Dairy-free ice cream has let us down

Let's be real—we love the taste of ice cream made with cow's milk. What we don’t love is the impact on the environment, health, and animal welfare. There's no shortage of non-dairy ice cream products out there; but if your experience with them is anything like ours, it leaves a lot to be desired. “Terrible to tolerable” pretty much sums it up—a far cry from the rich, creamy, flavorful ice cream that we love so much. Many of the dairy-free “alternatives” currently on the market have processed ingredient lists a mile long, full of, well...junk. No thank you :)

This tired category is screaming for change! We need an “alternative to the alternative,” a new and better way to experience dairy-free, one that asks for no compromises. We want amazing taste AND ingredients we can feel good about. 

Plant-based that tastes better than dairy? That’s a delicious opportunity

There’s a revolution going on in the ice cream aisle. Here’s the scoop: we’re on a mission to show the world that plant-based ice cream can be the first choice for everyone, whether you're vegan or not. We know that in order to build a healthier & more sustainable future, our gelato has to deliver on that cravably bold flavor and creamy texture we all love. That means sourcing insanely good ingredients that are produced to our exact taste and ethical standards. Oh, and let’s keep it affordable too. A feel-good, taste-good future is here, and it all begins with a little Revolution.

Insanely good gelato made with simple, clean ingredients

Our product lines consist of organic gelato pints, the first-of-its-kind mini gelato pies, and bulk packs for restaurants.

Let’s start with the pints, our core product line. They’re USDA organic and perfectly sized to share or cone, but most of our loyal Revolutionaries dig right in with a spoon—Netflix anyone? They say you should judge an ice cream brand on its vanilla. Well, it’s no surprise that it’s one of our most popular flavors, as it’s so hard to find a creamy dairy-free vanilla that actually tastes like vanilla (instead of coconut, almond, soy, oats, chemicals). Our mango is also a huge fan favorite. Its recipe features a whopping 50% pure organic mango for the brightest, freshest mango experience possible.

Our award-winning Mini Gelato Pies are made with our signature gelato and encased in a rich chocolate cookie crust, topped with a dark chocolate shell. Once out of the box and in your hand, these things don’t last long. They are available in Chocolate, Mocha, Vanilla, and Mint. These are a first-to-market product in the fast-growing “novelty” category (that’s ice cream industry speak for single-serve frozen desserts), and generating a ton of excitement with retail buyers.

We’ve competed in taste tests against dairy—and won

Revolution Gelato tastes better than dairy, and we’ve won awards to prove it. We've won 7 taste awards competing directly against dairy products. We’ve also pushed the boundaries of innovation and created the first plant-based mini gelato pie, which was itself a winner of the 2020 NEXTY Award (like a Grammy for natural products). And while taste is our core focus, we also stand out for our positive impact — we won the 2021 Mindful Award for best non-dairy ice cream.

As of now, our footprint covers 300+ points of distribution, including marquee retailers like Whole Foods and the #1 and #2 natural foods distributors in the country (UNFI & KeHE). Past revenue is as follows: $88K in 2016; $252K in 2017; $196K in 2018; $537K in 2019 and $182K in 2020. We're on track to double our revenue in 2021, and expect even faster growth in 2022 and beyond.

Growing community of 20K+ on Instagram

Revolution Gelato was created for anyone looking for a delicious alternative to dairy ice cream. Our customers turn to our products for a variety of reasons—health-conscious, allergies, lifestyle choices, sustainability interests—but all say that our plant-based gelato not only compares with but surpasses the taste of traditional dairy products. We’ve organically grown a community of 20K+ followers on Instagram and expect to become a go-to choice for people in the future.

We’re following a proven playbook for building a food brand

It’s not complicated. Our gelato may be revolutionary but our business model is decidedly traditional. Make a great product. Sell it in the places where people shop. Tell people about it, get them to taste it, and let the product keep them coming back. Put the right team in place and raise enough money to do all that well. There’s a lot of hard work underneath all of those things, but it’s all been done before.

