Hardware Podcasts

Live From The HIBT Summit: Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

How I Built This · 27 Feb 2020 · 16m

What this episode covers

Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, discusses the evolution of her Columbus, Ohio-based company from a 2002 farmer's market stall to a national brand with nearly 40 scoop shops and Whole Foods distribution. She explains her decision to shift from a 'wannabe artist' aesthetic to a clean, pharmacist-like look to better communicate the quality of her product, and details her rigorous, relationship-driven sourcing of dairy and fruit. Bauer emphasizes that her success stems from years of 'boots on the ground' learning in ice cream chemistry and math, rejecting early growth in favor of perfecting recipes that exclude egg yolks, stabilizers, and corn syrup.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Whole Foods, Ben and Jerry's, Baskin Robbins, U.S. Bank, Sierra Nevada brewing company, Subpop

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 30m

    Founder Feature: Hannah Pollack of Nightingale Ice Cream

    Hannah Pollack, founder and CEO of Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches, discusses the brand's 10-year journey from a restaurant dessert to a nationally distributed frozen novelty. She explains the technical and logistical challenges of maintaining product integrity for ice cream during distribution, specifically contrasting their real ice cream with 'frozen dairy desserts' that use stabilizers to prevent melting. Pollack details their scaling strategy, including site visits to vet distribution partners and a new expansion into 175 Whole Foods center store locations, while emphasizing their commitment to sustainable sourcing and non-GMO ingredients.

    Manufacturing partners & offshoringMaterials & manufacturing processes
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 28m

    Founder Feature: Liv Truesdell of FROST Buttercream

    Liv Truesdell, founder of FROST Buttercream, and her mother, co-founder, explain their transition from investment banking to creating a meringue-based buttercream with 57% less sugar and real ingredients. They discuss the challenges of small-batch manufacturing, the strategic importance of in-store demos to educate consumers, and their retail expansion into New York City retailers like Fairway Market and Butterfield Market. The episode highlights their iterative packaging design process, collaborations with brands like Bite and Brownie, and the operational discipline required to scale production for food service while maintaining quality.

    Validation & product-market fitMaterials & manufacturing processes
    9 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 29m

    Founder Feature: Sam Lejfer of Lucky Day

    Sam Lejfer, founder of Lucky Day, explains his decision to manufacture organic, allergen-free ice cream in-house rather than using contract manufacturers, citing the inability of co-packers to handle whole-food ingredients like hulled seeds without gums or seed oils. He details the choice of home-compostable, plastic-free packaging to avoid landfill waste and the strategic decision to remain small-scale in Boston to avoid the capital burn and reformulation compromises required by venture capital. Lejfer discusses how his personal health journey and severe food allergies drove the brand's clean-label philosophy, while outlining a slow-growth retail strategy focused on local Boston stores and farmers markets rather than national expansion or DTC shipping.

    Materials & manufacturing processesManufacturing partners & offshoring
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 21m

    Dip Into Paradise with Founder Emily Edwards

    Emily Edwards, founder of Paradise Icing (Emily's Foods), explains how she transitioned from social work to developing a plant-based icing using pea protein. She details her 18-month product development process at the Purdue Food Science Lab, where she overcame initial taste failures to create a shelf-stable, allergen-free product. Edwards discusses her strategy of bootstrapping the business due to difficulties securing venture capital, while leveraging her social work skills for consumer research and transparent brand storytelling. She outlines her current focus on expanding flavor lines, securing retail placements in boutique grocers and schools, and managing early-stage operations with a small team.

    Validation & product-market fitStarting a product company
    7 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 37m

    Founder Feature: Jenifer Shwartz of Freezcake

    Jenifer Shwartz, founder of Freezecake, explains how a health crisis led to the creation of the first freeze-dried cheesecake brand. She details the pivot from a brick-and-mortar bakery to self-manufacturing, the challenges of supply chain disruptions for dairy ingredients, and the strategic decision to relocate production to New York to reduce costs. Shwartz also discusses leveraging TikTok Shop for viral growth and the upcoming launch into Whole Foods.

    Direct-to-consumer & e-commerceMarketing & brand
    7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.