Packaging Up Sweet Success with Alec’s Ice Cream

It started with a dream. A dream of a sustainably produced, more digestible ice cream that is better for the environment and brings people joy. This dream has become Alec’s Ice Cream.

Strawberry Crumble. Peanut Butter Fudge Honeycomb. Triple Chocolate Blackout Cookie. Coffee & Toffee.

For two years, Alec Jaffe had been pouring his heart into crafting his ice cream with certified USDA organic A2/A2 dairy and made using regenerative agriculture practices in Petaluma, CA.

Then came the moment that changed everything. Alec received a $400,000 grant from the CA Dairy Association to upgrade his equipment and scale his production. Around the same time, a national natural and organic gorcery retailer offered him a contract to distribute Alec’s Ice Cream throughout California and the West Coast. All at once, everything was coming together.

As the momentum built from the grocery retailer deal and the grant, Alec needed a reliable partner to help source his packaging equipment – and fast.

Expansion Challenges

 

BradyPLUS Sales Representative Jodi Azevado was quite familiar with the needs of Alec’s Ice Cream as she had been partnering with Alec for years providing janitorial supplies. With her knowledge of his business and industry expertise, she pulled in BradyPLUS’s Packaging Specialists Bryan Nagle and John Holman for a solution that hit the sweet spot. 

BradyPLUS began by focusing on Alec’s expansion goals, looking beyond a single piece of equipment. They reviewed Alec’s entire operation to determine what affected the process costs and how we could maximize savings as they grew.

Incresing Efficiency with Packaging Automation

With a relatively compact facility, it was essential to optimize the space to scale production and packaging capabilities to meet the quantities required for the grocery retailer.

Bryan and John identified several operational areas that could be improved, starting with sourcing the initial case erector that was needed to increase production by the deadline.

Making Dreams Come True

With the case erector and advanced cold-grade products were in place, Alec’s Ice Cream was able to successfully fulfill their contract requirements with the grocery retailer. And have since won even more business with stand-out brands, including Target, Sprouts, and other specialty grocers. Alec’s is now looking to scale into new regions.

To date, we’ve helped them increase efficiency by 20% with automation and save 20% on materials by consolidating to one supplier, and with good negotiations by our category teams to our manufacturer partners.

BradyPLUS had a goal to make Alec Jaffe’s dream come true—and it was a sweet success.

We’re looking forward to seeing what new flavors and products Alec’s Ice Cream develops and being a part of the process as a trusted advisor that will grow with them along the way.

Our BradyPLUS packaging specialists are here to help you design and fine tune your packaging operations. Reach out to us today for a custom consultation.