to pre-freeze them. So you can just throw them right into the freeze dryer and just that cycle will probably be done probably closer to Probably maybe a 15-hour cycle instead of 24.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:14:55]:
Okay.

Nettie Frank [00:14:56]:
Maybe even sooner, right? Sauces, your anything that's gonna go bad quicker, like the ranch dressings or like the creamy things or yogurt, all of that can be freeze dried because that goes bad.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:15:08]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:15:09]:
So any of those items that you're like, oh no, hurry and put it in your freeze dryer besides, right? You know, the food and the meals and all that kind of stuff that you could purpose, but a lot of your fridge items go bad fast, right? And we can't freeze them. You can't freeze heavy cream. You can't freeze butter, although we go through butter faster than anything else. But again, I mean, citrus is one of those items that goes bad fast, you know? And like, even upon delivery, you've got probably about 5 of them out of the case that are already bad that you have to sort out.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:15:42]:
Mm-hmm.

Nettie Frank [00:15:43]:
And the longer they sit in there, it just Yeah. So I would say start with herbs and any of your— or hummuses, salsas, all of that. Because once it's— the salsas can go bad fast because once it's just sitting there, like the acidity from the tomatoes, it starts fermenting, right? Even pineapple, diced pineapple, you can put that in. Or even down to all your stocks, any of your beautiful sauces that you, that you make and put on with your steak or fish or anything. Mm-hmm.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:13]:
Okay. So when I'm freeze drying that sauce, what—

Nettie Frank [00:16:16]:
Just pour it right in the tray.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:19]:
Just pour it right in the tray. And then what did it come out as? A sheet?

Nettie Frank [00:16:22]:
Yeah, it's wild. And you can break—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:24]:
Like a sheet of paper?

Nettie Frank [00:16:25]:
Yes. Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:27]:
Really?

Nettie Frank [00:16:29]:
Yeah. If it's thin enough, it will be as thin, but however much you pour into the tray, that's how it comes out. So like when I do my salsa, it actually looks like granola bars when it's all said and done.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:40]:
Okay.

Nettie Frank [00:16:40]:
And then I know that that's my portion that I'm going to get a cup of salsa out of. And so then I just add water to it and now I've got fresh salsa. It's incredible. Avocados. Yes. They're really— oh yes. We have coming soon, maybe at some point, but we have a lot of customers that have requested it. So we're doing customization stuff for people.

Nettie Frank [00:17:03]:
So yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:04]:
Oh, that's pretty cool. All right. So Kelly just popped in here, game changer and so fresh. So she's a customer.

Nettie Frank [00:17:10]:
Yes, Kelly is. Yes, Kelly is amazing. So yeah, I mean, our raspberries, they are—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:17]:
Oh, they go bad like after the day after you get them from the grocery store?

Nettie Frank [00:17:20]:
Yes. So all the berries, all those things that you're always so stressed about, like, crap, we didn't end up using as much, but we never made it onto the buffet. Now what do we do? Because the next event isn't until XYZ, right? Freeze dry it. And now you're going to put it in your scones, in your cakes, in your frostings, in your beverage, right? Like there's So many things that you can use these products for. It's not just, it's just, I don't know, there's my chef brain and I get all excited and, and, you know, the possibilities are endless.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:53]:
I mean, that's just my, so I'm still stuck on this, the, the chicken broth, right? So, and I would just then put it in a pot on the stove with some water in it and then it reconstitutes or—

Nettie Frank [00:18:06]:
You wouldn't even, I mean, if you needed to heat it up, yes. But you could take boiling water. The hotter the temperature of the water, it's instant. So let's say the citrus that you had, right? It went into ice. It took quite a few minutes, like maybe 3 minutes, right? For that part to really just like, you could juice it. But if it's hot water, it's instant. It's instant.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:18:26]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:18:27]:
So added boiling water, you now have hot chicken stock out on the thing. Like one of the things that customizing Let's say you have an event for 500 people. It's off-premise. It's— how do we— and they want French onion soup. And you're like, oh my gosh, how can I persuade my client to not do French onion soup? Because that's wild. That's wild, right? You're gonna come, you're gonna call Nettie and say, Nettie, I need 500 cubes of French onion soup. So in my kitchen that I have other chefs, we make these cubes of French onion soup. We ship them out to you.