Gelato to the people. We sell where people buy. You can find Revolution Gelato in major grocery stores, restaurants and ice cream shops, delivery apps, and our online store. Wholesale to grocery and foodservice makes up about 98% of our revenues, while direct-to-consumer makes up about 2%. Our core focus over the next 2 years is to grow our footprint in mainstream grocery, which is where most of America shops.

Built to scale. We have a scalable supply chain using contract manufacturer partners and third-party logistics providers. This means that when we close a big deal, we don’t need to worry about whether we’ll have the capacity to make the order. It also means that we’re more efficient in our use of capital—spending it to grow the brand instead of spending on equipment.

Path to profit. We’ve been steadily increasing our gross profit margin over time from ~25% at inception to ~38% coming into 2021. COVID-19 has caused fluctuations in our cost of goods, but we have a strong line of sight to 45%+ gross margins in the next 6-12 months. We expect to be profitable when we hit $10M in sales (which is also when we expect we might start looking to sell to a larger company that can help grow distribution even more).

Innovation as a strength. We pioneered using a blend of cashew and coconut to form our award-winning creamy base. We then improved the original recipe to make it taste even better while keeping it more affordable. This past year we released the first mini gelato pie. And there is a lot more to come. We can’t help it! Continuing to dream up new ideas is just who we are.

Plant-based ice cream is about to explode

Americans love ice cream—the average person ate about 20 pints last year. Yum! In fact, it’s a nearly $15.7B+ market. And even though there are a bunch of plant-based ice cream brands out there, the vast majority of the ice cream sold today is still made with cow’s milk (97%+). That’s about to change, though…

Plant-based milk is already winning, and plant-based ice cream is the next big thing. Plant-based milk has been steadily taking market share away from dairy milk year after year. Plant-based ice cream hasn’t—yet. But it’s obvious: anyone who needs dairy-free milk also needs dairy-free ice cream. They’re just waiting for a product that tastes good enough. 

The time is now to take a bigger bite out of the ice cream market. Get in early and win big, or miss out on one of the biggest opportunities in the food space. We’re betting on plant-based ice cream to penetrate the market more heavily (and industry experts agree) by mirroring plant-based milk’s success—which will represent an untapped market of $2B and counting.

Healthier than dairy &
Cleaner than non-dairy

Revolution Gelato is healthier than traditional dairy-based ice creams, offering half the sugar, no cholesterol, and healthy nut-based fats and proteins. We’re cleaner than non-dairy alternatives as well, made with simple, real foods. Our organic certification means that our products are produced sustainably without harsh pesticides, GMOs, sewage sludge, or any of the many other ways that organic ensures healthier foods, workers, and planet. 

We will take plant-based desserts to scale

We envision a world where people choose plant-based not only because of health and environmental reasons, but because they enjoy it more. It’s what drives us every day to double down our efforts to constantly improve taste and ensure that our premium products are available at an accessible price point. 

We plan to scale to over 10K locations over the next few years so that we can grow the plant-based Revolution and build a sustainable (and delicious) future for everyone.

As we enter this growth phase, meeting our sales targets over the next two years relies on two key drivers:

1. Open 4.5K+ new doors by 2023, focused predominantly on conventional retail.
2. Increase average turn rates to 8+ units per facing per month.

Raised $1.4M over 6 years

All-in, the founder and his immediate family have invested $645K into the business and raised $720K across 4 rounds from outside investors, including industry leaders like Big Idea Ventures, VegInvest, and Glasswall Syndicate. We anticipate raising an additional $1-2M in 2022 from venture capital, at which point your investment will convert to stock.

Hi, I'm Jared

I grew up eating fabulous ice cream in my mom’s homemade scoop shop. When I moved to a plant-based diet, it was that full-fat, homemade taste that was the hardest thing to find. I tried everything out there, but nothing even came close. So I taught myself to be an expert in non-dairy ice cream formulation and created what I was looking for: insanely good plant-based gelato made with simple, clean ingredients.

We've come a long way from those early test batches in my home kitchen, but we've got a lot more to go. And while I may be the "founder" who started it, this is bigger than me. It's the whole team — including you — who will take us to the next stage and bring our Revolution to the world.