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ICE CREAM WOULD have to be one of the ultimate sometimes foods. But one pair of Dublin entrepreneurs, Rachel and Brian Nolan, have been enjoying a year of rapid-fire growth in their food startup, Nobó, by rethinking that whole ice-cream-as-junk-food assumption.
Their brand of dairy- and additive-free ice cream was launched last December after a multi-year food odyssey that began when the pair took jobs in New York during their earlier careers in finance and marketing.
“We were still following and exploring our passion about food; we found it quite an inspiring place – there were a lot of things that we saw there that piqued our interest,” Brian told TheJournal.ie.
From there the couple decided to take a leap of faith and moved to Italy, where they spent nearly half a year working in a restaurant in the Tuscan countryside before returning to Dublin.
After their return home, and some 18 months in the kitchen tinkering with ideas, in December last year they launched with three flavours, all using a mix of coconut milk and avocado instead of dairy as a base.
“Dairy-based ice cream never agreed with me – I could never eat it growing up as a kid and Brian was the same,” Rachel said.
“I looked at other alternatives and there was just nothing available. And ice cream just tends to be a junk food – it’s very high in refined sugar, very high in fats and there are number of other additives in there.
“We started with the idea that we could make something that tasted like ice cream but had some nutritional value and was made from whole foods. It was as much what were keeping out of it as what we wanted to put in.”
Some recognition and a whole lot more outlets
The pair began with selling their products through a handful of specialist stores, but the brand got a big boost when one flavour was featured in the top-50 products at the coveted UK Great Taste food awards. Rachel said the recognition was satisfying because it came from a blind judging process during which their produce was scored purely on taste.
The couple also joined the Food Academy program, put together by Bord Bia, SuperValu and the Local Entreprise Office network, which aims to boost the reach of Irish food startups. Nobó products are now stocked in over 300 outlets – including a national listing with the supermarket chain.
Brian, who this year left his career in finance to work full-time on the business, said where earlier this year they had been ordering 20kg bags of ingredients they were now shipping in materials by the pallet-load.
Their production has increased sixfold during the year and their product lines have more than tripled.
Where to from here?
Next year the couple plans to start exporting their ice cream alternative, while they are also working on launching completely new product – outside their current niche – although the couple wouldn’t reveal any more about what they had in the pipeline.
It has definitely been a big year,” Brian said. “This was never started as a hobby – it was always started as a business that would grow.”
But are the pair worried their business may become a victim of its own success and they will see the idea hoovered up by a big food player if it takes off any further?
“I think for any food business it’s always a concern and you are always aware that it can happen,” Brian said.
“I think that is why we try and put as much as we can into the brand and put ourselves forward as the brand. We also have a massive support from local people as a small, Irish brand – we are very good at backing our own producers.”
This month, as part of TheJournal.ie’s ongoing SME focus, we will be looking back on 2014 – and throwing forward to the year ahead. If you know a noteworthy business which has launched this year or an established one which has made a big splash, get in contact with the author below.
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No bó- clever that!
Fair play to ye. Looking forward to tasting it. Pity ye didn’t mention what stores it was sold in.
@Pat Walsh……you obviously didn’t pay attention reading the article as it does highlight what stores (a large supermarket chain) actually stocks the product.
Supervalu I think. And some health food stores.
I think the mention of SuperValu in the article might be a clue
Well surely there is still sugar in it? And it’s sugar that’s causing obesity – really bugs me when companies try to make out their food is “healthy” when in fact it’s not. Unfortunately there will be people who think kids they can eat/give their kids as much of this stuff as they want. Much more education regarding food is needed.
Yep fat (cream) isn’t the problem, sugar is the problem. Sugar ain’t healthy!
It’s got honey (and the salted caramel one has brown rice syrup or something) so it’s a bit better than sugar. And it’s ok to have sugar sometimes as a treat. I’d be more worried if it was full of artificial stuff. We need sugar to live.
caramel or honey IS sugar. so it cant be better just because its in a different form. and coconut milk is really high in sugar and saturated fat so i doubt they would be able to make a ‘healthy’ claim.
