The Checkout: Alec’s Ice Cream Raises $1M; Women on Boards Project Celebrates 17 Placements in First Year

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Organic Ice Cream Brand Alec’s Ice Cream Raises $1 Million

California-based organic ice cream brand Alec’s Ice Cream announced this week it has raised $1.14 million in funding, which the brand will use to expand its product offerings and grow distribution beyond the Bay Area. Investors in the round include Golden West Food Group CEO Erik Litmanovich and president, Josh Solovy, Toba Capital founder Vinny Smith and Etchandy Farms owner Mike Etchandy.

Alec’s Ice Cream launched last November, taking over the Petaluma, California facility vacated by organic ice cream brand Three Twins after it shuttered last year. Alec’s offers five flavors — Tahitian Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Salted Caramel Latte, Mint Chocolate Chip and Honey Blueberry Lavender — made using organic pasture-raised dairy from farms in Sonoma County. The brand is currently sold at 75 specialty stores throughout the Bay Area, including Berkeley Bowl, Draeger’s and Oliver’s Market, as well as through Good Eggs and on the brand’s own direct-to-consumer site. The new funding will be used to fuel growth in both the retail and ecommerce channels and will also allow the brand to add new team members, Jaffe said.

At $7.99 per pint (and $59.95 for a 5-pack online), Alec’s is positioned as a premium product, and Jaffe said he believes consumers are willing to pay more for a “superior taste and texture” that are made from clean ingredients from sustainable sources.

Amid the growing trend toward plant-based frozen desserts, Jaffe said that he chose to launch a dairy-based ice cream in part because “plant-based does not inherently mean healthier or better for the environment.”

“I believed we could create a clean dairy-based ice cream that tastes incredible. I also believe that responsibly raised animals can play a critical part in the efforts to fight climate change,” he said. “There is a place for both dairy and plant-based frozen desserts. If we do decide to jump into the plant-based world in the future, it will be done in a way that is authentic to us and our philosophy of how we make products.”

Women on Boards Marks One Year Anniversary with 17 Board Placements

Women on Boards (WOB) Project, a nonprofit focused on improving consumer brands’ gender diversity at the board of directors level, celebrated its one year anniversary this week and the achievement of placing 17 women on boards over the past year across several industries including food and beverage.

WOB Project was launched last year as a collaboration between co-founder VMG Partners and investment groups including L Catterton, Swander Pace Capital, Alliance Consumer Growth, TSG Consumer Partners, Encore Consumer Capital and CircleUp, who worked to diversify the boards of their portfolio brands over the past year. New partners North Castle Partners, Stride Consumer Partners and William Blair have pledged to do the same.

“In the past year we have made amazing progress, with a deliberate focus on the private company space, an ecosystem we know well,” Cassie Nielsen, WOB Project co-founder and Talent Partner at VMG Partners, said. “Moving forward we are asking companies to pledge to interview at least 70% of the candidates we tailor to their search to reduce unexpected biases that can creep into the process across gender, race and more as we continue to challenge the evolution of the current board ecosystem.”

Since its launch, WOB Project has partnered with 17 consumer brands on board placements, with additions including Cholula Food Company CEO Maura Mottolese at ALOHA, Krave chief brand officer Rusti Porter at DRY Soda Company, Whole Foods SVP Betsy Foster at Urban Remedy and Agriculture Capital CMO Amanda Steel at Simple Mills. WOB Project has also expanded its own team, adding marketing professional Lisel Welden, who has held positions at Nike, Lyft and Bleacher Report, to its board of directors in December.

“The past year has taught us that there are an abundant number of women candidates for these positions, who are ready and have been ready for board positions,” said Sheryl O’Loughlin, WOB Project co-founder and co-chair and former CEO of REBBL Inc. and Clif Bar. “We just needed a new approach to evolve the process for an industry that desperately needs new faces.

Target Launches New Private Label Brand

Building on the success of its Good & Gather brand, which generated $2 billion in sales in 2020, Target this week unveiled a new private label food and beverage brand, Favorite Day. The new brand will feature over 700 snacks and sweet treats and is set to debut at the retailer on April 5.

“Rooted in guest insights and developed by our talented Target team, Favorite Day is a sweet and savory addition that tastes amazing, makes life’s little moments of indulgence even sweeter and continues to differentiate Target’s owned brand portfolio,” Rick Gomez, executive vice president and chief food and beverage officer at Target, said in the announcement.

The new brand includes two product lines: Bakery, offering baked goods like cupcakes and breads, and Gourmet, featuring snacks, ice cream, beverage mixers and mocktails products. Favorite Day products previewed by the retailer include Dairy-Free Frozen Dessert Bars, Caramel Macchiato Trail Mix, Mini Everything Bagel Croissants and Blueberry Streusel Breakfast Bread. All products are priced below $15.

Meal Kit Company Vegano Raises $4.2M, Plans Los Angeles Launch

Vancouver-based plant-based meal kit delivery service Vegano announced this week the close of a C$4.2 million funding round (approximately $3.4 million) which the company plans to use to support the launch of a vegan marketplace as well as expansion to new markets. The investment round brings the company’s total funding since its launch in March 2020 to C$6 million (approximately $4.8 million).

With the vision of becoming the “largest plant-based ecosystem,” according to COO and co-founder Kaylee Astle, the company’s marketplace will launch in April, featuring Vegano branded products such as packaged sauces, soups, protein powder and snacks. Later this year, Astle said the company plans to launch its meal kits in Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles, establishing a partnership with Southern California-based celebrity plant-based chef Matthew Kenney for the U.S. launch.

“We love what’s happening in the plant-based space in California, it is cutting edge, and innovative, so that’s exactly where we want to be as well,” she said.

PHA Launches Food Equity Campaign With Blue Apron and Walmart

Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) this week debuted its new campaign, “Pass the Love w/ Waffles + Mochi,” in collaboration with Michelle Obama and Higher Ground Productions.

The campaign, featuring the former First Lady as well as characters from her upcoming Netflix series “Waffles + Mochi,” is aimed at raising awareness for food equity issues and providing one million Pass the Love branded meal boxes to families in food insecure communities across the country. Partners Blue Apron and Walmart will both work to fundraise for the meal box distributions, which will be sourced, shipped and assembled by foodservice company Genuine Foods and feature recipes and ingredients for three family meals.

“PHA’s mission is to transform the food landscape in pursuit of health equity,” said PHA president and CEO Nancy E. Roman in a press release. “This campaign will focus on creating access and exposure to affordable meal making for families in economically disadvantaged communities, laying the groundwork for long-term shifts in attitudes and behaviors to benefit health. Food has the power to build health and we need to leverage that power.”