Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Couple of Prebiotic Sodas

      When it comes to beverages, my intake is very limited.  I basically drink three things--water, beer, and Powerade Zeroes.  I'm particularly opposed to sodas/soft drinks--I haven't regularly had them in well over a decade.  There is one caveat, though--I do try a few exceptions to these big three every year.  But really only for blog posts.  Anyway, today's exception is a couple of prebiotic sodas from the Olipop line--their cherry vanilla kind, and their peaches & cream one.

     The Olipop origin story is refreshingly easy to find online, and is detailed and complete.  One of its co-founders, Ben Goodman, was already in the beverage business in the early aughts.  But, by 2008 he wanted to start his own drink business, so he quit his position at a kombucha-making company.  The source I consulted claimed he spent $300,000 of his own money developing his own probiotic drink, utilizing a homemade laboratory and the services of a microbiologist.  (Which implies that Goodman had either saved a substantial nest egg from his previous job(s), and/or he was independently wealthy.)  The result of this was a probiotic drink that Goodman dubbed Obi, and he started marketing it in 2012.  In 2013 Goodman had a fruitful meeting at a coffee shop with David Lester, which concluded with Lester becoming a business partner.  Alas, Obi never really was successful, so by 2016 the pair decided to sell it, for an undisclosed amount.  Goodman and Lester then founded Olipop in 2018, using $100,000 they'd gotten from the Obi sale.  Setting up in Oakland, California, Olipop's initial line was three flavors--cinnamon cola, strawberry vanilla, and ginger lemon.  Their territory in the early days was Northern California, but once they made deals with the mammoth Target and Walmart chains their drinks were available across the U.S.  Periodically Olipop gets funding from outside investors, including several celebrities in 2022.  These were actress Gwyneth Paltrow, writer/actress Mindy Kaling, and musicians the Jonas Brothers.  As of August of 2025 Olipop reportedly has 373 employees, which is much more precise than the numbers I usually discover online.  Somewhat unusually for a soft drink, because of its ingredients Olipop sodas need to be refrigerated constantly.  If you didn't know the distinction, probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that (hopefully) live in human digestive systems.  Prebiotics are what these bacteria feed on.  So, Olipop's key ingredients are the meals for the "good bugs" that help folks digest food efficiently.  Finally, the name for this company is a portmanteau of the beginning of the prebiotic fiber oligosaccharide and "pop," (which means soda/soft drink).

Olipop soft drink, peaches & cream flavor:  This had a fruity odor, and a light yellow color.  The taste was good--both peachy and creamy.  Not an intensely strong flavor, but not bland, either.  Solid, but not great.  If you're looking for a healthier soda alternative, this seems to be a good choice.  So I'd give it a slight recommend. 

Olipop soft drink, cherry vanilla flavor:  This offering had no real odor, and a deep red color.  The taste was decent--I could detect both the cherry and vanilla flavors.  So it was similar to the previous one--good but not spectacular.  Although it was a bit better than the peaches & cream.  Another slight recommendation.  Also, both of these drinks were much better, calorie-wise, than most sodas, as they only had 45 or 50 calories for a 12 ounce/355 mL can, instead of the typical 150 or more. 

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An American/Ugandan?/Sri Lankan? Jackfruit

      A few months ago I was browsing the dried fruit/snack aisle in my local grocery when I saw a blast from the past.  Jackfruit.  Regular readers may recall that I have covered jackfruit a couple of times--most recently on July 6th, 2024.  I decided to give the fruit another chance.  It was from the Mavuno Harvest company, based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

