The summer season is rapidly approaching, and I’ve already experienced some 85 degree days here in Denver, Colorado. Therefore, I was thrilled when I was invited to be one of the first to taste test Eclipse Foods’ new ice cream flavors.
Eclipse is a plant-based dairy company based in Berkeley, California that is currently focused on its “cowlessly creamy” ice cream. The startup has previously said that it aims to be the Impossible Foods of the alternative dairy industry.
In June, Eclipse is launching seven new flavors including mango passion fruit, strawberry fields, mint chip, caramel butter pecan, the dark side of the spoon (chocolate, peanut butter cookie dough, and fudge chunks), and cookies n’ cream. Eclipse last released three flavors (chocolate, vanilla, and cookie butter) into retail channels in 2020.
This was my first time trying Eclipse’s ice cream, and I certainly enjoyed it. What stood out to me were the vibrant flavors, and the mint chip and dark side of the spoon flavors were especially tasty.
Prior to tasting the samples, I had analyzed the ingredients in Eclipse’s product and was surprised to find that the ice cream contained no creamy vegan ingredients, like coconut, cashews, or soy. Interestingly, the main ingredients in Eclipse’s ice cream are water, sugar, and canola oil.
Eclipse’s website states that the company looked at the composition of milk and built its own milk from the ground up using plant ingredients. I spoke to Aylon Steinhardt this week, one of the co-founders of Eclipse, who said that “magic of milk” (referring to its taste and creamy texture) comes from a structure found in casein called a micelle. Eclipse was able to recreate this structure in the plant-based milk base it uses for its ice cream, and currently has a patent pending for this.
In a previous interview with The Spoon, Steinhardt said that one of Eclipse’s goals is to make its ice cream available in fast food chains like Sonic, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, and Carl’s Jr., across the nation. He confirmed that this is indeed still a goal of the company, but that the pandemic had an effect on the company’s ability to scale throughout foodservice channels. As the world begins to open back up, Eclipse will take a two-pronged approach to scale in both retail and foodservice channels.
When I first went vegan, I remembered only having a minuscule selection of vegan ice cream to choose from in the average grocery store. Now, there almost seems to be as many alternative dairy ice creams as there are traditional dairy options in the frozen aisle. However, Eclipse claims to be a direct replacement for ice cream, rather than an alternative like most other brands. Perfect Day is another startup with this same mentality, though it uses a different method — a fermented strain of yeast — than Eclipse to create its ice cream.
Eclipse’s new ice cream flavors will be available through the company’s website and in select grocers and retailers starting this June. Additionally, the company is currently available in locations predominantly on the east and west coasts, but will soon expand to differnt regions of the U.S.
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