[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, friends. I'm Ray Latif, and you're tuned into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. What if the smartest growth strategy for your CPG brand is to stop chasing growth? Larry Young spent nearly 50 years in the beverage business before trading corporate boardrooms for a cattle ranch. The former CEO and president of Keurig Dr Pepper, and his wife, Colette, now own Texas-based 1024 Ranch, where they're building a premium beef brand on their own terms. In this episode, Larry and Colette explain why they've resisted pressure to grow fast and chase scale, how they've made premium quality accessible without premium pricing, and why customer relationships, authenticity, and simply delivering on your promises can be more powerful than any conventional growth strategy. They also share lessons on educating consumers, building word of mouth, choosing the right partners, and hiring people who genuinely care about what they do. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm supremely honored to be sitting down with Larry and Colette Young, the co-owners of 1024 Ranch. Larry, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you today, Ray? I'm fantastic. Colette, good to see you.
[00:01:39] Colette Young: Good to see you. Our pleasure to be here today. Thank you.
[00:01:42] Ray Latif: I wonder how many people are wondering the same thing that I was wondering when I heard of 1024 Ranch, which is, is that the same Larry Young from Keurig Dr Pepper? Indeed it is. A man who was in the beverage business for almost 50 years, who once retired, probably could have done anything you wanted to do, but why ranching? Why beef?
[00:02:05] Larry Young: Well, I retired once, you know, I, I was with Pepsi for a long time, retired from Pepsi. The only thing I ever failed at was retirement. I made it four months and Colette told me I was married for better, worse, not for lunch. So get back to work. And luckily I met some great guys with the Carlisle group that had the majority of Dr. Pepper. They needed some help. And I got to start there. It's supposed to be 90 days to nine months turned out being 20 years. Amazing. Amazing.
[00:02:36] Ray Latif: And how many years is this for 1024 Ranch?
[00:02:38] Larry Young: 1024 Ranch is 16 years old now.
[00:02:41] Ray Latif: Outstanding. And Colette, just for context, talk about the ranch. I mean, you're not only a beef cattle business, but you're a consumer brand as well.
[00:02:51] Colette Young: We started out as a hunting ranch only, and that was a sport and interest of Larry's and mine, and so we were a hunting ranch, and then Larry has had lots of experience with cattle, because he grew up around cattle. I did not, but he introduced me to that part of ranch life, and so we decided we would start raising cattle.
[00:03:15] Ray Latif: Do you live on the ranch?
[00:03:16] Colette Young: Yes, we do.
[00:03:17] Ray Latif: We're there right now.
[00:03:18] Colette Young: That's right. We're right here at the ranch, and Larry feeds cattle every day. We're hands-on. I run the ranch. I run the hunting part. Larry's in the cattle. He gets in a feed truck at dark every morning, and at least one day a week, I go with him and help him feed cattle. We're hands-on. We work it all.
[00:03:39] Ray Latif: Who's a better shot, Larry or Colette?
[00:03:41] Colette Young: Oh, Larry.
[00:03:45] Ray Latif: Okay. Well, you know, a typical day in the beverage business, I assume is a very different day than you're experiencing nowadays, Larry, but what's been the biggest difference going from the corporate boardrooms to your own ranch?
[00:03:58] Larry Young: Well, you know, not a lot has changed. I mean, when I was at Dr. Pepper, I was at work every morning early. All my life, I've got up at 4.50 in the morning. I go to work early. I'm very hands-on. I believe that you got to be there to inspect what you expect. And so, you know, leaving the corporate world, it's a lot more peaceful here, let me tell you that. I don't have the phone ringing off the wall. I don't have, you know, emails every five seconds. But the biggest thing I miss is my secretary. You know, as Colette said, we started as a hunting ranch. We immediately started expanding, buying more land, went into cattle. We had a really good commercial herd. We went from, you know, expanded with that with a registered Simbra herd. And then as we kept going, I got to looking at it saying, You know, what can we do different with these first calf heifers so we can breed different? So we started breeding Akagushi bulls, which are Japanese wagyu, and that's where the meat business came from, because the meat's phenomenal. I'd like to tell you about what the Akagushi beef does.
[00:05:08] Colette Young: Yes, the Magushi beef is a Simbra and Akushi, which is the Wagyu. It's heart healthy. It melts at a lower temperature, the fat does, so it goes through your bloodstream better. It's very healthy for you. We believe in real food and this beef is a real food in our business because we raise them, we lay eyes on them every day. We feed them every day. They graze out in open pastures and are real normal cattle, and so they are, you know, superior set of beef. That's right. Thanks for filling that in.
