The Vega product line was created by Brendan Brazier, a professional triathlete who wanted to take control of his own nutrition and feed himself through the power of plants. This was the moment Vega was born. Plant-based chef Annette Licitra and fitness expert Joey Thurman take a look at Vega’s packaging, first impressions, ingredients, and more in this product review.
Joey Thurman: Welcome to talking plant protein. My name is Joey Thurman. I'm a fitness expert and fitness nutrition specialist. I'm joined by my friend here. Annette Licitra: I'm Annette Licitra, and I'm a holistic health coach and also a wellness chef. Joey Thurman: Today we're doing a demo on the Vega product line, plant protein, and their founder Brendan Brazier, who was a Ironman triathlete. He found that eating plants and putting plants into his body actually helped his performance. We want to talk about these three different product lines here. All right. Now when we see this packaging tall, dark, handsome, right, me? Annette Licitra: Obviously. Joey Thurman: All right, great. When you see this, what do you think of? Annette Licitra: I think masculine. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: I think of a gym, or working out. This is something I'd see to purchase at a gym, or at a nutrition store, and protein, I think after workout... Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: ... to kind of repair the muscle. Joey Thurman: That makes sense. Here on the packaging, post-workout, get that workout in. Get it there. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Now here, nice and white. What brings your eye to this? Annette Licitra: Light and bright. Joey Thurman: Okay. Annette Licitra: Again, this seems more masculine, this just kind of talks feminine to me. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: And the colors as well, I like that there's a lot of different, there's a variety of flavors as well. Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: It really points it out, and you can even see the vanilla, the berry. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: You know exactly what's in there. Annette Licitra: Yes. Joey Thurman: Then we move on to our Easter egg colors. Annette Licitra: Right. Yes, these are really nice and light, and they're a little smaller too. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: I think, okay, you may not need as much of it, but if you're super active, I'm thinking something that's bigger. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: I think if you're being semi-active, something a little bit smaller, but these are just really, they kind of remind me of Easter, like Easter egg colors. Joey Thurman: Right. That makes a lot of sense. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Smaller. Annette Licitra: Energy, is really what this is talking about. Kind of screams to me. Joey Thurman: It's light, it screams that. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Here we got something that looks like it definitely, if you're working out in the gym, or you're getting a hard workout, this might be a little bit in between. Annette Licitra: In between, yeah. Joey Thurman: It might appeal a little bit more to the female side of things. Annette Licitra: I would say so, yeah. Joey Thurman: I mean, obviously guys can have that too, and this could appeal to anybody like my in-laws- Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: - my father-in-law going for a bike ride. I could see him pop on the immune system one and just feeling good. Annette Licitra: Yeah, yeah. I enjoy that each one of them has a different set of what they're geared towards, brain health, gut health, and then just a lot of energy. I think of the sun right away, high in vitamin D, right there, which it says. But yes, that's kind of what I think of when I see those. Joey Thurman: Yes, that's part of the packaging. Annette Licitra: Yes. Joey Thurman: High in vitamin D. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: It just gives you a little pop, and then it's got that pop of energy inside of it as well. This is the Vega sport protein, obviously meant for sport and recovery. What do you see with the ingredients? Annette Licitra: I first go to the ingredient label. Joey Thurman: Uh-uh (positive). Annette Licitra: Instead of the nutrition facts, which I think is great, but I always want to know what is making up the nutrition label. Because looking at the ingredients, is it like, well is my body going to actually know what's in it? If you don't really understand what's in it, is your body going to process it? That's why I like to look at, there's calories, there's the sugars, there's protein, but what type of protein is it? Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: What type of sugars are there? I like that these are really plant-forward. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: Lots of gluten free, vegan, and just really good ingredients. Joey Thurman: This makes a lot of sense. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: This has 30 grams of protein, for most individuals taking this, unless maybe you're my size, maybe you do a little bit more, but this would cover a lot. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Now we're going here, and we have the bright colors and the ingredients, you've got berry, and vanilla, and some even greens added to these, which is pretty great- Annette Licitra: Yes. Joey Thurman: - if I ask myself. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Hey self, do you think it's great? I think it's great. Annette Licitra: It is. I agree with you. I agree with yourself. Joey Thurman: Great, you agree with myself. