“We don’t want to brag, but our ice cream is really, really good,” reads the website of Alec’s Ice Cream. And it is good — for your body, the planet, and your taste buds. It was a long journey to such impact, with founder Alec Jaffe’s vision tracing back to his childhood.
“It all started with an elementary school assignment — make something at home and present to the class on how to make it,” Jaffe reminisced in an interview with Bristol Farms. “Being the ice cream-loving kid I was (and still am), I decided to teach myself how to make ice cream,” — peppermint flavored, in particular. What became a hobby eventually became a career, making not just any old ice cream but “the first-ever regenerative organic ice cream.”
Photo Courtesy USC Alumni Association
Jaffe started working on the company in 2017, using organic milk from pasture-raised cows and developing recipes in collaboration with his brother Zach.
The company overcame several hurdles to reach its current state. After numerous refusals to produce the product due to the size of the batches, he came across a closed, 4,200-square-foot ice cream factory in Petaluma, California, where he could make it himself.
Alec set up shop there in January 2020 and was promptly hit by a wave of unpredictable events, including a pandemic and inflation. The growing company overcame all of it.
Video Courtesy Alec’s Ice Cream
Everything changed in 2021 when he met Blake and Stephanie Alexandre, owners of Alexandre Family Farm, the first regenerative organic certified (ROC) dairy in the country. The farm grows various grasses on its pastures to feed the cows and nurture the land, and it mixes the cows’ manure with their bedding components and with crab and fish waste from local fisheries for the ultimate compost.
Regarding human health, the farm focuses on A2/A2 milk, which contains the A2 beta-casein protein that was always in cows. It is far better for your gut and digestion than A2/A1 milk, which contains the A1 beta-casein caused by a genetic mutation in dairy cows over time. The company’s 2022 rebrand focused on A2 and regenerative ingredients, which he portrayed to Forbes as “sort of 2.0 of the regenerative story for us, as we got deeper into the supply chain.”
Photo Courtesy Alexandre Family Farm
Jaffe’s focus on the planet also spawned at an early age, with Thanksgivings spent at a university farm with his uncle, a professor of agroecology. In addition to adopting healthier milk, he wanted to focus on the impact of all ingredients.
For that reason, 2022 also saw Alec’s adopt ROC-certified organic sugar. It is sourced from the Native Green Cane Project, which uses green cane harvesting methods instead of field burning and has planted more than 1 million trees on its farms to provide greenways and homes for biodiverse life.
Alec’s also works with suppliers for inputs, including almonds, coffee, fruit, and maple syrup. The company has even figured out how to go organic with baked inclusions like cookies!
All in all, the business’s website says 98% of its ice cream base ingredients are certified or verified regenerative, and all products are USDA-certified organic.
Jaffe explained to Forbes that “we need more infrastructure to support regenerative organic food all the way through.” To get there, he told New Hope Network, that we need a “unified effort from brands, certifiers, retailers, farmers and everyone involved in this movement to create a clear message for consumers to understand the direct benefits of buying regenerative products.”
Then, consumers must show their support. “If the public buys it, the stores will stock more of it, and the farmers will grow or produce more of it,” he told Forbes.
The company also shifted to packaging made of Green Cell Foam, a bio-based alternative to styrofoam made from corn that can be composted or dissolved in water. The cup liners themselves are also 97% bio-based instead of petroleum-based. Plus, the packaging now features Buttercup, the cow, and Mother Earth, mascots of sorts for the brand, partaking in different activities related to each flavor.
“I take a lot of pride in helping show a different perspective on cows’ involvement in the regenerative movement through the cow on our packaging,” he divulged to New Hope.
Photo Courtesy @AllieEmslie1
When ordering online, Alec’s Ice Cream requires the purchase of at least six to nine pints to make it worth the shipping emissions. However, they offer carbon-neutral shipping options and offset your order’s carbon footprint using an algorithm from EcoCart.
Considering factors like shipping method, distance, manufacturing methods, and materials, it predicts the amount of carbon that will be emitted. For example, when adding one pint of all seven of their flavors to my cart, the website tells me that it will offset 44 pounds of carbon in return, the amount that 0.92 trees can absorb in a year. Its contribution will benefit Ecocart’s Global Forestry Projects, a global portfolio that protects 1 million hectares of forests and annually reduces carbon emissions by more than 150 million metric tons.
Jaffe is not the only one who cares about the carbon impact of their favorite sweet treat, though. According to Barry Callebaut’s 2024 report, 39% of consumers surveyed in North America are “actively seeking sustainably produced ice cream products.”
The rate is especially high among younger generations, at 48%. Around the world, 74% of consumers are “highly concerned” about the environment, and 48% implemented diet changes between 2021 and 2022 to live more sustainably.
On the production side, McKinsey found in 2022 that “transforming the business to become more environmentally sustainable” was one of the top three priorities for 37% of surveyed dairy executives, and 75% already had a sustainability or ESG strategy.
The result of all this hard work and inspiring mission has been Alec’s expansion nationwide to more than 1,500 retail locations. In 2023, new collaborators included Natural Grocers, Sprouts, and Whole Foods.
Photo Courtesy Alec Jaffe
Finally, taste was an imperative piece of Alec’s puzzle, stemming from Jaffe’s days as a University of Southern California football player. “As a former college athlete, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is very important to me,” he told Bristol Farms, but “ice cream was always my cheat meal!”
The company promises a product that is “the smoothest around,” “hands-down, thumbs-up, jaw-dropping creamy,” and with perfectly balanced sweetness and “no sugar bombs.” With flavors including Tahitian Vanilla Bean, Peanut Butter Fudge Honeycomb, Salted Caramel Latte, and Honey Blueberry Lavender, there are options for every palette. Jaffe’s favorite, though, is Chocolate Chocolate Chip.
Regardless of your favorite flavor, though, he said to New Hope Networks that it is “an inherently fun product. It is an easy entry point into serious conversations around climate change.”
Photo Courtesy @ZackStrength
