The Viral Hot Chocolate That Saved An Ice Cream Business | Glace New York Founder Sasha Zabar

Key Concepts

• Year-round Dessert Business: Transitioning between ice cream in summer and hot chocolate in winter.
• Bootstrapping: Funding the business without external investment.
• Viral Marketing: Leveraging social media for rapid growth and brand awareness.
• Operational Scalability: Adapting business operations to handle increased demand.
• Brand Philosophy: Maintaining quality, creativity, and customer experience.
• Sustainable Growth: Prioritizing profitability and long-term viability over rapid expansion.
• Creative Exploration: Continuously innovating and experimenting with new dessert concepts.

Gloss: A Unique Dessert Destination

Sasha Zbar, culinary entrepreneur and founder of Gloss, describes Gloss as a unique dessert destination that operates as an ice cream shop in the summer and a hot chocolate destination in the winter. This dual identity allows Gloss to be a year-round business, unlike many traditional ice cream shops. It also provides the flexibility to explore and create diverse desserts beyond the typical ice cream store or cafe offerings. Gloss aims to be a "dessert playground" offering an amalgamation of sweet treats in a beautiful space with high-quality ingredients.

From No Glue to Gloss: The Genesis

Gloss originated from the space previously occupied by No Glue, a gluten-free bakery co-owned by Sasha and Frederick, which started in Paris. Frederick, who has celiac disease, identified a gap in the market for high-end, French-style gluten-free pastries. When No Glue moved to a larger location, Sasha saw an opportunity to start her own business in the vacant 200-square-foot space, leveraging her ice cream-making hobby during COVID.

Family Influence: Eli's Market and Zabar's

Sasha's upbringing in a family synonymous with New York gourmet food (Eli's Market, Eli's Bread, and Zabar's) profoundly shaped her entrepreneurial vision. She was immersed in the food business from a young age, working in the stores, attending family events centered around food, and engaging in business discussions.

Entrepreneurial Trajectory: From Family Business to Solo Venture

Sasha's journey involved working in various roles within the family business, including the cheese department, caviar sales, and restaurants. She then pursued a degree at Cornell's hotel school, gaining knowledge in finance and statistics. After Cornell, she co-founded a juice bar called "The Juice Box" in New Haven, Connecticut, identifying trends in major cities and bringing them to smaller markets. She eventually returned to the family business before deciding to launch Gloss during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lessons in Entrepreneurship: Hard Work and Pivoting

Sasha emphasizes the importance of hard work and perseverance in overcoming challenges. She also highlights the significance of pivoting when a business strategy isn't working, rather than simply throwing more money at it. This lesson, learned from her father, inspired her to transform Gloss into a hot chocolate destination during the winter months.

Bootstrapping Gloss: Initial Investment

Gloss was bootstrapped with an initial investment of approximately $25,000. This included painting the floors and walls, purchasing an ice cream dipping case (around $10,000), building a simple back bar and front counter, and buying a grab-and-go freezer for pints (around $4,000).

The S'mores Hot Chocolate: An Unexpected Viral Sensation

During the first winter, ice cream sales plummeted by as much as 80%. Sasha experimented with a s'mores hot chocolate, modifying the baked Alaska concept with a chewier, marshmallow-like meringue. While not immediately popular, it eventually became a viral sensation. Sasha admits that she didn't anticipate the hot chocolate's success, initially believing that gluten-free Belgian waffles would be more popular. However, she recognized the theatrical appeal of the hot chocolate's preparation and presentation.

Impact of Viral Success: Business Transformation

The viral success of the s'mores hot chocolate dramatically transformed Gloss, leading to a 5x to 10x increase in sales during peak winter days compared to regular summer days. This growth enabled Sasha to open another store, renovate the existing one, purchase new equipment, and build a commissary.

Operational Challenges and Adaptations

Maintaining quality and meeting demand after going viral presented significant operational challenges. Sasha had to ensure that ingredients like marshmallow and hot chocolate were made fresh daily, even during slow periods. As demand surged, she invested in more equipment, hired additional staff, and utilized a walk-in refrigerator inherited from No Glue to store the increased volume of milk.

Maintaining Quality and Customer Expectations

Sasha emphasizes the importance of meeting customer expectations in terms of appearance, taste, price-value ratio, and customer service. She acknowledges the challenges of maintaining consistency and quality in the age of social media, where visual appeal and taste are heavily scrutinized.

Marketing Philosophy: Content, Social Media, and Publicity

Gloss invests heavily in high-quality content, social media, and publicity. Sasha believes that operating efficiently across these channels and creating engaging content leads to strong performance.

The Common Thread: Creativity in the Food Space

Sasha sees creativity as the common thread connecting her diverse experiences in hospitality and digital strategy. She aims to take simple concepts and make them unique and innovative.

Navigating the Competitive Landscape

Sasha notes that social media has accelerated the rise and fall of food trends, shrinking the lifespan of businesses that achieve overnight popularity. To stay relevant, Gloss focuses on continuous improvement, enhancing the customer experience, using better ingredients (e.g., switching to organic dairy from Badenkill), and creating content that aligns with the brand's philosophy: great taste, high-quality ingredients, in-house production, and a unique twist.

Gloss Candy: Expanding the Brand

The motivation behind Gloss Candy was to recreate the nostalgic feeling of neighborhood ice cream and candy stores from Sasha's childhood on the Upper West Side.

Brand Partnerships: Britney Spears and Beyond

Gloss has collaborated with major brands like J. Crew and David Yurman. The most notable collaboration was with Britney Spears, who reached out after seeing Gloss's creations on Instagram. Sasha emphasizes that most collaborations are inbound, with brands contacting Gloss through social media or their publicist.

Future Goals: Sustainable Growth and Creative Exploration

Sasha's ultimate goal is to continue growing Gloss sustainably, improving the business, and pursuing creative opportunities. She is excited about collaborating with other brands and creating unique dessert experiences. She emphasizes that Gloss is not just an ice cream shop but a versatile dessert destination capable of creating anything sweet, hot, or cold.

Defining Sustainable Growth

Sustainable growth, for Sasha, means growing the business in a way that is affordable, avoiding over-leveraging and external capital, and maintaining profitability. She is wary of the rapid, often unprofitable growth seen in many trendy food businesses.

Future Food Ideas: Frozen Yogurt and Beyond

Sasha is excited about exploring new concepts, including a resurgence in frozen yogurt. She notes that Gloss previously offered a popular Greek yogurt soft serve flavor and is now seeing a renewed interest in frozen yogurt concepts.

Immediate Pipeline: Fall Menu and Hot Chocolate Season

Gloss is launching its fall menu in September, transitioning into the hot chocolate season with exciting new offerings. They also have several other projects in development.

Conclusion

Sasha Zbar's Gloss is a testament to the power of creativity, hard work, and adaptability in the competitive food industry. By embracing a dual identity, leveraging social media, and prioritizing quality and customer experience, Gloss has transformed from a small ice cream shop into a viral dessert destination with a promising future.