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Cool. Annette Licitra: Yeah, I think it's really nice that there's a lot of different blends, and there's a variety of things, like this is wonderful for putting in smoothies. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: I think berry flavor just really goes with so many different things. Then there's obviously something with like the ashwagandha, and the coconut, turmeric, really nice herbs that are in that one too. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: I like to look at plant-forward as much as possible, and really understanding what it is that's in them. Joey Thurman: That makes a lot of sense, because people like turmeric, or different super foods, ingredients often are very, there's a lot of flavor to them, and a lot of people can't handle them. Annette Licitra: Yeah, that's true. Joey Thurman: By adding these different flavors, and sometimes people add cinnamon, or monk fruit, or these different ingredients. Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: Makes it much more palatable for your average individual. Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: Me, I'll take a shot of something, and if it doesn't taste great, I'll put it down. Annette Licitra: Done, yeah. Joey Thurman: I prefer if it tastes good, which all of these taste good, I mean like oatmeal cookie recipe on this. Annette Licitra: Yes. Joey Thurman: Anything cookie, yeah. Annette Licitra: Yeah, vanilla. You always think anything cookie, or any thing baked, but yeah, that would be lovely. Joey Thurman: I mean here, obviously vanilla, we've got 20 grams of protein, two servings of greens, and most people are not even getting that in an entire day. Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: You put this, whether it's a smoothie, or you just shake it up, and you drink it, basically straight out of the carton with whatever you're mixing. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Water, any sort of plant-based- Annette Licitra: Coconut milk. Joey Thurman: - coconut milk is great. Annette Licitra: It's one of my favorites. Joey Thurman: Yeah, coconut milk. Annette Licitra: Almond milk. Joey Thurman: Almond milk, flax milk. There's a bunch out there. Annette Licitra: Yes. Joey Thurman: Now we're moving on to our brighter colors here. Annette Licitra: Yes. Joey Thurman: Then as we said, a little bit is smaller of a container. Annette Licitra: Yes. Yes, we have the, It's a No-Brainer, which is really nice. Joey Thurman: I get it. Annette Licitra: Which brain health, obviously we want to focus on brain health. What I really like about each one of these two, is that they have different ingredients so that they show different parts of this particular ingredient actually are really good for your brain. Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: This one I really like too. This is vitamin D, so spring in your step if you're looking for energy. Joey Thurman: Oh, so that has caffeine in there. It's right there. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Vitamin D, it says it's got 15 grams of protein. Annette Licitra: Yes. This one's really nice too, for again, different types of ingredients are very good, different nutrients are good for, you know. Joey Thurman: Sure. Annette Licitra: Different parts of your body. Really like this one. Gut health, everybody seems to be very big into gut health, which makes sense, so You've Got Guts. This one's really awesome. Joey Thurman: I've Got Guts. Annette Licitra: Yeah, we all have guts, right? Joey Thurman: All right. We all have guts. Annette Licitra: A lot of people tend to have a lot of digestive issues. These have specific ingredients in there to really help with things to help repair your gut or your digestive tracts. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: Really great colors too. Very, very nice and bright. Joey Thurman: That makes sense, gut health will lead to brain health. You can even take the one specifically for brain health and immune system. It's a nice compilation. Annette Licitra: It's all connected. All connected, yes. Absolutely. Joey, I know you've used these before. Joey Thurman: Yes. Annette Licitra: How do you see these as different from other products, general products that you find in other nutrition stores? Joey Thurman: Yeah. A lot of products are just a large ingredient list. Annette Licitra: Yep. Joey Thurman: As I know that you like looking at. Annette Licitra: Yep, that's very familiar. Joey Thurman: It's not necessarily really good for you to intake, like all of those ingredients your body isn't going to know what to do with. Especially I really liked this, because it points out specific things as opposed to taking all of these and putting in one container, and just trying to throw them all in there. Annette Licitra: Right, right. Joey Thurman: You're getting your caffeine, your immune support, all that sort of stuff. This really makes a lot of sense to focus, because some people want a little bit more brain health, some people want to take care of their gut. Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: Some people want a little bit of that kick, not necessarily everything at once. It's like trying to have one meal a day and get everything in that meal, it's really hard to do, especially put it in one container. Annette Licitra: That's a really good point that you made, because separating them out is very important so that you're absorbing more, because then you really combine. