establishing a frozen dessert empire that includes fudge pops and sorbet
Florida’s Sarasota As Nicole Cardone remembered, store-bought sorbet was essentially “really sweet… icy fruit juice,” an overlooked frozen treat among “all the other options for craft ice cream” that started to appear in supermarket freezer cases more than 10 years ago.
The remark signaled the launch of SorBabes, a sorbet line with decadent toppings, which was started by Deborah Gorman, a former caterer and chef, and Ms. Cardone, a former Wall Street analyst. The two started selling pints at farmers markets in New York back in 2012. Their inventive drinks included a cucumber white wine mint option that “the Hamptons took… by storm,” according to Ms. Cardone. Since then, the product range has changed to include a variety of coated fruit bars with tastes including mango coconut, strawberries and cream, and so on.
Similar to how the two creators intended to reinvent sorbet, Ms. Cardone and Ms. Gorman are now introducing a unique take on the traditional fudgesicle. Guittard chocolate is used in the creation of the dairy-free Fudgy Pop bar line, which comes in original, berry, mint, and orange flavors.
Alongside SorBabes, Fudgy Pop is making its debut under the recently formed parent business Fruitful Brands. The founders were motivated to grow strategically by their four years of consulting work for Wells Enterprises, the company that makes Blue Bunny ice cream.
“With less than twice the effort, you’re now capturing more of the market share with two shelves that you have a unique proposition for, and you’re sitting in front of that buyer with two opportunities to say yes,” Ms. Cardone stated. It’s been a lot of fun since we are seeing such amazing synergies keeping in the same category.
Ms. Gorman and Ms. Cardone discussed in an interview how to create a self-funded stable of brands in one of the grocery store’s most difficult sectors without any prior experience with consumer items.
In fact, it was during my time in college that I had the notion to make sorbet. I was working at JP Morgan and attending finance school, but I wasn’t all too fond of the corporate environment. However, I like cooking and would create sorbet from the farmers market in my spare time.
I would get a terrific price on a large bag of overripe peaches that they couldn’t sell the next day. After I got home, I prepared this incredible sorbet with overripe peaches and added a crumbled biscuit with cinnamon streusel. A week later, I recalled desiring it and went to the supermarket, only to be dismayed to find that they only had lemon, mango, and raspberry. Why did everyone overlook
Since then, how has that product line changed?
We have been concentrating on selling the novelty bars rather than beers. We like novelty because it’s convenient, portion-controlled, and grab-and-go, but it has a mushy fruit bar. Right present, all fruit bars available are hard paletas. They’re excellent for what they are, but we were hoping for something that fell in between a decadent dipped ice cream bar and a hard fruit bar. It now, in my opinion, has a distinct commercial position.
More regarding Fudgy Pop, please.
I enjoy rich, fudgy, gooey chocolate that tastes like brownies. Chocolate ice cream has always seemed to me like weak chocolate. and I used to like eating fudgsicles as a child. When I gave them another go, they were just not what I had recalled. We made the decision to create a fudge bar that functions somewhat like a candy bar.
The brand has a really vintage aesthetic. “Is it a throwback or a comeback?” is a joke we make. It’s both of them. We genuinely believe that there’s something nostalgic, straightforward, and approachable about enjoying a fudge bar—something that most people can relate to.
What is your Squishy Pop go-to-market strategy?
We’ll most likely be in 1,500 doors come next year. We’re observing that Fudgy has a lot of the same distribution channels as SorBabes. However, we discovered that SorBabes does really well in the natural and specialized arena as well as in a few traditional shops, which is one of the reasons Fudgy caught our attention so much. Since Fudgy appeals to a much wider audience, we’re leaning toward somewhat different vendors for each.
What was your method of joining Wells Enterprises?
They brought us on as full-time consultants in 2016 so we could collaborate with their leadership team. We attended every sales meeting. A brand manager was present. From being this little startup with just the two of us, to attending corporate meetings in cornfields in the middle of Iowa, we’ve come a long way. We learnt a lot and had a terrific experience, but one thing that stuck out to us was how they had numerous brands that each performed different things and didn’t compete with one another.
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I believe that frequently, you’re so consumed with the brand that all you desire is for it to endure and grow, along with any offshoots. and it doesn’t always make sense, in my opinion. I believe that certain companies have a mission and a reason why people recognize them, and they need to stay in their specific niche. It occurs frequently with businesses that attempt to adopt trends, and it never makes sense or aligns with your brand offer.
Will Fruitful products develop into a stable of products or will it stop at SorBabes and Fudgy Pop?
We are undoubtedly demonstrating the viability of the hypothesis that says we can create synergies like this. We intend to launch a different brand that we already have in mind. Although we perceive additional chance in the category, the situation is actually growing beyond the two of us at this point. We have never had fundraisers. Since we own all of our company, we have been unable to take on greater projects in many respects due to a lack of funding.
The fact that, after 12 years in operation, you haven’t raised any money is sort of astounding.
Nicole is a wizard of financial flow. In addition to helping us get through some of it, I believe working with Wells for those four years also made it clear where we didn’t need to be spending a lot of money. Because we couldn’t afford them, we held ourselves back and missed out on potentially fantastic possibilities.