Randall adds, “I know firsthand, in the clutch, a coach doesn’t go to plays, they go to players. Instigate has extensive consumer product experience with some of the world’s foremost brands such as Coke, Levi’s and many household brand names in spirits. ![]() It also retained a new Atlanta-based agency, Instigate, to lead PROOF’s next generation of branding and product innovation. It partners with dairies and food science companies. PROOF Hard Ice Cream cannot continue to stay ahead of the pack without help. “We are excited about our plans to extend our lead and establish PROOF as the standard bearer for this new category.” “We are in the pole position right now to dominate the hard ice cream category,” Brown asserts. Randall and Brown determined hard ice cream was definitely a global opportunity and decided to implement a “go big or go home” approach. I tried the ice cream, and my immediate reaction was, ‘I’m in!’” A billion-dollar opportunity? “I had just flown in from a trip to Taiwan. “I remember sitting across the table from Jenn at an Italian restaurant and she asked me to try something,” Brown recalls. He still serves as faculty director for the McNair Institute for Entrepreneurism.īrown met Randall via a former student of his. PROOF Hard Ice Cream is focused on an entertainment philosophy, whereby its products can enhance any occasion, the company claims.īrown moved to South Carolina in 2011 to run the Entrepreneur Institute at the University of South Carolina. “We are developing a deeper understanding of the science involved in food and dairy that is a proprietary advantage,” Brown continues. Every once in a great while a new product comes along that recontours the consumer landscape, and PROOF Hard Ice Cream is a prime example. “Disruption is very rare in the food and beverage industry. ![]() That has proven to be a very valuable insight.”īrown adds he was excited to get involved in the dairy industry because of the ability to change something that has seen little change in the past several years. Where can I buy this?’ That is when I became confident there was a market for this product. Once they did, their eyes would get big and they would say ‘Oh my God. “The response I received every time was ‘You can’t freeze alcohol.’ I said they should try it. ![]() I wanted to get a proof of concept without investing too much money,” she recalls. “I had a really old BMW at the time and did some taste tests in restaurants and bars throughout South Carolina. This business-friendly environment led Randall, a single mother, to move to South Carolina in 2014. This is especially critical when processing a product that combines regulated levels of alcohol and food in one product. because of its business-friendly environment and regulatory body, Randall notes. While the CEO enjoyed a great collegiate experience in South Carolina, she decided to also open PROOF Hard Ice Cream in the southeastern part of the U.S. “Athletics prepares a CEO with the grit, determination, never-quit resourcefulness a start-up requires,” Randall stresses. She parlayed her skill set into the latter, earning a basketball scholarship to the University of South Carolina. Randall notes that her home state of Kentucky is known for three things: bourbon, horse racing and basketball. While the story of hard ice cream is certainly unique, so, too, is the way Randall and Brown ended up in South Carolina. He served the technology industry for 25 years, including many in California’s Silicon Valley and noted he is “really excited to be building this new gourmet product category.” “PROOF is the pioneer of the Hard Ice Cream category and everything we’re doing is setting the standard for what will be a billion dollar-plus segment within the $175 billion gourmet food and beverage market.”īrown, who grew up in Canada, came to the United States to pursue a Ph.D.
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