2 ms·

Doesn't seem unreasonable. The new owner hired back ~90 of the ~120 employees? I suspect they know how the sausage (ice cream) is made so even if they lost the

by graerg 6y ago

Doesn't seem unreasonable. The new owner hired back ~90 of the ~120 employees? I suspect they know how the sausage (ice cream) is made so even if they lost the "creative genius" of the owners they can still churn out product people seem to already love.

acjohnson55 6y ago
The founders admit on their own podcast that making the ice cream is not rocket science. All the recipes are out there, including for their custom mixins. Anybody can do it. Getting the factory to work to scale that quality is another story. But that's only worth it if the demand can be generated, and that requires the kind of marketing that the founders were actually extremely good at. It remains to be seen whether their rabid fanbase will follow the brand without them, which was very tied into their story and community connection. It would be one thing if it had already achieved critical mass, but the business crashed just before that. My nearest two grocery stores in NJ carried Ample Hills until recently. Now it's gone and that space is occupied by the other few dozen boutique ice cream brands. I doubt I'll see it return.
- striking 6y ago
  It was likely only on your local shelf in the first place because of growth hacking; the fact that it's gone doesn't mean they won't be able to continue the brand or keep making great ice cream. And maybe it will come back, once it's actually grown to that scale.
  - acjohnson55 6y ago
    Unless the new owners are daft, I agree they'll be able to keep creating excellent ice cream. But it's hard for me to imagine it sustainably growing beyond NYC again. So much of the original magic was the interaction of the story with the home community, and people evangelizing the brand. Much of that same community has very conflicted feelings about whether it's truly the same brand. It's a catch-22. The new owners are keeping everything the same, at the risk of being perceived as inauthentic. But if they change everything to be authentic to them, they lose any chance of keeping the brand goodwill.

by graerg 6y ago

acjohnson55 6y ago

The founders admit on their own podcast that making the ice cream is not rocket science. All the recipes are out there, including for their custom mixins. Anybody can do it. Getting the factory to work to scale that quality is another story. But that's only worth it if the demand can be generated, and that requires the kind of marketing that the founders were actually extremely good at. It remains to be seen whether their rabid fanbase will follow the brand without them, which was very tied into their story and community connection. It would be one thing if it had already achieved critical mass, but the business crashed just before that. My nearest two grocery stores in NJ carried Ample Hills until recently. Now it's gone and that space is occupied by the other few dozen boutique ice cream brands. I doubt I'll see it return.

striking 6y ago
It was likely only on your local shelf in the first place because of growth hacking; the fact that it's gone doesn't mean they won't be able to continue the brand or keep making great ice cream. And maybe it will come back, once it's actually grown to that scale.
- acjohnson55 6y ago
  Unless the new owners are daft, I agree they'll be able to keep creating excellent ice cream. But it's hard for me to imagine it sustainably growing beyond NYC again. So much of the original magic was the interaction of the story with the home community, and people evangelizing the brand. Much of that same community has very conflicted feelings about whether it's truly the same brand. It's a catch-22. The new owners are keeping everything the same, at the risk of being perceived as inauthentic. But if they change everything to be authentic to them, they lose any chance of keeping the brand goodwill.