what in the shenanigans is expo west frank
expo west is basically the superbowl for food nerds — brands big and small come to anaheim to find buyers, get their product into stores, and prove they belong on a shelf (and also in a customer’s mouth)
it was also a 3-day overstimulation marathon
if you’re not working in consumer packaged goods (cpg) and food & beverage (f&b), there’s not really a way you’ll come across this — i only thought to go because one of my jiujitsu training partners worked in the industry
to get in, you have to work in the food/beverage industry — as a sales person, brand manager, retail purveyor, distributor, founder, chef, barista — something
like any conference, there are talks and panels — but the exhibitor halls are where the real action is
it’s where you’ll see new products, talk to founders of said new products, and where buyers, distributors, and purchasers make connections with brands, deals get done, etc
once you're in though, brand hits you immediately — every booth, every can, every logo is fighting for your attention
because the expo is so ridiculously large, i started almost three weeks ago, looking at their indexed app and picking out 20-30 brands i was curious about and organizing them
i highly highly highlyyyyy recommend doing this because the expo is so comprehensively large, you’ll get overwhelmed either way
expo west works with beacon (some third party) to create an app where you can see all exhibitors
this allowed me to see “ok what are my interests in right now?”
for me, the things i was focused on were coffee and coffee alternatives, chocolate, dairy (yogurts and milk alternatives related to coffee), and sparkling beverages
this is going to be different from person to person — don’t overthink it, just take a half-hour or so and see what makes you go “ooh!” or “hey i know them”
this helps focus your experience on folks you want to meet
obviously, i’m coming in as a person who is learning about the industry, and is looking to transition my existing interests and skillset to cpg, so starting with products i’m interested in cuts down a lot of the fake interest that can sometimes occur at conferences
i drove down from northern california and blasted straight into the venue itself
i only made the latter half of day 1, and it was already going full swing
the exhibit halls weren’t open yet, but the outside grounds were already running at full blast
it felt very much like a huge ass block party, not too dissimilar from my experiences at eth denver and other crypto conferences with shitloads of money
in the first half hour i was just assaulted with free shit:
ok yeah, getting free shit is pretty awesome, but right off the bat, i was thinking — what can i learn from this?
most people were just shilling their product, handing it out to folks who were passing by
i took pictures of most of the things i received, because i think there’s some reasoning, or story behind it — there’s the story of why the product was created, another story on why it looks like what it is, and the problem it solves for the customer
coming from a product management background, we’ve always been trained to focus on our ultimate customer, because if you understand who they are and how they live their lives, then it becomes far easier to figure out the solutions to their problems, and also the problems they don’t even know they have
sometimes, it might not even solve a real problem, it just introduces desires, and that’s also a thing
arrowhead and rambler sparkling waters surprisingly look very similar, despite being almost a century apart in terms of the year that they were founded
there’s this almost “instagrammable” like appeal to both cans — i described it as “fun”, with bright colors, fun doodles, and bolded fonts
both sort of felt nature-y to me — “drink this and you too can be outdoorsy, healthy, and sugar-free”
no longer do we only have lemon and lime — it’s prickly pear and “wild” cherry, it’s sexy, novel, and interesting
the can itself is almost a collectible
it’s a reflection on the type of person that they’re trying habitualize into drinking their sparkling waters
some serious mad men shit, but psychologically, it works
i was handed this sesame butter
the packaging was kinda interesting — i don’t think the plastic sleeve was necessary outside the hermetically sealed tub, but maybe it was just to advertise the benefits
the pitch: high protein, non-dairy, and allergy-friendly — a nut butter, but not from a nut, so i wouldn’t necessarily put this on toast?
