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Updates to the Sweet Startup Journey of SugarBear Cville with Emily Harpster Replay
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“You don't know what you don't know until you're in it."
Says Emily Harpster in our recent conversation about the growth of her ice cream brand, SugarBear Cville.
And she is right. You really don’t know what you’re getting into unless you try it. No amount of planning and studying will make you totally ready (but of course, careful planning and strategizing will help a lot in managing your business)—because some things will always come as a surprise! Before Emily launched her craft food business, what she didn’t know was how fast her brand would grow, how many flavors she could offer, the number of collaborations she would encounter, and how ice cream is an all-season favorite! But all these are sweet surprises Emily welcomed with open arms, and she’s ready for more!
In the third installment of our “Year of ice cream,” Emily opens up with the challenges that come with the growth of a new brand, how she manages all the rapid changes as a solopreneur, and how ready she is to continuously share the SugarBear Cville brand through many more channels.
It’s really a delight to witness a Good Food brand’s growth and success!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Emily Harpster is back on the podcast to talk about the recent improvements of her craft ice cream brand, SugarBear Cville.
- SugarBear Cville is a Good Food brand manufacturing ice cream from locally sourced ingredients.
- Emily has been able to grow her food brand in part because of support from the tight-knit community of Charlottesville, Virginia.
- During the fourth quarter of 2022, Emily realized that summer is not solely the “big season for ice cream.” With the right retail business connections, ice cream can become an all-season bestseller.
- Playing with seasonal flavors and themes for the holidays has become Emily’s way to keep SugarBear Cville’s product line interesting and enticing all year round.
- Narrowing down the flavors to a standard set plus adding a rotation of seasonal flavors has become a promising strategy for SugarBear Cville to maintain predictable cost controls.
- Since one of the missions behind this Good Food brand is to build community, SugarBear Cville has been active in collaborating with other brands and businesses. She recently did a kitchen takeover with Bowerbird Bakeshop, gave the flavor of the month proceeds back to a local nonprofit, and is currently planning a collaboration with Charlottesville High School through their urban farming program.
- As a solopreneur, Emily is still learning to balance the growth of her brand and the volume of units she can produce and sell. But she has developed systems that work for her now, and she can adapt them as her company grows.
More About the Guest:
Emily Harpster is the owner of SugarBear Cville, a very new, very fun, and very local ice cream brand in Charlottesville, Virginia. They make ice cream from scratch featuring local ingredients sourced throughout Central Virginia.
Connect with Emily Harpster/SugarBear:
Follow The Virginia Foodie here:
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