Coolhaus Sells to Perfect Day, Will Transition to Entirely Animal-Free Offerings

Alt-dairy ingredient provider Perfect Day has reached an agreement to acquire ice cream brand Coolhaus from investment group Sunrise Strategic Partners for an undisclosed fee, the company announced today.

The deal will make Coolhaus part of Perfect Day’s CPG arm, The Urgent Company, and transition its dairy-based line to use Perfect Day’s animal-free milk proteins in place of its current dairy-bases. The brand’s dairy-free products made with pea protein will remain the same.

Coolhaus CEO Natasha Case will also join The Urgent Company as its president of brand experience, while CFO Ryan Bennett will join as SVP of operations and integration. Other employees have been offered positions at Perfect Day or the Urgent Company as well, according to Paul Kollesoff, GM of The Urgent Company.

While the acquisition of one emerging brand by another may seem unusual, Steve Hughes, founder of Sunrise Strategic, said that the path to acquisition has shifted.

“Five years ago large strategics were apt to take flyers with emerging brands before they got the scale,” Hughes said. “If you want to sell to a strategic [now], you need to have $100 million in revenue and be making [over] 15% EBITA. I think the strategics have proven to themselves that they don’t have the fine motor skills they need to scale these emerging brands. So now, emerging brands have to be scaled brands to be attractive to them now.”

Coolhaus will join The Urgent Company’s current slate of brands, including fellow ice cream brand Brave Robot, Modern Kitchen cream cheese and California Performance Co protein supplements, all of which use Perfect Day’s animal-free dairy ingredients. The consumer division has been on an innovation tear in recent months, launching cream cheese, baking mixes and sports supplements, as the previously announced integration of the Urgent Company into Perfect Day has begun to bare fruit.

Though Coolhaus, which is sold in more than 6,000 stores, and Brave Robot, available in over 5,000 stores, have some overlap in customers including Kroger and Sprouts, the former is unique in its relationship with Whole Foods Market. The retailer does not currently sell products made with Perfect Day proteins — which also cannot be classified as non-GMO because of their use of synthetic biology. Urgent Company executives said discussions with Whole Foods are ongoing but also noted that it will continue to produce Coolhaus’s pea protein based ice cream.

Coolhaus also produces novelties using cookies and cones, and these too will eventually transition over to being “animal-free,” Kollesoff said. But, until then, only the ice cream will be vegan.

Despite their apparent similarities, Kollesoff broadly noted that Coolhaus seeks to “inspire the next generation of diverse creators …. [and create] ice cream for positive change,” while Brave Robot “exists to make more sustainable products without compromise.” As an example of further synergies, The Urgent Company said it plans to launch an exclusive animal-free dairy Coolhaus x Brave Robot co-branded novelty with “a key national retail partner” in 2022.

However, the agreement will give Perfect Day the ability to immediately place its brand on the packaging of a trendy ice cream brands, versus having to create a brand identity from scratch, as it has tried to do with Brave Robot. Perfect Day previously partnered with Graeter’s, but that brand tends to lean on its midwestern roots for branding and messaging.

The Urgent Company also noted that the acquisition will allow the two to share “resources and structure,” — though declined to provide specifics — which should result in  efficiencies for both brands, a sentiment echoed by Hughes.

“This category is so fragmented,” Hughes said. “To get the top 12 customers across the country around one of these emerging brands, that’s something you need the kind of capital and potentially disruptive innovation that a Perfect Day brings to the table.”

One question industry members have levied against Perfect Day is how much more sustainable its protein is versus other plant options. While compared to animal-based dairy, Kollesoff said that “Perfect Day animal-free whey protein generates up to 97% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional dairy protein,” it’s unclear, however, how it performs relative to sources such as pea, soy, almond or rice. Even so, Kollesoff said that the shift will offer Coolhaus fans the ability to “[reduce] the environmental impact from the products they already know and love.”

“This next chapter is [about] using innovations in food to keep the nostalgia of our products, in a way that will allow our children and grandchildren to continue to enjoy them for years to come,” Case said of the new emphasis on sustainability. “The integration of Perfect Day protein into our line of beloved dairy ice cream and novelties is going to elevate our products into the future of sustainable foods making a difference for our families and our planet.”