(NEW YORK) — California became the first state in the nation this week to issue a phase-out of gas-powered vehicles — and other states are planning to follow in its footsteps.
After the California Air Resources Board approved Thursday regulations that ban the sale of new gas-engine vehicles by 2035, requiring all new cars to run on electricity or hydrogen, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told ABC News he was confident that more states would do the same to help combat climate change.
He noted that 17 other states have already followed California’s lead and adopted its tailpipe emission standards, which are stricter than the federal government’s.
Among those, 15 have also backed its zero-emission vehicle requirements, with several states already making steps towards adopting the new regulations.
California is uniquely able to set emission standards that are stricter than federal rules, which other states can then follow. The Clear Air Act allows California to enact emission standards for new motor vehicles through a waiver granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Other states can adopt California’s standards without government approval, as long as they’re identical, according to the EPA.
Under California’s new rules, automakers cannot sell any car, pickup truck, minivan, SUV or other passenger vehicle that emits greenhouse gasses by 2035. Motorists can continue driving gas-fueled vehicles that were bought before the 2035 deadline and will be allowed to purchase used gas-powered vehicles after the rules take effect.
Here’s a look at states that have made steps to adopt California’s zero-emission vehicle standards or similar policies.
Washington
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called California’s ban on new gasoline cars “a critical milestone in our climate fight” and said this week that his state is “ready to adopt California’s regs by the end of this year.” The state legislature had previously committed Washington to adopt rules implement California’s emission standards. This spring, state lawmakers also set a target to phase out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2030 in its $17 billion transportation plan, though it wasn’t a mandate.
This is a critical milestone in our climate fight. Washington set in law a goal for all new car sales to be zero emissions by 2030 and we’re ready to adopt California’s regs by end of this year. https://t.co/r6jchISD7O
Oregon is also looking to adopt California’s “landmark” regulation, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday. “Oregon is moving forward with a proposed rule similar to California’s Advanced Clean Cars II regulation, which is vital to help achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction targets across the state and result in improved air quality and public health outcomes,” the department said in a statement. The proposed rule would transition all new light-duty vehicle sales in the state to zero-emission by 2035. Previously the state had set a target to have at least 90% of new vehicles sold annually be zero-emission by 2035.
Massachusetts
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a sweeping climate bill into law that includes mandating that all new cars sold in the state be zero-emission starting in 2035, following California’s lead. The law also increases the state rebate for a new electric vehicle, including an additional rebate for low-income earners, and boosts charging infrastructure, among other measures.
New York
Last year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that sets a target to have 100% of the passenger cars and trucks sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035, and medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Twitter is expanding its platform to include podcasts, the tech company said in a statement on Thursday.
Starting Thursday, Twitter will begin incorporating podcasts into its redesigned Spaces tab, an extension of its app that allows people to have live audio conversions, the company said.
According to a statement from Twitter, the newest addition has become available to “a group of global English-speaking audience on iOS and Android.”
It’s not yet clear when the tab will be fully rolled out.
The tech company said the new extension to include podcasts will allow users to have conversations past its 280 written character limit and will bring “people closer to the ideas, content, and creators they know and love is core to Twitter no matter where the conversations take place.”
According to Twitter’s statement, the new tab will introduce personalized “hubs” that group audio content together based on its genre, like news, music or sports.
These hubs will allow users to have easy access to a more personalized selection of live and recorded “Spaces” that discuss topics that matter to them.
These hubs will link the existing Spaces audio content with popular podcasts, Twitter said.
According to their statement, Twitter’s internal research indicates 45% of people who use Twitter in the U.S. also listen to podcasts monthly. In this new move, Twitter aims to readily suggest podcasts to users that they can listen to directly on the app.
Vox Media has partnered with Twitter to showcase their podcasts on the new extension.
“Vox Media has a rich array of popular podcasts across many categories, and we’re thrilled that Twitter is expanding its audio capabilities to help more listeners discover them,” said Ray Chao, general manager of audio at Vox Media, said in Twitter’s statement.
The company’s new move comes just days after Twitter’s former head of security, Peiter Zatko, alleged in a whistleblower federal complaint last month that the social media giant had numerous wide-ranging information security system lapses, according to a copy of the complaint made public on Tuesday.
