Humphry Slocombe

Humphry Slocombe makes ice cream for adults.

Forget about Chocolate and Vanilla. This company’s flavors include:

• Summer Corn with BBQ Bourbon Caramel.

• Matchadoodle, which is green tea ice cream mixed with snickerdoodle cookies.

• And Harvey Milk & Honey Graham: Raw blackberry honey ice cream with house-made graham crackers.

Since launching in 2008, Humphry Slocombe has been featured in The New York Times and Bon Appetit Magazine. Food Network named it a “Top 5 Ice Cream in America.”

The company is led by a team with extensive experience in the food & beverage industry.

CEO Jina Osumi was Director of Brand Strategy for Del Monte Foods, and Global Senior Brand Manager for Pepsi (NASDAQ: PEP). Head of Operations Aaron French was Director of Supply Chain at Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) and a senior manager for Safeway, a chain of grocery stores.

Humphry Slocombe initially sold its ice cream in retail shops in California. In 2016, it began selling pints in grocery stores. Today, the company’s ice cream is sold in more than 568 grocery stores across 12 states, with an average of 41 stores being added each quarter. Most recently, 25 stores in the New York metro area began selling its ice cream in August 2019.

To help create its artisanal flavors, Humphry Slocombe partners with food & beverage companies. For example, the company has partnerships with alcohol brands Maker’s Mark and The Glenlivet to offer bourbon-flavored ice cream.

Other partnerships include Blue Bottle coffee and the Emmy-Award-winning reality show “Queer Eye,” which collaborated with Humphry Slocombe to release sponsored pints.

Humphry Slocombe sells its ice cream to retailers wholesale, who then sell each pint for approximately $8. The company’s gross margins on wholesale pricing is 32%, and retail is 68%.

The company lost $700,000 in 2018. This was due to its investment in expanding distribution and enabling future growth. It expects to be profitable by Spring 2020.

With funds raised, Humphry Slocombe will focus on expanding its product distribution nationwide. Funds will be put toward inventory, distribution, and marketing.

Team Background

Aaron French - Head of Operations

Aaron has domain experience in the consumer foods industry.

He was the Director of Commercialization at Revolution Foods, a food products supplier, and was Director of Supply Chain at Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN), a meal kit company once valued at $2 billion.

Aaron has served as a senior sourcing manager at Safeway, a chain of grocery stores.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology from the University of California, San Diego, a Master’s degree from San Francisco State University, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jina Osumi - CEO

Jina has served as Humphry Slocombe’s CEO since 2015.

Prior to that, she gained extensive domain experience in the food & beverage industries.

She was Director of Brand Strategy for Del Monte Foods, where she led marketing efforts for the food company’s $1.6 billion portfolio. Before that, she spent nearly three years as Global Senior Brand Manager for Pepsi (NASDAQ: PEP).

She began her career in the food & beverage industry working for Campbell Soup, serving as a brand manager for four years.

Jina earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Wellesley College and an MBA from Stanford.

Sean Vahey - Co-Founder & Head of Marketing

Sean has a background in the hospitality industry. Before starting Humphry Slocombe, he worked as a restaurant manager and bar manager.

Jake Godby - Co-Founder & Executive Chef

Jake has been with Humphry Slocombe since starting the company in 2008.

Before that, he was a pastry chef and gained experience working in several fine-dining restaurants in San Francisco.

Hanson Li - Board Member

In addition to his role with Humphry Slocombe, Hanson is the Founder of Salt Partners Group, an investment company focused on the food & beverage industry.

For 18 years, he has owned Zebo, a Texas-based coffeehouse/bar restaurant. In addition, he owns Stella Public House, a pizza and craft beer restaurant.

Hanson was Managing Director of The Hina Group, an investment bank focused on private equity. He began his career as a business manager for Capital One.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, a Master’s degree in Sociology, and an MBA from Stanford University.

Co-Investors