Lifelong Friends Turned Ice Cream Aficionados

Good food is what we experience on a daily basis.  It gets us through and is nothing to write home about.  Great food, though, is something truly special. It meets people at the intersection of sustenance and passion where they can bring excitement to their pallets.  This reality is what Milk Cult founders Ed and Pat, who launched their company seven years ago, work toward every day in an effort to build a backing for their ice cream movement.  The duo has found great success by combining their unique approach to food with a host of flavors not normally found in the ice cream game. Curious how Milk Cult built its following? Read on!

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Ed Cornell and Pat Griffith, Washington D.C. natives, met in high school where they became fast friends.  Ed started his career in construction and Pat in kitchens, where they quickly learned what it takes to build a business from the ground up. 

Each of them had worked in kitchens/catering to some degree in life, but had not particularly considered starting their own business. In fact, it wasn’t until Ed spent some time in Indonesia that he began to see the appeal of becoming an entrepreneur.

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“When I was living in Indonesia, there’s a lot of incentives for people to just go out and do their own thing.  I was really envious of that drive people had, or maybe it was a situation they had found themselves in,” Ed told us about his time in Indonesia.  Inspired by this mindset, Ed and Pat decided to take the jump. Ed had been obsessed with ice cream for a long time, and the pair used the tasty treat as an avenue to relax and unwind at the end of busy days.  They just didn’t like the options and flavors they were offered. Thus, they set out to launch Milk Cult!

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The pair has since grown their product offering in a variety of directions, most notably with their creative variations on ice cream sandwiches, which include vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two salty & sweet chocolate chip cookies, and a vegan avocado “ice cream” with a brownie exterior.  Milk Cult continues to experiment with creative flavor combinations, having dabbled with Thai spices and cereal to name a couple.

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Their commitment to originality and ingenuity has certainly paid off, as Milk Cult is now in over 200 stores along the East Coast, and just recently signed on with Whole Foods to expand regionally. Along with their packaged product, the pair has also built a following by serving their ice cream through a handful of trendy Washington, D.C. restaurants as well.  Needless to say, the ice cream community is grateful for Milk Cult’s vision to start their revolution!

Learn more about the Milk Cult movement here!

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