how an ex-lawyer built halo top into an ice cream sensation with $347 million in sales

by Randi Buckridge 3 min read

Why is Halo Top ice cream not sold in stores?

Nov 01, 2018 · In 2016, U.S. sales were $44.3 million and in 2017, $350.6 million, according Halo Top’s custom research based on analytics company IRI ’s data. U.S. sales so far in 2018 have topped $248.5 ...

How did Halo Top raise $1 million?

Sep 16, 2017 · For the 12 weeks that ended Aug. 6, IRI said, Halo Top had sales of $86.9 million, compared with $83.3 million for Ben & Jerry’s and $78.6 million for Haagen-Dazs.

Who is the founder of Halo Top?

Halo Top is not your ordinary ice cream. It’s a low-sugar ice cream created in a kitchen and now found on store shelves around the world. Launched in 2011, Halo Top became an overnight sensation in 2016 and sold to Wells Enterprises in 2019 for an undisclosed sum. Insiders predict the deal was potentially worth close to $2 billion.

Is Halo Top still the best selling beer in America?

Jan 16, 2021 · How an ex-lawyer built Halo Top into an ice cream sensation with $347 million in sales. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from - sales.html#:~:text=Woolverton bootstrapped the business and,$12,000 bucks,” says Bouton.

How much money does Halo Top make?

In 2016, U.S. sales were $44.3 million and in 2017, $350.6 million, according Halo Top's custom research based on analytics company IRI's data. U.S. sales so far in 2018 have topped $248.5 million.Nov 1, 2018

How do they make Halo top ice cream?

Halo Top is a mixture of eggs, milk, and cream, like other ice cream brands, but is distinct due to its substitution for sugar. Halo Top uses organic stevia, a plant-based sweetener, and erythritol, a sugar alcohol, to substitute sugar in their ice cream. Each pint ranges from 240–360 calories.

How much is Halo top ice cream worth?

$2 BillionWhat's more, depending on whom you ask, Halo Top might now be America's top selling ice cream brand, period. Annual revenue is already in nine figures according to most, and Reuters recently pegged their valuation at $2 Billion.Jan 26, 2018

What company owns Halo top ice cream?

Eden Creamery, the parent of the Halo Top brand, has signed a purchase agreement with Wells Enterprises, owner of Blue Bunny and other frozen treats.Sep 17, 2019

Why is Halo Top so good?

Halo Top also uses prebiotic fiber, which Woolverton says is a natural type of fiber derived from plants like chicory root, to give the ice cream more texture and body. Some nutrition experts are skeptical about low-calorie or artificial sweeteners.Aug 2, 2017

Is Halo Top better than Ben and Jerry's?

The pints each have under 160 calories per serving and are low in fat, with no artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols. Though Ben & Jerry's may have more name recognition, Halo Top surpassed it to be America's top-selling ice cream brand in grocery stores last year.Aug 13, 2018

What happened Halo Top?

Sweet Deal: Halo Top Creamery was purchased by Wells Enterprises in September. Halo Top Creamery, the low-calorie ice cream maker that was named America's best-selling pint just two years ago, closed its three Scoop Shop retail locations a year after their debut.Nov 22, 2019

How many flavors of Halo Top are there?

24 flavorsHalo Top now features 24 flavors, not including its dairy-free and seasonal offerings. With grocery aisles covered in the many flavors of this brand, the task of picking which Halo Top flavor to enjoy can be hard.

Are Halo tops healthy?

Though lower in calories, Halo Top should not be viewed as healthy but instead as what it really is — a lower calorie alternative to ice cream. Aside from calcium and protein, Halo Top is not a good source of nutrients.

Where is Halo Top manufacturer?

Le Mars, Iowa – September 9, 2019 — Wells Enterprises, Inc. has signed a purchase agreement with Eden Creamery, LLC to acquire the Halo Top® brand.Sep 9, 2019

Why is it called Halo Top?

Halo Top wasn't always called Halo Top. According to CNBC, Woolverton originally settled on the name Eden Creamery and sold it under that name for a year, but changed the name early on to avoid lawsuits from the many other Eden-named companies in the world. That change didn't get them entirely out of the woods, though.Feb 12, 2018

Where is Halo top ice cream manufactured?

The company is headquartered in Iowa and operates two manufacturing plants in Le Mars, Iowa, a manufacturing plant in Dunkirk, New York, and a manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada. As the world's largest manufacturer of ice cream in one location, Wells has made Le Mars the "Ice Cream Capital of the World."5 days ago

Why did Woolverton pack his car with ice cream?

Woolverton packed the back seat of his car with ice cream samples stored in dry ice. The dry ice helps to keep the ice cream from melting. However, as the dry ice evaporates, it releases carbon dioxide. While stuck in a traffic jam, Woolverton had trouble breathing. He was soon hyperventilating and close to fainting.

How many calories are in Halo Top?

A pint of vanilla-flavored Halo Top contains just 70 calories and 2 grams of fat compared to 137 calories and 7 grams of fat for regular ice cream. While experimenting with recipes, Woolverton discovered that people can’t really detect minor differences in fat content.