black sesame lived in my childhood — sweet soup, glutinous rice balls, desserts my grandmother made
it’s targeting the asian diaspora in the united states that is into plant foods and disguising it in a tub that surprisingly looks like butter
because of this, we get these mixed use cases — someone will put it on toast (i did lol)
the only thing about this is i’m not a huge fan of hydrogenated palm oil, which in this case seems to be necessary if you want to make it spreadable like butter
i started day two at the magic spoon breakfast event
the first time i heard about them was during covid — the high protein, zero sugar, keto friendly cereal that doesn’t taste like horse ass
cereal was always this high carbohydrate ordeal, and with the boom in “morning routines” in the health and wellness sphere, protein became the hot new thing to have to kick your britches into overdrive
whether you believe that saying “30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up sets up your metabolism”, not many people are willing to eat 4-5 eggs in the morning or straight up meat
so it’s these protein freaks who miss their childhood cereal kicks in the morning that want to go for magic spoon — on top of that, they’re also keto friendly for the extra freaky
you know, get that protein and have that satisfying, dreamy cereal crunch
it goes without saying that their napkin branding is on point:
the protein trend is still strong — i saw the grams of protein listed on many types of things — cereal, snacks, meat sticks (i mean, i hope lol) and even coffee + drinks
protein has been in the news since the early 2010s, since lean muscle mass determines health as we age
women have historically gotten less protein than they need — and the industry is finally catching up — we see this swing the other way now with so many products touting more protein
the hard part about injecting protein into things that don’t have protein (like cereal) is the usage of whey and casein
they’re ok for most people but for some subset of the population, rapid spikes in insulin can happen, inflammation can occur, and for some, casein can act like gluten in the gut
for me, i’m ok with it — i’m less ok with the presence of inulin, chicory root fibers, and gums that cause inflammation in the gut, as someone who is a lifelong ibs sufferer
these ingredients are present in a lot of meal replacement bars and snack bars, which i basically avoid now
ok moving on
what’s cool about expo west is that all of these brands love to support each other
i’m a huge yogurt fanatic and at the magic spoon event, they were serving up their new protein granola (pretty good) alongside some containers of painterland sisters yogurt
up until now, i was unaware of icelandic-type yogurts brands that weren’t part of the more well known ones like icelandic provisions, siggi’s, danone (in france), and arla (also in europe)
i fucking love yogurt — when i lived in france for a short two months, this was probably one of my favorite things to do — go about grocery shops and farmer’s markets and find all types of yogurts to eat
i am unfussy as it pertains to the kind, but i always look for yogurts that have no flavoring and no crappy gums—there literally should just be real dairy, and probiotics in the yao
even if there’s a vanilla version made with real vanilla beans and the lowest amount of sugar, i generally don’t go for it because flavoring introduces other undesirable ingredients that are necessary to smooth over texture and emulsifiability
painterland sisters yogurt was delicious, and had nothing except milk and cultures
i will confess i ate three (two in the room, one on the go)
their branding was very “from the hearth” sort of feeling, which lines up with the personalities at the booth — laid back, midwestern sort of feel — also matches with the hierloom strains of bacteria traditionally found in icelandic yogurt
branding on point
at this point, the exhibits were gearing up for their first day, and that meant the crowds would soon be piling in — i managed to sneak past security an hour before the booths were open to see what the rage was
yep, this place was gonna be lit
right after the magic spoon event, i was in search of craft coffee — something more than the tub of starbucks that was served at the breakfast event
the way to get coffee is to:
visit coffee stands that are doing direct to consumer (buy beans) and also looking to get into retail (groceries, target, walmart)
direct to consumer → they usually give you a free bag of coffee
retail → they have coffee to try
but really → they usually have both
visit brands that are doing coffee related things, like alternative nut milks that foam up nicely for latte art
i made a beeline straight to sisters coffee co
i struck up a conversation with one of their sales associates as to what they were looking to do in 2026
they are locally based in the west, but are gunning to expand across the united states, in both direct to consumer but also in retail locations
their branding felt … rustic, high desert, and mountainous — even the bag had earthy pastel tones, which matches with the old west kind of vibe
because it’s a family owned company, there’s this feeling of warmth, almost tranquility that emanates from their branding