In response, Twitter said Zatko was spreading a “false narrative about Twitter” and was fired for “ineffective leadership and poor performance.” The company also said Zatko’s public remarks are “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context.”
(JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed to fight inflation “forcefully” in remarks on Friday at the central bank’s annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The Fed is weighing whether a large rate increase will be necessary at the central bank’s meeting next month, Powell said, adding that a reduction in the pace of rate increases will likely take hold “at some point.”
“Price stability is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve and serves as the bedrock of our economy,” Powell said. “Without prices stability, the economy doesn’t work for anyone.”
The Fed has instituted a series of borrowing cost increases in recent months as it tries to slash near-historic inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into a recession.
Powell acknowledged that further rate increases will “bring some pain to households and business” but said persistent elevated inflation threatens even worse pain.
At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
The rate increases may have contributed to a slowdown in price hikes. While still elevated, price increases last month waned from the near-historic pace reached in June, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
July’s consumer price index, or CPI, rose 8.5% over the past year, a marked slowdown from a 9.1% year-over-year rate measured in June, the bureau said.
Price hikes also slowed last month as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, a measure of inflation closely watched by the Fed, according to a release from the Commerce Department on Friday.
The PCE rose 6.3% in July from a year earlier after recording an increase of 6.8% year-over-year in June, the data release said.
Fed officials have signaled in recent days that the central bank intends to continue a series of rate hikes, aiming to bring inflation back down to its target of 2%.
Last Thursday, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly told CNN that a 50- or 75-point basis hike at the central bank’s meeting next month would be “reasonable” and that rate hikes would continue into at least 2023.
As it sets policy, the Fed faces mixed economic data.
Inflation remains near a 40-year high and GDP has slowed, raising the specter of stagflation, a damaging combination of high prices and anemic growth.
But observers can take solace in employment data, which persists at robust levels, as the economy added a blockbuster 528,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate stands at 3.5%.
While acknowledging the mixed economic data, Powell said the economy “continues to show momentum.”
He said the Fed will do what it takes to bring inflation down to its 2% target.
“We must keep at it until the job is done,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech for infringing patents central to Moderna’s mRNA technology platform used to develop the COVID vaccine, the company said in a press release Friday.
A widely distributed COVID vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, called Comirnaty, infringes on patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016, the company alleged, adding that mRNA technology was vital to the development of its COVID vaccine.
Moderna accused Pfizer and BioNTech of copying the mRNA technology without its permission in order to develop Comirnaty, the press release said.
“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
“This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, along with our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabled us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic struck,” he added. “As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop medicines that could treat and prevent infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer.”
In October 2020, Moderna vowed to forego enforcement of its COVID-related patents amid the pandemic, the company said. In March, however, the pandemic “entered a new phase and vaccine supply was no longer a barrier to access in many parts of the world,” the company added.
Moderna would never enforce patents in 92 middle- and low-income countries involved with a financing agreement at the global vaccine alliance Gavi, the company said. But, in other markets, Moderna expected competitors to respect intellectual property rights, it added.
In response to a request for comment, Pfizer said: “We have not been served and are unable to comment at this time.”
BioNTech did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden fulfilled one of his campaign promises and announced a plan to cancel student loan debt for millions of Americans.
The plan, announced Wednesday, forgives up to $20,000 for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year, will either wipe out the debt for millions of people, severely reduce the amount for individuals who still owe or barely scratch the surface of how much a person owes to their loan provider.
For people who don’t qualify for Biden’s loan forgiveness or will still have student loans left, options are still available to reduce their debt.
Working for the Federal Government
People who work for the federal government could have a government agency repay their student loans.
According to the United States Office of Personnel Management, a government agency may pay a maximum of $10,000 of an employee’s loan in a year or a total of $60,000 per employee during their time at the said agency.
An employee who agrees to the terms must remain employed at the agency for at least three years.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) promises to eliminate a person’s entire student loan debt if they work for the federal, state or local governments, nonprofits and other qualifying public service jobs.
