Superwealthyfood.
But when açai first appeared on your scene, assuming you live outside of Brazil, did you have any memorable thoughts? I recall being made aware of the purple Brazilian ice-cream in Portugal, I think, when I was there covering the Association of Surfing Professional’s World Championship Tour back in 2008. Someone, I believed, tried to convince me that it was a “superfood” but I didn’t understand what that was and, also, thought “sugar.” I internally mocked anyone I saw replacing their prato do dia with an açai bowl, assuming the trend would disappear once all the superfooders woke up fat one morning.
Well call me mistaken, once again.
The açai train is still very much here with enterprising surfers like New Jersey surfers Robert Giuliani and Abby Taylor who started dishing out granola and berry-topped frozen mush from a little cart in Belmar in 2014. Just over a decade later, Playa Bowls has a whopping 400 stores spread across 35 united states and $332 million in sales.
Lots o’ money. According to Times of India, “The idea for the business came after Giuliani and Taylor spent years traveling to popular surfing destinations, including Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. During their trips, they discovered fruit bowls made with superfoods at small beach huts. They saw a chance to bring the same idea to the American fast-casual market and decided to start a business in their hometown.”
Steve Jobs-style prescience.
But if you could go back in time and invest in one thing, what would it be?
Also #NeverForget
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
There is a history of Jersey Shore-based food businesses for 25 years now all in on the “surf-inspired” eatery. It all started in 2001 with the original concept brought here by one business – Surf Taco. The rest of them are copy cats. Surf Taco remains owned by the same guy who started it all in ’01, while the rest around the Jersey Shore have copied the model, some of which have joined the cash-out-to-private equity club, to make their millions, letting the product fall to Taco Bell level. Credit Playa Bowls for not taking that route (so far)… but in the meantime I’ll be at Surf Taco, where this all began, and where it’s still the best product hands down…
should have invested more time into surfing when I was in college.
Really Hahha.
“Should have invested more time at University instead of surfing”
Hey. I’m watching some footage of Trestles from October and it looks to be a lot of mid lengths and hybrids (of some sort or the other) (larger boards) being ridden by experienced surfers.
in your region, approximately what % of experienced surfers ride high performance short boards in the winter? 20%? More?
lowers is still almost exclusively high-performance short boards. uppers is a mixed bag. seen mid lengths there since Covid and you also get a lot of hybrids, alt boards, and fish during all seasons (i’m certainly guilty of that). during big winter swells though, it’s about 80% high performance shortboards and step ups, and surfers on equipment that is inappropriate for those conditions either aren’t out there or aren’t catching much
@Rocks and East Coasters. Any of you or your loved ones being affected by this King Tide flooding?
Shit looks wild !
Why not, these days, in the wild west, you can sell anything!
Yesterday, they were even spruiking and flogging that a crumbling, miles away, north runner typhoon suddenly started delivering short period, close together peaks, from the south! Whilst the seasoned, elite, core, water athletes sat inside, broke everything, including core, cardinal rules of paddling in front of surfers, and getting run over, and missed the lot! Unridden south runners running amuck. Epic, swillnutty shit!!!
But the worse swillnutty shite, beyond belief? Dare I say it? If you put JJF, who is far away from this… If you put him at any of the premier destinations, Pipe, etc, etc, Chopes, Cloudbreak, NW and SW WA, even bombing Oz, Filos, bombing Indo, any of those genuine legendary, real deal bombing bombs, bombing their guts out, where even world champs fear to tread, and you wanted to watch an all time super heat with JJF, and someone else, who would have you on the edge of your seat, frothing on who the winner would be until the last second, as you were genuinely mind blown…
Jack Robinson. He would already be out there, way inside, hooking in, as everyone was looking through the list, wondering who?
So, dare I say it, no, sorry ziff, typhoon, swillnutty, on sale now spruiking blatherthon team. Jack Robinson doesn’t need to learn anthing from, or draw any inspiration from the local kids. Visa versa? For sure, for once, they, mega talented as they are, would do well to follow the likes of Jack Robinson and JJF and co, where angels and ‘matadors’, and croc preeners fear to tread.
Enough with the, what’s wrong with Jack Robbo and his ilk crap. Stop sending them out, parading them around to sell b and c grade crap, and you’ll find out, that they are actually powering.
good call .
Its five miles deep, that bucket. All it takes is some local scuds, out to sea, and the slop reaching a chunk of rock, hey, presto!!!
yeah, I hove to – further out, off the Marianas trench- dove overboard and swam down.
was like floating in outer space.
Love it! I had a seasoned ab diving legend here a few months ago, and even he was blown away… just outside one of those offshore slabs… lost in space! As I floated around amatuer snorkelling, like an aphid, fish food!
Buying equity in Beach Grit circa
2021 when it was the most visited surf website in the world. The only was was up!