the way a company labels their coffee tells me a little bit about how they value the relationships — usually when they give such specific details (producer, region, altitude, processing), it tells me that they have a specific relationship with that farm (i mean, i really hope so), and that they care about the product that is exported
and checking when they got their start - 1989, which tracks with their emphasis on creating long-term relationships
the bags were of a super cute size, and i tried their colombia roast
it was awesome — some fruity undertones and a sort of an undertone molasses taste (in a good way)
i will be returning 👍
the next stop was klatch coffee, based in anaheim itself
they were doing a fun collab with the stand next to them, milkadamia
i wasn’t sure if it was planned or not — i would like to think it wasn’t planned and they just saw that their products could be combined 😂
milkadamia had “milk slices” that you could add to coffee, which i assumed would play the same role as having someone add milk to your coffee to make something like a latte
you take a slice, you add it to water, shake n’ bake, then steam and pour your latte art — the sustainable packaging minimizes waste
interestingggggg, feels like astronaut food
i don’t know if i’m the right customer for this kind of product because i’m usually a purist, so i think the target market is really the person who abhors waste, spoilage, and shipping costs (and likes oat milk)
since we’re on the topic of alt milks — a couple stops down, i found pkn, also known as, pecan milk
it’s gettin’ crazy up in here
again, you see the marketing following the trends
high protein
no refined sugar
creamy
plant-food based
of all the nuts out there, pecans are my favorite
probably because they don’t cause a huge amount of gut distress, especially if you soak and roast them, they have a thin crunch to them, and their buttery-ness lends itself well to sweet and salty versions
made into a milk, well, the body and butteryness exceeded that of almond and oat, which was to my liking
of all alternative milks, i think this one was my favorite
the plus side is that pecans also take less water than almonds, but in general, it’s all still pretty water intensive
the market for it is also pretty small — almond milk is least used in the coffee shop that i’ve worked in, oat is next, and the whole milk is still the winner
regardless, it was cool to see and taste-wise it was pretty damn good — maybe good for the enthusiast consumer, but unnecessary for cafés unless you’ve found traction in your customer base
ok one more coffee stop for day 1 🫨
at this point i was caffeinated up the butthole and probably was about to have a heart attack
but how could i pass up the … hario stand
they were using the new hario drippers and also scales to do their pourover samples
the drippers had 78 smaller splines to help increase water flow rates for roasts that like to get stuck up with fines
the pour was cleaner, faster, and the cup was smooth with nice clarity
the scale was dope too — the latest version automatically tells you the amount of water you need for the amount of coffee you have, the ratio, the time, and the current weight as you’re pouring
you don’t even have to hit a button, just start pouring and the rest takes care of itself
i only know this because the nice barista at the hario stand let me make a pourover with her
she was the owner of azure coffee — i nabbed a bag of their beans and have yet to open it
i like supporting coffee startups
of course the next stop wasn’t coffee, it was … yogurt — again
one of the brands i was really looking forward to seeing was sourmilk
i wasn’t sure where i first encountered this brand but the logo definitely caught my eye
even more so, the product and the founders don’t lack substance — elan and kirsten (the founders) write a hilariously good newsletter where they update you on their comings and goings
they’re based out of new york, so west coasters, we’re out of luck (for now)
but what’s the big deal, what’s different about them?
most yogurts have selected strains for taste, where as sourmilk is cultured with clinically-studied probiotic strains at high CFU counts for actual gut impact — as a lifelong IBS sufferer, this is good news to me
unprocessed with short ingredient lists from local organic farms, again, sounds good to me
founders are growing intelligently, denying funding to really make sure their business model works
jerry-rigging a mini “clinical study” to test the effects of their product — i’d slot this under “growing intelligently”
they are doing distribution in new york using a drug-dealing model (“meet us at this corner at this time and if we got it you got it”) 🤣
the yogurt was THICC af, and tasted good
the only thing lacking for me was a bigger spoonful, honestly
normal probiotics haven’t played out well for me, they gave me brain fog, caused a fair amount of gas, and didn’t really fix the problems in my gut
i’d rather eat real food versus taking a pill, so i’m looking forward to when sourmilk becomes available in my area
i actually just asked trader joes if they could stock them — we’ll see what happens