[00:05:48] Ray Latif: I can absolutely agree with that statement that it makes you feel good after you eat it. You know, sometimes when you eat beef, low-quality beef that is, you don't feel so well afterwards. And I remember eating yours last week and I was just thinking, this doesn't feel heavy. I feel very good after eating this and I can totally see where you're coming from. Larry, when did you start thinking about that opportunity to be a consumer brand as much as you were sort of running the farm?
[00:06:17] Larry Young: Well, we were running the business. You know, we had the brand out there, the 10-2-4. We became known for our cattle with selling our commercial calves to the feedlots. Then we got our registered herd. We started selling bulls and replacement heifers. The 10-2-4 name kept getting bigger. And that's when we decided between Colette, myself, and our general manager, Galen Swenson, that we can get into the beef industry. We could have a superior beef. at a very reasonable price. It doesn't cost that much more to raise good beef. And a lot of people really try to take the prices through the roof. And so we've been very successful saying we're going to build a brand the right way. We're going to be like Dr. Pepper. We don't ever want to be the biggest. We just want to be the best.
[00:07:07] Colette Young: I think that Larry is a great visionary, and when he talks about this, we have not gone fast. We've gone slow and steady. Sometimes that does win the race. We want to make sure we're doing things right, the correct way, and so we've taken our time. And, of course, it does take time to raise cattle. Also, I wanted to mention, when you're eating that beef, it's one DNA. It's not 500 that could be what you're buying at the grocery store. And that beautiful color that you saw, that burgundy, is real, not red dye that they put in that meat to often make it feel like it's real. Zero additives. Yeah, zero additives. So it's very healthy. So what you see is the real thing.
[00:07:53] Ray Latif: I'm so glad that you brought up price and affordability because both are top of mind for American consumers these days. And I have to say, I was kind of shocked when I went to your website and saw the prices. of your steaks. They were very affordable. And certainly as compared to other mail-order steakhouses, it feels like you thought about that as a key selling point for the brand. But what resonates most with your consumers at this point? Is it the quality? Is it the price? Is it the brand itself?
[00:08:26] Larry Young: I think the biggest thing is the quality. Once they try it, just like you said with the ribeye, it's unbelievable. And probably the biggest thing we sell, Ray, is the hamburger is unbelievable. It's like butter. And people try the hamburgers. They love to make smash burgers out of them. And it just makes such a different taste. But you hit on it, they also say, this is cheaper than at the grocery store. How do you do that? Well, we're making money on it, but we try to make it where it's affordable, where everybody can try a really good farm-to-table food product.
[00:09:01] Colette Young: That's right, and we ship all over the United States, and we do a two-day shipping, so it arrives very cold, and we track the shipping so everybody gets good quality meat that they can stick in their freezer, you know, enjoy the whole week or two weeks.
[00:09:17] Ray Latif: Yeah. Yeah. That hamburger meat is fantastic. That ground beef we use for tacos and, uh, so good. I think about, again, today's modern consumer and how they think about health and nutrition. And, you know, again, beef is one of those things that's had a varied history in the minds of American consumers. So when you're selling a brand like 1024 Ranch, how do you talk about health and wellness in a way that's going to have the most impact on a consumer decision? I know Colette Young talked quite a bit about it being a single DNA and you talked about it being a better quality and a better cut, but how do you talk about the nutritional aspect of it? The protein, you know, the fulfillment of eating steak?
[00:10:11] Larry Young: I think the biggest thing Colette hit on just a moment ago is that it's heart healthy. When the Akagushi first came over here in the Wagyu, that was one of the things they found that the fat is more like, almost like a salmon or something like that. The enzymes are better for you. And people think about that a lot. I mean, always the buzzwords are better for you. You know, everybody's wanting to go natural. but they still pay $20 a pound for lace potato chips. So you have to understand what does the consumer want, and it has to taste good. It has to be delicious. So that's kind of been our sweet spot.
[00:10:47] Ray Latif: We talked about health, we talked about the quality. Again, sharing that story and making it a compelling one to consumers is inherent to any consumer brand these days. I'm talking to both of you as the co-owners, and I feel like if a potential customer had an opportunity to sit down with you for five minutes, it'd be sold pretty quickly. But obviously you can't sit down with every other customer, every potential customer out there. So beyond the quality and beyond the taste of the products, is there another part of the story itself that you feel like is critical to acquiring new consumers?