The program forgives a borrower’s remaining loan balance after making 120 on-time monthly payments for 10 years. Individuals must have received the loan under a federal direct loan program, as other programs don’t qualify for PSLF.
People who thought they were making qualifying payments while receiving their loan from another federal program have until Oct. 31 to receive credits for payments that didn’t qualify under PSLF.
Income-driven repayment plans
Individuals who are paying back their federal loans through any of the four income-driven repayment plans are eligible to have the rest of their loans forgiven after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, depending on if the loans were given for undergraduate or graduate level studies.
A report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Education Department hasn’t always been able to properly track borrowers’ payments, complicating matters for individuals who thought they were making progress in not only their payments but toward debt forgiveness.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
Through the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, full-time educators who teach for five consecutive years in a low-income school or at an education service agency could have up to $17,500 of their federal loans canceled.
Teachers may also qualify for the entirety of their debt to be eliminated through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Military
Active military service members are eligible for loan forgiveness for up to $65,000 if they commit to at least three years of service. Service members also qualify for PSLF.
(NEW YORK) — Apple users eagerly awaiting a new iPhone model will likely get their wish next month.
The company announced on Wednesday that it will hold a public event on Sept. 7 where Apple is expected to launch the latest line of iPhones and likely other products.
Apple is expected to release a set of four iPhone models that could be called the iPhone 14, Bloomberg reported. The new line is widely expected to feature an improved camera, among other updates.
Besides the iPhone, the company reportedly could announce a new line of the Apple Watch. The company is developing new health-related features that could alert a person to an increase in blood pressure as well as a change in body temperature related to fertility, The Wall Street Journal reported last September.
The event will take place at 1 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on Apple’s website.
Apple sent invites on Wednesday for some viewers to see the event in person at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Earnings released by Apple last month outpaced analyst expectations for profit and revenue, as the company brought in $83 billion over the third quarter. Growth, however, slowed for the company. Sales jumped 2% year-over-year in the third quarter, a marked decline from 9% year-over-year growth in the prior quarter.
Apple has promoted the public event next month with the teaser tagline “Far out.”
(NEW YORK) — Just a week before repayments on federal student loans were scheduled to resume after a two-year pause, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a sweeping new policy to cancel debt for millions of Americans and reform the payment process going forward.
Students who attended college on Pell grants — federal dollars awarded to low-income students who can only contribute a certain amount toward their tuition — will owe up to $20,000 less on their federal loans if they make under $125,000 per year. And non-Pell borrowers making less than $125,000 will owe up to $10,000 less on their federal loans.
The president is also adjusting how much borrowers will have to pay each month and is extending the federal pause on repayments until the end of the year.
And while borrowers should keep their eyes peeled for specific details from the Department of Education (DOE) over the next few days and weeks, here is everything to know so far:
Who will this help?
Biden’s plan will erase at least $10,000 in federal student loan debt for Americans who made less than $125,000 per year in the 2020 or 2021 tax year, or less than $250,000 as a household.
For Americans under that same income bracket who took out Pell grants to pay for college, it would erase an additional $10,000 in debt, bringing the total forgiveness up to $20,000.
The income cap refers to adjusted gross income, a DOE spokesperson told ABC News, referring to income that already excludes retirement plan contributions, alimony and certain other expenses.
Current students are also eligible for federal loan forgiveness, so long as their parents meet the income criteria of $125,000 for a single provider or $250,000 for a married couple who file their taxes jointly.
The forgiveness applies to anyone who took out their loans before July 2022.
In a speech on Wednesday, Biden said 95% of borrowers will get some relief from his plan, or a total of 43 million out of the 45 million total student borrowers.
Nearly 45%, or 20 million people, will have their debt fully canceled, he said.
DOE data shows that erasing even $10,000 of debt could settle the balances of about one-third of federal loan borrowers. An analysis from Princeton University and the University of California at Merced that incorporated incomes found the same.
And for the other half of borrowers who will still have loans to continue paying down, Biden said the DOE would be modifying the terms.
The minimum required monthly payments for undergraduate loans will be cut from 10% down to 5% of peoples’ discretionary income, while the amount of income that is considered non-discretionary — or protected from repayment — was raised to guarantee that no borrower who is making around the annual equivalent of a $15-an-hour minimum wage will have to make monthly payments.