sourmilk actually reminded me of the time post college where i would make my own yogurt by taking samples from other mass-produced yogurts like fage, siggis, trader joes and using Strauss organic milk, and filtering it for an extra long period of time
it’s like they read my younger mind, but did a custom job
i have no doubts that they’re going to become big, and that’s good news for everyone’s gut, honestly
i clearly have no self control so after the sourmilk stand i ended up at minor figures
again, branding on point — even though i hadn’t tried minor figure’s product just yet, i already knew about them, which kinda speaks to the brand, actually
my primary question about minor figures was the story behind why an oat milk brand is called “minor figures” and features a lady in a duck? chicken? costume
i only got an answer for the former
i met one of the vice presidents of north american sales — minor figures was created because oat milk should play a “minor role” in your coffee drink, not drown out the coffee taste
unless i was being played, i thought the concept was pretty cool — it’s a playful flex that most likely helps the brand stand out
first off, you don’t see many duck costumes on barista milk — and second, it’s not a name you’d expect to be playing in the milk for coffee space
all things that make you do a double take
plus, the product was good
i usually don’t prefer oat milk because it has more sugar than other milks, but minor figures came off smooth — my cortado tasted like cortado
next stand was to visit an old friend of mine
he helped me break into product management prior to covid, and at the time, was working in venture capital
i saw later that he started immi, an alternative ramen company that was high protein, high fiber, and plant-based
when he went live years ago, i ordered a few packs in support to try
i recall the texture being a little weird — it wasn’t the worst thing ever, but it definitely didn’t remind me of the nissin cup noodles i had as a kid on sunday mornings — the noodle texture was a bit more wet, like the fresh noodles you’d find at ranch 99, not exactly a true dried instant ramen
this time though, in 2026, retrying their noodles, standing there in the middle of the expo, i got a hint of those sunday mornings back — al dente but not in an italian way, with the little half-rehydrated veggies you’d find in a cup noodle
nice
they’ve improved a lot through the years, and feeling those sunday mornings in the hustle and bustle of the expo tells me they got the texture right
last i heard they were trying to get a foot in the door to costco — if they show up at mine, i’ll be buying some
down a few rows i found ellenos
this seattle pike place market yogurt started in 2013, and i first encountered it in 2017 in california at whole foods
at the time, they only had lemon curd and plain, and i gobbled up the plain shit like fat kid on rice
the texture and taste was what i loved — they add milk protein concentrate to boost up the creaminess — this is also a boon to protein lovers
i said before i really like plain yogurt because there’s no other flavors to hide the natural milk taste, plus, it’s lower sugar
since then they’ve expanded their flavor line, so i tried their pistachio
been a fan of them for a while, but lately, i’ve been avoiding as many unknown ingredients as much as possible
while milk protein concentrate and natural flavors isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for me, i’d still trend towards yogurts that are just cultures and milk
still a great choice though, i wouldn’t hesitate to grab several if i found them at a good price, which gets me to my next point
ellenos is also somewhat cost prohibitive, tubs at whole foods can run quite high, so i might have to look elsewhere to find them
in the periphery of another grand ballroom, i found groundwork coffee roasters
i’ve tried their beans up in nocal and they’re LA based
they basically run the gamut of complete products from direct to consumer bottled drinks, to beans in retail stores, and wholesale to cafés
they’ve been around as long as i’ve been alive lol
i got to taste some of their nespresso pods, which was kinda cool
not as smooth as pourover, or as intricate as a true espresso but almost indistinguishable from good coffee a step above starbucks
if i were in a pinch, this would be a great alternative
i don’t think i’m ever the right target market for something like nespresso because i like customization and the ritual/complexity of making my own coffee, but perhaps my more convenient self can appreciate something like this
i wandered some more and encountered a pickle snack jacket
sick
at this point, i was fully slammed on day 2 — it had been 7-8 hours of conversation, so i visited a couple more stands and then called it day
kimino has a series of sparkling beverages with asian flavoring (ume, yuzu) that i really liked — this gyokuro green tea is their newest addition
more coffee that probably would’ve killed me if i drank it from explorer cold brew
juices at pressed juicery for health
fly by jing’s sauces on noodles for a pre-pre-dinner snack
more snax at the good crisp and golden state organic (potato chips with no weird ingredients)
jerky at righteous felon for protein gains (nice name!)