Nettie Frank [00:19:00]:
And then all you have to bring on premise is hot beef stock and pour it on top. That's it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:19:07]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:19:08]:
Put those in all the bowls and think about the efficiency that you are having. You are now ordering exactly the amount you need for the event.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:19:17]:
Now there's food safety. There's reducing waste right there.

Nettie Frank [00:19:21]:
100%. 100%. Pasta dishes, boom, right there. All you have to do is pour like the hot tomato broth on top, right? So like, those are the options. I'm— so Tracy, I have this huge vision of Citri, and it's very ambitious, I've been told, but I'm okay with that. I'm really great with that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:19:43]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:19:43]:
But I wanted to start with the drink line, the Drink It line, and that's what we're doing with all the citrus and the garnishes and stuff like that, because it makes more sense to everybody. What we're talking about is my second phase, which we're already kind of doing a little bit for some, but it's that customization to make sure that these events— because I don't— I can't tell you how many events that I've catered that I was like, you know how cool it would be if I had blah blah blah? And now I'm in a position that I'm creating that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:20:13]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:20:14]:
And so that it's not wasting, it's exactly the portions that they need. Chef-curated dishes ready to rock and roll.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:20:21]:
And I really see the application being, especially when you're offsite and you're in the middle of the woods or out, out in a field or whatever, that you just have to bring that. And I mean, this is freeze-dried, so you don't need a cooler for it, right?

Nettie Frank [00:20:36]:
All shelf-stable.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:20:38]:
All shelf-stable.

Nettie Frank [00:20:39]:
And it's a 6th of its original weight. So, wow. Yeah. So let's say a 40-pound box of lemons, when we get it all sliced, it ends up being— and freeze-dried— it ends up being 3 pounds, 2 ounces. Significant. So when you're—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:20:57]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:20:58]:
And you've got staff carrying all these things instead of onsite lemons, because I've seen— I also have seen, I was at, you know, Robin Selden and Jeffrey Selden's event in New York, and I was seeing how they have to do their slicing of lemons just for waters and all of that, and how they have to have it all pre-washed in a bin that's labeled. And then when they get onsite, Health department has to approve that is the station, and then they can slice on-premise. It can't be sliced prior, you know. So it's— it is a process.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:28]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:21:28]:
And as I watched, I was like, there has got to be something better out there, and there wasn't. And so all of these things kind of like came together when I spoke at CaterSource and I was at their event, and I just was like, oh no, no, no, we've got to make some change. This is wild. And now also the consistency of items that are going into the beverages or as a garnish on a dessert. Now you have exactly what you need instead of like, I think I need 15 lemons. And then you get there and people want more of that lemon drink. Whereas this, they're in the jar. It tells you how many are in there.

Nettie Frank [00:22:02]:
So then you can plan.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:03]:
Okay.

Nettie Frank [00:22:04]:
Right? It'll tell you exactly. Okay, there is— my kids would be so mad that I'm doing this right now. And I'm like, well, that level of life. Anyways, this has 35 slices and we always add a few extra more because we understand that sometimes things will break or if you just need A couple extra. So there's always about 5 extra in these. But you grab that amount. So if you know you've got an event for 200 people, you're grabbing 4 or 5 of these and they are, I mean, you know how light it is.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:29]:
It's so light. Yeah. I mean, this feels lighter than the orange itself. Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:22:35]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:35]:
And this has got 20 slices in it. Correct.

Nettie Frank [00:22:38]:
Yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:39]:
Plus or minus 20 slices. Yes.

Nettie Frank [00:22:41]:
And we also have bulk, that big, huge gallon-sized jar. So when you've got a big event. I mean, we're here to help facilitate in any way possible to make sure you have all the amount you need. But I'm just saying, hauling that to your station or bartenders, oh my gosh, it's a game changer.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:57]:
Right. Totally. All right. And I don't know, Roy Porter's name just popped into my brain. I'm like, this would blow his mind.

Nettie Frank [00:23:04]:
Oh, he is a fan and he is such a supporter. And I just adore Roy so much. No, he said Nettie. this is a game changer and we've got to get the word out. I said, I know, we're trying, we're getting out there, you know, because upon request we can even do wedges. So if you think about lemon and lime wedges that are pre-cut, Right. pre-cut, ready for the glass, all you have to do is you take the oxygen absorber out, you fill the whole thing up with water, and you reconstitute all of them. So then all you have to do and give it like 5 minutes, right? And then all you have to do is go and put it on the edge of the glass, and it's ready to rock and roll as if it's brand new, fresh.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:23:43]:
Wow. No, I don't want preset water on my tables because that's wasting water.