The plan will also ensure that people who took out an original loan of $12,000 or less will have their balance forgiven after 10 years of payments, which was brought down from the initial timeline of 20 years.
The DOE estimates that this change will allow community college graduates to be debt-free within 10 years.
“I think the administration is structurally attempting to fix many of the problems that have plagued the inconvenient payment system. Whether or not it gets the job done is going to depend on the details,” said Persis Yu, policy director and managing counsel for the Student Borrower Protection Center, a leading advocacy organization focused on alleviating student debt.
When will debt cancellation kick in?
Some borrowers will immediately qualify for debt cancellation. But more than likely, it will take months for the vast majority of borrowers, experts told ABC News.
In a briefing with reporters on Wednesday morning, the White House said the DOE would release details on the process in the coming days.
Some people will need to submit a “simple application” on studentaid.gov showing that they meet the income caps, a White House official said, while about eight million people will see their debt canceled automatically because the DOE already has their info on hand.
But because the DOE does not have income data for the other two-thirds of borrowers, they will need to receive authorization from those borrowers to obtain such data from the Internal Revenue Service — or borrowers will have to certify their income under penalty of perjury, financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz told ABC News in an interview.
“So you might have some borrowers getting forgiveness within a month or two, immediately, and then some borrowers taking a few additional months and they would have to complete that form,” Kantrowitz said.
“One thing I recommend all borrowers do is make sure your contact information, your mailing address, your email address or telephone numbers are up to date with your loan servicer and on the studentaid.gov website,” Kantrowitz said.
At a briefing later Wednesday, Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, told reporters that “anybody can go today to studentaid.gov and provide their email address and they will be notified when the website is available for people to fill out a very simple short form attesting to their income and become eligible.”
But just how “simple” the application is for people, and how many people know about it, is a subject of concern for debt-relief advocates who think a complicated process could keep people from taking advantage of the new policy.
“There’s a lot of low-income folks who will never learn about this application. They will not be able to figure it out, they won’t have the resources available to navigate the bureaucratic process,” Yu said. “And so in imposing this hurdle, we’re actually putting in a barrier for the folks who need it the most.”
The solution, Yu argued, would be a broad cancellation that does not try to target people based on their income, which would make the process easier to execute by the DOE.
How much will this cost the government?
A recent study by the University of Pennsylvania’s business school found that erasing $10,000 in student loan debt will cost about $300 billion. If the program continues for 10 years, the cost becomes $330 billion, or $344 billion if there is no income limit, per the report.
The changes to the monthly loan payments will also affect the cost, but the White House declined to give specifics on Wednesday, saying only that the cost would be spread over time and would be difficult to estimate.
“It’s fairly complicated, as a process, for determining the cost implications,” a White House official said.
Because the federal government backs many student loans, U.S. taxpayers will likely foot the bill — something Biden addressed directly on Wednesday by comparing student debt cancellation to the Paycheck Protection Program, a loan forgiveness program for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“No one complained that those loans caused inflation. A lot of these folks in small businesses are working in middle-class families. They needed help. It was the right thing to do,” Biden said.
“So the outrage over helping working people with student loans, I think is just simply wrong, dead wrong,” he said.
He also pushed back against Republicans who he pointed out, under former President Donald Trump, passed a massive tax cut that benefited many wealthy Americans and corporations, with the GOP arguing the move aided the economy.
In contrast, Biden said Wednesday, his plan would benefit the “middle class and working families. It helps both current and future borrowers. And it’ll fix a badly broken system.”
Does this policy fulfill Biden’s campaign promise?
While the president did pledge to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt on the trail — a commitment he has now made good on — that was just one of his vows around reforming the higher-education system.
Many critics who want to see Biden do more have pointed out that as a candidate he also proposed forgiving all tuition loan debt from undergraduate students that earn less than $125,000 per year and who attended two- or four-year public colleges, as he wrote in a 2020 Medium article.
“The federal government would pay the monthly payment in lieu of the borrower until the forgivable portion of the loan was paid off. This benefit would also apply to individuals holding federal student loans for tuition from private HBCUs and MSIs,” Biden wrote then.