[00:11:27] Colette Young: We really believe in customer service and people relationships. And when people come here, that's the one thing they notice a lot in our ranch is the way our employees treat our customers and the way we treat our customers. We're really visible. We're highly visible. We show up to lots of events. And people need to know that we are real, just like our food.
[00:11:51] Ray Latif: Clearly also premium. 1024 Ranch exudes that small batch premium aspect of food that so many people covet these days. There are different tiers to premium though. And I think you have to be careful about feeling like you might be too premium or too precious. Is there a sweet spot for when you talk about the premium angle such that people understand that you're premium but approachable?
[00:12:21] Larry Young: Yeah, we spend a lot of time on where our price points are. And I think that's one of the things that you mentioned. When you look on the website, people are shocked at the prices. Whenever they come out for steak night and they taste it, then they go to buy it. They start telling their friends about it, they get on the website. So that's the main part is that, you know, the quality is number one. I mean, we have to have the quality. And we also want to make sure that we can deliver everything we say. That's right. And so that's why we're not looking at getting too big too fast because so many of them end up where they're sold out, got people telling them they can't deliver the order. And so we like to just build it slow and make it where it's very obtainable at a great price and we'll always be there for them. If we say we're going to do it, we do it.
[00:13:09] Ray Latif: As you know, Larry, in the consumer products industry, everything seems to skew to grow fast, get bigger, get investment, and eventually sell to another company. It feels like that's been the entrepreneurial journey for so many different brands. As entrepreneurs yourselves, you've talked a lot about patience. You've talked a lot about being focused on being the best quality out there. Sometimes, however, it does require others to buy in. How do you cultivate partners, you know, investors or otherwise, that are the right fit for your company?
[00:13:47] Larry Young: Well, we build some partners, you know, not part of the business, but we sell some of our beef to local restaurants. You know, people go in and try the beef and especially the hamburgers. They cannot believe how the hamburger tastes. The ribeyes, if you look at, in this business, New York strip, filet mignon, and ribeyes are the first thing to sell. You have to be very sharp and know how to get rid of the rest of the beef. I mean, there's only 24 ribeyes in a cow. That's it. But now you got another 560 pounds of meat. What are you going to do with it? So we make the hamburger. At steak night, we show people how, if you look at what most of your chefs will talk about, Chefs, they don't need rib eye strip or filet mignon. They'll eat a chuck eye. They'll eat a Denver. They'll eat a McKinney steak. They're just as good as steak.
[00:14:39] Colette Young: Sure, that's the part of that dinner is educating people that those parts are just as good because the meat consistencies throughout the cow.
[00:14:48] Larry Young: And even less expensive. Yes, and less expensive. Very reasonable.
[00:14:51] Colette Young: They're like right next door to them in that cut. So they're just as good.
[00:14:55] Larry Young: got the marbling just like your ribeye head. So we spend a lot of time doing that. And so with the word of mouth, the restaurants we have, what we do online, the steak night, the business just continues to grow at a good pace. You know, we're not trying to be Omaha Steaks or anything like that. We're just out here and main thing, we're having a lot of fun doing it.
[00:15:19] Colette Young: Also, I just wanted to add to that we spend a lot of time on our social media. Taylor Goodwin does that for us, and he is very good at spending a lot of time out here at the ranch and taking pictures and sampling the meat. taking pictures of the meat. He's part of the steak nights sometimes. The relationships we have with these people are our investment. Don't you think, Larry? It's not like a monetary investment. It's investing in people out here. And so when we get that word of mouth, it's always the best. And we just know that in the social media, I noticed on a lot of mine, it comes up what's heart healthy, what is physically healthy for you. And instead of like people treating now, like you get older and you're going to start eating right, the young people are wanting to eat right now. They want to eat correctly and healthy. And so that's what we're focusing on is the young people. So they'll, continue to stay healthy and not just need to out of habit.
[00:16:22] Larry Young: And to your point earlier, you know, in the past, there was always different views of beef. And so it's an education to show them that beef is good. Beef is good for you. Great source of protein. Yes. Everybody's on some of these crazy diets and they need protein. That's right. Because these diets will take it away from you. And so it's a way for them to get their protein and enjoy it, not drink it.