Nettie Frank [00:23:47]:
But yes, but there are people that do love it. Or like for the diet Coke.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:23:51]:
Exactly.

Nettie Frank [00:23:52]:
And put it right there on the diet Coke or for the lemonade. It's ready. It's a wedge and it's pre-scored, sliced, everything. So, you know, exactly.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:24:00]:
It's pre-scored to put on the glass.

Nettie Frank [00:24:02]:
We pre-score.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:24:03]:
Nice. Yeah. Okay. So, are you like, oh my gosh, I am now. Okay, I'm just gonna— this is just me, this random question. Why should planners and suppliers care about this?

Nettie Frank [00:24:18]:
How are they not? Is more— how are they not? And if you really talk to those who are in charge of the beverage side of stuff, they will tell you, oh, we are throwing so much citrus away. It is across the board about 35 to 40% citrus waste. That's a whole lot. When you think about it, you should be getting out of a regular lemon at least 8 to 10 slices. Okay?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:24:45]:
Okay.

Nettie Frank [00:24:46]:
That's probably not happening. By the time you cut off the ends and you get in there, some people, I have seen bartenders at resorts have a knife trying to cut it really fast in their hand. I've seen bartenders at portable services, whatever. Hurrying, cutting a lemon and lime on the bussing tray. And I'm like, Right. Hold the phone. Okay, so nobody is being equipped with all this. And then I see a Walmart bag, which, you know, that bartender forgot to grab it from the location, so they hurry and stop by whatever grocery store.

Nettie Frank [00:25:19]:
Did it get washed? Probably not, because it's coming straight out of that bag. There's just so many complications with that. I don't know how If you're your organization that you are not seeing that that is hitting your bottom line so heavily, right? So heavily, especially if you're running bar services.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:37]:
So, how— yeah, I mean, just thinking of lemons, like how much those lemons cost, how much is it saving you to buy these? How much money is it saving you to buy this versus that waste?

Nettie Frank [00:25:50]:
So a lot of people go, well, I can buy this lemon for 10 cents, which actually you can't anymore. Those lemons are about 50 cents apiece now, right? Now let's tack on how much is your bartender costing you an hour? They're probably maybe $25, $30 an hour, right? Price as a server. So now let's add that. How long are they taking to slice this, everything, prep it?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:26:14]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:26:15]:
Are they getting the 8 to 10 slices out of each lemon? Because that's where your food cost is portioning out for that drink. And it comes out to be Way more than what, what our product is. Now, our product is a premium product, so it's not going to be— we're about 20 cents a slice. But in the end, if you think about all the labor involved and everything else and how much you're throwing away, that is way better cost-effective than purchasing, having it go bad, throwing out majority of it. Because they think, oh no, it's easy.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:26:50]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:26:50]:
But I have it all sliced. Yeah, but how much were you throwing away? Why are you not looking at it at the bottom line? And then what's happening to all that waste? It's just, it's just getting dumped and it's right. Yeah. Yeah. And then I got fresh. I get that. But this resolves a major pain point, like an overall industry.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:27:11]:
And I just keep coming back to that guy slicing the lemon in his hand. I'm like, yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:27:17]:
Well, even I, you know, we're talking to hotels and their welcoming water that as soon as they come in, I'm like, so who, let me ask, who's slicing your lemons to put into your welcoming water? I'm like, is it the people that are checking in other guests that have no chef skills? That do you want them handling a knife? And if they do, do we have a workman's comp issue? Majority of the time they probably have a plastic knife behind the desk that they just checked someone in and they're trying to hurry and cut some resemblance of a slice and throwing because that's what is required of them. Whereas if they just have this right back there by the water, they throw a few in and it'll stay in the water. I tested this a lot, like up to 7 days, but I think its peak is 3 days. You can just keep adding water for 3 days and it just keeps giving flavor the whole time, which is—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:08]:
So it just reminds me, because I was just in the Delta Sky Club Like they have all the different waters. You could Delta, like Sky Club could use those. Yeah. All the Sky, all the clubs could use those.

Nettie Frank [00:28:18]:
Yeah. All the clubs. And when you're putting out a big, huge, you know, welcoming water, that's usually the first thing that people forget and go, crap, you know, whereas you can do that. And if you freeze dried your fresh mint, throw that in, because now it's reconstituted as if you just had it fresh. So, and it's going to give more flavor because the flavor is concentrated once you do the freeze dry.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:39]:
Well, and now this brings me up to seasonality because you brought, you mentioned that these are like prime, these, I need to take the little thing out of there. The oranges are prime, like January to April, you said, is that right?