That pledge led some progressives to commend the progress so far but still call for more.
“While not as high as we called for, this crucial step from the President keeps his campaign promise and responds to calls from the CPC, the Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, and millions across the country to address the crippling issue of student debt,” the Congressional Progressive Caucus said in a statement on Wednesday.
Yu, with the Student Borrower Protection Center, also applauded the move — but said it would be important to watch the rollout with a critical eye.
“We’re very excited to see him take this bold action, which is one of the things he’s promised,” Yu said.
But because Biden pledged debt cancellation for all, while the current policy is tailored to people under a certain income, Yu said the positive impact remains to be seen.
“I think really the test will be like: Are we able to get this relief to all of the borrowers who are eligible for it? That will be the real test of whether or not he’s kept his campaign promise,” Yu said.
With midterm elections roughly two months away, it also remains to be seen if erasing federal loan debt for some borrowers could bolster Biden’s underwater approval rating.
The plan is also likely to face pushback from those who opted not to attend college altogether because of the cost of doing so.
To that end, the new policy also stipulates that borrowers who meet the income requirements and recently paid off their loans can request a $10,000 refund or the total of payments made since March 13, 2020.
(NEW YORK) — After working for seven years in the corporate world as an aerospace engineer, Anita Vandyke said she needed to shed the material excess in her life and “give more.”
Vandyke is now a zero waste lifestyle author and influencer promoting the protection of the Earth and its resources.
Vandyke, who lives in Australia, runs the popular Instagram account @rocket_science, where she documents her own minimalist and zero waste journey. She’s also authored three books on zero waste living.
According to a 2020 study from researchers at Penn State, the average U.S. household wastes around 30% of the food it buys, translating to approximately $240 billion in food waste annually, nationwide.
The practice of zero-waste living traditionally means minimizing material consumption and waste to conserve natural resources and reduce pollution, Vandyke told ABC News. But for her, it also encompasses a mindset of cherishing all resources, including money, time and relationships.
Vandyke said her zero waste lifestyle was partly inspired by her childhood and upbringing by her Chinese immigrant parents.
“I learned all these kind of zero waste environmental tips out of necessity in terms of the frugal living that we had to do growing up,” she said. “A lot of these tips and tricks are actually not only saving the planet, but they also save money as well.”
As a working single mom, Vandyke said preserving the environment also means, to her, prolonging time spent with loved ones — the “only nonrenewable resource that we have.”
“We have to make sure that we look after our family, ourselves and also the environment in the limited time we have,” said Vandyke, whose husband died this year from cancer.
After graduating from medical school last year, Vandyke is now working as a doctor in Sydney, drawing connections between her work in health care and her environmental habits.
“To have healthy people, thriving people who have good soil, good air, good water, we have to have a healthy planet,” she said.
Vandyke assured anyone scared to plunge into a minimalist lifestyle that small changes can make a cumulative difference.
“Aim for effort, not perfection,” she said.
Here are few simple ways Vandyke said families can reduce their waste and live greener:
Make a family grocery list
As simple as it sounds, Vandyke said keeping a running grocery list during the week is a convenient way to ensure you’re not buying too much or too little before finishing your remaining food. She writes the list on a small whiteboard on the refrigerator.
“I also get people to contribute in the family,” she said. “So if I need to buy butter or bread, they can write that … and make that an ongoing list that is visible for the whole family to see.”
Create an “eat first” box
It’s easy to lose track of various expiration dates. To stay organized, Vandyke said she places items at the end of their shelf life in a box labeled “eat first” in the refrigerator. Her family then prioritizes finishing those “lonely” ingredients before buying more groceries.
Her household regularly has “mixed vegetable nights,” coming up with creative ways to use all the scraps and leftovers in the eat first box.
“Before you go shopping, I like to see what’s in the fridge, chop up all those things, make it into a curry, a stir fry, or fried rice, something that you can use up all your vegetables before you go out and buy any more,” Vandyke said.
Compost
Composting is the process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into a fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants.
