Perfect Day Launches Brave Robot Cake Mix, Brings on Former MALK CEO

Just weeks after announcing a $350 million funding round, animal-free dairy company Perfect Day debuted a new yellow cake mix under its Brave Robot brand.

Climate Hero Super Cake Mix, which was previewed at last week’s New York City Wine and Food Festival and sampled at the event’s Drag Brunch, will officially launch next week on Brave Robot’s website. Each compostable bag, priced at $18 per unit or $36 for three bags, including shipping, is made withPerfect Day’s animal-free whey protein and only requires consumers to add oil and water before baking.

Launched last summer, Brave Robot, a sub-brand of The Urgent Company, produces ice cream made with Perfect Day’s animal-free whey protein. The brand is currently sold in 5,000 retailers nationwide, and is the number one growth driver in the plant-based ice cream category, according to IRI data supplied by the brand.

Earlier this month Perfect Day announced that The Urgent Company — which was previously largely funded by Perfect Day’s co-founders — would become “a full-fledged part” of the ingredient company. Along with the reorganization and funding news, Perfect Day also introduced The Urgent Company’s second brand: Modern Kitchen, a line of animal-free dairy cream cheese. Paul Kollesoff, general manager at The Urgent Company, told NOSH Brave Robot will focus on developing indulgent offerings while Modern Kitchen will produce staple items.

Meanwhile, The Urgent Company has also brought on August Vega, the former CEO and founder of non-dairy milk brand MALK, as its president of brand.

“Brave Robot celebrates ethical indulgence – cake mix is a fun new opportunity to stretch into another category while continuing to deliver on amazing flavor and reducing our carbon footprint,” Vega said. “With our ice cream, you can metaphorically “have your cake and eat it too”, in the sense that you get to have dairy ice cream that’s both free from animal impacts and tastes delicious. Why not take the cake as a next step?”

Baking has become a focus area for Perfect Day, which had previously publicly partnered exclusively with ice cream companies. The company also announced at the end of last month plans to collaborate with food service provider Villa Dolce to launch Cookie Dough, Pistachio Cake, Southern Brown Butter Cake, and Lava Cake ready-to-bake desserts.

The baking mix segment previously was largely seen as a category that was driven by special occasion and holiday purchases. However, consumer interest in baking has spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to research firm Package Facts, from 2016 to 2019 sales growth of baking products was “modest,” but in 2020 sales of baking-related products “soared” by 24%, ultimately generating $26.5 billion in sales. Still, 32% of consumers never or rarely bake, the firm found.

Brave Robot’s focus on better-for-the-planet ingredients cuts across some other market trends. The mix is notable not only for its use of Perfect Day animal-free whey protein, which the brand says removes the need to add eggs, but also for having a shorter, simpler ingredient list than many other options. However, in contrast to many other recent category launches, which have catered to rising dietary trends, The Climate Hero Super Cake Mix is also neither gluten free or keto-friendly, as it contains wheat and has 20 grams of sugar per serving (with each cake producing 10 servings).

“Our mission as a brand is to create pathways for consumers to make easy choices that can add up to enormous environmental impact,” Vega said.