Nettie Frank [00:28:51]:
Yeah. January to May is blood orange season. So we don't get them until like, usually it's the fall that we usually get them.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:58]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:28:59]:
So it's just interesting, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:29:01]:
Yeah. So like my blueberries just went out of season, you know, blueberries are out of season in North Carolina, at least my blueberry farm.

Nettie Frank [00:29:08]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:29:09]:
So I could have freeze dried all of them, gotten like bad things. My mother wouldn't like that, but how many blueberries I would have in the house, but that would be a way to preserve them all year long versus buying them frozen.

Nettie Frank [00:29:22]:
100%. So we do wild blueberries, which are the smaller ones.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:29:27]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:29:27]:
Fantastic. They're also great as a little crunch in salads, but also when you put it in your beverage, it now becomes almost a boba effect. Like it absorbs. Okay. But putting it in any of your baked goods, putting it in your granola, it is the most tastiest little blueberry that you will ever have. If you have larger blueberries, you have to prick it with a little, like a little, I don't want to say needle because that sounds like weird, like a skewer, right? Because it's somewhere for some of the juices to go. Otherwise it just doesn't fully freeze dry. So there's a process with items.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:29:59]:
That's interesting.

Nettie Frank [00:30:00]:
Yeah. So that's why our cherry tomatoes are cut in half because then it's Really freeze drying everything that's inside. So there's a process to freeze drying, but yes, you can do blueberries and they're phenomenal. Like you can even, we grind, I grind it up and I make lattes for my kids and their friends. And I do blueberry cold foam, dragon fruit cold foam, raspberry cold foam on top of their ice cream.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:30:21]:
You have all the kids coming to your house, don't you?

Nettie Frank [00:30:23]:
I do. And their parents. They're like, so I hear you're the new Beans and Brews. I was like, only on Saturday, please leave the rest of the week. Wow.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:30:34]:
I mean, you would not think of all the different applications for it, right?

Nettie Frank [00:30:39]:
Look at this dragon fruit. This is dragon fruit. So if you want the natural color in something, natural color, the strawberries, the blueberries, we don't need the red dye. Ding! There you go. There you go. Wow. So even if you want, like, let's say it's Valentine's Day and you want like a pink Alfredo sauce, you could just sprinkle a little A teaspoon. It's not gonna be a huge, like, dragon fruit flavor because the Alfredo and the garlic and the cheese will overpower that.

Nettie Frank [00:31:08]:
But now you've got a naturally cute, beautiful pink creamy sauce on top of your raviolis. So, wow, the application that we can do that I feel like, how has this not been breached yet?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:31:24]:
Yeah. So to do that powder, so you're freeze drying it and then you're And then let— then making it into powder afterwards. Yes. Okay. Yeah, that's interesting. And what kind of different flavors do you have for that? Like besides the dragon fruit?

Nettie Frank [00:31:40]:
We, we can do all of our products into powder. So if you're like, hey, can you put it in a powder for me? Yep. Great. We got it. People are loving the tomato powder to put in their sourdoughs or even to sprinkle on top of popcorn, to put it on top of appetizers or to rim the glass of your beverage, right? So the tomatoes are so much fun. And we have a tomato basil with a chiffonade of basil on it. And that's fantastic too. I was cooking.

Nettie Frank [00:32:06]:
I, I've kind of put a lot of my private chef work on hold because this is a really fun project that I'm working on.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:32:13]:
Right. It's a business. It's not a project.

Nettie Frank [00:32:16]:
It's just, I made that too. No, it's full-blown business. But I was on their yacht and I brought our tomato basil, removed the oxygen, filled up with water, just kind of shook it back and forth for about 5 minutes, sautéed the onions, the chicken, the garlic, all that kind of stuff, mushrooms. And then I just dumped that in and just quick toss and it is beautiful. I'll have to send you a picture. It's stunning. Yeah. Stunning.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:32:43]:
Wow. So, and that's an application that you went onto a boat. Right. I'm like, and that, and then thinking through the, the, the weight of it. Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:32:54]:
Cruise ships. Think about cruise ships and how much they are going through and the waste that comes out of those. Whereas you use what you need when you need it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:06]:
Right. There's another guy that I need to introduce you to. He has an application with AI to manage the waste of food on cruise ships. So I'll introduce you to him. Yeah, he was like, yeah, he was so interesting. Yeah. 'Cause he can tell you, hey, your tomatoes are going to go bad in 2 days. You need to use them.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:23]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:33:25]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:25]:
Oh, that is so cool. Yeah. I mean, and I like my next door neighbors sail. And so this would be something that they could use because, and they used to go for 6 months at a time and come back and this would be totally something that they could utilize on their boat. Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:33:43]:
And like the freeze-it line that I'm, we will be doing as soon as this is whatever. But if there's requests, we can start sooner. It, it doesn't matter. Right. But white bean hummus with fresh basil, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:55]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:33:55]:
Salsa, different dips and things that you love so much.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:59]:
Mm-hmm.

