Entrepreneurs will likely recognize the process that led to the creation of Chloe’s: founder Chloe Epstein had a need that wasn’t being met by current products on the market so she developed a concept to address that need. In her case, it was a lack of clean ingredient, better-for-you frozen yogurt and her idea was to create a chain of cafes that sold fruit-based soft-serve.
Despite success with the initial retail store, adding additional locations proved to be an expensive and complex endeavor. At that point she, along with co-founders Michael Sloan and her husband Jason Epstein, undertook a major pivot that would reshape the company and, in the process, establish a new set of better-for-you products within the frozen novelty category.
Today, Chloe’s markets an expansive portfolio, including its flagship line of fruit-based pops, a first-of-its kind line of frozen bars made from oat milk and a new no-sugar added line of frozen pops. The brand is represented in over 10,000 retail doors and also boasts a licensing deal with Marvel in which comic book characters from the Avengers and Spider-Man adorn boxes of its most popular flavors.
In the following interview, Epstein and Sloan joined us for a conversation that pulled back the curtain on the company’s founding story, the decision to shift its focus from foodservice to packaged goods, the leap from a slow and steady growth strategy to one that embraced a national distribution plan and why Chloe’s is not shy about putting a target on the back of big CPG.
In this Episode
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0:37: Interview: Chloe Epstein and Michael Sloan, Co-Founders, Chloe’s — Taste Radio editor Ray Latif spoke with Epstein and Sloan about their respective backgrounds in law and finance, how they applied lessons from their retail business into the launch of their consumer brand and why they said “yes” when Kroger wanted to take the brand national just a year after its debut. They also explained how they built Chloe’s in the “natural side of conventional,” how they strive to make Chloe’s products accessible to and affordable for most consumers and how they convinced Whole Foods to accept their Marvel-branded products in its stores. |
