Halo Top Is Taking Its Pints from the Grocery Store to the Mall
Halo Top, the cult-hit ice cream, is parlaying its not-so-pint-size success into something more up close and personal.
Halo Top, the insanely popular new ice cream on the block, is parlaying its not-so-pint-size social-media-fueled success into something a little more up close and personal: The health-oriented frozen-dessert brand is launching its first brick-and-mortar ice cream shop — in fitness-obsessed Los Angeles, of course. (The company is based there.)
Since its launch in 2012, Halo Top has gathered a dedicated — often described as “cult-like” — following with its promise of low-cal (240-360 calories per pint), low sugar, high protein “100% natural” ice cream. In July, it trumpeted in a news release that it had reached an impressive milestone: unseating long-time frontrunners like Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs as the top-selling pint in America. It announced at the time that, after seeing an eye-popping 2,500 percent sales increase in 2016, its ice creams were on target for another record-setting sales year in 2017.
Now, SoCal Halo Top fans can enjoy the hand-scooped flavors they usually enjoy in the privacy of their own home in a public locale: the Westfield Topanga mall (in the second floor dining terrace, if we’re being precise). Seven of the pint flavors sold in stores — including red velvet, pancakes and waffles and sea salt caramel — will be on offer at the Halo Top Scoop Shop as will four soft-serve flavors, including birthday cake, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Customers can choose from four different cones or get their ice cream smooshed between cookies that are both vegan and high in protein in an ice cream sandwich. (Note to vegan and dairy-eschewing Halo Top fans: The company recently introduced new vegan, dairy-free flavors.) But the ice cream offering that sounds most intriguing (at least to me)? “An ice cream taco made with a waffle cone shell,” as the LA Times described it.
Now that’s something new and exciting for Halo Top addicts accustomed to madly devouring their grocery-store pints straight from the carton. You know who you are.
Photo courtesy of @halotopcreamery