As alternatives to the traditional compost bin, Vandyke recommends families buy a bokashi bucket, which ferments food scraps into a liquid fertilizer, or create a worm farm, which are odorless and relatively low maintenance.
“There’s different types of benefits for different families, and you just have to find the right one for you,” she said.
However, Vandyke said her favorite method of composting is actually not composting at all.
ShareWaste is a website that connects people who wish to recycle their food scraps with community gardens or neighbors with personal gardens who are already composting.
“What I do is I freeze my compost or put it in the fridge and once a week, I take it to the local community garden,” Vandyke said. “That way, I don’t have to upkeep anything because I have a small home. But this allows me to prevent waste in the long run.”
Engage kids from an early age
By engaging children in zero-waste living, Vandyke said parents can cultivate environmentally conscious habits and an appreciation of natural resources from a young age.
For example, cooking meals with children is an opportunity to educate them on their food sources so they value the ingredients and don’t waste them.
“You have to know that the rice that you make, or the broccoli that you have, all the fruit and vegetables that you have, you have to know where it comes from,” Vandyke said. “It just doesn’t come from the supermarket, it comes from a farm, it comes from a lot of resources to grow and make that food.”
Vandyke said she also raids her household’s recycling bins for cardboard boxes and glass jars that her children can then upcycle into jewelry boxes and other practical arts and crafts.
She also encourages parents to regularly bring their children outdoors to experience their natural environment and show them “what you’re fighting for.”
“The children appreciate nature,” she said, and by taking them outdoors, it makes the concept of conservation “really tangible to them.”
(NEW YORK) — Rothy’s and Evian are taking reduce, reuse, recycle to a whole new level.
The two brands have teamed up to created a limited-edition tennis-inspired capsule collection made with recycled water bottles from the 2021 U.S. Open.
Approximately 72,000 Evian bottles from the tennis tournament were blended with other recycled plastic bottles to create items in the line.
“We are excited to collaborate with evian to showcase Rothy’s transformative capabilities and prove that through innovation we find new uses for single use plastic,” Saskia van Gendt, Rothy’s head of sustainability, said in a press release.
According to the brands, this is a first-of-its-kind circular production collection.
From a cap to a bag for your tennis racket, this collection has everything you need to hit the court in style.
(NEW YORK) — Condiment fans are clamoring on social media over the luxurious and spicy new collaboration from Hidden Valley Ranch and hot sauce company Truff, Spicy Truffle Ranch.
The two companies announced the ultra-limited release on Tuesday, encouraging interested tasters to join the online waitlist to get notified when the black truffle infused hot sauce and ranch dressing blend goes live later this month.
From pizza to chicken wings, ranch and hot sauce are a well-known go-to for all things dipping, dunking and drizzling, so it comes as no surprise that fans are hyped about the hybrid Spicy Truffle Ranch blend.
“TRUFF is all about flavor exploration and reimagination. While we’ve had the privilege of working with world-class chefs, sometimes the best suggestions come from our customers, who have been very vocal about requesting a truffle ranch,” Truff co-founder Nick Ajluni said. “Partnering with Hidden Valley Ranch was the obvious choice. Not only are they the original ranch, but they’re a truly iconic brand with a passionate community that’s helped make ranch a cultural phenomenon.”
This unique new spicy truffle ranch features “the spice of red chiles, umami depth of black truffles, and tangy, creaminess of ranch dressing, all of which morph into a truly gourmet condiment,” according to the press release.
Deb Crandall, marketing director at Hidden Valley Ranch, hailed Truff as “the perfect partner” to deliver ranch fans a “new and unexpected” flavor experience.
Truff Hot Sauce, an upscale version of the spicy pantry staple, first reached viral acclaim when it debuted in 2017 and quickly became the fastest-growing company in the hot sauce space with its distinctive flavors, sleek bottle and truffle-shaped cap. The company now offers a variety of products, including pasta sauce, mayonnaise and truffle oil.
Previous iterations of Truff Hot Sauce have been tried and beloved by celebrities like Oprah and Machine Gun Kelly to home cooks.
The limited-time Spicy Truffle Ranch sauce officially goes live Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. ET and will be available for $24.99 in TRUFF’s larger 18-ounce “magnum” bottles while supplies last.