Nettie Frank [00:34:00]:
But doesn't ever like, where does, where do I do it? So on the boat, have that, you just add a little bit of water and now you can dip your pita bread or your chips. Nice gourmet little, you know, and put some of the citrus in your wine and have a little sangria while you're out on your boat. So it is, or you're hiking. Sports are loving this because everyone always wants a lemon in their, their water, cuz that's your natural electrolytes. Right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:34:24]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:34:25]:
Natural electrolytes, electro— tongue-tied. Electrolytes are in our citrus. But see, we've been told that we can only get electrolytes through packages and All of these powders and everything like that. No, we just put Celtic salt on top, freeze dry it, and you have exactly what you need for your electrolytes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:34:46]:
Well, and I said a minute ago, because I'm like, okay, so for people who have food allergies, right? This, and we travel with our, like I, and you said hummus, so I could take that and I'm in a Courtyard Residence Inn or whatever I'm in, 2 different hotels there, but that would be easier for me to do than to finding the closest grocery store or getting it shipped to me, you know, delivered to me by DoorDash or whatever. I could just bring that and I've got my little snack on the trade show floor even.

Nettie Frank [00:35:17]:
Correct. You could be on mid-flight and if you had corn chips or, you know, gluten-free, and then you just ask for some water and ask for a cup and a little stir stick thingy, and you can make your hummus right then and there on the flight. Like, wow. This is also more If you can have a little bit of insight of when I thought of this.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:35:39]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:35:40]:
And the vision I have for Satrieve is there's Drink It, there's Freeze It, there's Woof It. I have 4 wiener dogs and I want to do healthy snacks that both you and the dog can snack on, right? But then I have Give It. My plan is to get chef-curated dishes to kids in school systems. So, when they go home, they just can add any temperature of water and they have a sustaining, you know, with vegetables and nutrients that they're getting instead of either not eating or if they got the Go-Gurt, it goes bad in their backpack or they forgot about it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:16]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:36:16]:
They're still kids, you know, but something that is sustainable or getting to women's shelters or I don't know, but like I just know that we can get food to people. In a nutritious, sustainable way.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:29]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:36:29]:
But it just, anyways, I'm—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:31]:
Oh, my mind is blown because now you're thinking too, as well as like, okay, so I'm taking that excess food from my event and I'm finding, I, you know, who can pick it up from the food bank or whoever else? I'm like, what if we freeze dried it? And then that way—

Nettie Frank [00:36:48]:
You package it in a different way. You can donate it. In a more intentional way. Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:54]:
Yeah. Oh my gosh, woman, you're a genius.

Nettie Frank [00:36:58]:
Thanks.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:58]:
So you're welcome. I want to go back to this. You were— what prompted you to do this? I mean, when you were in your kitchen, what, what were you thinking? Like, how did it come about? Did you say that to me 37 minutes ago?

Nettie Frank [00:37:12]:
No, it's, you know, it's really— I do vision boards every year.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:37:17]:
Okay.

Nettie Frank [00:37:18]:
I do vision boards and it was January. I think CaterSource was March, so it was January of that year. And I had Thor and Alexis, my 2 team members, and I just started like cutting out like office buildings and all this kind of stuff and like all these different things. And I was putting it on my vision board and I said, I'm going to create a company. I don't know what it is, but it's going to be big and we're going to help a lot of people. And we're going to build a community of sustainability. And I said it. And then 2 months later, I'm at the conference.

Nettie Frank [00:37:50]:
I'm like, here's this, you know. So it's so interesting how puzzle pieces just land. And it's like, hey, this is what I've done. My whole resume that you read off at the very beginning, this, this is why I did all that. This is why, you know, because now everything falling into place. This is where I need to be. This is where my passion is. This is where my drive is.