[00:16:48] Ray Latif: Colette, I'm so glad you brought up social media because social media, you can really go down a rabbit hole in so many different ways, especially when it comes to health and wellness. It feels like everyone is an influencer these days. Everyone has some sort of perspective and philosophy on how to eat and how to live better. And it can be challenging sometimes to align yourself with the right people or be aligned with anyone that might have a perspective that is considered to be out there or just not of the mainstream. And, you know, at a time when everything seems to have a political undertone or tilt to it, it can be difficult for consumer brands to choose their position and sort of make sure people are focused on the brand and the business more than they are a particular philosophy. So when you do have people advocating for the brand, influencers or otherwise, how do you make sure that they're telling the same story that you want to tell and not necessarily telling a story about their perspective on eating well or eating better?
[00:17:52] Colette Young: I think that I control it pretty much, you know, with the people that we okay to do the social media and the people that extend themselves out to advertise for you. We just make sure we're all on the same page.
[00:18:07] Larry Young: You know, Ray, we turn down a lot of interviews. I mean, we just turned one down with Reuters. And we don't do that. We don't get into the political aspects of it. You know, a lot of news right now about beef prices, why there's a high. A lot of news about, you know, some of the things that President Trump's done, and people want to talk about that. We don't get into that. We just don't do it. We're kind of like Dolly Parton. I mean, we're just not going to get into politics, because no matter what you do, you're going to piss off half the people.
[00:18:37] Colette Young: Well, and we just want everybody to get a true experience of our meat and not feel influenced, but just try it. And you can form your own opinion.
[00:18:48] Larry Young: And whenever we're asked about interviews and things, the first thing we ask is, why? What do you want to know? What's it for? That's why we're with you right now, because we understood it clearly. And a lot of them, we don't.
[00:18:59] Colette Young: And this feels very wholesome with you, Ray. Thank you.
[00:19:01] Ray Latif: Well, thank you so much for saying that. I'm so glad I have the opportunity to sit down with both of you because I think what you're doing is, is great. I think it's good for Americans to be eating beef and it's good for Americans to be eating high quality premium beef. And the most important part is that an affordable price point. I think again, the more people that you can touch with your brand, the better and healthier people are going to be now. Maybe I should be a little bit more objective because I am a journalist and a podcaster, but you know, that's truly what I believe. And I think that all founders in our business should be striving to do better, should be striving to do things that are going to make people healthier and feel better. And if that's not a cornerstone of what you're doing, maybe you shouldn't be in this business. Again, maybe I should be a little bit more objective with these things, but from a money standpoint, a lot, as I mentioned, a lot of entrepreneurs get into, you know, food and beverage because they want to make a lot of money. And I think that's great. You know, they've seen examples of brands that have really done well. Ben Weiss from buy, you know, he sold his company for a billion seven. I mean, people see that and they say, well, I would love to do that too. But I think success has, you know, different definitions. And I'm curious as to what you see as success for 1024 Ranch.
[00:20:16] Larry Young: You know what, I've had a tremendous career, seen a lot of success. Talking about Ben Wise, I've been with all them boys. I had Monster in the beginning with Rodney. I've done a lot of business with Russ. Micropoly, I mean, the beverage industry, Coke and Pepsi were a closed system. And we had an open system. And so I was very proud of being able to help a lot of these guys get distribution. Because if you don't get distribution, you don't win. And it's the same way with this business. We've got to have distribution. How can I get it to you at the best price? Shipping's very expensive with beef. Beef's heavy. And so we do a lot now here where we're selling full beef. People are coming in and buying a beef, or two people will buy one and split it. And so each one will get a side of beef. We got a partnership with a packing house here called Rail 19. We send it there, they process it, people can pick their beef up, and they got a year's supply of beef. And so we're just playing all the different angles on it.
[00:21:21] Colette Young: Yes. I think just being sincere, putting out the best quality we can is successful, being transparent what we do, showing that our meat's USDA approved, trying to meet every customer's needs on a one-to-one basis, and growing at a rate that Larry says, like, we can deliver, that to me is successful. We're just trying to not just do it to sell it. We enjoy it. It's an everyday experience. It's our lifestyle. What else would I do with Larry Young, right? You know he'd start something else, but he's a great visionary. I trust his viewpoint, and he grew up a rancher, and I did not, so he knows what's going on.
[00:22:08] Larry Young: It's funny, Ray. I grew up on a cattle ranch, and I could not wait to get out of high school and leave it. And here full circle, I'm back doing the same thing. I couldn't wait to leave.