Honey isn’t better than sugar. It’s broken down, like all sources of sugar, to glucose and whether it comes from the sugar bowl, fruit, honey or anywhere else, sugar is sugar.
Yes, fruit and perhaps honey has other ingredients with nutritional value, but if the sugar content is x grams it is immaterial where the sugar is coming from and it is on that basis that foods should be compared. Things like fruit juices etc are widely perceived to be healthier than soft drinks but quite often have an even higher sugar content and should be looked on as sugar treats, not healthy components of a diet.
Also, really not convinced by this tendancy to spin anything ‘dairy’ as a ‘bad thing’, Sure, if you are lactose intolerant this may be a good alternative to real ice cream. But most people are not lactose intolerant and it’s hard to see what it offers them when dairy based ice cream is lovely already.
It’s always nice to see new tastiness, maybe this is totally delicious, but to try and sell it as healthier well, I think there are on fairly shaky ground there.
Well starch and protein get turned into sugar too. Like just cos something has as much sugar, doesn’t make it just as bad. If a banana had as much sugar as a bar of chocolate, it’s still better cos it has other nutrients too. And we need sugar, our cells run off it. I’m not convinced that sugar is bad for us, since naturally we’re meant to eat a lot of fruit and veg. Our closest relatives in the animal kingdom eat mostly fruit.
I don’t think the ice-cream is healthier because honey is healthier (I don’t even eat honey), I just think they mean it’s healthier because it has good stuff too, it’s more natural and less processed. And yes coconut milk has saturated fat, but not the bad kind, it has no cholesterol, so the fat in it is good fat. Coconut milk is very nutritious, and fat is good for us too, we need some of it. Obviously if someone’s eating huge amounts of this ice cream that’s bad, but it’s a good treat and not as bad as eating highly processed ice cream.
We don’t ‘need’ sugar to live, no refined sugar anyway. We need a certain amount of carbs, which is the only form that sugars should be eaten in.
Yeah of course we don’t need refined sugars, but we need glucose which other food is broken down into/converted into anyway.
If there ain’t cream in it then it ain’t ice cream.
‘Cream’ is not specific to dairy. Eg coconut cream.
there is no cream in most of the widely available ice creams, but they are allowed to legally call it ice cream
Brilliant name!!! Wishing them lots of success
Good luck with the business, but one thing gets me… spending a few months in Italy is not ‘taking a leap’, it’s an extended holiday with a day job. #mini-rantover
Btw – Which is more sustainable – coconut milk or dairy? Or is this very niche to the Ross O’Carroll kelly crowd?
I don’t know which is more sustainable since coconuts aren’t grown here, but I still think dairy could be worse cos it is fairly bad for the environment.
This is clearly Ice Cream for hipsters… No thanks.
Ice cream will always be ice-cream, and this isn’t it.
Non dairy ice cream usually tastes just as good, the exact same or better. I swear nobody could tell the difference.
Very nice but 6.99 per tub is a bit steep
I wish Nobo the best of luck – I have eaten it, it’s delicious and is so much healthier than any of the big brands. It’s about the same price as the big brands but will last twice as long because it is really satisfying.
It is not sweet by any usual standard. It’s safe for anyone who had ab problem eating dairy or gluten. It contains no crappie ingredients – read the tub.
I scream ,you scream , we all scream for ice cream
Q: How do you know if someone is a vegan?
A: They tell you.
Good, but cannot help the feeling the idea of ice cream is to be sweet, with cream and bit unhealthy…one of the pleasures from time to time :) I have to try them Nobo stuff though I just hope they don’t taste anything like sorbet hate them lol
I still haven’t tried this but can’t wait to try the salted caramel flavour, and hope they make more vegan flavours soon. :)
have your say