Did Woolverton's formula run through ice cream production pipes?

Ice cream manufacturers tried to tell Woolverton that his formula wouldn’t run through ice cream production pipes. He ignored their advice and found an ice cream maker that would try his recipe. The thick formula started passing through aluminum production pipes and quickly jammed the machinery.

Is Justin Woolverton in the dairy industry?

As with a wide range of successful entrepreneurs over the past decade, Justin Woolverton didn’t have direct industry experience. He wasn’t part of the dairy industry, but he was an ice cream connoisseur. The story starts in 2011 with Woolverton working at the LA law firm Latham & Watkins.

Is Halo Farm dairy?

Halo Farm, a dairy farm in New Jersey, sued Halo Top in 2017. The farm sells ice cream and dairy products in stores throughout New Jersey. Halo Farm didn’t want its customers to confuse its products with Halo Top’s ice cream, as Woolverton’s ice cream includes stevia and erythritol as sugar substitutes.

Is Halo Top ice cream low sugar?

Halo Top is not your ordinary ice cream. It’s a low-sugar ice cream created in a kitchen and now found on store shelves around the world. Launched in 2011, Halo Top became an overnight sensation in 2016 and sold to Wells Enterprises in 2019 for an undisclosed sum. Insiders predict the deal was potentially worth close to $2 billion.

Is stevia a sugar substitute for coffee?

Stevia is a common sugar alternative used for sweetening coffee. Both sweeteners are calorie-free. Some people claim that the sugar substitutes found in the ice cream cause stomach distress. Several researchers examined these claims and found that you would need to eat three pints of Halo Top to suffer any discomfort.

Why did May sing New Horizons?

On Monday, May’s two worlds officially collided: he released the song “ New Horizons ” to honor NASA’s spacecraft of the same name , which on the first day of the new year, Tuesday, flew past Ultima Thule, the “most distant target in history,” according to NASA.

When did Brian May release New Horizons?

Queen guitarist Brian May has just released his new single ‘New Horizons’, on January 2019. The track is May’s first solo single in more than 20 years. (Photo by Mairo Cinquetti/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Is it easy to switch careers?

While switching careers may becoming increasingly common, it’s not easy. Even May gets the jitters flexing his astronomy muscles. “I get to hang out with real astronomers, which is great, but I still have that kind of, what do they call it, impostor syndrome.

Who is Brian May?

Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May is also an astrophysicist with a PhD. Queen guitarist Brian May has just released his new single ‘New Horizons’, on January 2019. The track is May’s first solo single in more than 20 years.

How many turkeys were eaten on Thanksgiving 2017?

In 2017, Americans ate 45 million turkeys over Thanksgiving, according to an estimate by the National Turkey Federation, an advocacy organization for turkey farmers. And Thanksgiving birds are sizable: The average turkey bought for Thanksgiving is 16 pounds, according to the federation.

How much does a Thanksgiving dinner cost?

The cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner — including turkey and stuffing, rolls, sweet potatoes, green peas, fresh cranberries, carrot and veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, milk and coffee — for 10 people costs $48.90 in 2018, according to the 33rd annual American Farm Bureau, an organization representing farm and ranch families.

How many people will travel 50 miles on Thanksgiving?

Approximately 54.3 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, according to AAA. That’s 4.8 percent more than the number who traveled in 2017 and the highest number of travelers since 2005.

What is a small business?

“Small businesses are generally independently owned and can exist in a variety of forms including, but not limited to, corner stores, online boutique s, among many others. They can give a neighborhood strength and create vibrant, diverse communities,” the American Express Shop Small website says.

When was Small Business Saturday launched?

Small Business Saturday was launched in 2010 by American Express in the wake of the 2008 recession. In 2011, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution to support Small Business Saturday, according to the American Express.

Abstract

Nutrition labels, sensory experience, and consumers’ preconceived notions about products can affect their purchasing and eating decisions.

1. Introduction

Today’s food environment can be difficult to navigate. In grocery and convenience stores, marketers cover their products with label claims (e.g. low-fat, good source of whole-grains, natural) that can confuse consumers ( Benton, 2015 ).

2. Methods

We recruited two hundred and forty people for the study at the local winter farmers market and outside the cafeteria at a large medical center in Burlington, Vermont. Researchers asked people passing by if they wanted to participate in a five- to ten-minute study, and those who accepted were offered an informational document about the experiment.

3. Results

Two-hundred and forty individuals participated in the study. Eighty-one participants were in the no-label information condition, eighty-one participants were in the label-information condition, and seventy-eight participants were in the label-information + health-warning condition.

4. Discussion

Information condition—whether participants received no-label information, label information, or label information and a health warning—did not impact ice cream liking. The majority of people in every condition preferred the super-premium Ben & Jerry’s ice cream followed by the vegan Ben & Jerry’s, with Halo Top the least preferred.

5. Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that although low-calorie ice creams may be rated as healthiest, they receive lower liking ratings compared to vegan and super-premium ice creams. Consumers are also more likely to prefer the super-premium ice cream regardless of whether they see nutrition-label information or not.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.