[00:22:19] Ray Latif: It's funny how your passion in life is often tied to your childhood, even though you don't necessarily realize until it actually happens that, you know, you're back where you started. Even though you took an entrepreneurial tilt to running Dr. Pepper Snapple and thought outside of the box, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, this is your first time, this is your first job as a true entrepreneur, no? Correct.
[00:22:48] Larry Young: Yeah.
[00:22:48] Ray Latif: Yeah. What does it feel like? I mean, what are the things that are surprising to you both in running and owning this business?
[00:22:57] Larry Young: The decisions matter. Whatever you decide you're going to do, it better be right. I don't spend a lot of time dwelling on things. I mean, I go with my gut. You know, so far everything's worked good. You know, when you're in corporate America, you have a lot of people you have to answer to, a lot of shareholders. And here it's, uh, I wake up with the other shareholder every morning.
[00:23:19] Colette Young: And also you hire the right people. It's very fortunate. We have a great cattle manager. He grew up in a ranch and how many generations? Oh, it's our life. Yeah. Ranching. So we trust his judgment also. So we make a lot of times we make group decisions, but we all communicate well. So as an entrepreneur, it's like, you're right. You have to make the right decisions. If not, you live with them and correct them. The way that goes.
[00:23:48] Larry Young: It goes quick.
[00:23:49] Colette Young: It goes quick.
[00:23:50] Larry Young: And as we've mentioned before, my favorite saying is you're only as tall as the shoulders you stand on. Two of our best decisions we hired Adam Yonk to take care of our hunting side and Galen Swenson on the cattle side. And what that does, that allows Colette and I, if you got people like that, If we want to take off and go to California for a couple of months and play golf, we can go and never lose a bit of sleep at all. Know that's going to run just the same as if we were there.
[00:24:23] Ray Latif: You've talked a lot about the importance of hiring good people. What particular qualities do you really prize in new hires and in folks that you are currently part of the business?
[00:24:34] Colette Young: So on the hunting side, for example, everybody has to have a passion for this, to be a guide, for example, a guide, hunting guide. And I had a young man, bright young man come to me and he said, I'd like to work for you. I just graduated college. And with my master's, I said, okay, what was that? He said, computer science, but I want to be a guide. I love animals. I love being a guide. And I said, okay. So, you know, he's worked out wonderfully. So, I guess passion, you have to always, I don't care who you are in life, you need to do your passion for true happiness. And if you're working, it doesn't feel like work whenever you're... You have to enjoy going to work every day.
[00:25:17] Larry Young: You can just imagine, like right now, when I came in, it was 103 degrees here. It's hot. And we work long hours. I mean, I started at dark this morning. When we're done with this, I'll go back and check my cows. I got a lot of cows getting ready to have baby calves right now, so we got to check them. And so I usually go from 6.30 to 5.30 at night. And my employees do the same. They love it. You got to love what you do. You know, the integrity means so much to me with people. Yes. I mean, if I trust you, you're going to trust my decisions that we're going to do the right things and we're all going to make some money.
[00:25:59] Ray Latif: You know, I've loved every minute of speaking with both of you. You just come across as very authentic and passionate people. You know, there's no reason to sugarcoat anything because everything is already sweet. It's one of those things where, you know, entrepreneurs sometimes will feel like they need to be different, especially when they're talking to the press, present things in a certain way, talk about things in a certain way that makes them look better. And I think just from Speaking with both of you, it's clear that your best self is your most honest self. Your best self is the one that's truly genuine. And people will respect that. And people will align with you if you come across and are indeed authentic and delivering on what you say you're delivering on. So I really appreciate this time that you've shared with me. So thank you so much.
[00:26:45] Colette Young: You just need to make a trip out here. Experience this.
[00:26:49] Ray Latif: And I feel like that's the next step, right, is for me to head out there.
[00:26:53] Larry Young: If you went to Austin, you didn't go to Texas.
[00:26:58] Ray Latif: I've heard that before. Yeah. I've heard that before.
[00:27:01] Colette Young: I'm sure. Well, you're delightful. Thank you for such a great interview.
[00:27:04] Ray Latif: Yes. Thank you both so much for being on Taste Radio today. I am excited to share this conversation with our audience and I know they're going to get a lot out of it. Thank you so much. Thank you. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Kratchy. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is bevnettasteradio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:28:06] Colette Young: you
