Hello hello!
There are a lot of new readers here, which means a (re)introduction is in order! If this is the first Express Checkout edition to hit your inbox…
WELCOME, we’re thrilled you’re here!!
You’re about to gain significantly more joy from the chore of grocery shopping (you are welcome).
We’d like to give you a little peek into what you can expect from us:
We infiltrate your inbox (consensually) twice a week.
In the beginning of the week, you get smarter about CPG and retail with a full breakdown + deeper insights into the most important news from the past week, plus a longer deep dive into an industry topic we can’t stop thinking about (like the decaf coffee boom, why coconut water is trending, or if Target is the new Whole Foods).
On Fridays, you get a glimpse into our (overflowing) pantries, medicine cabinets, fridges, or freezers. We share our favorite CPG finds of the past week, so you stay in-the-know about the coolest new brands… and hear which are actually worth the hype.
And with that, let’s get into our picks of the week →
Jenna’s Pickup:
HEYDOH - Classic Soy Sauce
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that elevated versions of everyday culinary ingredients (hey, olive oil) hold a lot of power. Though their core promise is higher-quality liquid than their conventional counterparts, their net effect looms much larger. Unlike a Kirkland Olive Oil, for instance, premium, single-origin culinary ingredients tell a story about the person who buys them—what they care about, their standards, their ambitions. Even when they’re just sitting pretty on a counter, they signal intentionality and thoughtfulness.
HEYDOH is the new brand doing that for soy sauce, and I feel strongly that you learn about it before it claims the counter space of every West Village apartment.
Quick Facts: Non-GMO Taiwanese soy sauce made with whole, single-origin black soybeans fermented with just sea salt (naturally 25% lower in sodium than other brands), water, wheat, and yeast—resulting in complex, layered soy sauce that elevates any dish.
Reasons to love:
Ingredient difference you can taste. I know it’s been a long run, but it’s time to break up with Kikkoman. Mass-market soy sauces, like Kikkoman, are typically brewed using defatted soy meal or soybean mash from yellow soybeans—an industrial byproduct left over after soy oil is extracted. Meanwhile, single-origin producers like HEYDOH use 100% whole heirloom soybeans (in this case, select-harvest black soybeans). Because the natural oils and proteins remain completely intact, the resulting sauce is much richer, with a rounded, full, umami base and a hint of molasses-y sweetness on the finish.
The brand dared me to taste the product side-by-side next to the soy sauce in my pantry; I didn’t expect to sense much of a difference, and was proven wholly wrong. HEYDOH makes any other soy sauce taste like murky, one-note salt water by comparison.Rooted in heritage. All three co-founders are Taiwanese, and two of them are based in Taiwan (grateful the third, Christine, is based in the US, because I had the pleasure of meeting her recently!). Co-founder Clarissa, a James Beard Finalist and cookbook author, dreamt up HEYDOH when she was writing a cookbook in the US—and couldn’t find any soy sauce that reminded her of the artisanal soy sauces from Taiwan. Frustrated with her flat, lackluster options, she decided to source the best stuff herself.
A gorgeous gift. Spoiler alert: there is a large chance you will be seeing this again in our gift guides. 👀 The perfect gifts, IMO, are practical in use but utterly luxurious in feel. HEYDOH nails that challenge. They put so much thought into their liquid, and the bottle itself matches that. The branding is transportive, bright, and narrative in nature. It’s a love letter to Taiwan, and a conversation piece for your counter.
Note: I’ve only tried the Classic Soy Sauce so far, but I’m certain the quality will translate across the entire line of products. I cannot wait to try the Silky Soy Sauce, which is a glossy, velvety finishing sauce for dipping or drizzling!
Where to buy: Online!
Nate’s Pickup:
Party Of Snacks
Popcorn is one of the most classic snacks out there, but most of the time the flavors are pretty run of the mill. When a brand does go wacky, it’s usually a seasonal drop that’s gone before you can even restock, like LesserEvil’s limited edition Watermelon Lime. Party Of is changing the popcorn aisle, making fun, flavor-forward popcorn all year round in unique, fun flavors.
Quick Facts: Thai-inspired popcorn founded by four sisters who grew up in their mom’s Thai restaurants and wanted a snack that represented both sides of their upbringing. They have 3 flavors so far: Pad Thai, Thai Chili Lime, and Mango Sticky Rice Kettle Corn, with a sampler pack if you can’t decide.
Reasons to love:
The flavors. Each bag tastes exactly like the thing it says it tastes like. Who thought Pad Thai would make a great popcorn flavor? I wouldn’t have, and I’m so glad they did because it’s so freaking good! My personal favorite is the Mango Sticky Rice Kettle Corn, but I have a sweet tooth, so take that with a grain of salt (or sugar). Mango sticky rice is having a moment right now, with Trader Joe’s selling a frozen pre-made version and a buzzy new NYC restaurant that’s gone viral for selling the best mango sticky rice in the city! If you’re bringing globally inspired flavors to an American audience, you have to start with things people already know and love enough to actually pick up off the shelf, and Pad Thai, Thai Chili Lime, and Mango Sticky Rice all clear that bar.
Popcorn was the right call. I think there are two snacks that are near-perfect vehicles for bold flavor, popcorn and chips, with pretzels a close third. The popcorn itself is very good here, but the point is how well it carries flavor and lets the seasoning lead. It’s also the easiest snack in the world to overindulge on without feeling the weight of it, and when something tastes this good, overindulging is exactly what I want to do.
The branding. It’s bold, fun, and colorful, and it tells you exactly what you’re getting. I still think the American consumer, especially away from the coasts, is hesitant to try globally flavored products, even with plenty of brands bringing ethnic and globally inspired products to shelf and succeeding. We have a long way to go as a country before that feels normal. Party Of does a really nice job bridging that gap. It looks like it belongs in Happier Grocery, Erewhon, Sprouts, or Wegmans, but there’s a lot of authenticity underneath it, in the flavors, in details hidden on the packaging, and especially in the founders’ story.
Where to buy: Online and select independent retailers
In case you missed it… 🎧
The other week, we’re sitting down with wildly impressive Tristan Walker, who built and sold Walker & Company (the parent company behind Bevel) to Procter & Gamble. He also sits on the board of Shake Shack and recently joined Collaborative Fund to help launch Collab Holdings—a private equity arm built for consumer brands that don’t fit the traditional VC/PE playbook. He also runs Heirloom Leathercraft, a trade school and atelier bringing fine handcraft back to America.
He walks us through building Bevel from a personal shaving problem to a national brand, the difficult decision to sell to P&G, and why he now believes most founders shouldn’t take VC money in the first place. We also dig into what makes a CPG brand “durable,” why Gen Z is increasingly skeptical of private equity, and whether AI can ever replicate intuition. 👀
Catch the full episode below 👇