Ice cream schemes
Vendors flood market with ‘guilt-free’ varieties
THE “guilt-free” ice cream market has gone from nonexistent to so ubiquitous that sector leader Halo-Top is now the top selling pint of ice cream in America.
Last year, Halo-Top sales surged 2,500 percent, and $31 million worth of the creamy stuff — at $5.99 a pint — moved in stores nationwide between June and July.
While nutritionists caution that the 240-calorie-a-pint Halo-Top is still a dessert and should be thought of as one despite its healthier features — high protein/low fat and low calories — celebs like Karlie Kloss, Olivia Culpo and Oscar-winner Brie Larson are obsessed with its 17 flavors.
A report this month said HaloTop maker, LA’s Eden Creamery, was weighing a sale for as much as $2 billion. The timing may be right, as rivals are coming after Halo-Top.
Breyers recently launched its own waist-friendlier Breyers Delights, featuring four flavors with 260-to-310 calories per pint.
But the real threat is from 4-year-old Enlightened, which clocks in with 21 flavors between 240 and 400 calories. Like Halo-Top, Enlightened pints are protein-packed and have mega-“influencer” fans, like YouTube sensation Tyler Oakley and Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine.
Enlightened founder Michael Shoretz was inspired to launch the dessert after his father was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
And Enlightened — whose sales increased by 300 percent last year — is still family run.
“My mom is Enlightened’s president, my sister is the director of brand strategy, and my father heads our accounting department,” Shoretz says. “And that familial vibe extends to all employees.”
Auction watch
How many buyers are there for a watch priced at a cool $1 million?
Quite a few, hopes Phillips Auction House — which is prepping for the most important Big Apple timepiece auction of the decade on Oct. 26.
Up for bid is Paul Newman’s iconic Cosmograph Daytona — considered the most influential Rolex ever made. First launched in 1963 — and still in production today — Newman’s model dates to 1968. It was given to him by wife Joanne Woodward. Newman later gave the watch to a boyfriend of his daughter, Nell, who kept it under wraps for decades.
Now the timepiece — which is expected to fetch at least seven figures — will anchor Phillips’ first-ever New York City watch auction.
The event is crucial for Phillips — which is far smaller than rivals Sotheby’s and Christie’s — because Phillips’ timepieces division was just established in 2014.
Since then, Phillips has scored major wins, including the world’s most expensive wristwatch — a stainless steel Patek-Philippe 1518, which Phillips sold for $11 million last year.
Proceeds from the sale of Newman’s watch will benefit the Nell Newman Foundation.
UK workout
It seems as if fitness guru Tracy Anderson (pictured) has been busy this summer. Not only have her two Hamptons outposts lured celeb-devotees like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez and Robert Downey Jr., but Anderson — best known for her ab-killing “Method” workout pro- gram — hopped over to London earlier this month for her first-ever international “Vitality Week.” The event saw Anderson fans from the UK and Europe sweat hard during two-hour daily Method sessions. The trip proved so successful that Anderson will open a studio in London’s posh Mayfair district next year. Anderson says she’s had private clients in London for years — fans there include stick-slim Victoria Beckham — but the city’s recent embrace of wellness convinced her that the UK market is ripe for a brickand-mortar outpost.
What’s next
It’s too soon to tell whether September fashion issues will prove profitable, but Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Anne Fulenwider is already celebrating. Next month marks her fifth anniversary at the Hearst style bible and the mom-boss — who’s made sustainability her mission — is already deep into “what’s next” mode. Along with her appearance on last week’s “Project Runway All-Stars” (promoting sustainable fashion), Fulenwider oversaw Marie Claire’s firstever sustainability-themed issue in August. Still to come is MC’s annual Power Trip — a celeb- and influencer-filled cross-country “empowerment” adventure in October. Also on tap is a first-of-its kind pop-up retail partnership with MasterCard in New York beginning in late September as part of the mag’s tech-focused Next Big Thing issue.