"s w e l l" (formerly known as ProYo) has closed up shop.
I'll be honest (aka a jerk) and admin that part of me gets annoyed when people would call Halo Top or one of the others "ice cream" when it clearly is not. I was even more annoyed when Halo Top cherry picked some marketing data to say they were the best selling pint in the country (this 2017 stat is still quoted in articles today).
Well, you know what happened? Everybody rushed in to the party (just see my proof here). Thing is, not everybody brought their A game. Well, some did, but everybody brought something so it was just a matter of time before companies started to fail.
First to go? The poorly named "s w e l l". I think Proyo would have been better off staying as Proyo. The uninspired pint design that doesn't catch your eye and the name that feels dumb to say were signs of future doom to me. I'm not saying that I'm happy they are gone, it's never cool when a business fails or somebody loses a job. I'm just saying that the healthy ice cream segments turns over every few years and this is a sign of that.
Foot note: I want to say that I saw these guys online before, but talk about being late to the party. "Be Light" light ice cream just hit the market a month ago. There's 6 flavors and 30g of protein per pint, which if you do the math, is 7.5g per half cup serving. They rely on Erythritol for much of their sweetness like many other brands. They also use Stevia.
Foot note #2: I should have mentioned that Yuengling's also jumped on this bandwagon this year. Ugggg. They should have spent time coming up with new flavors instead. (FYI Aureus bought Yuengling's this past summer)
Foot Note #3: ....and Trader Joe's just jumped on the bandwagon too... do these companies not watch the freezer aisle?
I have seen Swell at Trader Joe's. I guess the trend now starting to slowly to fade down. Breyers have been slow too so I guess it's next to go.
ReplyDeleteI don't see this a s a sign of what's to come for the low calorie ice creams, as swell was not low calorie--it is about the same as a middle grade regular ice cream. It tried to sell itself on its "low calories,: but it can't compete when there are ice creams with half the calorie count.
ReplyDelete@Alek: someone posted somewhere that Trader Joe's picked up the leftover stock of Swell and that's why you are seeing it there.
ReplyDelete@RG: (trying to say this non-snarkily) go back to the article real quick. I didn't mention calories once. This article is about lower sugar products which is the current "healthy" segment in the freezer aisle. I'm say this low sugar / replacement sugar trend is destined to be replaced by whatever comes next (I don't know if the more air (overrun) trend will be a thing)
halo top is not completely awful, at least certain of the flavors - but, yeah, I really hesitate to call it ice cream. or, as my father-in-law said, "what the hell is this stuff??!? you said we were having ice cream!"
ReplyDeletenow, the other day I took advantage of an offer for 2 pints of Nightfood - delivered same-day (in fact in less than an hour) - for $10. I got: Midnight Chocolate and Coldbrew Decaf. this stuff? totally tastes like ice cream. or *is* ice cream, I dnno.
but if I saw something like Swell (never have tried it, or actually never even seen it) super on sale, you can bet I'd buy more than a few because why not.
if the swell pints aren't too old, yeah, I should probably grab one just to say I tried it.
ReplyDeleteand I'm ok with people liking halo top, it's just not for me.
don't mean to double post, but my last comment seemed to get lost...but i wasn't saying that you were talking about calories, just saying why the product didn't sell, and that's why other brands won't have the same fate
ReplyDeleteahhhh, ok, you were trying to say that similar concepts do better with the calorie count right? understood!
ReplyDeletethat said, i still think this trend is on the downslide. In over 11 years of overanalyzing the freezer aisle, these health trends never last more than a few years. The difference now seems to be how quickly some of these things are ramping up now. We've got what, 3 oat based ice creams on the market now when before there was none? I don't think that quick turn around used to happen before.
ofcourse, I could be totally wrong, but I am basing this premise on multiple inputs, not just one company going under.
I eat Enlightened non-dairy...why? I love ice cream but it is way to sweet and sugary and my body cant handle it. So...I choose a low sugar ice cream instead. I dont like Halo Top, but i do like Enlightened non-dairy. So...while some are bad I hope some stay around!
ReplyDelete@Lb: You may be interested in the new Enlightened "1G" for Keto fans. If your intestines can take the sugar alcohol, Erythritol, enjoy.
ReplyDeleteDubba,I found an avocado ice cream that perhaps you heard of already: http://cadoicecream.com/. Maybe it's Tom-Brady-approved. Interestingly, it has less fat (11 g) than the Keto Enlightened (17 g).
I still would opt for the Cumberland's blue-frosted-mess-of-a-birthday-ice-cream you have posted. Thanks for sharing that "pinata" pint. I don't have that brand by me.
@Amanda: we actually have two pints of Cado in the freezer for an upcoming review. We got it because my son wanted to try it.
ReplyDelete