150-year-old Cincinnati ice cream brand Graeter’s has launched its first-ever vegan ice cream pints. The ice cream was created in collaboration with California startup Perfect Day, which produces proteins virtually identical to dairy using microflora and fermentation processes, as fermentation continues to trend in alt dairy and alt protein.
Though it launched back in 2014, Perfect Day has experienced growing success in 2020 — expanding production, raising $300M in Series C funding, and being named as the industry leader in fermented foods. It also appointed Robert Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney company, to its Board of Directors in October.
The new ice creams come in six flavours — Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Cookies & Cream, Oregon Strawberry, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Black Cherry Chocolate Chip. The company says it hopes to expand the range in future.
The ice creams are now available at Graeter’s 55 ice cream parlours and from its website.
Unlike many vegan ice creams, which are made with plant milks such as coconut or almond, the new Graeter’s ice cream uses Perfect Day’s innovative technology. The company produces dairy-like proteins from microflora through a fermentation process that uses a cow’s DNA sequence.
Graeter’s CEO Richard Graeter told the Cincinnati Business Courier that he thought the technology could be the future of dairy. “There’s a finite amount of dairy you can make on a factory farm, and this is infinite,” he said.
“We are excited to finally be able to serve authentic Graeter’s indulgence to guests who choose to eat vegan or cannot enjoy our regular ice cream due to lactose intolerance,” said Richard Graeter. “Until now, we couldn’t put our name on a vegan product because it simply did not live up to our standards. But now, with Perfect Day, we can.”