     To explain the question marks in this post's title, the label for this food had a first for me.  Instead of simply stating where the product came from, it read, "Product of Uganda or Sri Lanka."  Or?  They don't know where it came from?  This still puzzles me.  But more on that later.  Anyway, Mavuno Harvest founder Phil Hughes was a Peace Corps volunteer, and he served them in the rural Kenyan village of Miti Mingi in 2005.  Where he noticed that the local farmers grew a lot of fruit, but due to lack of storage, processing facilities, transportation, etc., up to two thirds of their harvest went to waste.  Depriving potential customers of delicious and nutritious food, and the Kenyans (and other Africans) of a viable source of much-needed income.  So, Hughes decided to correct this.  He started Mavuno Harvest in 2011.  And the company purchases the excess fruit from the African farmers and dry it, and then process it, and ship it around the world.  The business is heavily focused on conducting fair trading, paying the farmers fairly, and promoting sustainable agriculture.  Alternate Mavuno dried fruits include dates, bananas, coconuts, papayas, pineapples, and mangoes.  The company also markets a line of dried fruits that are covered in dark chocolate.  Along with a dry roasted nut line, and "fruit bites."  These products, not shockingly, are free of GMOs and are 100% organic.  If you're curious about the name, "mavuno" is a word in Swahili that means "harvest" or "first fruit."  It can also refer to "fruits of labor," and a celebration of the harvest.  So it makes perfect sense for a name of a business that markets dried fruit and such.  Finally, while it's possible that the jackfruit I ate came from Sri Lanka, it seems that Mavuno mainly uses products from Sub-Saharan Africa.  Which would make it more likely to have originated in the African nation of Uganda.  (Also, I already discussed Sri Lanka in my July 6, 2024 post, so I wanted to now talk about Uganda a bit.  So it's partially that, too.)

Mavuno Harvest dried organic jackfruit:  The fruit was a yellowish-orange color.  Cut into thin strips, about the size of a typical potato chip.  They had a sweetish odor.  The texture was dry and chewy.  There were no sweeteners added, and it shows.  The strips were somewhat sweet, but kind of blandish.  But, these jackfruit strips kind of grew on me as I kept eating them.  By the end I thought they were okay.  Not great, but alright.  So I would recommend them, but not in a very enthusiastic way.

     Now let's talk about some famous Ugandans, or at least folks with some Ugandan heritage.  There's Irshad Manji, who was born in Uganda, to parents of Indian and Egyptian heritage.  Canadian by citizenship, she's an author and educator primarily focused on a reformist view of Islam.  Next up is David Kato, who was born and lived in Uganda, and was a LGBT civil rights activist, who sadly was murdered in 2011.  In the world of film, there's Phill Lewis, who was born in Uganda to American parents.  He's arguably best known for roles in films such as "Heathers" (1988), "How I Got into College" (1989), "City Slickers" (1991), "Bowfinger" (1999), "Wish I Was Here" (2014), and on television programs like "Scrubs" (2005-09), where he played Hooch, who may have really been crazy.  Moving to athletics, three Ugandans have played in the NFL.  Twin brothers Kato and Wasswa Serwanga were both cornerbacks.  Kato played for the New England Patriots, Washington (then Redskins) and New York Giants from 1999-2003, starting 3 of 58 total games.  He accumulated 3 interceptions, 4 recovered fumbles, and 3 sacks, for a career AV of 9.  His brother Wasswa played for the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings from 1999-2001.  Wasswa's totals were 23 games, 2 starts, and a career AV of 1.  The most accomplished Ugandan NFL player was Mathias Kiwanuka.  He played linebacker/defensive end for the New York Giants from 2006-14.  He started 82 of 120 total games, and intercepted 3 passes, recovered 3 fumbles, achieved 38.5 sacks, and a lifetime AV of 43.  He also played for the Giant's Super Bowl winning team of 2007.  Switching to the Olympics, 4 Ugandans have won gold medals, all in Summer Game events.  John Akii-Bua won in the 1972 Games, in the men's 400 meter hurdles.  In 2012 Stephan Kiprotich took gold in the men's marathon event.  Peruth Chemutai won gold in the 2020 Games in the women's 3000 meter steeplechase.  She also won a silver medal in the same event in 2024.  Joshua Cheptegei won gold in the men's 5000 meter in 2020, and then in 2024 in the men's 10,000 meter.  (Along with winning silver in the men's 10,000 meters in 2020.  More impressively, he holds the world's record time for both of his gold medal winning runs.)  Finally, in the sport of boxing, there's John "The Beast" Mugabi.  He first won silver in the 1980 Games, as a welterweight boxer.  After he went pro, he totaled a record of 42-7-1, with 39 knockouts.  He was also the WBC super welterweight champion from 1989-90.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An American/Italian Cracker