end of day fajita bowls at siete foods
my stomach was filing a restraining order on me
so, i decided to please my adrenals and started my day off at deathwish coffee
“high caffeine, clean label, coffee with attitude” is probably how i would describe them
reminds me of liquid death but in the opposite direction (hardcore looking branding, but oh look — sparkling water 💦)
i learned that there’s actually some competition there, since liquid death is thinking of moving into the coffee market
does that mean they’ll release hardcore looking cans to give you the impression that your heart will beat out of your socks, but in actuality, it’s quite mild? 😂
who knows
a sample cup of deathwish got me wired
they’re also looking to release some limited edition coffee flavors in 2026, aside from their expansion plans
the next stop was a random stop, some dude on a microphone said my name because everyone wears badges at this event
i turned around and found hydration
electrolytes are everywhere, especially in the jiujitsu community
i started with lmnt, since i was familiar with robb wolf of the paleo movement
but damn this space is crowded
there’s liquid iv, ultima, gatorade, pedialyte, amazon knockoff electrolytes, bulk-make-your-own electrolytes — it’s crazy
hydrocelt was very similar to lmnt, a limited set of ingredients using stevia as the sweetener, but focused on using french celtic salt with additional mineral qualities instead of normal salt (NaCl)
it was good, very similar to lmnt
but standing out will be difficult — this feels like a low differentiated market and it is more a game of distribution and sponsorships — the more eyeballs you have the more popular you are
after caffeine and hydration, it was chicharrón time
i stopped at pork king good and tried their chicharrón battered chicken nuggets
pretty fucking awesome, tbh
i’m not a low carber, but the breading on fried chicken is something i don’t prefer to eat a lot of
it’s usually full of seed oil and flour is not the healthiest thing for you
for those looking for high protein and less crap in their chicken nuggets but still want crunch and less flour, these are pretty good
the founder pointed out something i already knew: finding chicharrones that are clean-label and don't use crap is genuinely hard
i also learned a little bit about how costco rotates products through their stores, which was interesting — honestly sounds like a pain in the ass — lots of reapplying and waiting
which reminded me that the 4505 brand of chicharróns comes in a large ass pack at costco, but i was unhappy with the ingredients and flavorings they added
so, instead i would go to ranch 99, and buy out the stock of chicharrónes that specifically had pork rinds and salt as the only ingredients
i probably singlehandedly cleaned out their entire stock because they never came back, and instead they were replaced with these
notice monosodium glutamate as one of the ingredients
now i wouldn’t immediately demonize msg (although some other people will), it does occur naturally in many foods as free glutamate, the amino acid component that provides umami flavor (cheese, meat, fish, eggs, etc)
your body processes it the same way, and the FDA has recognized it as “generally safe”, but there are thousands of forums out there of people who report negative side effects
🤷♂️ — given the choice, i’d go with normal salt over msg
it’s nice to see that there’s products out there that try to keep things clean label, but understanding science tells me that msg might not be one of the worst things ever if i’m in a pinch
i probably am unhealthier for losing 3 hours of sleep googling the shit out of msg and should just eat the damn thing and go to bed early
a couple stalls down, i literally ran into 4505, and lo and behold, they had a similar product too!
the ingredients were not shown here, but it was clean
as a consumer, i win
next stop was real breakfast at siete again
i met up with a jiujitsu friend who works at siete — we met in person at a week long belgium camp
small world
the next stops were restaurant inspired products
momofuku sesame noodles by our favorite opinionated chef, david chang
and the stand next door, katie’s pizza, which started in st.louis
i talked to folks at both stands about this interesting trend of restaurants getting into cpg, and their need to, in order to survive
i’m torn about this trend because sometimes i think over the long term, making a product for home consumption is an inferior product to something you’d find in the restaurant — that might just be a fact of life
with that excellence in the restaurant comes high labor costs, high ingredient costs, and razor thin margins (if at all), which is why the restaurant industry is a fucking hard one
when i was still working at birdsong, for a couple of a weeks i was part of the making of their special hot sauce
man it was really intensive — i basically gassed out the the entire basement kitchen
DON’T TOUCH YOUR EYES 😂
as you can see, i made an absolute train wreck of a mess down there — why they let me in at all is a mystery still
about a year later, i found it at bernal cutlery in their dry goods section
i definitely helped bottled up some as gifts for a special party so they clearly took it a step further!
but my point again — another source of revenue and brand distribution for restaurants
we know the experience in restaurant is going to be good — obviously there will be dishes we simply can’t (or can we) replicate in the frozen food or shelf-stable isles
however, if we can capture some of that in something for the home, that’s a totally legit avenue
ok need more coffee
both verve and counter culture were early additions to the third-wave coffee movement
this third-wave movement was about light roasts, sustainability, and sourcing
counter culture coffee is featured quite prominently in the book “god in a cup”, where they talk about the development of the coffee scene that we see today
nice to see they’re still around
again, being on the topic of stimulants, i also stopped quickly by awake, which had some caffeinated chocolates
the only other time i saw this was a trader joes
awake tasted better
i let them know too
ran into more sparkling water from waterloo, throwback from day 1
my friends specifically like this brand, for their flavors
their old-timey look evokes a strong sense of familiarity for me, like soda branding back in the early days
even the text looks pretty classic
continuing my stroll, i slowed down near belli gelli — i mean, look at the sign, how could you not
one of the workers there handed me some belli gelli gummies and i asked her “will this turn me into a hot girl?”
