Building a Modern Ice Cream Brand with Alec Jaffe, Founder/CEO of Alec's Ice Cream
Consumer VC #357: Alec Jaffe, Founder/CEO of Alec's Ice Cream
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Hey friends,
On today’s episode, I chat with Alec Jaffe, Founder and CEO of Alec’s Ice Cream, the A2 dairy, gut-friendly ice cream brand rooted in regenerative agriculture and real ingredients. Alec began making ice cream in elementary school, but the idea for the company came years later, driven by a simple question: why can’t ice cream taste amazing and make you feel good?
Before starting the brand, Alec worked in tech and spent years experimenting with ingredients, building relationships with family-run dairy farms, and eventually taking over a small ice cream factory in Petaluma. Today, Alec’s is known for its premium pints, its viral Culture Cups line, and its vertically integrated approach to manufacturing — all while competing in one of the toughest categories in grocery: the frozen aisle.
We talk about how Alec built his supply chain from the ground up, why A2 dairy is resonating with more consumers, how Culture Cups became a breakout product, and what it’s really like to self-manufacture as a young CPG brand. Alec also shares the realities of scaling, the operational challenges behind running a factory, and why timing mattered when raising his Series A.
If you’re interested in food innovation, supply chain strategy, or the future of better-for-you dairy, this episode is a thoughtful look at how a founder built a differentiated brand in an incredibly competitive space.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
✅ Why A2 dairy is changing the way people digest ice cream
✅ How to build a supply chain around family farms & regenerative agriculture
✅ The difference between ice cream and frozen dessert
✅ How Alec broke into natural retail and then crossed into mass
✅ Why vertical integration is both a blessing and a challenge
✅ How Culture Cups went viral on TikTok and sold out on Day 1
✅ What makes the frozen aisle one of the hardest categories in CPG
✅ How dairy demand is shifting — and why supply can’t keep up
✅ When it really makes sense for a food brand to raise venture capital
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Alec’s childhood obsession with making ice cream
03:30 Unlocking “high-quality ice cream” with simple ingredients
05:00 Why A2 dairy helps people enjoy ice cream again
06:45 Ice cream vs frozen dessert explained
08:00 Building relationships with local family farms
09:20 Starting local & breaking into natural retail
10:50 Moving into Whole Foods & finding a tiny factory
13:00 How Culture Cups were created
14:20 The TikTok post that changed everything
15:30 Crossing from natural into mass retail
17:00 Pricing strategy for premium products
19:00 Why investors fear frozen food
20:30 How Culture Cups shifted investor perception
22:00 The realities of running your own factory
24:00 Managing two product lines under one roof
26:00 The dairy demand surge & supply challenges
28:30 The future of regenerative agriculture
31:00 Competing in the brutally competitive freezer aisle
34:00 Why ice cream is one of the hardest categories in retail
36:00 Thoughts on protein ice cream
38:00 Alec’s flavor development process
40:00 How he evaluated the right VC partners
42:00 Why he raised an $11M Series A
45:00 What’s next for Alec’s Ice Cream
48:00 Book recommendations: Shoe Dog, Endurance, Ramping Your Brand
Thanks for listening!