      My local Shop-Rite has been on an especially big Italian food kick of late, and this week's post is yet another example of this.  (This isn't that surprising, given how many folks with Italian heritage live in my state.)  Anyway, today I'll be talking about the garlic crostinis from the Di Bruno Bros. brand.

     I picked these up mainly because the label on the bag read, "Made in Italy," but this is a further example of a product technically made in another country, but for an American-based business.  So that's why I went with the country combo in the title.  Moving on, the Di Bruno Bros. company dates back to 1939, when (of course) brothers Danny and Joe Di Bruno began a shop in the city of Philadelphia, PA, in the historic Italian Market.  The business mainly imported goods--mostly cheeses, gourmet meats, and specialty items.  Most of these were from Italy, not shockingly, but a few were from other nations.  The initial store was successful, so the Di Brunos opened up several other ones in the general area, eventually adding a catering service.  Most of the Di Bruno Bros. meats are typical Italian fare, such as salamis, pepperonis, hams, and prosciuttos, but a couple are more exotic--a prosciutto made from duck, and guanciale, a pork jowl cut said to be smoother than bacon.  Aside from the crostinis I had, the specialty Di Bruno Bros. offerings include chocolate bars, olives, roasted peppers, honeys, cashews, olive oils, and sauces.  Also, I learned the probable reason why I just noticed this product recently--Di Bruno Bros. was acquired by Wakefern in October of 2024.  And Wakefern is the parent company of the Shop-Rite supermarket chain.

     In case you're wondering what crostinis are, they're a traditional Italian appetizer, which usually are pieces of toasted or grilled bread.  Toppings are often added to this, such as meats, cheeses, olive oil, or sauces.  Looking at photos online, these crostinis appear to be very similar to bruschetta.  The history of crostinis is thought to be old, dating back to medieval times, when bread was used in lieu of a plate.  The ones I had, as you're about to read about, were not really bread-like, but instead were crackers.  So evidently there is a little bit of variation about what officially constitutes a "crostini."

     

Di Bruno Bros. garlic crostinis:  These crackers were yellow in color, rectangular in shape, and about 1.5 inches by 1.25 inches (about 3.5 cm. by 3 cm.).  They didn't have an odor.  Their texture was dry and crunchy.  The garlic flavor was strong.  I had some plain, and some with a dip on them.  They were better with the dip on them, but still okay plain.  Overall they were a decent snack, and I would recommend them.  Not spectacular, but pretty good.

     The official Di Bruno Bros. website was mostly the typical product lists and such, but it did have a few unusual tidbits.  Firstly, Philadelphia-area native Cheri Oteri has a partnership with Di Bruno and offers a "Cher-cuterie" gift box.  Oteri is probably best known for her time as a performer on "Saturday Night Live" from 1995-2000, but she also was in such movies as "Liar Liar" (1997), "Small Soldiers" (1998), "Surveillance" (2008), "Bad Parents" (2012), and "Benjamin" (2019).  Secondly, Tenaya Darlington, who also goes by the alias "Madame Fromage," joined with Di Bruno in 2013 to make a book about their cheeses, titled "Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese Catalog."  (It has very good reviews, too--Goodreads has it as a 4.2 out of 5 based on 78 ratings, and Amazon lists it as a 4.6 out of 5 from 57 ratings.)  Thirdly, late chef/journalist Anthony Bourdain did a segment on Philadelphia food for his Travel Channel show "The Layover" which featured Di Bruno Bros. fare.  It aired in December of 2012.