The Frozen Farmer is a business straight out of a third-generation Delaware Farm. The business’s main aim is to showcase the farm’s produce to raise awareness about food wastage and provide frozen creamy goodness to people’s taste buds. Frozen Farmer creates ice creams, sorbets, and their unique combination of sorbet and frozen dessert called frobert from the farm’s fresh fruits and vegetables. The business makes sure to use produce that grocery stores usually reject for aesthetic purposes to make a point about wastage and sustainability.
The family business is the result of former pageant queen Katey Jo Evans and her husband’s efforts to propel their farm to further success. Frozen Farm promotes sustainability and produces all-natural products that attract both the environmentally conscious and health-conscious clientele. Despite doubts about the business’s ability to establish itself in the frozen goods market, the sheer quality of the product has seen the company reach new heights. According to the most recent statistics, the business is raking in millions of dollars. It is also available at the biggest grocery stores across the US, such as Walmart. As there is growing awareness about environmental issues and more people are mindful of what they consume, Frozen Farmer will continue to go from strength to strength.
How Did The Shark Tank Pitch Go?
Katey Jo Evans strolled onto her Shark Tank pitch with a wide smile, dressed in a gown with a shining tiara on top of her head. She enthusiastically kicked off her pitch and introduced herself as a former pageant queen. She informed the sharks about her family’s farming background and pulled off a costume change involving her taking off her gown to reveal everyday farm wear. The Sharks looked interested and intrigued by Katey Jo’s pitch as her passion was palpable. The farmer turned entrepreneur asked the Sharks for $125,000 for a 20% stake in her business.
Evans introduced the Sharks to her business’ ethos by demonstrating a perfectly good strawberry that was a bit bruised and ripe. She explained that the United States wastes billions of pounds of produce each year because the fruit or vegetable never leaves the field owing to its appearance. The produce is still nutritious and can be used in many ways. To curb food wastage, Evans and her husband established their family business, Frozen Farmer, which provides a line of premium handmade natural ice cream made from their farm’s produce.
She handed out samples of her products to the Shark who were genuinely amazed by the quality and taste of the ice cream. Barbara Corcoran exclaimed that the ice cream tasted just like a honeydew, to which Evans replied that the ice cream is pure fruit without any additives. The quality of the products was established, and the Sharks were now interested in the financial conditions of the business.
The Sharks asked Evans about the business’ numbers, and she revealed that her product was a hit in her local area. It was available in around 70 grocery store chains in Delaware, and her business had made around $310,000 last year. Evans emphasized that she needed Shark’s help to expand production and get to a copacker level. Right now, the business had reached its production capacity, and Evans wanted to expand her business across the United States further.
The Sharks loved the products but were concerned about expanding the business beyond Delaware. Mark Cuban emphasized that the ice cream business was notoriously hard to get into, and the product did not stand out enough to establish itself among the giants in the industry. Evans interjected that people willingly sought out her product, but Cuban believed that was because of her family’s standing in her local town. He did not think that the ice cream would stand out when expanded to major cities like New York or Dallas. Cuban declined to make an offer citing these reasons.
John Daymond appreciated the product and Evans’s story but was doubtful due to the logistics involved in the sale of refrigerated products. He did not believe the margins were high enough to gamble on such fragile products. He pulled out of negotiations due to this issue. Corcoran failed to see how the business would take off when it expanded nationwide, and she also declined to make an offer. Kevin O’Leary would have accepted the challenge associated with the company, but he was held back due to the cut-throat nature of the ice cream business. He also backed out of making an offer.
This left Evans with Lori Greiner as her last hope. Greiner emphasized that despite not being an ice cream person, Evans’s products were the best she had ever tasted in her life. She believed in the business and wanted to redo the packaging and branding. Greiner offered Evans $125,000 for 30% of the company. Emotions visibly overcame Evans throughout her pitch, and she instantly accepted Greiner’s offer.
Our Review of Frozen Farmer Ice Cream
Frozen Farmer ice Cream stands out from its competitors due to its emphasis on sustainability and natural products. It also has many people testifying to its taste of farm-fresh fruits, which makes it a delight for the taste buds. Like any product, Frozen Farmer has multiple positive points and a few aspects it needs to work upon to provide customers with a better ice cream experience.
Pros of Frozen Farmer Ice Cream
- Natural ingredients without any additives
- Fat-free and gluten-free making it a healthy diet option
- Only 200 calories in a tub make it an excellent guilt-free dessert for anyone
- Readily available in major grocery chains such as Walmart
- Certified woman-owned small business
- Curbs food wastage by using rejected produce to make the ice cream
Cons of Frozen Farmer Ice Cream
- The dairy-based ice cream includes corn syrup as an ingredient that can be considered unhealthy and an allergen.
Who Is It For?
Frozen Farmer is not restricted to any particular demographic as any ice cream, or dessert lover can enjoy it. However, the principles of the business based on sustainability and its natural ingredients tend to attract a clientele that is mindful of what it consumes. Environmentally conscious people and health conscious people prefer to buy Frozen Farmer products.
Are There Any Alternatives?
Since the rise of the fitness and wellness culture, many products on the market vow to provide the creamy goodness of ice cream sourced from natural ingredients without the heft calorie count. You can find organic, vegan, gluten-free, and all other customized categories of ice creams. Some of these brands are:
- Talenti Organic Gelato
- Enlightened
- Cado
Final Thoughts
Frozen Farmers is an appreciable business due to its principles of sustainability and its focus on natural ingredient. It is also an amazing feel-good story as a small business from a Delaware farm is now worth millions of dollars. It shows that a quality product can break through in even the toughest markets.
