Weekly Pickups: Better hydration, summer coffee, and more...
Ft. Shelby Jacobs
Welcome back to Weekly Pickups!
We're coming at ya with another roundup of our faves from this week, but first, a moment for some breaking CPG news: WK Kellogg's (the cereal arm of Kellanova) is being scooped up by Italian candy maker Ferrero for $3 billion! 🥣
We'll dive deeper into this on Monday (so please subscribe)!
And now, onto our weekly pickups… →
Nate’s Pickups
Leisure Hydration
This is one of my favorite CPG bevvies. I've actually been following this brand since they launched—and they launched with an NFT of all things! I even remember exactly where I was when I first bought it: Sunflower Natural Market in Woodstock, NY. It’s a gorgeous store! I've been a fan and friend of the brand ever since!
Quick Facts: Founded by former D1 athletes and brothers Steve and Alex Michaelsen, Leisure Hydration is positioned as the anti-Gatorade. It's hydration designed for everyday people. Think creatives, office workers, anyone who needs to feel rejuvenated throughout their regular day, not just on the field.
Reasons to love:
Taste that keeps evolving. Not all the flavors were dialed in perfectly at the start, but they really take feedback to heart and have evolved the flavors over time—now they're genuinely great. I'm very partial to the mango, but my wife loves the lemon, so I stocked up on both during Prime Day :)
Hydration for the rest of us. I really love their positioning. They're not trying to be the next Gatorade. Instead, they're building hydration for normal people going about their lives. As the founders put it, when you're an athlete, staying hydrated is literally your job. But what about when it's not your job? That's where Leisure comes in.
From tech offices to Whole Foods. Their strategy is really really smart. They started by getting into tech office fridges where people spend most of their days and are really willing to try nearly anything, then scaled to national distribution. Which is great because once you have that trial people are hooked. Now you can find them at Whole Foods nationwide, which feels like the perfect fit for their everyday hydration mission.
Where to buy: Online, Amazon, Select retailers, and Whole Foods Market stores nationwide!
Maeve Chocolate - Moon Rocks
I'm going to say something controversial: I'm not really a chocolate guy. I know, I know - who doesn't love chocolate? But these Moon Rocks from Maeve are really up there for me! I first tried them at Expo West this past year and literally went back to their booth three times (no shame).
Quick Facts: Maeve is the newly rebranded Seattle Chocolate Company - a woman-owned, mission-driven chocolate maker that's been crafting ethical treats for over 30 years. Known for their signature melt-in-your-mouth truffle bars and bonbons, they offer countless bar flavors and bonbon varieties ranging from classics to some seriously wild creations.
Reasons to love:
The variety is insane. Beyond Moon Rocks, they have flavors like a bar infused with KETTLE CHIPS (are you kidding me?!), carrot cake, lemon - 19 bar flavors and 18 bonbon options total. This is a brand that understands chocolate should be an adventure, not just a sweet treat.
It's chocolate with a real mission. This brand goes ALL IN on giving back across three key areas:
People: 10% of net profits go directly to cocoa farmers. In 2024, they expanded their mission by asking farmers what they actually needed - then funded wells for fresh water, planted seedlings for future crops, and created savings and loan programs. Plus, they're incredibly proud of their employee tenure (love to see it!).
Planet: They've been carbon neutral since 2022 through thoughtful offsets and creative sustainability practices. Get this - they recycle 30,000 gloves and hairnets, 94 tons of cardboard, and 37 tons of plastic yearly. Their twist wraps are compostable, packaging uses water-based inks, and they even sell 10,000 pounds of "imperfect" factory seconds to reduce waste. They plant hundreds of trees annually and use renewable energy that avoids emissions equal to 3.3 million smartphones getting charged.
Sourcing: They directly source from farmers in Peru, Tanzania, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic - cutting out middlemen to ensure fair pay. Their Peruvian beans are even processed in Peru to keep more money at origin. Where direct sourcing isn't possible, they use Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa (studies show these farmers earn 40% more income on average).
Where to buy: online and select retailers
Jenna’s Pickups
Sightglass Coffee - Summer Solstice
Quick facts: Limited seasonal blend of some damn good coffee from a cult favorite SF and LA cafe.
Reasons to love:
It’s all in the details. Sightglass is ridiculously thoughtful about every single step in the coffee production process. From sourcing its green coffee directly from its origin at sustainable, smallholder farms (and collaborating directly with farmers), to roasting in small batches, Sightglass is meticulous about its processes and it shows.
Standout taste. I often say that, as a regular coffee-drinker, I can tell the difference between “bad” and “good” coffee, but not between “good” and “great.” This coffee just proved me wrong. This is great coffee (no, fantastic), and I’m sure of it. It’s bright, fruity, smooth and layered—with enough natural sweetness that I enjoyed it without a smidge of sweetener (a true feat for me). Though I’m no coffee pro, I can actually detect the tasting notes of “guava, blackberry, and honeysuckle.” Consider me a Certified Coffee Snob now.
Where to buy: Online (yes, a 12 oz bag is $23, but that’s nothing on your daily $9 latte.) ((← that was my internal monologue. but I had a feeling others need to read it too.))