Nettie Frank [00:38:11]:
And I'm not letting up, you know. Like, I have big plans for this, and I'm not going anywhere until we fulfill that. So, as far as like, how did I come up with it? I knew I wanted to do something that was in sustainability that would help others to have good nutritious meals. I didn't know what it looked like. I actually came up with this whole idea of an app that I would create your menus for your dinner menus and link it up with shop, whatever it was. Like, I had this whole other— Nope, that wasn't it. You know, I had this whole other idea. Nope, that wasn't it.

Nettie Frank [00:38:41]:
And so then when I gave that talk, I was like, oh, oh, this is it. This is it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:38:48]:
And, and I want to go even further back though, too, when you were in here, and I love it because, and I want to, let's push this out wherever we can. I'll help you. But like when you were in your kitchen, were you doing this as a cost saving? You were doing this as a cost saving measure for yourself.

Nettie Frank [00:39:02]:
Correct. Because, you know, when our peaches, my peach trees, so many peaches. And there's so much you can do with canning and jarring and all that stuff. Great. But like, how else can we do it? So the freeze drying, and in Utah we're all about preparedness and, you know, the end of times and all that kind of stuff. But anyways, I want now times instead of putting it in food storage and just, what am I doing with it? Like, no, I want to use it now. So how can I preserve it and use it now or in a few months or whenever, you know, and not feel like there's a time clock on it?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:39:35]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:39:36]:
So even cheese. What? You can do cheese. Yes. Shredded. I've got shredded cheddar cheese from 3 years ago. Feta cheese is great. It's such a great crumble.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:39:47]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:39:48]:
It just melts in your mouth. It's almost like one of those, what's the one candy? The rockets, the Pop Rockets.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:39:53]:
Pop Rocks.

Nettie Frank [00:39:54]:
Yeah. It kind of has that first initial like that. And then it just like melts in your mouth.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:39:59]:
That's Jennifer. Jennifer Garner ate them in 30 Going On— 13 Going On 30.

Nettie Frank [00:40:05]:
Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:40:06]:
Yeah, yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:40:07]:
I love that show. I love that show so much. Sorry, I don't know why that part— that scene always— I just need a fluffy pillow. Anyways.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:40:15]:
Yeah, okay.

Nettie Frank [00:40:16]:
Wow.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:40:16]:
That's— oh, wow. So many things. So many applications. And I love where you want to go with it. I mean, and it's— it brings— because there's so many people in our industry that are like, well, no, I'm not going to do that because I'm going to get sued, right? Or I don't have the capacity to package all this up for other people to eat. I'm just gonna throw it away. This, it's a little bit different. You're gonna have to still package it up, but it's, it's saving you whether you're gonna give it away or put it in your own freezer.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:40:44]:
Right?

Nettie Frank [00:40:45]:
Correct.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:40:45]:
Yeah.

Nettie Frank [00:40:46]:
Yeah. So if you're gonna put it in your freezer, that's great until you—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:40:49]:
Or your— not your freezer, but your—

Nettie Frank [00:40:50]:
yeah. In your pantry, right? So now it's shelf stable. Yeah. So now you don't— you're using up the product and you're saving your fridge and freezer space. So it's all those things.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:41:01]:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, that answers that question of what's next for the company. Okay. So one question before we get into the, my little 5 questions, fast questions. You know, a good meal depends on front of house and back of house actually respecting and communicating each other because it's like, you've got that chef, you've sliced all those lemons or whatever, you know, when does it get, and I'm going to throw food allergies into this conversation here. And food allergies and dietary needs, what information has to travel flawlessly between the teams that makes a meal safe? And this has nothing to do with what we were talking about before, but I just want to get your opinion from everything that you've done.

Nettie Frank [00:41:42]:
So, I mean, it comes down to communication and understanding and respect. When there is respect between front of the house and back of the house, there has to be. But that also comes down to the culture of that establishment, right? Of understanding that we are all on the same team, that One is not higher or above the other. A lot of people look at dietary needs as, oh my gosh. And to me, I think, how can we create something new, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:42:07]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:42:07]:
How can we take this as a challenge and create and grow, grow, grow as a company? I feel like it's a great challenge to not only go to your chefs and go to the front of the house and go, hey, do you think you have some ideas of how we can present this or how we present it To the guest, right? Of making sure, like, what position at an event. Now, team, front of the house, this position in this seat, whatever, seat 1 always will have dietary needs. So we will always put people that have dietary needs in position 1. So the consistency of that is like that. So however it sits on the table, you don't know who the guests are, but you know that guest 1 always has dietary—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:42:50]:
Mm-hmm.