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: Things all into one, you've got tons of things. Are you really absorbing every single nutrient that's in there? Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: I like that you even pointed that out, is that they're each a little different and have a little less ingredients. Joey Thurman: It's not my first time. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: A lot of people are really busy, and busy professionals, would you see this as a product that'd be great for them? Annette Licitra: Oh yeah, absolutely. It's a nice size container too, so it's not something that's super bulky, but I really feel that whatever it is that you're focusing on, for either that day, or whatever you're particular issue might be, yes, I think these are really easy to grab-and-go. Joey Thurman: You hit it right there, grab-and-go, and the size of it. Annette Licitra: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Joey Thurman: Most people aren't going to pick up a big protein container. Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: Put it in their briefcase or their backpack. Annette Licitra: Yep. Joey Thurman: You have something like this, you want a little bit more energy. Annette Licitra: It's nice, compact. Joey Thurman: Or you're not going to be able to get your greens or your DHA, especially if you're plant-based, then you go ahead and grab the immune system support. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Toss that into whatever mixture that you want to. Annette Licitra: Yeah, absolutely. Joey Thurman: A lot of these products today, we weren't able to get several years ago. What do you see is the difference between the ingredients that are in something like this versus what we weren't really able to get? Annette Licitra: Yeah. It's really interesting too, with working with food companies I got a chance to see that there's a lot of different ingredients, products today are definitely different than they were even five years ago, or 10 years ago. What I like about seeing the ingredients in here, is that they are some ingredients that we may not have been able to source- Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: - as much, or even at all, five years ago, 10 years ago, maybe even 20 years ago. I love seeing that they're so much cleaner now because the demand is there. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: As the demand increases, we're going to be seeing a lot more of the great ingredients, and plant-based ingredients, plant-based proteins start to increase as well. I think with having the demand really helps to drive the market, and people are really paying attention too, to what they're putting in their bodies. Joey Thurman: Yeah. Annette Licitra: And is it going to be a lot of filler-type stuff, or is it going to be things that they recognize, a lot of plant-based things that they recognize. That's what I really like about Vega, is that there's a lot of easy ingredients, and maybe some ingredients that people would not have actually gotten. Joey Thurman: Right. That makes sense, because a lot of things were having fillers in them, but didn't really do anything for your body- Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: - or could potentially be harmful for your body now, by what they're filling it with- Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: - could actually help fill you on a nutritional level as well. Annette Licitra: Absolutely, absolutely. It's all very nutrition based and that's right, there's a lot of things that were just maybe not, fill your body with the right nutrients, and these are a lot of different ingredients that you may not find separately. That's one thing I think that's really awesome, is that you can find different plant-based proteins in here that you wouldn't find other places. Joey Thurman: Yeah, that's great. It's really hard to get a compilation of nutrients now, especially out of the food that we're eating. Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: Being able to grab one of these convenient size containers, and put it in a smoothie or a shake and be on your way and not have to worry about where everything was sourced from, I think it's great. Annette Licitra: Right. Joey Thurman: It's amazing now that we have the choice to consume a product like this Vega, and it's really good. How does more choice lead to more sustainability? Annette Licitra: Yeah, yeah. When it's actually in the ingredients here that we're probably not easily sourced before. Joey Thurman: Sure. Annette Licitra: Put into things like this, a lot more people are getting a chance to see what it is what's in here, the quality of it, the nutrients that it's providing, and I think that the more that people understand, and that education that's there, the more demand it leads to. Then that way more sustainability to start sourcing all of these products or all of these ingredients. I think key is really just the education too- Joey Thurman: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Annette Licitra: - and then that would then drive demand, which it already is. Joey Thurman: Right. Annette Licitra: That's kind of what I would think. Joey Thurman: More drive for demand- Annette Licitra: Yeah. Joey Thurman: - brings down the cost. Annette Licitra: It does. Joey Thurman: Which puts it in your belly. It's good for you. It's 2021, we have designer food, amazing designer packaging. Annette Licitra: Yes. It really is. Awesome job Brendan. As a health coach I would absolutely recommend this to anyone of my clients, because I really like the way it looks, and also the ingredient label is amazing.