I bet investing in warming lube would of been a solid idea
If I could go back in time I would I would invest in a boat trip for a locally known plumber and chippy so they could talk out there difference of opinions privately.
Dunny divers and chippies never get along. The fucking shit pipers are always bustin out chainsaws on job sites and hacking right through structural beams, gluelams, TJI’s and such in order to put a pipe where it ain’t supposed to be.
Air con cunts are worse. You do a few lifts for em with the promise of slabs and when all their gear is on the roof they disappear into the ether.
I’ve heard stories of “ONLY ONE TYPE OF TRADE ALLOWED ONSITE AT ANY ONE TIME” around here in some builds.
They just can’t get along…
Hahhaa
I am careful not to schedule more than one contractor at a time. They can’t even share a driveway without issues.
this is not Satire… hahah
hahaha!
Playing “Imagine” by Lennon as I read this
Oh no you wouldn’t. Their banter is too entertaining. 😆
I’d invest in a decent comment platform.
This is impossibly fucked.
xox
I cant even change my name
Mindy forever!!!
You’re better suited to Mingy tbh …
bahahahaaha
Whateva turns yall on!
Had a look at the tour rankings today and was surprised to see there are currently four Strayans in the top 15 which surprised me cuz we’re having such a shocker at the moment. What didn’t surprise me though is there is currently only one seppo in that group. Hahahahaahaha fucking hopeless cunts. Caaaaaaaaaarn Ethan yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew
More surprising is that the top 5 contains 4 Brazzos, 1 Seppo, and 0 Aussies.
Hahaha yeh but I like to look at the bigger picture mate
Especially when it increase the percentage of Aussies and reduces the percentage of Sepp’s?
Speaking of, big day here tomorrow. Wish us well. And thus, wish the planet well.
I’m dense so help me understand the “Speaking of…” part.
Break out the gun!
Bless
We might have a chance to beat the brazzo’s after this round of top tier talent retires. Until then were all screwed.
Apple Computer 2005. We’d just sold a house and picked up about 300,000.
Built another elsewhere. Should’ve put half into Apple and taken bigger mortgage … or even 10,000, Dohhhh dopesmack – fucken hell. I don’t like to think about it tbh. Missed that boat completely.
For sure exposing a Filipino surf break for the whole world to see and grasping with a death grip the claim to (insubstantial) fame of having named said surf break after a candy bar wrapper.
Best is the fact the only person who substantiates these foolish claims by the taker of grainy, out of focus photos is the taker of grainy, out of focus photos.
Do you reckon the guy who named Beng Bengs constantly sends everyone AI-generated texts describing his desperate grasp for immortality by claiming naming rights over the wave?
Beng-Beng …on the door baby!!
JSC and all the other cunts on here had better never come here and try and surf “piggy tits” or they’ll be dramas hahaha
Is that the name of your special peak/section at Cudgen?
I’m really loving the community effort here
What about the guy that name Ni Pussi?
my question is, when JSC discovered Siargao Island was there any infrastructure or even a village at Cloud 9. I’m thinking of booking a trip there and it looks like the place has a massive footprint with airB&B, Hotels, restaurants, surf lessons and Acai bowls. Is he responsible for that?
Great ROI if he gets a cut for everything that says “Cloud 9” on it.
Considering he somehow thinks guys like Davidson (who supposedly showed him the wave), Arruza, Jones, Boyum and quite a few others were in the area long before him but never seemed to see or surf the wave, it wouldn’t be surprising if he somehow thinks he should get a cut of everything Siargao and Cloud Clown.
Dang…you just busted me. I claimed to name Rubber Duckies…but I really didn’t….but I did rename Cloud 9, C9.
And then gives it all to the poor
You’ve traveled 1,000,000x more than me, let alone to surf, and you probably know this, but you need to time it with a swell generator. Otherwise you may as well fly to visit me and look at a flat ocean for months on end.
the wife and kids want to go to PI, and we have to go to Palawan and a couple of other islands so figure if C9 (I renamed it C9) is showing signs of swell, we’ll bounce over for a bit of surf….
although laying on a beach with you, looking out at a flat ocean, drinking foofoo drinks and sunning our balls, whilst holding hands and talking politics does sound enticing.
Thanks for the offer.
I don’t know if they would’ve upgraded the ferry by now. If not sit your family next to the front hatch for a quick exit if need be
I’m going with $1,000 into Microsoft at it’s IPO in 1986, would be about $8.6 million today.
When is the next installment of the “Kook Learns to Longboard” series?
Reckon if you’d levered $1000 into a loan for a decent sized landed property somewhere in Oz ( or Bali?) like Byron or Noosa shires then rented it out to cover the loan. It would have outperformed any shares you could buy.
Oz property price growth has been radical
used to drive buses with a bloke who’s brother bought a block at Wategoes for 5 grand and built a house on it with recycled timber- whole thing cost him 20 grand.
he sold it to the guitarist out of Dire Straits for obscene money.
That’s the way you do it