she responded “you’re already a hot girl”
anyway, these were fiber gummies to help you shit
also, they have probiotics, collagen for joint health, and electrolytes
damn
maybe i’ll just stop eating
next to the sourmilk stand, i also found bollygood
they were an indian-flavor inspired soda
low-key, some of the best sparklys i tasted at expo west, so props to them
really creative stuff
everyday dose was also worth stopping by
i found this combination of coffee alternative + protein to be quite interesting
if i look at my own morning routine, i usually make a cortado, and while i’m weighing out my beans im also weighing out my creatine, which i choke down with water
everyday dose habitualizes this by giving you what you need, without the jitters of caffeine, and also gives you your protein
sort of an all in one
non-jittery stimulants to wake your brain up
protein for muscles
all the other benefits we find in mushrooms
sick
does it taste good?
better than my creatine + water , not as uncomfortably filling as eating a pile of meat to get protein, but maybe not as delicious as a really nicely done cortado
maybe they can add creatine somehow to their products too and we can have the whole she-bang one go
i had some of their cold brew protein though, which was smoother than i expected
not bad, interesting product, and smart branding for habitualization and repurchase
i got a fun mushroom tote bag from them and some samples
at this point, my day 3 was wrapping up — i was running low on energy
if i did a post on everything, we’d be here forever, so here’s a photo smattering of the last bits
high protein is still a hot trend, and we’re seeing more and more products that advertise this — supplements, snacks, drinks — everything
coffee and coffee alternatives are still a strong, growing category — more niches are popping up, just like how coffee had different waves, there’s a push in alternative milks and supplement drinks with a sustainability bent, latte art bent, and protein bent, respectively
pre and probiotics in all forms are also in a ton of products — i specifically looked mostly at the fermented dairy sections, since i’m a yogurt ho — but as a lifelong ibs sufferer, this brings me hope (although lots of stuff hasn’t worked too well for me)
i think personalization and gut health is going to be really important in the coming years, i wonder how this will be incorporated in gut-healing products
sleep too, but that’s not necessarily cpg related, unless we’re talking magnesium supplements, and honestly, just go to bed earlier
low sugar is also a trend, especially in the snacking and meal-replacement bars area — i remember trying to find high protein, low sugar, good tasting bars for the longest time, and i eventually just gave up and instead ate big at lunch and dinner, so this trend sort of affects me less
i understand that inulin, chicory, root fiber, and gums improve the shelf-life and the texture for snack and bar foods, but maybe one day we can rule some of these things out — maybe i’m an n of 1 with regards to gut distress but there’s gotta be other folks out there who have the same issues
cpg is an infinitely interesting space for someone of my background — i went to learn about the industry and stayed curious — it seemed that buyers and distributors were the most highly sought after, probably because it’s one of the primary ways that brands get big deals and eventually get visual shelf space
the relationship space in cpg is crazy — talk about multiple stakeholders (brands, brokers, distributors, buyers, purchasers, customers, ambassadors, influencers) — i guess i’m not surprised; they all play a very important role in the ecosystem
restaurants are beginning to / already entering the cpg space as legit competitors, we may even see restaurant kitchens shifting to r&d spots rather than having the complexity of service, if their products are flying off the shelves — this aligns with the “temporary ghost kitchen pop up for research” thinking, which really cuts down on costs
the instagrammability of brand is undeniable — you can’t be boring, vanilla, or quiet anymore in this space; your product also can’t suck — there’s just too many creative fun amazing products out there that will take your attention and money first
expo west was fun as hell
somewhere between the yogurt tastings and the branding breakdowns, i realized i’ve been doing product research my whole life — i just called it … eating
i’m hoping to work at a small or mid-size cpg company soon, and when that happens, you’ll hear about it here first
❤️ ⭐️
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