Nutty Novelties - Cinnamon Peanut Butter
Quick facts: All-natural peanut butter with a delightfully sweet cinnamon flavor.
Reasons to love:
A wonderful, passionate team. I have seen Nutty Novelties at not one, not two, but four different farmers markets in the past month (and yes, I have attended that many farmers markets, because of course I have). So you can imagine my surprise and delight when—a week after I finally purchased my first jar—I saw the same team dishing out their same glorious nut butters at the Fancy Food Show, all buttoned-up in new packaging (pictured above—look at that glow-up!). There is something so special about seeing a founding team continue to show up at their local markets (in some truly unbearable heat, might I add), while secretly building enough scale to justify a major trade show.
Straight-from-the-spoon delicious. I am certifiably addicted to this peanut butter. It sits perfectly between crunchy and smooth (with a slightly grainy texture that I love), and is layered with flavor—boldly roasted peanuts, spicy-sweet cinnamon, and a buttery baked-goods richness. This is by no means trying to be a health food, but it only has 4g of added sugar (if that’s something you care about). I’ve also tried and love the brand’s Wild Espresso Peanut Butter!
Where to buy: Online or in select retailers
Afterdream Tropical - THC Social Tonic
Quick facts: Afterdream is a new “THC Social Tonic”, AKA a microdosed THC beverage boosted with Lion’s Mane and L-Theanine.
Reasons to love:
Drinkable. I’ve tried a lot of THC beverages lately (they really are all the rage…) and the taste of this one surprised me. It’s actually drinkable and refreshing, made with pineapple, tangerine, and cherry juice—nothing floral or funky.
It works! The 2mg of THC and 4mg of CBD, paired with adaptogens to help with calm and focus, actually does what you think it’ll do—about 20 minutes after drinking, my brain quieted a little and I felt more present.
Where to buy: Online
✨ Special Guest ✨ Shelby Jacobs
Today, we’re excited to welcome friend of the newsletter, Shelby Jacobs! Shelby is a wonderful, insanely hilarious, marketing genius with a full-time social strategy role at a fancy agency (TBWA\Chiat\Day) and a freelance role working with our favorite pita chip brand, Zesty Z.
Let’s dive into her weekly pickup! →
What was your favorite pickup this week? Realsy! They are a brand of peanut butter stuffed dates, salty, sweet, caramely, and really well balanced.
What about this product intrigued you? At the Sweets and Snacks show, appropriately named, I was handed an individually wrapped Realsy. I stuck it in my bag of samples and forgot about it until I rediscovered it while sorting at home. First of all, I think the branding is very cute. I tried it and I think I literally said to myself "Sh*t, that's delicious" and moved on with my day!
Two weeks later, while wandering Dumbo Market as I do, and found myself staring at the light blue package again and snagged a bag. They now sit on my desk at my full-time job, and they're so decadent and rich I actually eat them slowly which is a very inorganic practice for me. There was really no loading phase, or need to know the founder's story, or callouts on the product that converted me. I am a massive, massive evangelist that the best way to convert a consumer is with a sample. Until they can taste it, you're marketing air.
Where did you purchase it, and why that channel? I believe this was a Dumbo Market purchase! Wandering grocery stores, if you can believe it, is a stress reliever for me. It has to be a massive emergency for me to order off Instacart because, living in Brooklyn, I am blessed to the point of being overwhelmed with the sheer volume of grocery stores of varying sizes I have at my reach. There is no limit to the amount of product discoverability I have and coming from this industry, I know how hard it is to get in a door. I also know it's even harder to get it out of the door, which, outside of my sheer curiosity and wonder of new products, is why I try to pick up a few small CPG items whenever I shop. Support the little guys!
Why do you love it? The balance of the almost burnt caramel and nuttiness with a little salt scratches so many itches as someone who finds themselves in the sweet/salty vortex nightly. It's a sticky product, but you know what you're signing up for when you get into one of these. It's sweet but not in a way that screams Big Sugar the way most sweet things do, but more satisfying than a piece of fruit which just doesn't hit that sugar receptor the same. I'm waiting for one that has some kind of semi-sweet chocolate chip situation in the center, and/or a crunchy peanut butter. They nailed the flavor, now I want a surprising texture!
Anything else you’d like to share? Many people are saying I am on a journey at my age of 32. I have never been a picky eater, but there are a few things I just actively have never chosen to like, and I'm on a semi-conscious mission to change that. Cottage cheese was one (I am now reformed and plowing through 16oz of Good Culture a week, but that's a story for another time), and dates were another. I knew dates with PB were good; there was a reason a zillion people on social media ate them like they were going out of style, but my brain couldn't compute it. Sometimes with food, you have to just dive into the deep end. I am still working on loving new things (blue cheese is the final boss), and what has been helpful is that sense of fearlessness. Life is too short to stick to the same several familiar foods. Try, experiment, enjoy. Worst-case scenario, you spit it out.
If you want to share a brand you’re loving for us to review, or if you have the perfect special guest in mind, email us: nate@expresscheckout.co and jenna@expresscheckout.co :)
realsy is the best!! also love Leisure + need to pick up some of that coffee
Fantastic issue! I want to try it all. Thanks!