Nettie Frank [00:42:50]:
needs. And so they need to always go up and check. I just want to confirm with you tonight. Welcome tonight. I want to make sure that you have— where they have to go, oh, excuse me, I'm celiac, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:43:00]:
Mm-hmm.

Nettie Frank [00:43:00]:
Someone that has an allergy has to request it. They already feel unseen as a guest. They already feel, oof, right? And so it's important for the front of the house to make that guest and that customer feel seen, heard, all of that for that experience, whether they're just a guest at a wedding. It's not just that because that could be a potential customer, right? So you look at that, but that comes from leadership, comes from the culture of the company, and just all of that understanding and respect. Because then you've got the kitchen that knows the ingredients and they know that they're going to put that plate out. But now that final thing is up to front of the house of how they can do it. So there's a lot of ways that front of the house can be organized and communicate and have consistency of certain things like that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:43:48]:
You know what I mean?

Nettie Frank [00:43:49]:
Of just, yeah, they will always have that. Or this server will always be our dietary person, right? You, Jack, you will always be the person that if we have repeat customers, which a lot of people do for events, right, then they know, oh, I'm gonna go talk to Jack because he knows how to get it done for me, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:07]:
Right.

Nettie Frank [00:44:09]:
I think a lot of communication and culture and respect.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:12]:
Yeah, yeah. Jay Varga was the one that said, I think said on the show a couple months ago, like, I only have— if I've got a bunch, there's only— Nettie's responsible in the kitchen and Tracy's responsible in front of the house, and they're the only 2 that manage dietary restrictions. And so there's no worry about changing of gloves and, you know, things like that.

Nettie Frank [00:44:29]:
Yeah, see, that's perfect. And so that is what they've— so each organization needs to figure out what works for them. and implement it consistent. That's awesome. Yeah, Jay's great. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, do you know that we were— we're— this is kind of funny— we were born on the same day.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:44]:
Really?

Nettie Frank [00:44:45]:
Yeah, exactly. Not only the same day, the same year. So like, we—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:48]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:44:49]:
I know, I know. So we call each other that we're twins. Hey, twin.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:52]:
Yes, very cool. All right, now like small world here too is like when you were at Grand America, the National Auto Auction Association had their convention there, I think. When— what years were you there?

Nettie Frank [00:45:09]:
Uh, 2000.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:11]:
Yeah, I was there. I did an event. You probably fed me pastries.

Nettie Frank [00:45:15]:
Stop it, I did, I did. I worked at the time, and I did front of the house and picked up like serving stuff and banquet things and things like that. I was, I was just newly married, and I was working 2 full-time jobs, and I wanted to absorb everything I could out of the industry. So that's wild. You probably did. You probably did.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:32]:
Yeah. And I, and I did a really cool event at the train depot, created it into a camp theme. Yeah, it was very fun.

Nettie Frank [00:45:39]:
Okay.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:40]:
Some rapid fire questions.

Nettie Frank [00:45:41]:
Perfect.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:42]:
Freeze dried or fresh? The one ingredient you'll defend fresh to the death, even though you're talking about freeze dried.

Nettie Frank [00:45:49]:
Bananas. Yeah, they don't do work. No, they do. They do great, but I prefer fresh. I just like the texture, but they do turn out great. The one item that I wish would have turned out great— I tried peanut butter and Nutella drops, because if I could have freeze-dried those, then you could just put it in your coffee or whatever and have like a flavor, or just a snack. It's too high in fat, so it didn't work.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:46:11]:
But— Oh, okay. Now, do you like your bananas greener or more ripe?

Nettie Frank [00:46:17]:
I'm like right down the middle. It's— yeah, I see one brown spot and I'm like, not yet. I'm not ready to make that yet, but hold on. But I do like that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:46:28]:
Yeah. Cake Wars or Chopped? Which set was more terrifying?

Nettie Frank [00:46:33]:
Both were terrifying, but probably Chopped because it's a much smaller area than you think. And there are an insane amount of people and production team that has to go into it. So yeah, Chopped was more intimidating because there were so many of us. We had to fit in such a smaller space of movement. I did, however, accidentally, when we walked out, I made all the judges laugh. So we had to retake that scene because I asked to be authentically authentic and they said, yes, you can. And when I went out there, I just went, hey guys, and I did this kind of like motion. And then—

Tracy Stuckrath [00:47:09]:
Uh-huh.

