Case Study: Sweet Ritual

3/28/2019

Sweet Ritual is a vegan ice cream shop in Austin, TX specializing in locally sourced, unique, and delicious dairy-free treats. This is Foodshed Investors' third round of funding with Sweet Ritual, having worked with them on two prior fundings.

Impact

People: The joy that they bring to kids (and adults) with dairy intolerances, when they find out they can enjoy ice cream again.

Procurement: When at all possible, Sweet Ritual sources their ingredients locally. Whether that is strawberries from local farmers, honey from local bee keepers or gluten-free cookies for their ice cream sandwiches from a local bakery, if there is a local option, they use it. They are currently looking for a local olive oil producer to supply them with EVOO for their new chocolate flavor.
Their eventual goal is to be able to source peanuts, pecans and other nuts from local farmers to be made into the nut milk they use for the base of their tasty ice creams.

Place: The founders, Amelia and Valerie, are very involved with their community. They mentor other entrepreneurs and make themselves available whenever possible. They also have a goal of providing insurance to their employees in the near future, in an effort to take care of those that live and work in our community

Process: As mentioned above, when at all possible Sweet Ritual sources their ingredients locally and make all of their ice creams in house. They are always looking for new ways to change their processes to allow for more local sourcing - as evidenced by their desire to make their own nut milk bases from locally sourced nuts.

Details

Milestone: Additional funding for their new production facility and expanded retail location/scoop shop.

Months to Milestone: 3 months

Vehicle: Hybrid Debt / Equity / Royalty Based Financing

Activities: The FI Team worked with Sweet Ritual to analyze their financing needs, developing a unique financing tool that meets the needs of both the investors and company. FI also served as an Investor Lead for this raise and helped facilitate connections with the FI Accredited Investor Network.

Team

Valerie Ward - Founder and Co-Owner
Amelia Raley - Founder and Co-Owner