In one of the most remarkable feats ever performed by a frozen dessert, Halo Top ice cream became the best-selling pint in America just six years after launch. Its founder Justin Woolverton was a frustrated lawyer who developed the recipe in his Cuisinart, mixing Stevia, egg whites and fruit into a low-calorie treat that tasted good enough to sell. Many recipes later—some runny, some rock-hard—Justin got the ice cream into stores; and soon, social media was flooded with images of people polishing off the 300-calorie pints. After outselling Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s in 2017, Halo Top’s charisma faded, and a slew of new competitors entered the field. In 2019, Justin sold the company for an undisclosed amount, and now enjoys his ice cream at a less frenetic pace.
This episode was produced by Kerry Thompson, with music by Ramtin Arablouei
Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Alex Cheng.
You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
HIBT Lab! New Culture: Matt Gibson and Inja Radman
Orangetheory Fitness: Ellen Latham
HIBT Lab! Nas Company: Nuseir Yassin
Twilio: Jeff Lawson
ICYMI... HIBT Lab! Climeworks: Jan Wurzbacher
Sun Bum: Tom Rinks
HIBT Lab! Slutty Vegan: Pinky Cole
Food52: Amanda Hesser (2021)
HIBT Lab! Saysh: Wes and Allyson Felix
Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
HIBT Lab! Too Good To Go: Lucie Basch
Michael Kors: Michael Kors
HIBT Lab! The Confess Project: Lorenzo Lewis
Politico & Axios: Jim VandeHei
HIBT Lab! Boom Supersonic: Blake Scholl
Osprey Packs: Mike Pfotenhauer
ICYMI... HIBT Lab! OpenAI: Sam Altman
The Ringer: Bill Simmons
HIBT Lab! Biobot Analytics: Mariana Matus and Newsha Ghaeli
Zumiez: Tom Campion
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Planet Money
Freakonomics Radio
The Daily
Kids Of The Future
Best of Storytime RNZ