Nettie Frank [00:47:09]:
Mark, all of them just started laughing and they're like, cut, cut, cut, walk out again, no movement. And I was like, oh, sorry. Yeah, well, kind of fun.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:47:23]:
Yeah, totally. I've been— I've worked on 2 MrBeast videos this year, so I— it's not that kind of production, but it's still production, and it's very interesting.

Nettie Frank [00:47:33]:
It is. Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:47:34]:
The food you freeze-dried just to see if it works, which you just said the peanut butter and the—

Nettie Frank [00:47:38]:
Yes. So those ones, I really wish that would have worked, the peanut butter, the Nutella, because how awesome would that be that you just have like a a bite of peanut butter, you know, and like make your own little, I don't know, crustables, or put it in your coffee so you have a little Nutella flavor, or Biscoff cookie spread. It just, it didn't turn out. There's too much oil in it. Oils don't work.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:47:58]:
Oh.

Nettie Frank [00:47:58]:
I tried. I tried. Even vinegars, vinegars don't work either. If it's in a dressing, it works better because the oil, like, well, vinaigrettes don't work in the thing. Let me just be clear. Vinaigrettes, it's just oil and vinegar. But I tried to do apple cider vinegar because I know if you sprinkle, if I could make it into a dust, I could sprinkle it into my drink and just have kind of that natural, you know, apple cider vinegar that's really good for your body. No, it completely evaporated into anything, like gone.

Nettie Frank [00:48:26]:
And I kind of ruined a machine because the vinegar was too strong. So my bad on that one.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:48:33]:
Well, you know what not to do.

Nettie Frank [00:48:35]:
Yeah. So can't do oils and vinegars. Okay.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:48:38]:
Good to know. You've called yourself a fry lover, crispy edges or fully loaded.

Nettie Frank [00:48:44]:
Crispy edges with extra salt every time. Oh, I love that. Loaded, but sometimes when the potatoes and the fries get too soggy, I'm like, now we just got into the casserole realm, you know? But whereas a crispy, hot, salted fry in Disneyland— I don't know if you ever went to Disneyland because I'm kind of that person. Do you remember when the McDonald's had little kiosk, little carts that you could just go get fries?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:10]:
Wow.

Nettie Frank [00:49:11]:
They need to bring it back because you could walk around and have hot french fries. It was fantastic.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:16]:
Yeah, that would be very fun. Yeah. No, I haven't. Yeah, I don't think I ever went to Disneyland or Disney World when McDonald's was in there.

Nettie Frank [00:49:24]:
Yeah, it was a short time, but it was a good time.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:28]:
All right, final question. Every meal should—

Nettie Frank [00:49:32]:
Every meal should— oh, every meal should make the memory you want it to make with the people that are around you, the flavors, the smells, like all of your 7 senses. Right. And just, yeah. Yeah. Just enjoy it. Should be joyful. Maybe that should be joyful.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:51]:
That works too. Nettie, how does everybody get ahold of you or find out, buy your product?

Nettie Frank [00:49:57]:
So you can go to citreve.com and you can go and purchase any product there. If you want to sign up for a wholesale account, there's a wholesale page, just fill out the information and we'll get you and going. So then you can be tax-free. We also have bulk ordering, but only on the wholesale side. But if not, you can do Instagram, citreve.com, or Chef Nettie Frank. I'm on Facebook, but mainly Instagram. I mean, that's how you can get ahold of me, or nettie@citreve.com. And I'm happy to answer any questions and discuss more.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:25]:
Awesome. And Citreve is C-I-T-R-E-V-E, right?

Nettie Frank [00:50:30]:
Yeah. Citrus Revived. So if you think about that, Citrus Revived, Oh, okay.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:36]:
Awesome. Very cool. Well, thank you so much for joining me here on the show. I really appreciate it. And I'm so excited for what you have for the future plans. It's awesome. And what you're doing now to help us.

Nettie Frank [00:50:49]:
Thank you. Well, thanks for having me on here. And I'm always ready to talk more about all the, all the freeze drying possibilities.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:58]:
Okay. Fantastic. Everybody, thank you for joining us. Kelly And thanks for the comments. We really appreciate it and glad that you can join us. Next week, I am talking to Doug Davis about food safety because it is Food Safety Awareness Month this month, September is. So until then, stay safe and eat well. Thanks.