HumanCo Rebrands Coconut Bliss & Adds Dairy-Based Line
Holding company HumanCo is making some bold moves with its ice cream brand Coconut Bliss, adding grass-fed dairy pints to the formerly vegan brand and rebranding the company to Cosmic Bliss — the second major packaging change since the company was acquired in July 2020.
The move, which was announced on Monday, marks a significant pivot for Coconut Bliss, which has been producing exclusively dairy-free coconut-based ice cream and novelties since launching in 2005. Though it may risk alienating a certain segment of its consumer base, HumanCo CEO Jason Karp said the new dairy-based products are an opportunity to grow Cosmic Bliss’ audience overall while still adhering to its focus on quality and sustainability.
“Our focus across the HumanCo umbrella… is much more on deriving things from nature and farms, instead of doing man made, engineered or synthetic things,” Karp said. “We believe that there’s a better way to make dairy ice cream and it hasn’t yet been done.”
The new grass-fed line will be available in Twisted Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Blitz, Hazelnut Fudge Crunch, Strawberry Lemon Shortbread, Banana Caramel Flambé, Vanilla Bean Nirvana, and Chocolate Euphoria flavors, retailing for $8.99 per pint. To-date, Erewhon and Sprouts have picked up the dairy-based line.
The original coconut-based line isn’t going anywhere, with Karp stating that by keeping both vegan and dairy options, Cosmic Bliss can now reach all consumers rather than just a limited subgroup. According to the brand’s consumer research, 97% shoppers consume dairy-based ice cream.
“Basically our tagline is sustainability for all diets. And we want to be much more inclusive of everybody, regardless of their dietary preference,” he said, “Whether you’re vegan or vegetarian, or omnivorous, all of those people should have options that are better.”
Though this is its first dairy-based product, Cosmic Bliss does have some background in the category. When the brand was acquired by HumanCo, its original founders the Gibson family retained ownership of Oregon-based Lochmead Farms and Lochmead Dairy, a dairy farm and the facility which produces Coconut Bliss, respectively
While HumanCo will have to resell the line into retailers due to the name change, Will Lisman, Chief Commercial Officer at HumanCo, said that reception to-date has been positive. HumanCo did not track Coconut Bliss’ distribution, rather monitoring the total number of facings in retail, so it’s hard, at this point, to estimate how long it will take to recoup all retail accounts given some stores may end up taking on more or less facings.
So far, consumer reception has been mixed with some vocal vegan brand advocates unhappy that a brand they supported for its commitment to protecting the planet and animals has now changed its mission. Karp, however, believes that this sentiment is a bit misguided, believing that the new pints absolutely adhere to Coconut Bliss’ values.
“if you look at the history of Coconut Bliss,” he said, “it was always more about sustainability than it was about plant-based.”
There’s other shifts afoot at HumanCo as well. After becoming the company’s first-ever acquisition in 2020, vegan cheese brand Monty’s was sold back to its original founder, Lauren Montgomery, in 2021. HumanCo will retain a significant minority stake in the company, Lisman said , but it will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operation of the business as HumanCo seeks to focus on a more focused group of brands.
Meanwhile the company’s SPAC, HumanCo Acquisition Company, also has seen changes. According to SEC filings, original partner, venture firm CAVU, has sold most of its shares to investor Blackrock. As part of that agreement, HumanCo Acquisition Company president, Brett Thomas, and co-chairman Rohan Oza, (two of the co-founders of CAVU) have also departed the SPAC.
